Interface device and method for providing indexed cursor control with force feedback

• US 6,288,705 B1
• Filed: 06/30/1999
• Issued: 09/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Immersion Corporation
• Original Assignee: Immersion Corporation
• Inventors: Rosenberg, Louis B., Braun, Adam C., Beamer, Jonathan L., Chang, Dean C.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHANG, KENT WU
• Application Number:
  US09/343,940
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• Field of Search: 345/145, 345/156, 345/157, 345/163, 345/161, 463/30, 463/37, 463/31
• US Class Current: 345/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/014 Force feedback applied to GUI
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/015 Force feedback applied to a joystick
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0354 with detection of 2D relative movements between the device, or an operating part thereof, and a plane or surface, e.g. 2D mice, trackballs, pens or pucks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03548 Sliders, in which the moving part moves in a plane
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry

Abstract

An interface device and method for providing indexing cursor control with force feedback. A force feedback interface device includes a manipulandum, such as a mouse, that is moveable in a device workspace. The device is coupled to a host computer that displays a cursor in a graphical environment, such as a GUI, on a display screen, where the cursor is controlled by motion of the manipulandum. A force can be output on the mouse based on interactions in the GUI. Indexing features allow control of the cursor when an offset between local and display frames exists, allow the user to reduce the offset, and reduce disconcerting collisions of the mouse with physical workspace limits. Some indexing features include rate control borders for the device workspace, allowing rate control of a cursor when the mouse gets close to a physical limit; and border scaling allowing acursor to always be moved to a screen edge.

Claims

1. A method for providing an indexing feature in a force feedback mouse device, said mouse device coupled to a host computer that displays a cursor and graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said mouse device including a mouse being moveable in a local frame, wherein said cursor is moved in a display frame based on said movement of said mouse, the method comprising:

determining whether said mouse is within a predetermined distance to a physical limit of said local frame, wherein said predetermined distance is defined by a border to a region positioned next to said physical limit;

determining a location of said mouse in said region; and

using said location to provide control of movement of said cursor toward a screen limit of said display frame corresponding to said physical limit, wherein a cursor position is reported to said host computer that allows control of said cursor to an edge of said display frame such that said mouse need never contact said physical limit of said workspace.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said location of said mouse in said region is determined by sensing the distance of said mouse past a border of said region.

3. A method as recited in claim 2 further comprising outputting a force on said mouse when said mouse moves into said region, said force resisting said movement into said region.

4. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein said force is a resistive spring force wherein a magnitude of said force is based on said distance of said mouse past said region border.

5. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein said control of said movement of said cursor is provided by reporting a cursor position to said host computer, wherein said position of said cursor on said display screen is based on a previous position of said cursor when said mouse is in said region and is not based on a corresponding position of said mouse in said local frame.

6. A method as recited in claim 5 wherein said cursor position is also based on said distance of said mouse past said region border, wherein said distance determines a speed of movement of said cursor.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said using said location includes determining a first distance between a current position of said mouse and said physical limit of said workspace in a direction of motion of said mouse.

8. A method as recited in claim 7 further comprising determining a second distance between a current position of said cursor and an edge to said display screen, wherein said first distance and said second distance are used in determining said cursor position.

9. A method as recited in claim 8 wherein said cursor position is based on a scaling of said position of said mouse, said scaling based on a ratio between said first and second distances, such that said cursor is positioned to the edge of said screen area when or before said mouse reaches said physical limit to said workspace.

10. A force feedback mouse device that provides an indexing function, said mouse device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said mouse device including a mouse being moveable in a mouse workspace, wherein said cursor is moved in a screen area based on said movement of said mouse, and wherein said mouse may control motion of said cursor without reaching a physical limit to said workspace, said mouse device comprising:

a mouse object physically contacted by a user and movable in a planar workspace in at two degrees of freedom with respect to a ground;

at least one sensor that reads a position of said mouse object;

a plurality of actuators coupled to said mouse object that provide a force on said mouse object in said planar device workspace; and

a local microprocessor, separate from said host computer and coupled to said sensor and to said actuators, said local microprocessor determining whether said mouse is within a predetermined region adjacent to a physical limit of said mouse workspace and determining a location of said mouse in said region, wherein said local microprocessor uses said location to provide control of movement of said cursor toward a screen limit of said display screen corresponding to said physical limit such that said mouse need never contact said corresponding physical limit of said workspace.

17. A force feedback mouse device as recited in claim 10 wherein said local microprocessor detects whether said mouse object is within a border region of said mouse workspace, said border region provided between a center region and said physical limit, wherein said cursor is controlled to move toward said physical limit based on a rate control relationship with said mouse object, and wherein a position control relationship is used to control said cursor when said mouse object is in said center region.

18. A force feedback mouse device as recited in claim 17 wherein said local microprocessor controls said acutators to output a resistive force on said mouse object, said resistive force resisting movement of said mouse object into said border region and within said border region in a direction toward said physical limit.

19. A force feedback mouse device as recited in claim 18 wherein said resistive force is a resistive spring force wherein a magnitude of said force is based on said distance of said mouse past a boundary of said border region.

