Force feedback device with microprocessor receiving low level commands
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- an object configured to be moved in at least one degree of freedom;
a sensor configured to detect a position of said object in the at least one degree of freedom and configured to output a sensor signal, the sensor signal being associated with the position of said object in the at least one degree of freedom;
a microprocessor coupled to said sensor, said microprocessor configured to send input data to a host computer, the input data being associated with the sensor signal and being usable by a host application program, the microprocessor further configured to select a low-level-force signal associated with a high-level-force command received from the host computer, the low-level-force signal including a force magnitude value; and
an actuator coupled to the microprocessor and configured to output haptic feedback based on the selected low-level-force signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for controlling and providing force feedback using an interface device manipulated by a user. A microprocessor is provided local to the interface device and reads sensor data from sensors that describes the position and/or other information about an object grasped and moved by the user, such as a joystick. The microprocessor provides the sensor data to a host computer that is coupled to the interface device by a communication bus that preferably includes a serial interface. In a “host-controlled” embodiment, the host computer calculates force values using the sensor data and other parameters of a host application program and sends the force values to the local microprocessor, which directly provides the force values to actuators to apply forces to the user object. In a “reflex” embodiment, the host computer sends high level supervisory commands to the local microprocessor, and the microprocessor independently implements a local process based on the high level command for reading sensor data and providing force values to the actuators using sensor data and other parameters.
331 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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an object configured to be moved in at least one degree of freedom;
a sensor configured to detect a position of said object in the at least one degree of freedom and configured to output a sensor signal, the sensor signal being associated with the position of said object in the at least one degree of freedom;
a microprocessor coupled to said sensor, said microprocessor configured to send input data to a host computer, the input data being associated with the sensor signal and being usable by a host application program, the microprocessor further configured to select a low-level-force signal associated with a high-level-force command received from the host computer, the low-level-force signal including a force magnitude value; and
an actuator coupled to the microprocessor and configured to output haptic feedback based on the selected low-level-force signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause a first processor to:
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receive input data from a second processor coupled to an input device, the input data including position data;
generate a force command based on the position data received from the second processor; and
transmit the force command to the second processor, the force command being one selected from a high-level-force command and a low-level-force command, the high-level-force command operative to cause the second processor to select a subroutine from a plurality of predefined subroutines based on the high-level-force command and output a force signal associated with the subroutine, the low-level-force command operative to cause the second processor to output a force signal associated with the low-level-force command. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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receiving input data from a processor coupled to an input device, the input data including position data based on a position of the input device;
generating a force command based on the position data received from the processor; and
sending a force command to the processor, the force command including one of a high-level-force command and a low-level-force command, the high-level-force command operative to cause the processor to select a subroutine based on the high-level-force command and to output a force signal associated with the subroutine, the low-level-force command operative to cause the processor to output a force signal associated with the low-level-force command. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method, comprising:
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detecting a position of an object, the object configured to move in at least one degree of freedom;
outputting a sensor signal, the sensor signal being based on the position of the object in the at least one degree of freedom;
sending input data based on the sensor signal, the input data being operative to interact with a host application program;
receiving one of a high-level-force command and a low-level-force command including a force magnitude value;
selecting a force signal associated with the received one of the high-level-force command and the low-level-force command; and
generating a haptic feedback signal associated with the selected force signal.
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18. A method, comprising:
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receiving input data from a processor coupled to an input device, the input data including position data based on a position of the input device;
generating a force command based on the position data received from the processor; and
sending force commands to the processor, the force commands including one of a first force command and a second force command, the first force command operative to cause the processor to select a force output and to output a pre-determined force signal associated with the selected force output, the force signal being associated with a force magnitude included in the force output, the second force command operative to cause the processor to output a force signal associated with a force magnitude included in the second force command.
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19. An apparatus, comprising:
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an object configured to be moved in at least one degree of freedom;
a sensor configured to detect a position of said object in the at least one degree of freedom and configured to output a sensor signal, the sensor signal being associated with the position of said object in the at least one degree of freedom;
a microprocessor coupled to the sensor, said microprocessor configured to send input to a host computer, the input data being associated with the sensor signal and being usable by a host application program, the microprocessor further configured to select a low-level-force command associated with a high-level-force command received from the host computer, the microprocessor further configured to output a low-level-force signal associated with the low-level-force command, the low-level-force signal including a force magnitude value; and
an actuator coupled to the microprocessor and configured to output haptic feedback based on the selected low-level-force signal.
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Specification