Controller with tactile sensors and method of fabricating same
First Claim
1. A controller with tactile sensors comprising:
- (a) two or more tactile sensing means, each having a center, angularly positioned about a common center point for sensing an applied force in two or more angular directions from the common center point; and
(b) computing means for computing a resultant force magnitude and a resultant force direction based on the applied force on each tactile sensing means and the angular direction about the common center point to the center of each tactile sensing means.
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Abstract
A controller with a plurality of tactile sensors and a method of fabricating the controller is disclosed. The controller may be used for one, two or three parameter control in applications requiring manual user control of parameters such as temperature, volume, speed, direction and cursor position on a computer screen. The controller comprises two or more tactile sensors and a computing means. The centers of the tactile sensors are positioned at angles about a common center point. The computing means determines a magnitude and a direction of a resultant force from all the tactile sensors, using the force applied to each tactile sensor and the angle at which the center of each tactile sensor is oriented about a common center point. The configuration enables sensing applied force in two or more directions at angles from a common center point. Another parameter may be controlled based on the total force applied to all of the tactile sensors of the controller.
86 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A controller with tactile sensors comprising:
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(a) two or more tactile sensing means, each having a center, angularly positioned about a common center point for sensing an applied force in two or more angular directions from the common center point; and (b) computing means for computing a resultant force magnitude and a resultant force direction based on the applied force on each tactile sensing means and the angular direction about the common center point to the center of each tactile sensing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A controller with tactile sensors comprising:
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(a) first circular tactile sensing device for sensing a first applied force; (b) second circular tactile sensing device opposite the first circular tactile sensing device for sensing a second applied force, wherein the first tactile sensing device partially overlaps the second tactile sensing device; and (c) computing means for computing a normalized resultant force magnitude and a resultant force polarity based on the ratio of the difference to the sum of the first applied force and the second applied force on each tactile sensing device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A controller with tactile sensors comprising:
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(a) first circular tactile sensing device with a center, for sensing a first applied force; (b) second circular tactile sensing device with a center, opposite the first circular tactile sensing device for sensing a second applied force; (c) first computing means for computing a first normalized resultant force magnitude and a first resultant force polarity based on the ratio of the difference to the sum of the first applied force and the second applied force on the first and second circular tactile sensing devices; (d) third circular tactile sensing device with a center, for sensing a third applied force; (e) fourth circular tactile sensing device with a center, opposite the third circular tactile sensing device for sensing a fourth applied force; (f) second computing means for computing a second normalized resultant force magnitude and a second resultant force polarity based on the ratio of the difference to the sum of the third applied force and the fourth applied force on the third and fourth circular tactile sensing devices; and (g) the circular tactile sensing devices positioned such that a first line connecting the centers of the opposing first and second circular tactile sensing devices forms a right angle with a second line connecting the centers of the opposing third and fourth circular tactile sensing devices, the first and the second line being of equal length and bisecting each other at a common center point. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of fabricating a controller with tactile sensors comprising the steps of:
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(a) positioning two or more tactile sensing means, each having a center, angularly about a common center point for sensing an applied force in two or more angular directions from the common center point; and (b) computing a resultant force magnitude and a resultant force direction based on the applied force on each tactile sensing means and the angular direction from the common center point to the center of each tactile sensing means. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification