Methods and systems for providing constant-feel, multi-axis tactile cues

• US 9,102,400 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2011
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Cherepinsky, Igor
• Primary Examiner(s): Santana, Eduardo Colon
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bouziane, Said
• Application Number:
  US13/278,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20130099064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 701 1-539, 244/223
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 13/503 Fly-by-Wire
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 13/507 with artificial feel

Abstract

A system for adjusting tactile cues includes a controller having an axis and a cross-axis; an axis tactile cue generated in response to the position of the controller along the axis; a position scaling unit scaling a cross-axis controller position to generate a scaled cross-axis controller position; a force scaling unit scaling a cross-axis controller force to generate a scaled cross-axis controller force; a combiner combining the scaled cross-axis controller position and the scaled cross-axis controller force to generate an adjustment factor; and an adjuster adjusting the axis tactile cue in response to the adjustment factor to generate an adjusted axis tactile cue.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting tactile cues for a controller having an axis and a cross-axis, the method comprising;

obtaining an axis tactile cue in response to a position of the controller along the axis;

scaling a cross-axis controller position to generate a scaled cross-axis controller position;

scaling a cross-axis controller force to generate a scaled cross-axis controller force;

combining the scaled cross-axis controller position and the scaled cross-axis controller force to generate an adjustment factor; and

adjusting the axis tactile cue in response to the adjustment factor to generate an adjusted axis tactile cue to be applied along the axis of the controller;

wherein the axis tactile cue has a depth and a width, and the adjusted axis tactile cue has one of an adjusted depth and an adjusted width;

wherein the axis and cross-axis are perpendicular;

wherein the controller is coupled to a servo, the servo coupled to a linkage to control a rotor of a rotary wing aircraft;

wherein the controller is coupled to the servo in a fly-by-wire system with no direct mechanical connection between the controller and the servo and with no direct mechanical connection between the controller and the linkage.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein scaling the cross-axis controller position is performed by a look up table indexing the scaled cross-axis controller position by the cross-axis controller position.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein scaling the cross-axis controller position is performed by a mathematical operation on the cross-axis controller position to generate the scaled cross-axis controller position.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein scaling the cross-axis controller force is performed by a look up table indexing the scaled cross-axis controller force by the cross-axis controller force.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein scaling the cross-axis controller force is performed by a mathematical operation on the cross-axis controller force to generate the scaled cross-axis controller force.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the combining includes summing the scaled cross-axis controller position with the scaled cross-axis controller force to generate the adjustment factor.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting includes multiplying the axis tactile cue by the adjustment factor to generate the adjusted axis tactile cue.

8. A system for adjusting tactile cues comprising:

a controller having an axis and a cross-axis;

an axis tactile cue generated in response to the position of the controller along the axis;

a position scaling unit scaling a cross-axis controller position to generate a scaled cross-axis controller position;

a force scaling unit scaling a cross-axis controller force to generate a scaled cross-axis controller force;

a combiner combining the scaled cross-axis controller position and the scaled cross-axis controller force to generate an adjustment factor; and

an adjuster adjusting the axis tactile cue in response to the adjustment factor to generate an adjusted axis tactile cue to be applied along the axis of the controller;

wherein the axis tactile cue has a depth and a width, and the adjusted axis tactile cue has one of an adjusted depth and an adjusted width;

wherein the axis and cross-axis are perpendicular;

wherein the controller is coupled to a servo, the servo coupled to a linkage to control a rotor of a rotary wing aircraft;

wherein the controller is coupled to the servo in a fly-by-wire system with no direct mechanical connection between the controller and the servo and with no direct mechanical connection between the controller and the linkage.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the position scaling unit is a look up table indexing the scaled cross-axis controller position by the cross-axis controller position.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein the position scaling unit performs a mathematical operation on the cross-axis controller position to generate the scaled cross-axis controller position.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the force scaling unit is a look up table indexing the scaled cross-axis controller force by the cross-axis controller force.

12. The system of claim 8 wherein the force scaling unit performs a mathematical operation on the cross-axis controller force to generate the scaled cross-axis controller force.

13. The system of claim 8 wherein the combiner is a summer summing the scaled cross-axis controller position with the scaled cross-axis controller force to generate the adjustment factor.

14. The system of claim 8 wherein the adjuster is a multiplier multiplying the axis tactile cue by the adjustment factor to generate the adjusted axis tactile cue.

15. The system of claim 8 wherein the axis tactile cue has a depth and a width, and the adjusted axis tactile cue has both an adjusted depth and an adjusted width.

16. The system of claim 8 wherein the axis corresponds to pitch and the cross-axis corresponds to roll.