Input apparatus, control apparatus, control system, and control method

• US 8,941,586 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2008
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Kazuyuki, Hachisu, Kenji, Kabasawa, Hidetoshi, Kumagai, Hideaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Tony N
• Application Number:
  US12/530,991
• Publication Number:
  US 20100103095A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,330 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-172
• US Class Current: 345/158
• 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 input apparatus, a control apparatus, a control system, and a control method that are capable of making a movement of a pointer on a screen a natural movement that matches an intuition of a user are provided. An input apparatus includes a casing, an acceleration sensor, and an angular velocity sensor. The acceleration sensor detects an acceleration value of the casing in a first direction. The angular velocity sensor detects an angular velocity about an axis in a second direction different from the first direction. Instead of calculating a velocity value of the casing by simply integrating the detected acceleration value, the velocity value of the casing in the first direction is calculated based on the acceleration value and the angular velocity value that have been detected. As a result, a highly-accurate calculation of the velocity value of the casing becomes possible, and a movement of a pointer on a screen becomes a natural movement that matches a sense of a user based on a displacement corresponding to the velocity value.

Claims

1. An input apparatus comprising:

a casing;

a sensor section including sensors consisting of

a first acceleration detection section to detect a first acceleration value a_x of the casing in a first direction x,

a first angle-related value detection section to detect a first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

as a value related to an angle of the casing about an axis in a second direction y different from the first direction x,

a second acceleration detection section to detect a second acceleration value a_y of the casing in the second directions y, and

a second angle-related value detection section to detect a second angular velocity value ω

_θ

as a value related to an angle about an axis in the first direction x; and

a calculation means for calculating a first velocity value V_x of the casing in the first direction x based on the detected first acceleration value a_x and the detected first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

detected, and for calculating a second velocity value V_y of the casing in the second direction y based on the detected second acceleration value a_y and the detected second angular velocity ω

_θ

value detected according to the following relationships

V_x=a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

*ω

_ψ

V_y=a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

*ω

_θ

wherein Δ

ω

_ψ

and Δ

ω

_θ

are the respective first and second direction angular velocity values that have been subjected to a differentiation operation, and

wherein a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

and a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

respectively represent radius gyrations of the casing about the axes in the second and first directions respectively, the radius gyrations representing distances between respective first and second center axes of rotation whose positions change with time and the respective first and second acceleration detection sections.

2. The input apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the calculation means calculates an angular acceleration change rate as a time change rate of an angular acceleration about the axis in the second direction based on the detected first angle-related value, calculates a value obtained by removing, from the first acceleration value, a low-frequency component containing at least a component value of a gravity acceleration, that acts on the first acceleration detection section, in the first direction, calculates an acceleration change rate as a time change rate of the value from which the low-frequency component has been removed, and calculates a ratio of the calculated acceleration change rate to the calculated angular acceleration change rate as the radius gyration.

3. An input apparatus to which operational information is input when a user moves the input apparatus three-dimensionally, the input apparatus comprising:

a sensor section including sensors consisting of

a first acceleration detection section to detect a first acceleration value of the casing in a first direction x,

a first acceleration detection section to detect a first acceleration value a_x of the casing in a first direction x,

a first angle-related value detection section to detect a first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

as a value related to an angle of the casing about an axis in a second direction y different from the first direction x,

a second acceleration detection section to detect a second acceleration value a_y of the casing in the second direction y, and

a second angle-related value detection section to detect a second angular velocity value ω

_θ

a value related to an angle about an axis in the first direction x; and

a distance calculation means for calculating a distance from an instant center of rotation of the input apparatus within a virtual plane including an axis along a first direction to the input apparatus, and for calculating, as the distance, a distance from the instant center of rotation of the input apparatus to the first acceleration detection section based on the first acceleration value and the first angle-related value; and

a velocity calculation means for calculating a first velocity value V_x of the casing in the first direction x based on the detected first acceleration value a_x and the detected first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

detected, and for calculating a second velocity value V_y of the casing in the second direction y based on the detected second acceleration value a_y and the detected second angular velocity ω

_θ

value detected according to the following relationships

V_x=a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

*ω

_ψ

V_y=a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

*ω

_θ

wherein Δ

ω

_ψ

and Δ

ω

_θ

are the respective first and second direction angular velocity values that have been subjected to a differentiation operation.

