E-field sensor arrays for interactive gaming, computer interfaces, machine vision, medical imaging, and geological exploration CIP

• US 8,810,249 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2010
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Thomas G. Cehelnik
• Original Assignee: Thomas G. Cehelnik
• Inventors: Cehelnik, Thomas G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Huy Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rhodes-Vivour, Temilade S
• Application Number:
  US12/661,824
• Publication Number:
  US 20100253319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,611 Days
• Field of Search: 324/457, 324663-688
• US Class Current: 324/457
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 29/12 Measuring electrostatic fields or voltage-potential
• 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 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes

Abstract

A 3D Motional Command System (MCS) is disclosed for interactive gaming, computer interfaces, communications, imaging, and geological exploration. The system can perform standoff gesture recognition and also function as touch-screens. E-field sensors and array topologies are disclosed comprised of FET discrete transistors. The designs facilitate the fabrication of high density sensor arrays similar to LCD displays. The system can be used in portable and wearable electronic devices. Uses are for PC computers, portable devices, and gaming systems such as the Wii. Other applications include wireless connection of sensor and audio data from a simple headphone jack output.

Claims

1. A device for detecting the presence and proximity, or the motion of interest of a user'"'"'s body within a sensing area of the device, comprising:

a first sensing electrode for sensing an AC electric potential produced by an electric field within the sensing area;

a power supply providing a DC voltage source and a common reference voltage;

a field effect transistor (FET) having a gate with high input impedance of approximately 1 GOhm or greater;

having with a wherein the gate junction is electrically coupled to the sensing electrode by a high input impedance gate bias circuit;

and the FET is configured as an amplifier having an output signal from the FET that is further filtered by a circuit to suppress substantially low frequency noise from body movements and power mains noise and harmonics while passing the signals of interest to a sensor output wherein the signals of interest are representative of the electrical potential sensed on the sensing electrode measured relative to the common reference voltage;

a high input impedance gate bias circuit for controlling the electric AC and DC potential on the gate junction to ensure the stability and linearity of the amplifier and to maintain the sensitivity of the amplifier to the electric potential on the sensing electrode thus such that together with the FET amplifier creates a high input impedance amplifier;

wherein the gate bias circuit is configured to provide attenuation and with a series resistor; and

with an effective amount of equivalent AC shunt resistance greater than 2.5 MegaOhm;

chosen to provide substantial FET amplifier sensitivity to signals of interest within the electric potential sensed, so when combined with the properties of the sensing first electrode and the FET suppress the substantially low frequency noise caused from body movement, from being overly sensed by the FET amplifier, thus resulting in a filtered FET amplifier output passing signals of interest occurring at AC audio frequencies and higher frequencies while maintaining the high input impedance of 2.5 MOhm or greater;

a DC bias circuit for controlling the flow of current through the FET from the DC voltage source to the common reference voltage; and

a processor for performing computing, interpreting results and providing a response; and

the sensor output is sampled by an analog to digital convertor and digitally filtered (digitally or by circuitry) to pass frequencies contained within the signal of interest to a detector that recognizes the signal of interest by using a signal recognition algorithm in a computation by the processor; and

an AC signal source adapted to a transmit electrode to generate an AC electric field in the sensing area, and wherein an AC signal of interest being sensed by the sensing electrode includes the AC electric field from the AC signal source; and

when the processor recognizes the signal of interest it provides an indication of the proximity of the transmit electrode to the sensing electrode.

2. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 1;

whereby as the user moves a body part toward the transmit or first sensing electrodes within the sensing area causes the AC signal to experience a signal change; and

a means for recognizing the signal change with the user'"'"'s body presence or motion of interest by using the sensed AC signal; and

a means of issuing a control signal indicative of the user'"'"'s body presence or motion of interest within the sensing area.

3. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 1, wherein the gate bias circuit comprises a capacitor located between the sensing electrode and the gate of the FET and furthermore results in the high pass filtering of the signal of interest that reaches the gate of the FET.

4. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 1, wherein the AC signal source adapted to generate the AC electric field in the sensing area is electrically coupled to the user'"'"'s body.

5. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 1 , wherein the area in which presence or motion is to be detected is an area surrounding a device to be controlled by motion of a user, wherein the AC signal source is coupled to the user so the AC signal from the AC signal source generated in the area is generated through the user;

wherein variations in the AC signal from the AC signal source being sensed by the E-field sensing antenna indicates said presence or motion of the user in the area, and wherein particular sensed variations in the AC signal from the AC signal source provide control signals for controlling the device to be controlled.

6. A device for detecting presence and proximity, or motion of interest of a user'"'"'s body within a sensing area of the device in accordance with claim 1 additionally including;

a second sensing electrode for conducting the electric potential due to the presence of an electric field in a sensing area;

a second high input impedance amplifier having its input coupled to the second sensing electrode and having a second amplifier output representative of the electric potential on the second sensing electrode;

an second electrical bias network for controlling the stability of the second high input impedance amplifier by controlling the bias currents to keep the second amplifier output representative to changes in the electric potential on the second sensing electrode;

and the output of the second amplifier is coupled to a signal filter to pass audio frequencies to an output;

whereby a receiver processes the output as a signal representative of the information produced by the electric field in the sensing area by creating a difference signal obtained by forming a difference operation between the high input impedance amplifier output and the second high impedance amplifier output;

thus providing a difference signal representative of the AC electric field between the sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode; and

the signal change of the sensed AC signal includes the difference signal.

7. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 1, additionally including a difference circuit for reducing common-mode signals between the amplifier output and the common reference voltage;

whereby when the user'"'"'s body is making electrical contact with the common reference voltage results is the suppression of the substantial low frequency interference produced as the user'"'"'s body moves , and step and shuffling their feet.

8. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 7, additionally including a high pass filter coupling the amplifier output to the input of the difference circuit.

9. A device for detecting presence or motion of interest in a sensing area according to claim 1;

where in the AC signal source is in the frequency range of the receiving sensor and produces a modulated signal of interest; and

the transmit electrode and the sensing electrode are further electrically coupled to one another by the conductivity of the user'"'"'s body; and

the processor provides the demodulated signal as the indication of proximity between the user and the sensing electrode.

10. A device for detecting presence and proximity, or motion of interest of a user'"'"'s body within a sensing area of the device in accordance with claim 6 wherein a metric is calculated by a processor as a ratio of the representation of the AC power of the output of the first sensor output to the difference signal level and this ratio is used as the means of recognizing the signal change with the user'"'"'s body presence or motion of interest wherein the AC signal source is coupled to the user'"'"'s body.

11. A device for detecting presence and proximity, or motion of interest of a user'"'"'s body within a sensing area of the device in accordance with claim 10 wherein a representation of the AC power of the sensed AC signal as represented by output of at least one of_the high input impedance amplifiers and the difference signal are used as a metric which is the means of recognizing the signal change of the sensed AC signal with the user'"'"'s body presence or motion of interest.

12. A device as in claim 10 additionally including a processor for processing and using a range metric computed as a representation or approximation of the ratio of the average output power from the two sensors to the difference of powers to give an approximate linear representation of the distance of the AC signal source location.

13. A device as in claim 9 where the modulated signal is in the audio frequency range.

14. A device as in claim 13 wherein the signal source audio modulation is produced by a sound player device.

15. A device as in claim 14 wherein the sound player device is a computing device'"'"'s digital sound card player output.

16. A device as in claim 15, wherein the computing device is a mobile computing device.

17. A device as in claim 9 wherein the audio is recorded in a digital audio recording device instead of a standalone ADC device.

18. A device as in claim 17 where the audio recording device is a computing device'"'"'s digital sound card recorder.

19. A device as in claim 18, wherein the computing device is a mobile computing device.

20. A device as in claim 19, wherein the password or key is used to activate a device by knowing the audio signal is short range thus knowing the creator of the signal source is in close proximity of the receiving first sense electrode.

21. A device as in claim 9 when the modulation contains a message containing digital password or key.