U.S. patent application number 16/040536 was filed with the patent office on 2019-02-14 for hand worn interface device.
This patent application is currently assigned to Matthew Richard William Hogbin. The applicant listed for this patent is Matthew Richard William Hogbin. Invention is credited to Matthew Richard William Hogbin.
Application Number | 20190050052 16/040536 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 65015891 |
Filed Date | 2019-02-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20190050052 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hogbin; Matthew Richard
William |
February 14, 2019 |
Hand worn interface device
Abstract
A wearable device comprises a flexible substrate carrying
multiple conducting loops which are formed into a zig zag pattern
so as to be able to accommodate a stretching of the substrate. The
substrate is formed into a glove and the loops positioned such that
they are aligned with the anatomical joints. As the anatomical
joints move, the loops change shape and accordingly change their
inductance--this is measured by the electronics in the glove and
used to calculate the joint angles in a processor which transmits
the angles to an external computer system. Some of the loops are
attached to current drivers in the electronics module, and a magnet
positioned close to the loop, providing means for a force to be
generated between magnet and loop when the current driver passes
current through the loop, thereby providing tactile feedback to the
user.
Inventors: |
Hogbin; Matthew Richard
William; (St Albans, GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hogbin; Matthew Richard William |
St Albans |
|
GB |
|
|
Assignee: |
Hogbin; Matthew Richard
William
St Albans
GB
|
Family ID: |
65015891 |
Appl. No.: |
16/040536 |
Filed: |
July 19, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62534413 |
Jul 19, 2017 |
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62535991 |
Jul 24, 2017 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/014 20130101;
G06F 3/0346 20130101; G01B 7/30 20130101; G01R 27/2611 20130101;
G06F 3/016 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/01 20060101
G06F003/01; G06F 3/0346 20060101 G06F003/0346; G01R 27/26 20060101
G01R027/26 |
Claims
1} A wearable device providing means of body joint angle
measurement comprising; a) A flexible, elastic substrate. b) Means
for attaching said substrate to the body. c) Conductive loops
mounted upon or within the substrate in positions aligned to body
joints when the device is worn. d) Inductance measurement circuits
attached to some or all of the conductive loops by means of
conductive wires passing within or upon the garment. e) A processor
attached to the inductance measuring circuits, providing means to
collect the values together from each circuit and from the
inductance values to calculate body joint angles.
2} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said conductive loops are
provided with zigzag edges so that they may expand as the
corresponding body joint moves.
3} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said conductive loops
consist of multiple turns.
4} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said conductive loops are
positioned opposite the main direction of flexion of the
corresponding body joint.
5} The wearable device of claim 2 wherein the device is attached to
the users hand.
6} The wearable device of claim 5 wherein multiple hand joints are
provided with one or more extensible conductive loops.
7} The wearable device of claim 6 wherein the metacarpal phalangeal
joints of digits are provided with two extensible conductive loops
placed opposite the primary direction of joint flexion and either
side of
8} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein permanent magnets are
placed in proximity to some of the conductive loops, and current
driving circuitry attached to the loops, providing means to
generate a current in the loops, so generating a force upon the
magnet, thereby providing tactile feedback to the user.
9} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said inductance
measurement circuitry includes a capacitor, amplifier, feedback
circuit and frequency counter connected to each said conductive
loop, and an amplifier and feedback loop are connected to the
combination of said conductive loop and said capacitor providing
means for an oscillatory signal to be generated.
10} The wearable device of claim 5 wherein a structure is attached
to the main garment passing partially or completely around the
wrist, which comprises multiple optical or magnetic transmitters or
receivers, able to interoperate with a tracking system providing
means of locating the hand in three dimensional space.
11} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said means for attaching
said substrate to the body comprise tubular structures through
which body parts can pass, which may include fasteners such that
they can be
12} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said flexible elastic
substrate is a silicone or polyurethane elastomer, or is a woven
elastic textile.
13} The wearable device of claim 1 wherein said processor is
attached to a wireless transmitter providing means to relay the
information from said processor back to a computer.
14. The wearable device of claim 9 wherein the ampifier, feedback
circuit and frequency counter are realised within a Field
Programmable Gate Array
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to computer human interface
devices, and more specifically to interface devices can be worn on
and which interface with parts of the human body such as the hand.
