Voice interaction with and control of inspection equipment
First Claim
1. An inspection system interacting with a voice interface through speech and hearing comprising:
- at least one imperfection detection sensor with an output;
at least one computer having at least one imperfection detection interface, wherein said output is in communication with the computer, and wherein said at least one computer controls the induction of an excitation into a material being inspected and detects a response from the material, to the induced excitation, with said at least one imperfection detection sensor, and wherein said at least one computer converts said response into an inspection trace; and
at least one sound synthesizer, the computer being in data communication with said at least one sound synthesizer, wherein said inspection trace is communicated to said at least one sound synthesizer, and wherein the sound synthesizer produces, through psychoacoustic modeling, controlled by said at least one computer, audible sound identifying said inspection trace.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The non-destructive inspection equipment is provided with voice interaction to interface with the inspector and/or operator who preferably controls the inspection equipment and the inspection process, at least in part, through the use of voice control and by receiving audio and/or video feedback from the inspection equipment. The overall inspection quality is preferably substantially improved when the inspector and/or operator can focus entirely on the material under inspection while maintaining full control of the inspection equipment and the inspection process. The inspection equipment and its interfaces are adapted and fine-tuned for interaction with humans, particularly in a harsh noise industrial environment. Further, the voice interaction preferably allows the inspector and/or operator to operate the inspection equipment while wearing gloves or with dirty hands as he/she will not need to constantly physically manipulate the inspection equipment.
34 Citations
53 Claims
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1. An inspection system interacting with a voice interface through speech and hearing comprising:
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at least one imperfection detection sensor with an output; at least one computer having at least one imperfection detection interface, wherein said output is in communication with the computer, and wherein said at least one computer controls the induction of an excitation into a material being inspected and detects a response from the material, to the induced excitation, with said at least one imperfection detection sensor, and wherein said at least one computer converts said response into an inspection trace; and at least one sound synthesizer, the computer being in data communication with said at least one sound synthesizer, wherein said inspection trace is communicated to said at least one sound synthesizer, and wherein the sound synthesizer produces, through psychoacoustic modeling, controlled by said at least one computer, audible sound identifying said inspection trace. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An inspection system interacting with a voice interface through speech and hearing comprising:
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at least one imperfection detection sensor with an output; at least one computer having at least one imperfection detection interface, wherein said output is in communication with the computer, and wherein said at least one computer controls the induction of an excitation into a material being inspected and detects a response from the material, to the induced excitation, with said at least one imperfection detection sensor, and wherein said at least one computer converts said response into inspection trace; and at least one speech synthesizer, the computer being in data communication with said at least one speech synthesizer, wherein said inspection trace is communicated to said at least one speech synthesizer, and wherein the speech synthesizer produces, through psychoacoustic modeling, controlled by said at least one computer, recognizable speech describing said inspection trace. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An inspection system interacting with a voice interface through speech and hearing comprising:
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at least one imperfection detection sensor with an output; at least one computer having at least one imperfection detection interface, wherein said output is in communication with the computer; and at least one speech recognition engine, the computer being in data communication with said at least one speech recognition engine, wherein the speech recognition engine accepts and recognizes a voice input. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method of operating an inspection system with a voice interface comprising the steps of:
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establishing communication between at least one sound synthesizer and at least one computer; operating an imperfection detection sensor, wherein said at least one computer controls the induction of an excitation into a material being inspected and detects an inspection trace from the material, to the induced excitation, with said at least one imperfection detection sensor, wherein the detection sensor emits an electronic signal characterizing said inspection trace; converting the electronic signal into a digital signal; sending an output digital signal from said at least one computer to the sound synthesizer; using psychoacoustic modeling, controlled by said at least one computer, to convert said output digital signal to an audible sound identifying said inspection trace; and broadcasting said audible sound through a speaker. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method of operating an inspection system with a voice interface comprising the steps of:
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establishing communication between at least one speech synthesizer and at least one computer; operating an imperfection detection sensor, wherein said at least one computer controls the induction of an excitation into a material being inspected and detects an inspection trace from the material, to the induced excitation, with said at least one imperfection detection sensor, wherein the detection sensor emits an electronic signal characterizing said inspection trace; converting said electronic signal into a digital signal; sending an output digital signal from said at least one computer to the speech synthesizer; using psychoacoustic modeling, controlled by said at least one computer, to convert said output digital signal to a recognizable speech response describing said inspection trace; and broadcasting said recognizable speech response through a speaker. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of operating an inspection system with a voice interface comprising the steps of:
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establishing communication between at least one speech recognition engine and at least one computer; operating an imperfection detection sensor, wherein the detection sensor emits an electronic signal regarding an element to be inspected; converting the electronic signal into a digital signal; inputting the converted digital signal into the computer, speaking a command into at least one electroacoustic device, wherein said at least one electroacoustic device receives sound input from at least one source, and wherein said at least one electroacoustic device is in communication with the speech recognition engine; converting said spoken command into a digital signal; and inputting the converted digital signal into the computer, wherein the converted digital signal executes a command in the computer. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification