Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display peripheral interface input device
Patent
1997-03-28
2000-12-05
Chow, Dennis-Doon
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display peripheral interface input device
345157, 345158, 345166, 345 8, 250221, G09G 500
Patent
active
06157368&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a control equipment, having a movable control member arranged to be actuated by an operator, and arranged to emit a number of control signals, dependent on the position and/or orientation of the control member, in order to control an object.
Control equipment of the type to which the invention relates can be used for controlling arbitrary equipment or processes. Examples of applications are the control of computer equipment and displays and the control of industrial robots.
In this application the term "control" covers any type of influence exerted by an operator on a device, equipment or process. The term thus includes, e.g. the hand of a real or simulated industrial robot when programming the robot, menu display,
Thus in this application the terms "control member", "control equipment", "control signal", etc. refer in a corresponding manner to members, equipment, signals, etc. for effecting "control" or which are used in connection with "control".
A three-dimensional object can have up to six degrees of freedom, three translations xyz and three angles .alpha., .beta., .delta. of rotation. The "position xyz" of the object--in the sense of the concept as used in the present application--is defined by the three magnitudes specifying translations in relation to the origo of the coordinate system under consideration. The "orientation" .alpha.,.beta.,.delta. of the object--in the sense of the concept as used in the present application--is defined by the three magnitudes specifying the angles of rotation in the coordinate system.
In practice an object often has fewer than six degrees of freedom. A cursor on a computer display, for instance, usually has two degrees of freedom. Its orientation is constant (or irrelevant), and its position is characterized by two variables. Similarly a three-dimensional object may have such limitations that it has fewer than six degrees of freedom. A block, for instance, movable on a table has three degrees of freedom--two variables indicate its position on the table and one variable its orientation (i.e. its angle of rotation around an axis perpendicular to the table). As will be shown below, a typical control equipment according to the invention enables control in six degrees of freedom. However, such equipment can also be used with advantage for controlling objects having fewer than six degrees of freedom.
The term "degree of freedom" of a controlled object does not refer here only to the conventional concept of the degree of freedom of a mechanical object or system, but in general to a variable of the controlled object which can be influenced by the control equipment. A degree of freedom of a controlled object may thus comprise a physical magnitude, such as position along a certain coordinate axis, angle of rotation, velocity in a certain direction, flux or temperature, or some other arbitrary magnitude or function that can be influenced.
The term "optical signals" in this application relates to signals consisting of, or making use of, optical radiation both within and outside the visible wavelength band.
BACKGROUND ART
Two types of known control means enabling simultaneous control in more than a single degree of freedom are a joystick and a mouse of the type used for controlling computers. However, these control means have several drawbacks.
A mouse thus permits simultaneous control in only two degrees of freedom.
A joystick has also normally only two degrees of freedom. However, such a stick can be designed for control in three or possibly even more degrees of freedom. However, when using a joystick with more than two degrees of freedom it is difficult or impossible to achieve good accuracy of control and it is also difficult for the operator to coordinate movements of the joystick with movements of the controlled object.
If control is required in more degrees of freedom than two (or possibly three), as is often the case, the mouse or joystick can, in a manner known per se, be switched between control of different sets of d
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patent: 5706026 (1998-01-01), Kent et al.
patent: 5850201 (1998-12-01), Lasko-Harvill et al.
Awad Amr
Chow Dennis-Doon
LandOfFree
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