Enhanced cursor control using limited-workspace force feedback devices
First Claim
1. A method for providing cursor control on a 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 and an interior region in said physical workspace of said interface device, said border region being adjacent to at least one limit of said physical workspace;
applying an interior mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said interior region;
applying a border mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said border region; and
applying a selected one of said interior mapping and said border mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum crosses from said interior region to said border region, wherein said selected mapping causes a greater velocity of said cursor than the unselected mapping.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interface device and method for providing enhanced cursor control with force feedback. A force feedback interface device includes a manipulandum, such as a mouse, that is moveable in a local 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. An interior region and a border region in the local workspace is defined. One mapping of device movement to cursor movement is used for the interior region, and a different mapping is used for the border region. Mapping methods include ballistics, absolute, linear, rate control, and variable absolute. Rate control embodiments can be single axis or dual axis. In one embodiment, when the mouse moves from the interior region to the border region, the mapping providing the greater cursor velocity is used to better conserve device workspace in the direction of travel and to decrease any sense of mapping mode change to the user. Other features include an autocentering function for reducing offset between local and host frames.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for providing cursor control on a 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:
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defining a border region and an interior region in said physical workspace of said interface device, said border region being adjacent to at least one limit of said physical workspace;
applying an interior mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said interior region;
applying a border mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said border region; and
applying a selected one of said interior mapping and said border mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum crosses from said interior region to said border region, wherein said selected mapping causes a greater velocity of said cursor than the unselected mapping. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A force feedback interface device providing cursor control, said interface device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said interface device comprising:
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a manipulandum movable in a physical workspace that controls a position of a cursor displayed by said host computer within said graphical environment, said physical workspace having limits to motion of said manipulandum;
at least one sensor detecting motion of said manipulandum and providing a sensor signal, wherein sensor data based on said sensor signal is provided to said host computer to allow positioning of said cursor;
at least one actuator outputting a force to a user; and
a processor receiving said sensor signal and reporting data based on said sensor signal to said host computer to control said position of said cursor, said processor providing signals to said at least one actuator to control an output of said force to said user, said processor defining a border region and an interior region in said physical workspace of said interface device, said border region being adjacent to at least one of said limits of said physical workspace, wherein said processor applies an interior mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said interior region;
applies a border mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said border region; and
applies a selected one of said interior mapping and said border mapping of movement of said manipulandum to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum crosses from said interior region to said border region, wherein said selected mapping causes a greater velocity of said cursor than the unselected mapping. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for providing an indexing feature in a force feedback device, said force feedback device coupled to a host computer that displays a cursor and graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said force feedback device including a manipulandum being moveable in a local frame, wherein said cursor is moved in a display frame based on said movement of said manipulandum, the method comprising:
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determining whether said manipulandum is within a predetermined distance to a physical limit of said local frame, wherein said predetermined distance is defined by a border region positioned next to said physical limit;
determining a penetration distance of said manipulandum into said border region;
using said penetration distance to provide rate control of movement of said cursor toward a screen limit of said display frame corresponding to said physical limit, wherein said cursor is controlled to an edge of said display frame such that said manipulandum need never contact said physical limit of said workspace before said cursor reaches said edge of said display frame; and
outputting a force on said mouse when said mouse moves into said border region, said force resisting said movement into said border region in at least one direction of said mouse. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A force feedback mouse device providing automatic indexing, said mouse device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said mouse device comprising:
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a manipulandum movable in two planar degrees of freedom in a local frame, wherein said manipulandum has physical limits to said movement in said local frame;
at least one position sensor detecting motion of said manipulandum and providing a sensor signal, wherein sensor data based on said sensor signal is provided to said host computer to allow positioning of said cursor in a screen frame;
a plurality of actuators outputting forces on said user manipulatable object in said two planar degrees of freedom, said forces coordinated with the display of images displayed by said host computer; and
a processor receiving said sensor signal and reporting data based on said sensor signal to said host computer to control said position of said cursor, said processor providing signals to said actuators to control an output of said forces on said manipulandum in accordance with said display of images and in accordance with force data sent by said host computer, and wherein said processor also controls said forces to move said manipulandum in said local frame to decrease an offset between said local frame and said screen frame. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A force feedback interface device providing cursor control, said interface device coupled to a host computer that displays graphical objects in a graphical environment on a display screen, said interface device comprising:
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a manipulandum movable in a physical workspace that controls a position of a cursor displayed by said host computer within said graphical environment, said physical workspace having limits to motion of said manipulandum;
at least one sensor that detects motion of said manipulandum and providing a sensor signal, wherein sensor data based on said sensor signal is reported to said host computer to allow positioning of said cursor, wherein a border region and an interior region are defined in said physical workspace of said interface device, said border region being adjacent to at least one of said limits of said physical workspace, and wherein an interior mapping of movement of said manipulandum is applied to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said interior region, a border rate control mapping of movement of said manipulandum is applied to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum is positioned in said border region, and a selected one of said interior mapping and said border mapping of movement of said manipulandum is applied to movement of said cursor when said manipulandum crosses from said interior region to said border region, wherein said selected mapping causes a greater velocity of said cursor than the unselected mapping; and
at least one actuator operative to output a force to a user. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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Specification