Storage medium having information processing program stored thereon, information processing device, information processing system, and attitude calculation method

• US 9,201,526 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2012
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Ohta, Keizo
• Primary Examiner(s): COSIMANO, EDWARD R
• Application Number:
  US13/664,804
• Publication Number:
  US 20140025332A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,126 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/21 characterised by their sensors, purposes or types
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/217 using environment-related information, i.e. information generated otherwise than by the player, e.g. ambient temperature or humidity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/428 involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 7/00 Measuring arrangements characterised by the use of electric or magnetic techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/40 Data acquisition and logging for input to computer G06F3/00
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

An example information processing device calculates an attitude of an input unit having a magnetic sensor. The information processing device repeatedly obtains detected magnetic vectors detected by the magnetic sensor. The information processing device repeatedly estimates a center position of a spherical body having a curved surface which is estimated based on end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors. The attitude of the input unit is calculated based on a direction vector representing a direction from the center position to the end point position of the detected magnetic vector. Each time a detected magnetic vector is obtained, the information processing device updates the center position so that at least some of lengths from the center position to end points of the detected magnetic vectors used for the estimation of the center position are brought closer to an average between the lengths.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an information processing program to be executed by a computer of an information processing device for calculating an attitude of an input unit having a magnetic sensor that is structurally part of or related to the input unit, the information processing program configuring the computer to execute:

repeatedly obtaining detected magnetic vectors detected by the magnetic sensor;

repeatedly estimating a center position of a spherical body having a curved surface which is estimated based on end point positions of the obtained detected magnetic vectors; and

calculating the attitude of the input unit based on a direction vector representing a direction from the estimated center position to the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors,

wherein each time a detected magnetic vector is obtained, the center position is updated so that at least some of lengths from the center position to end points of the detected magnetic vectors used for the estimation of the center position are brought closer to an average between the lengths.

2. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to calculate the attitude while relatively decreasing an influence of a newly-obtained detected magnetic vector as an amount of change of the center position before and after an update is larger.

3. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to calculate attitude while relatively decreasing an influence of a newly-obtained detected magnetic vector as dispersion between lengths from a current center position to the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors used for the estimation of the center position is larger.

4. The storage medium according to claim 1, wherein in response to a predetermined condition satisfied by the detected magnetic vectors, the center position is estimated based on the detected magnetic vectors.

5. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined condition is that an area that includes therein the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors has become larger than a predetermined size.

6. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined condition is that directions of the detected magnetic vectors have been spread wider than a predetermined range.

7. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to, in response to the predetermined condition, set an initial center position at a position on an inner side of the curved surface which is estimated based on the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors.

8. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to set an initial center position inside an area determined so as to include the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors.

9. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to set an initial center position inside a rectangular parallelepiped of a smallest size that includes the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors.

10. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to set an initial center position at a centroid position among the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors.

11. The storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the information processing program further configures the computer to calculate the attitude of the input unit based on the direction vector at least on a condition that the predetermined condition is satisfied.

12. An information processing device for calculating an attitude of an input unit having a magnetic sensor structurally part of or related to the input unit, comprising:

an obtaining unit for repeatedly obtaining detected magnetic vectors detected by the magnetic sensor;

a center estimation unit for estimating a center position of a spherical body having a curved surface which is estimated based on end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors; and

an attitude calculation unit for calculating the attitude of the input unit based on a direction vector representing a direction from the center position to the end point position of the detected magnetic vector,

wherein each time a detected magnetic vector is obtained, the center estimation unit updates the center position so that at least some of lengths from the center position to end points of the detected magnetic vectors used for the estimation of the center position are brought closer to an average between the lengths.

13. An information processing system for calculating an attitude of an input unit having a magnetic sensor that is structurally part of or related to the input unit, comprising:

an input circuit configured to repeatedly obtain detected magnetic vectors detected by the magnetic sensor;

a center position calculator configured to estimate a center position of a spherical body having a curved surface which is estimated based on end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors; and

an attitude calculator configured to calculate the attitude of the input unit based on a direction vector representing a direction from the center position to the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors,

wherein each time a detected magnetic vector is obtained, the center position calculator updates the center position so that at least some of lengths from the center position to end points of the detected magnetic vectors used for the estimation of the center position are brought closer to an average between the lengths.

14. An attitude calculation method for calculating an attitude of an input unit having a magnetic sensor that is structurally part of or related to the input unit, comprising:

repeatedly obtaining detected magnetic vectors detected by the magnetic sensor;

estimating a center position of a spherical body having a curved surface which is estimated based on end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors; and

calculating the attitude of the input unit based on a direction vector representing a direction from the center position to the end point positions of the detected magnetic vectors,

wherein each time a detected magnetic vector is obtained, the center position is updated so that at least some of lengths from the center position to end points of the detected magnetic vectors used for the estimation of the center position are brought closer to an average between the lengths.