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 relates to detecting motion-induced errors received from inertial-type input devices by using inertially isolated spatial control logic for unmanned-vehicle command handling. It receives first motion data from a controller and determines whether the first motion data corresponds to a candidate motion-induced command. It also receives second motion data from an inertial sensor separate from the controller and evaluates whether the first motion data matches the second motion data.

When the first motion data matches the second motion data, the system determines that the candidate motion-induced command corresponds to a motion-induced error, where the motion-induced error corresponds to an error induced by motion of a combination of the controller and the inertial sensor. Based on this determination, the system stops detection of subsequent motion-induced commands from the controller. The system can also generate for display on the controller a selectable option to enable detecting subsequent motion-induced commands.

The disclosed approach supports refined motion matching using acceleration and angular velocity information derived from the controller and the inertial sensor, including determining whether they match using acceleration difference and angular velocity difference against acceleration and angular velocity thresholds. The motion identification system includes inertial sensor components such as magnetometer, accelerometer, and gyroscope, and the second motion data may incorporate heading. The described processing architecture includes a command generation subsystem and a motion matching subsystem, and includes a selectable option that a user can select to re-enable command detection.

Claims Coverage

The partial content provides three independent claim sets that cover a system, a method, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Across these independent claims, the core inventive concept is detecting motion-induced errors by matching controller motion data to motion data from a separate inertial sensor, and then stopping subsequent motion-induced command detection with a selectable re-enable option in the system claim.

Across the independent claims, motion-induced errors are detected by receiving first motion data from a controller and second motion data from an inertial sensor separate from the controller, determining whether they match, and then determining that a candidate motion-induced command corresponds to a motion-induced error. After such determination, detection of subsequent motion-induced commands is stopped, and the system claim further includes generating a selectable option on the controller to enable detecting subsequent motion-induced commands.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found