Ultrasound multi-zone hovering system

• US 9,189,108 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2013
• Issued: 11/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Li, Ren, Leviant, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Siddiqui, MD Saiful A
• Application Number:
  US13/972,613
• Publication Number:
  US 20150054794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-158, 345166-168, 345173-179, 178 1801- 1806, 178/19.02, 367/13, 367/180
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/46 Indirect determination of position data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/66 Sonar tracking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/876 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S15/872 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/878 wherein transceivers are operated, either sequentially or simultaneously, both in bi-static and in mono-static mode, e.g. cross-echo mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• 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 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/043 using propagating acoustic waves

Abstract

An acoustic tracking system for determining a position of an object is provided that includes one or more receivers that detect an object based on an acoustic signal transmitted by one or more transmitters. The system also includes a processing component that determines a relative position of the detected object with respect to the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters and selects at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters. Each selected pair includes a receiver from the one or more receivers and a transmitter from the one or more transmitters. The processing component also determines a position of the detected object using the selected at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.

Claims

1. A method of determining a position of an object, comprising:

detecting, by one or more receivers, an object based on an acoustic signal transmitted by one or more transmitters;

determining a relative position of the detected object with respect to the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters;

matching the determined relative position of the detected object to a zone among a plurality of zones, assigning a weight to at least one pair of receivers and transmitters based on the matched zone;

selecting, based in part on the assigned weight, at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters, having a greater assigned weight than another pair, wherein a first weight assigned to a first pair is greater than a second weight assigned to a second pair whenever an error reflection of the detected object relative to the first pair is less than an error reflection of the detected object relative to the second pair, each pair including a receiver from the one or more receivers and a transmitter from the one or more transmitters; and

determining a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object using the selected at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object includes applying a least square triangulation equation to the at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each matched zone, determining a zone type of the matched zone, wherein the assigning a weight to at least one pair of the three pairs of receivers and transmitters based on the matched zone includes assigning a weight based on the zone type of the matched zone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting includes detecting based on a reflected acoustic signal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each zone of the plurality of zones includes at least one receiver and at least one transmitter.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the acoustic signal is an ultrasound signal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters are attached to a mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the mobile device is at least one of a smartphone, tablet, personal digital assistant, and laptop.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters are disposed on a device having a screen.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the detecting includes detecting the object within a proximity of the screen.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

affecting operation of an application executing on the device based on the determined position of the object.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining a zone type of a zone of the plurality of zones, wherein the determining a zone type includes applying a first equation;

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining a zone type further includes applying a third equation:

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

applying an eighth equation;

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the hand is a left hand or a right hand.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

determining whether the object is located within a threshold of a boundary between two zones of the first zone type; and

when the object is determined to be located within the threshold of the boundary between two zones of the first zone type, assigning a second weight to at least one pair of receivers and transmitters,

wherein the determining a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object includes using the one or more second weights assigned to the at least one pair of receivers and transmitters.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object includes applying a weighted least square triangulation equation using the one or more second weights assigned to the at least one pair of receivers and transmitters.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

for a plurality of pairs of receivers and transmitters, determining a z-coordinate output based on the x- and y-coordinates of the three-dimensional coordinate position and further based on a location of the receiver in the respective pair and a location of the transmitter in the respective pair;

identifying a refined z-coordinate having a least change compared to one or more determined z-coordinate outputs; and

updating a z-coordinate of the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object with the identified refined z-coordinate.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the determining a z-coordinate includes applying a ninth equation:

R_i=sqrt[(x₂−

x_i)²+(y₂−

y_i)²⁺(z−

z_i)²]+sqrt[(x₂−

s_xi)²+(y₂−

s_yi)²⁺(z−

s_zi)²],

wherein (x_i, y_i, z_i) is equivalent to an i^th receiver location,

wherein (s_xi, s_yi, s_zi) is equivalent to an transmitter location,

wherein R_i is equivalent to a sum distance of a first distance between a location of the

i^th transmitter to the fingertip and a second distance between the fingertip to the i^th receiver,

wherein x₂ is an x-coordinate of the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object, and

wherein y₂ is a y-coordinate of the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

applying a filter equation to an updated three-dimensional coordinate position; and

determining a filtered three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object based on applying the filter equation.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the filter equation is a Kalman Smooth Filtering equation.