Such devices are useful in interacting with computer programs, such
as interacting three dimensional representations of objects or
data, or in the context of virtual reality, and in capturing body
motion for later replay.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Some previous devices have used resistive flex sensors
incorporating partially conductive elastomeric materials to measure
the flexion of hand joints. These devices have the disadvantage
that the value measured depends on the joint angle in a nonlinear
way, and also upon previous joint angles, that is to say they
display hysteresis. These devices have the further disadvantage
that the value measured changes with temperature. These devices
have the further disadvantage that they consist of several
components--electrodes, active elastomeric medium, and a flexible
substrate, as well as wires to carry signals to and from supporting
circuitry, resulting in a relatively high overall cost.
[0003] Other previous devices have used optical fibres to measure
the joint angles of the hand. These devices have the disadvantage
that they require a light source, light transmission, and light
detection, as well as analog amplification and analog to digital
conversion circuitry, resulting in a high overall cost.
[0004] Other previous devices have used external optical means such
as cameras to measure the joint angles of the hand, for instance
devices available from Leap Motion. These devices have the
disadvantage that they cannot always see every part of the hand,
due to the blocking of one part of the hand by another in some
poses and accordingly lose track of the position of the parts of
the hand they cannot see. These devices also have the disadvantage
that they cannot provide tactile feedback to the user as they are
not in contact with the user's skin.
DRAWING DESCRIPTIONS
[0005] FIG. 1 shows the general layout of conductive loops within
or upon a hand worn embodiment of the device and their placement
with respect to the joints of the hand.
[0006] FIG. 2 shows a different view of the device, showing the
placement of conductive loops around the joints of the thumb.
[0007] FIG. 3 shows a view from the palmar surface of the
device.
[0008] FIG. 4 shows the conductive wires connecting the conductive
loops with the electronics module.
[0009] FIG. 5 shows the conductive loops and connecting wires that
are associated with a single digit, connected to the electronics
module.
[0010] FIG. 6 shows a single conductive loop and it's associated
connecting wires, connected to the electronics module.
[0011] FIG. 7 shows the electronic circuit associated with each
conductive loop.
[0012] FIG. 8 shows one embodiment of the electronic circuit
associated with each conductive loop.
[0013] FIG. 9 shows a structure mounted on the device and embedded
with tracking transceivers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0014] One embodiment of the device is shown in FIG. 1 (overview),
FIG. 2 (thenar view), and FIG. 3 (palmar view). This embodiment of
the device is worn on the hand but other embodiments may be worn on
other parts of the body. A flexible, elastic substrate 101 is worn
on the user's hand 110. Said substrate 102 may be made from an
elastomer such as silicone or polyurethane, or a woven elastic
textile such as Lycra.
[0015] Conductive loops 102, 103, 104, 105, 108 and 109 are mounted
upon, woven into or embedded within said substrate 102. The basic
structure for each finger, formed by the set up loops 102, 103,
104, 105, may be taken as being repeated for each digit as shown in
the figure. In addition to the same four loops as the other digits,
the thumb is also provided with two additional loops 108 and
109.
[0016] In some embodiments of the device the conductive loops 102,
103, 104, 105, 108 and 109 are made of metal wire such as copper
which is of a thickness that they can bend repeatedly without
breaking. In some embodiments the thickness of the copper wire is
typically 0.1 mm.
[0017] An electronics module 106, houses inductance measurement
electronics, a processor, a wireless transmitter and a battery and
is mounted onto the substrate 102. Contacts (exemplified by 107)
are provided as means to connect the device to an external power
source in order to charge it's internal battery.
[0018] Conductive loop 102 is positioned on top of the distal
interphalangeal joint of the digit, and the measurement of it's
inductance is used to calculate the angle of this joint.
[0019] Conductive loop 103 is positioned on top of the proximal
interphalangeal joint of the digit.
[0020] Conductive loops 104 and 105 are positioned on top of the
metacarpal phalangeal joint.
[0021] Each conductive loop 102, 103, 104, 105, 108, 109 consists
of zigzag edges such that it can accomodate a stretching of the
substrate. When one of the finger joints flexes, the associated
conductive loop is stretched and the inductance is increased.
Conversely when a joint extends the inductance is decreased. The
electronics module 106 uses this inductance change to calculate the
joint flexion.
[0022] When a digit adducts or adbucts at the metacarpal phalangeal
joint, loops 104 and 105 are stretched or compressed. The
electronics module 106 uses the difference in the change in the
change in inductance of loops 104 and 105 to calculate the degree
of adduction or abduction of the digit.
[0023] In the same way, when the thumb carpal metacarpal joint
flexes, loops 108 and 109 change inductance due to the twisting and
bending motion imparted to the substrate between the thumb and the
back of the hand. For this reason loops 108 and 109 are mounted
close to the upper surface of the substrate, above the neutral axis
of the material, to maximise this response.
[0024] The thumb is provided with conductive loops 201, 202, 203
and 204 which correspond to finger loops 102, 103, 104 and 105
respectively. In some embodiments loop 202 is replaced by a loop
pair 203, 204 in order to measure adduction and abduction of the
thumb metacarpal phalangeal joint. Loops 203 and 204 measure the
thumb carpal metacarpal joint in the same way as described for the
measurement of the finger metacarpal phalangeal joint using loops
104 and 105.
[0025] Magnets 302 are placed on the each of the fingertips close
to conductive loops 301. The electronics module 106 includes
current drivers attached to the coil. The electronics module 106
can receive a command from an external computer to drive a current
in the coil 301, producing a force on the magnet 302 and creating a
tactile feedback effect on the user's skin. In other embodiments
the structure comprised of 301 and 302 can be replicated at other
points of the skin surface in order to provide more detailed
tactile feedback effects.
[0026] Fasteners 303 for attaching the wearable device may be
provided to allow sections of the wearable device to be split apart
and joined together, in order to make it easier to put on and take
off.
[0027] FIG. 4 shows the zig-zag connecting wire pair 401 connecting
the loop 102 with the electronics module 106. The zig zag
connecting wire pair is so shaped to accomodate stretch in the same
way as the conductive coils 102 themselves. Every conducting coil
discussed has a similar conducting wire pair connecting it to the
electronics module 106.
[0028] In other embodiments the coils 102, 103, 104, 105, 108 and
109 and connecting wires 401 may have alternate patterns such as
wavy arcs in alternate directions, rounded zig zags, rectangular
side to side patterns, or helical structures in order to allow them
to acommodate stretching of the underlying and embedding substrate
material.
[0029] FIG. 5 shows the detail of the layout of the coils for a
single digit 102, 103, 104, 105 and 301 and their associated
conducting wire pairs 501, 401, 504, 503 and 502 connecting each
coil to the electronics module 106. This arrangement is repeated
for each digit of the hand.
[0030] FIG. 6 shows a single coil in detail. Each coil discussed
may consist of more than one turns of conductor. In one embodiment
between three and five turns of inductor are used but other numbers
of turns may be used without materially changing the invention.
Each connecting wire pair 401 comprises a wire 601 and 602 such
that the whole circuit runs in an unbroken circuit from the
electronics module 106, down the wire 601, one or more times around
the loop 102, and back down the wire 602 to the electronics
module.
[0031] FIG. 7 shows the detail of a coil 102 connected to the
electronics module 106, which is comprised of a capacitor 705, an
amplifier 702, a feedback loop 701, a frequency counter 703, and a
processor/wireless transmitter 704. The processor 704 has inputs
706 which are connected to the frequency counters associated with
all the other coils in the system which require measurement. The
basic arrangement comprising 705, 702, 702, and 703 is repeated for
each coil; only the circuit for coil 102 is shown here for
clarity.
[0032] In some embodiments, the amplifier 702, feedback loop 701,
and frequency counter 703 are implemented inside a field
programmable gate array such as a Lattice ICE40LP1K integrated
circuit. In other embodiments the amplifier 702, feedback loop 701
and frequency counter 703 may be provided by an inductance to
digital converter. In other embodiments the amplifier may be
provided by one or more transistors or amplifier integrated
circuits without materially changing the invention.
[0033] The processor 704, which may be realised as a Nordic
NRF52832 as well as other possible equivalent parts, includes a
wireless transmitter, using for example the Bluetooth wireless
transmission standard, which relays the measured joint angles to an
external computer. In some embodiments a proprietary protocol such
as Nordic Enhanced Shockburst may be used as an alternative without
materially changing the invention.
[0034] FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment of the electronics
module 106 wherein a 4093 NAND Schmidt trigger is used to create
the oscillator, and a capacitor 802 is placed differently to the
capacitor 705 of FIG. 7.
[0035] FIG. 9 shows a tracking structure 901 mounted onto the
electronics module 106 and electrically connected to the
electronics module 106 via the electrical contacts 107. The
tracking structure 901 passes partially or fully around the wrist
and houses multiple tracking modules 902, for example implemented
TS3633-CM1 provided by Triad Semiconductor. These receivers 902
provide the three dimensional position of the hand relative to an
external frame of reference. In an alternative embodiment, the
tracking modules 902 are realised as light emitting diodes and
tracked by a camera external to the device, again for the purposes
of 3 d tracking.
* * * * *