20. A force feedback mouse device as recited in claim 19 wherein said control of said movement of said cursor is provided by reporting a cursor position to said host computer, wherein said position of said cursor on said display screen is based on a previous position of said cursor when said mouse is in said border region and is not based on a corresponding position of said mouse in said local frame.

21. A method as recited in claim 20 wherein said cursor position is also based on said distance of said mouse past said region border, wherein said distance determines a speed of movement of said cursor.

11. A method for providing an isometric border feature on a force feedback cursor control interface device, said interface device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said interface device including a manipulandum movable in a physical workspace in order to control the position of a cursor displayed by said host computer within said graphical environment, the method comprising.

defining a border region around an outer perimeter of said physical workspace of said interface device, wherein when said manipulandum is not within said border region, said cursor is controlled by said manipulandum through a position control paradigm and when said manipulandum is within said border region, said cursor is controlled through a rate control paradigm in at least one direction of motion;

determining whether said manipulandum is within said border region and determining an amount of penetration into said border region;

causing an output of a force on said manipulandum opposing said penetration into said border region, a magnitude of said force being based on the depth of said penetration into said border region; and

using said penetration into said border region to control a speed of movement of said cursor along a particular direction on said display screen.

12. A method as recited in claim 11 further comprising implementing a hysteresis effect by causing a removal of said force on said mouse when said mouse is moved away from said physical limit, wherein said force is removed at a distance greater from said physical limit than said distance defining said border to said region used for outputting said force.

22. A method as recited is claim 11 wherein said manipulandum has a fixed workspace and cannot be moved outside said outer perimeter of said border region.

28. A method as recited in claim 11 wherein said manipulandum has a fixed workspace and cannot be moved outside said outer perimeter of said border region.

13. A method for providing an isometric indexing feature in a force feedback cursor control interface device, said interface device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said interface device including a manipulandum being movable in a physical workspace in order to control the position of a cursor displayed by said host computer within said graphical environment, wherein a location of said manipulandum in its workspace is referenced with respect to said local frame and wherein the location of said cursor with respect to said graphical environment is referenced with respect to a display frame, the method comprising:

providing an index value that defines a positional offset between said local frame and said display frame;

providing a border region around an outer perimeter of said physical workspace of said interface device;

determining whether said manipulandum is within said border region and determining a penetration of said manipulandum into said border region;

outputting a force on said manipulandum opposing said penetration into said border region, a magnitude of said force being based on a depth of said penetration into said border region; and

using said penetration into said border region to modify said index value along a direction corresponding to a direction of said penetration and at a rate of change dependent upon said depth of penetration into said border region.

14. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein a representation of said local frame, said display frame, and said index value is stored in memory accessible to a processor local to said interface device and separate from said host computer.

23. A method as recited in claim 13 wherein said manipulandum has a fixed workspace and cannot be moved outside said outer perimeter of said border region.

15. A method for providing an indexing function in a force feedback mouse device, said mouse device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said mouse device including a mouse moveable in a mouse workspace, wherein said cursor is moved on a display screen based on said movement of said mouse, the method comprising:

determining a mouse distance between a current position of said mouse and a physical limit to said mouse workspace;

determining a cursor distance between a current position of said cursor and a displayed edge of said display screen;

determining a scale factor based on said mouse distance and said cursor distance and scaling a position of said mouse;

scaling said position of said mouse to determine a cursor position and reporting said cursor position to said host computer, said host computer displaying said cursor at a position on said display screen corresponding to said cursor position, said cursor position allowing said cursor to be positioned to an edge of said display screen when or before said mouse reaches said physical limit to said workspace.

16. A method as recited in claim 15 further comprising determining whether said mouse is within a predetermined region adjacent to a physical limit of said mouse workspace, wherein said scaling of said mouse position is performed only when said mouse is within said predetermined region.

24. A method for providing as isometric border feature on a force feedback cursor control interface device, said interface device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said interface device including a manipulandum movable in a physical workspace in order to control the position of a cursor displayed by said host computer within said graphical environment, the method comprising,

enabling a border region around an outer perimeter of said physical workspace of said interface device, wherein when said manipulandum is not within said border region, said cursor is controlled by said manipulandum through a position control paradigm and when said manipulandum is within said border region, said cursor is controlled through a rate control paradigm in a least one direction of motion;

enabling a determination of whether said manipulandum is within said border region and enabling a determination of an amount of penetration into said border region;

enabling an output of a force on said manipulandum opposing said penetration into said border region, a magnitude of said force being based on the depth of said penetration into said border region; and

enabling a use of said penetration into said border region to control a speed of movement of said cursor along a particular direction on said display screen.

25. A method as recited in claim 24 wherein an amount of penetration into said border region is proportional to said speed of movement of said cursor in said particular direction.

26. A method as recited in claim 25 wherein said particular direction on said display screen is toward an edge of said display screen.

27. A method as rectied in claim 24 further comprising implementing a hysteresis effect by causing a removal of said force on said mouse when said mouse is moved away from said physical limit, wherein said force is removed at a distance greater from said physical limit than said defining said border to said region used for outputting said force.