Inertially isolated spatial control

Inventors

Bowman, Michael E. • Bowman, William S. • Hedman, Daniel R. • Summer, Matthew D. • Falendysz, Andrew D. • Makovy, Kevin • Holt, Michael W.

Assignees

Tomahawk Robotics Inc

Abstract

Methods and systems are described herein for detecting motion-induced errors received from inertial-type input devices and for generating accurate vehicle control commands that account for operator movement. These methods and systems may determine, using motion data from inertial sensors, whether the hand/arm of the operator is moving in the same motion as the body of the operator, and if both are moving in the same way, these systems and methods may determine that the motion is not intended to be a motion-induced command. However, if the hand/arm of the operator is moving in a different motion from the body of the operator, these methods and systems may determine that the operator intended the motion to be a motion-induced command to a vehicle.

Core Innovation

The invention provides an inertially isolated spatial control motion identification system for detecting motion-induced errors received from inertial-type input devices associated with a controller. The system receives first motion data from the controller, where the first motion data comprises first acceleration and first angular velocity, and determines that the first motion data corresponds to a candidate motion-induced command. An inertial sensor provides second motion data, where the second motion data comprises second acceleration and second angular velocity.

The system determines, by comparing the first acceleration from the controller with the second acceleration from the inertial sensor and comparing the first angular velocity from the controller with the second angular velocity from the inertial sensor, whether the first motion data matches the second motion data. When the first motion data does not match the second motion data, the system generates third acceleration based on subtracting the second acceleration from the first acceleration and generates third angular velocity based on subtracting the second angular velocity from the first angular velocity. The system then generates a motion-induced command based on the third acceleration and the third angular velocity.

The generated motion-induced command is transmitted to one or more vehicles. When the first motion data matches the second motion data, the candidate motion-induced command is identified as a motion-induced error and is not transmitted. In some implementations, the system suspends detection of new motion-induced commands after high-motion events meeting acceleration and/or angular velocity thresholds, and a controller display provides a selectable option to re-enable detection.

Claims Coverage

The document provides three independent claim sets—one system claim, one method claim, and one non-transitory computer-readable medium claim—centered on motion-induced error detection by inertial isolation, match determination using acceleration and angular velocity comparison, and motion-induced command generation using subtraction to produce third motion components. Across the independent claims, three main inventive features recur: inertial match comparison, motion-data subtraction to generate a command, and transmitting only when the first and second motion data do not match.

The independent claims consistently cover detecting motion-induced errors by comparing controller-provided acceleration and angular velocity to inertial-sensor-provided acceleration and angular velocity, determining whether they match, and when they do not match generating a motion-induced command from third motion components produced by subtracting the inertial-sensor components from the controller components for transmission to one or more vehicles.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications