U.S. patent application number 12/205923 was filed with the patent office on 2009-04-16 for electronic toy capable of emotion displaying using an emotion unit.
This patent application is currently assigned to HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO.,LTD.. Invention is credited to HUA-DONG CHENG, TSU-LI CHIANG, KUAN-HONG HSIEH, XIAO-GUANG LI, HAN-CHE WANG.
Application Number | 20090098792 12/205923 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40534698 |
Filed Date | 2009-04-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090098792 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHENG; HUA-DONG ; et
al. |
April 16, 2009 |
ELECTRONIC TOY CAPABLE OF EMOTION DISPLAYING USING AN EMOTION
UNIT
Abstract
An electronic toy capable of displaying emotions is provided in
the present disclosure. The electronic toy includes an emission
unit for displaying an emotion of the electronic toy, and a memory
system for storing a color-emotion table recording a relationship
between the emotion of the electronic toy and different colored
light emitted by the emission unit. A controller is electrically
connected with the emission unit for turning on or turning off
elements of the emission unit according to the relationship between
the emotion and the different colored light emitted by emission
unit. In particular, the emission unit typically includes three
lamps emitting light of three primary colors, and a light mixer,
wherein the light mixer mixes the primary color light emitted by
the lamps.
Inventors: |
CHENG; HUA-DONG; (Shenzhen
City, CN) ; CHIANG; TSU-LI; (Tu-Cheng, TW) ;
WANG; HAN-CHE; (Tu-Cheng, TW) ; LI; XIAO-GUANG;
(Shenzhen City, CN) ; HSIEH; KUAN-HONG; (Tu-Cheng,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PCE INDUSTRY, INC.;ATT. Steven Reiss
458 E. LAMBERT ROAD
FULLERTON
CA
92835
US
|
Assignee: |
HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY
(ShenZhen) CO.,LTD.
Shenzhen City
CN
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
Tu-Cheng
TW
|
Family ID: |
40534698 |
Appl. No.: |
12/205923 |
Filed: |
September 8, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/219 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 2200/00 20130101;
A63H 3/365 20130101; A63H 3/28 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
446/219 |
International
Class: |
A63H 33/22 20060101
A63H033/22 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 12, 2007 |
CN |
200710123911.3 |
Claims
1. An electronic toy capable of displaying emotions, the electronic
toy comprising: an emission unit configured for displaying an
emotion of the electronic toy, wherein the emission unit comprises
lamps capable of emitting light of at least three primary colors,
wherein the emission unit further comprises a light mixer
configured for mixing at least one color of the at least three
primary colors emitted by the lamps into a displayed light, wherein
the light displayed corresponds to an emotion of the electronic
toy; a memory system configured for storing a color-emotion table,
wherein the color-emotion table is configured for recording a
relationship between the emotion of the electronic toy and the
primary colors of light emitted by the emission unit; and a
controller, electrically connected with the emission unit,
configured for turning on or turning off the lamps according to the
relationship between the emotion and the primary colors of light
emitted by the emission unit.
2. The electronic toy according to claim 1, wherein the lamps
comprise a red lamp, a green lamp, and a blue lamp.
3. The electronic toy according to claim 2, wherein the
color-emotion table is further configured for recording a
relationship between at least one emotion, at least one color, and
at least one emission time length, wherein the emotion is defined
by the displayed light emitted by at least one of the lamps,
wherein the emotion is further defined by the at least one emission
time length of at least one of the lamps.
4. The electronic toy according to claim 3, further comprising a
micro control unit (MCU), wherein the MCU accesses the
color-emotion table to obtain the at least one emission time length
according to the emotion and transmits the emission time length to
the controller.
5. The electronic toy according to claim 4, wherein the controller
controls the lamps to emit at least one colored light with at least
one intensity, wherein the intensity corresponds to the emission
time length.
6. The electronic toy according to claim 5, wherein the light mixer
mixes the at least one colored light with the at least one
intensity to generate a resultant colored light to display the
emotion.
7. A method of displaying an emotion for an electronic toy, wherein
the toy comprises a plurality of lamps, the method comprising:
determining an emotion of the electronic toy; accessing a
color-emotion table to obtain at least one emission time length
according to the emotion; turning on or turning off at least one
lamp according to the at least one emission time length; emitting
different colored light with different intensities according to the
at least one emission time length; and mixing the different colored
light to generate a resultant color light to display the emotion of
the electronic toy.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the lamps emit light of
three primary colors.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an
electronic toy, and more particularly to a system and a method for
displaying an emotion of an electronic toy using an emotion
unit.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Nowadays, many electronic toys are intelligent. Electronic
toys can walk, speak, and display different emotions by obtaining
ambient information (for example, light, sound, temperature, and
actions) and internal information (for example, power supply, and
body temperature). In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,203, U.S.
Pat. No. 6,442,450, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,593 disclose toys
capable of changing their own emotion by apperceiving external
or/and internal information.
[0005] In another example, toys can display different emotions by
emitting different colored lights. For instance, a toy named "iCat"
is produced by the Japanese company, Segway. The iCat employs the
use of seven pieces of triple-color LEDs positioned on a face of
the iCat in order to emit different colors corresponding to
different emotions.
[0006] The iCat only emits a simple color by one or more
triple-color LEDs to display one kind of emotion at one time. The
iCat cannot change the color of the triple-color LEDs during an
action according to the one kind of emotion.
SUMMARY
[0007] In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known
electronic toys present before, the present invention provides an
electronic toy capable of displaying an emotion using an emission
unit.
[0008] The electronic toy includes an emission unit, a memory
system, and a controller capable of displaying an emotion of the
electronic toy. The emission unit includes lamps capable of
emitting light of at least three primary colors and a light mixer
configured for mixing at least one color of the at least three
primary colors emitted by the lamps into a displayed light
corresponding to an emotion of the electronic toy. The memory
system is configured for storing a color-emotion table, wherein the
color-emotion table is configured for recording a relationship
between the emotion of the electronic toy and the primary colors of
light emitted by the emission unit. The controller, electrically
connected with the emission unit, is configured for turning on or
turning off the lamps according to the relationship between the
emotion and the primary colors of light emitted by the emission
unit.
[0009] A method of displaying an emotion for an electronic toy by a
plurality of lamps includes the following steps: determining an
emotion of the electronic toy; accessing a color-emotion table to
obtain at least one emission time length according to the emotion;
turning on or turning off at least one lamp according to the at
least one emission time length; emitting different colored light
with different intensities according to the at least one emission
time length; and mixing the different colored light to generate a
resultant color light to display the emotion of the electronic
toy.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic
toy capable of displaying an emotion of the present disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 2 is one embodiment of a color-emotion table stored in
a memory of the electronic toy of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is one embodiment of time waveforms of a red lamp, a
blue lamp, and a red lamp of the electronic toy of FIG. 1; and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method to
express an emotion by the electronic toy of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic
toy 1 capable of displaying an emotion of the present disclosure.
The electronic toy 1 includes a micro control unit (MCU) 10, a
memory 20, an ambient sensor unit 30, a controller 40, an output
unit 50, an emission unit 60, and an internal sensor unit 70.
[0015] The ambient sensor unit 30 is configured for apperceiving
external information from a surrounding environment of the
electronic toy. Based on the external information received by the
ambient sensor unit 30, the electronic toy may display one or more
emotions as will be further explained herein. In one embodiment,
the ambient sensor unit 30 includes, but is not limited to, an
image sensor, a sound sensor, and a touch sensor, for example, for
detecting brightness, sound, and pressure, respectively. The
ambient sensor unit 30 may further or alternatively include other
sensory elements. In one example, in order to imitate a live pet,
at least one sensor from the ambient sensor 30 may be appropriately
placed in predetermined positions in or around the electronic toy
1. For example, image sensors can be positioned inside an eye of
the electronic toy 1, sound sensors can be positioned in an ear of
the electronic toy 1, and touch sensors can be positioned around
the neck and the stomach of the electronic toy 1.
[0016] The internal sensor unit 70 is configured for apperceiving
internal information about the electronic toy 1. Based on the
internal information from the electronic toy 1, the internal sensor
unit 70 may correspond with the MCU 10 and/or other components of
the electronic toy 1 in order to control and/or operate the
electronic toy 1. In one embodiment, the internal sensor unit 70
includes, but is not limited to, a battery sensor, a heat sensor,
and a time senor, for example, for detecting a battery power, a
body temperature, or a system time, respectively, of the electronic
toy 1. In one embodiment, the internal sensor unit 70 may be
positioned inside the electronic toy 1.
[0017] The output unit 50 is configured for moving the electronic
toy 1 and/or outputting audible sound to an environment external to
the electronic toy 1. In one embodiment, the output unit 50
includes at least one speaker, such as a speaker 51 for outputting
audible sound, and a plurality of motors, such as a motor 52 for
driving the electronic toy 1 to move or to perform actions. In one
embodiment, the speaker 51 can be positioned in the mouth of the
electronic toy 1.
[0018] The MCU 10 is configured for obtaining ambient condition
information based on the ambient sensor unit 30, and is further
configured to obtain body characteristic information based on the
internal sensor unit 70. Because the MCU 10 is a well-known
technology on how the electronic toy 1 determines an action
according to the characteristics detected by the ambient sensor
unit 30 and/or the internal sensor unit 70, embodiments of the
present disclosure omit detailed analysis of how the electronic toy
1 performs these actions. Rather, embodiments of the present
disclosure detail how the electronic toy 1 emits different colored
lights under the control of and according to the MCU 10 and the
emission unit 60.
[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the emission unit 60 includes a
plurality of lamps, such as a red lamp 61, a green lamp 62, and a
blue lamp 63. Furthermore, the emission unit 60 includes a light
mixer 64. The red lamp 60 emits red colored light, the green lamp
62 emits green colored light, and the blue lamp 63 emits blue
colored light. Other lamps that emit other colors of light
corresponding to various wavelengths in the visible light spectrum
can instead be employed. Depending on the embodiment, the lamps 61,
62, 63 can be light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other lamps capable
of emitting light of three primary colors (i.e., red, green, and
blue). The light mixer 64 mixes the different colored light emitted
by the lamps to produce a resulting color that may be used for
displaying emotions of the electronic toy 1. In one particular
embodiment, the light mixer 64 may be a piece of glass positioned
on the lamps 61, 62, 63. It may be appreciated that different
colored lamps may comprise the emission unit 60 in addition to the
red lamp 61, the green lam 62, and the blue lamp 63. For example, a
cyan colored lamp, a magenta colored lamp, a yellow colored lamp,
and a key colored lamp (e.g. black) may comprise the emission unit
60.
[0020] The memory 20 is typically a memory system that is
configured to record a relationship between an emotion and at least
one colored light emitted from the emission unit 60. Depending on
the embodiment, the memory 20 may include flash-based memory or any
other static or dynamic memory system.
[0021] In one embodiment, the memory 20 includes a color-emotion
table 21 as shown in FIG. 2. The color-emotion table 21 may be used
to correspond an emotion type column 22 with a color column 23, and
with an emission time length column 24. The emotion type column 22
may be used to correspond to an emotion, such as a sleepy emotion
or a hungry emotion, for example. The color column 23 may be used
to link a color corresponding to the emotion type column 22 such
that each emotion, from the emotion type column 22, has a
corresponding color. The emission time length column 24 may be used
to link a unit of time of one or more LEDs corresponding to a color
in the color column 23. For example, in order for the electronic
toy 1 to express a feeling of sleepiness, a purple color would be
displayed by the light mixer unit 60. To display the color purple
by the light mixer unit 60, the red LED 61 may be turned on for 2.5
ms, the green LED 62 may be turned off, and the blue LED 63 may be
turned on for 2.5 ms. Waveforms of powering on or powering off the
red lamp 61, the green lamp 62, and the blue lamp 63 to express the
emotion of "sleepy" are shown in FIG. 3. It may be appreciated that
other colors of light can be obtained based on different emission
time lengths of the lamps, thereby expressing different emotions.
It may be further appreciated that an emission time length of the
red lamp 61, the green lamp 62, and the blue lamp 63 may correspond
to an intensity of the lamps 61, 62, 63. The intensity, in one
embodiment, may define a brightness of the lamps 61, 62, 63.
[0022] In another example, the MCU 10 may access the color emotion
table 21 in order to display an emotion by the electronic toy 1.
The accessing may include obtaining an emission time length of at
least one LED corresponding to the emotion and then transmitting
the emission time length to the controller 40. The controller 40
may turn on one or more lamps for a duration of time according to
the emission time length. The emission unit 60 provides the
resulting color based on the turned on lamps.
[0023] It may be appreciated that three primary colors can generate
thousands of colors on the condition that the three primary colors
are proportionally mixed. In one embodiment, the three primary
colors may be red, green, and blue (RGB), while in another
embodiment, the colors may be cyan, magenta, yellow, and black
(CMYK).
[0024] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method to
express an emotion by the electronic toy 1. In step S11, the
electronic toy 1 obtains an emotion type based on the ambient
sensor unit 40 and the internal sensor unit 70. In step S12, the
MCU 10 accesses the color-emotion table 21 to read the color and
the emission time length according to the emotion, and sends the
emission time length to the controller 40. In step S13, the
controller 40 turns on or turns off the red lamp 61, green lamp 62,
and blue lamp 63 according to the emission time length in the
color-emotion table 21. In step S14, the light mixer 64 mixes the
colored lights emitted by the lamps 61, 62, 63 into a resulting
color to express the emotion.
[0025] It is believed that the present embodiments and their
advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and
it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or
sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples
hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary
embodiments of the invention.
* * * * *