Inertia sensing module

• US 8,042,391 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2008
• Issued: 10/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: THINKAR PTE. LTD.
• Original Assignee: CyWee Group Ltd.
• Inventors: Ye, Zhou
• Primary Examiner(s): Kwok; Helen C
• Application Number:
  US12/285,192
• Publication Number:
  US 20100077857A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,120 Days
• Field of Search: 734/93, 73510-511, 734/31, 735/141.6, 73488-489, 734/95, 702/141, 345156-158, 345/162, 345/173, 463 36- 37
• US Class Current: 73/493
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/105 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/166 Mechanical, construction or arrangement details of inertial navigation systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors

Abstract

An inertia sensing module is connected to a portable electronic device. The inertia sensing module includes an accelerometer unit for generating at least one of acceleration sensing signals a_x, a_y, a_z corresponding to the directions of X, Y, Z respectively; a gyroscope unit for generating at least one of angular rate sensing signals ω_x, ω_y, ω_z corresponding to the axes of X, Y, Z respectively; and a connector module having a plug that is inserted into a docking connector of the portable electronic device. With the inertia sensing module being connected to or disconnected from the portable electronic device, a user can control a specific cursor or graphic user interface on a picture of an electronic game player via his/her own motions.

Claims

1. An inertia sensing module connected to a portable electronic device, the portable electronic device comprising a docking connector, a microprocessor control unit (MCU) and a wireless signal transmission unit, the inertia sensing module comprising:

an accelerometer unit for generating at least one of acceleration sensing signals a_x, a_y and a_z, corresponding to the directions X, Y, Z respectively, when the accelerometer unit is subjected to accelerations in the directions X, Y and Z;

a gyroscope unit for generating at least one of angular rate sensing signals ω

_x, ω

_y, ω

_z corresponding to the rotational axes X, Y, Z, respectively, when subjected to angular rates along the rotational axes X, Y, Z; and

a connector module having a plug that is mechanically inserted into and electrically connecting to the docking connector of the portable electronic device; and

a memory module, electrically connected to the accelerometer unit and the gyroscope unit for receiving and storing the acceleration, angular rate sensing signals, and at least one of motion habits for different users;

thereby the plug of the connector module is mechanically and electrically connected to the docking connector for transmitting the acceleration and angular rate sensing signals between the memory module of the inertia sensing module and the portable electronic device;

the microprocessor control unit receives the at least one of acceleration sensing signals generated by the accelerometer unit and the at least one of angular rate sensing signals generated by the gyroscope unit, converts these acceleration sensing signals and angular rate sensing signals into digital sensing signals, and generates control signals based on the digital sensing signals, and improves sensitivity of the control signals by the motion habits of different users;

the control signals are outputted in order to control a cursor or graphic user interface on a display of an electronic game player via the wireless signal transmission unit of the portable electronic device.