4. The input apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the distance calculation means calculates the distance based on an acceleration value in the first direction within the virtual plane, at two positions apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

5. A control apparatus for controlling display of a pointer displayed on a screen in accordance with information transmitted from an input apparatus including a casing, a sensor section including sensors consisting of a first acceleration detection section to detect a first acceleration value of the casing in a first direction x, a first angle-related value detection section to detect a first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

as a value related to an angle of the casing about an axis in a second direction y different from the first direction x, a second acceleration detection section to detect a second acceleration value a_y of the casing in the second direction y, and a second angle-related value detection section to detect a second angular velocity value ω

_θ

as a value related to an angle about an axis in the first direction x, and a transmission means for transmitting the information on the first acceleration value and the first angle-related value, the control apparatus comprising;

a reception means for receiving the transmitted information on the first acceleration value and the first angle-related value;

a calculation means for calculating a first velocity value V_x of the casing in the first direction x based on the detected first acceleration value a_x and the detected first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

detected, and for calculating a second velocity value V_y of the casing in the second direction y based on the detected second acceleration value a_y and the detected second angular velocity ω

_θ

value detected according to the following relationships

V_x=a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

*ω

_ψ

V_y=a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

*ω

_θ

and

a coordinate information generation means for generating coordinate information of the pointer on the screen, that corresponds to the calculated first velocity value,

wherein Δ

ω

_ψ

and Δ

ω

_θ

are the respective first and second direction angular velocity values that have been subjected to a differentiation operation, and

wherein a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

and a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

respectively represent radius gyrations of the casing about the axes in the second and first directions respectively, the radius gyrations representing distances between respective first and second center axes of rotation whose positions change with time and the respective first and second acceleration detection sections.

6. A control system comprising:

an input apparatus including

a casing,

a sensor section including sensors consisting of

a first acceleration detection section to detect a first acceleration value of the casing in a first direction x,

a first angle-related value detection section to detect a first angular velocity value a_x as a value related to an angle of the casing about an axis in a second direction y different from the first direction x,

a second acceleration detection section to detect a second acceleration value a_y of the casing in the second direction y, and

a second angle-related value detection section to detect a second angular velocity value ω

_θ

as a value related to an angle about an axis in the first direction x,

a calculation means for calculating a first velocity value V_x of the casing in the first direction x based on the detected first acceleration value a_x and the detected first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

detected, and for calculating a second velocity value V_y of the casing in the second direction y based on the detected second acceleration value a_y and the detected second angular velocity ω

_θ

value detected according to the following relationships

V_x=a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

*ω

_ψ

V_y=a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

*ω

_θ

and

a transmission means for transmitting information on the calculated first velocity value; and

a control apparatus including

a reception means for receiving the transmitted information on the first velocity value, and

a coordinate information generation means for generating coordinate information of a pointer on a screen, that corresponds to the received first velocity value,

wherein Δ

ω

_ψ

and Δ

ω

_θ

are the respective first and second direction angular velocity values that have been subjected to a differentiation operation, and

wherein a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

and a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

respectively represent radius gyrations of the casing about the axes in the second and first directions respectively, the radius gyrations representing distances between respective first and second center axes of rotation whose positions change with time and the respective first and second acceleration detection sections.

7. A control system comprising:

an input apparatus including

a casing,

a sensor section including sensors consisting of

a first acceleration detection section to detect a first acceleration value a_x of the casing in a first direction x,

a first angle-related value detection section to detect a first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

as a value related to an angle of the casing about an axis in a second direction y different from the first direction x,

a second acceleration detection section to detect a second acceleration value a_y of the casing in the second direction y, and

a second angle-related value detection section to detect a second angular velocity value ω

_θ

as a value related to an angle about an axis in the first direction x,

a transmission means for transmitting information on the first acceleration value and the first angle-related value; and

a control apparatus including

a reception means for receiving the transmitted information on the first acceleration value and the first angle-related value,

a calculation means for calculating a first velocity value V_x of the casing in the first direction x based on the detected first acceleration value a_x and the detected first angular velocity value ω

_ψ

detected, and for calculating a second velocity value V_y of the casing in the second direction y based on the detected second acceleration value a_y and the detected second angular velocity ω

_θ

value detected according to the following relationships

V_x=a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

*ω

_ψ

V_y=a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

*ω

_θ

and

a coordinate information generation means for generating coordinate information of a pointer on a screen, that corresponds to the calculated first velocity value,

wherein a_x/Δ

ω

_ψ

and a_y/Δ

ω

_θ

respectively represent radius gyrations of the casing about the axes in the second and first directions respectively, the radius gyrations representing distances between respective first and second center axes of rotation whose positions change with time and the respective first and second acceleration detection sections.