22. A system for determining a position of an object, comprising:

one or more receivers that detect an object based on an acoustic signal transmitted by one or more transmitters; and

a processing component that

determines a relative position of the detected object with respect to the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters, matches the relative position of the detected object to a zone among a plurality of zones, assigns a weight to at least one pair of receivers and transmitters based on the matched zone;

selects, based in part on the assigned weight, at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters, having a greater assigned weight than another pair, wherein a first weight assigned to a first pair is greater than a second weight assigned to a second pair whenever an error reflection of the detected object relative to the first pair is less than an error reflection of the detected object relative to the second pair, and

determines a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object using the selected at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters, wherein each selected pair includes a receiver from the one or more receivers and a transmitter from the one or more transmitters.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the processing component applies a least square triangulation equation to the at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the processing component assigns a weight to at least one pair of the three pairs of receivers and transmitters based on a zone type of the matched zone.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters are disposed on a device having a screen, and the processing component determines the relative position of the object with respect to the screen.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

an application controller that affects operation of an application executing on the device based on the determined three-dimensional coordinate position of the object.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein the processing component determines whether the object is located within a threshold of a boundary between two zones of a first zone type, wherein when the object is determined to be located within the threshold of the boundary between two zones of the first zone type, the processing component assigns a second weight to at least one pair of receivers and transmitters, and wherein a locator determines the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object using the one or more second weights assigned to the at least one pair of receivers and transmitters.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the processing component determines the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object by applying a weighted least square triangulation equation using the one or more second weights assigned to the at least one pair of receivers and transmitters.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein for a plurality of pairs of receivers and transmitters, the processing component determines a z-coordinate output based on the x- and y-coordinates of the three-dimensional coordinate position and further based on a location of the receiver in the respective pair and a location of the transmitter in the respective pair, and wherein the processing component identifies a refined z-coordinate having a least change compared to one or more determined z-coordinate outputs and updates a z-coordinate of the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object with the identified refined z-coordinate.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the processing component applies an equation equivalent to:

R_i=sqrt[(x₂−

x_i)²+(y₂−

y_i)²⁺(z−

z_i)²]+sqrt[(x₂−

s_xi)²+(y₂−

s_yi)²⁺(z−

s_zi)²],

wherein (x₁, y_i, z_i) is a location of an i^th receiver,

wherein (s_xi, s_yi, s_zi) is a location of an i^th transmitter,

wherein R_i is equivalent to a sum distance of a first distance between the location of the i^th transmitter to the fingertip and a second distance between the fingertip to the location of the i^th receiver,

wherein x₂ is an x-coordinate of the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object, and

wherein y₂ is a y-coordinate of the three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the processing component applies a filter equation to an updated three-dimensional coordinate position and determines a filtered three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the processing component applies a Kalman Smooth Filtering equation.

33. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters are attached to a mobile device.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the mobile device is at least one of a smartphone, tablet, personal digital assistant, and laptop.

35. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing operations, comprising:

detecting an object based on an acoustic signal transmitted by one or more transmitters;

determining a relative position of the detected object with respect to the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters;

matching the determined relative position of the detected object to a zone among a plurality of zones,

assigning a weight to at least one pair of receivers and transmitters based on the matched zone;

selecting, based in part on the assigned weight, at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters, having a greater assigned weight than another pair, wherein a first weight assigned to a first pair is greater than a second weight assigned to a second pair whenever an error reflection of the detected object relative to the first pair is less than an error reflection of the detected object relative to the second pair, each pair including a receiver from the one or more receivers and a transmitter from the one or more transmitters; and

determining a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object using the selected at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.

36. A system for determining a position of an object, comprising:

means for detecting an object based on an acoustic signal transmitted by one or more transmitters;

means for determining a relative position of the detected object with respect to the one or more receivers and the one or more transmitters;

means for matching the determined relative position of the detected object to a zone among a plurality of zones;

means for assigning a weight to at least one pair of receivers and transmitters based on the matched zone;

means for selecting, based in part on the assigned weight, at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters, having a greater assigned weight than another pair, wherein a first weight assigned to a first pair is greater than a second weight assigned to a second pair whenever an error reflection of the detected object relative to the first pair is less than an error reflection of the detected object relative to the second pair, each pair including a receiver from the one or more receivers and a transmitter from the one or more transmitters; and

means for determining a three-dimensional coordinate position of the detected object using the selected at least three pairs of receivers and transmitters.