WO2022254783A1

WO2022254783A1 - Control system

Info

Publication number: WO2022254783A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/004053
Authority: WO
Inventors: 将之 ▲高▼木
Original assignee: 将之 ▲高▼木; ▲高▼木康之
Priority date: 2021-05-31
Filing date: 2022-02-02
Publication date: 2022-12-08
Also published as: JP2022183991A

Abstract

The present invention provides a control system that is highly convenient since being able to deal with different highly-variable actions of users.　This control system 1 comprises: a substantially spherical housing device 10 which houses a user U therein and is capable of rotating omnidirectionally; a sensor 11 which is disposed inside the housing device 10 and which acquires positional information of an object housed inside the housing device 10 at a certain time interval; an arithmetic means 12 which, on the basis of the positional information about the object acquired at the certain time interval, calculates, from changes in the positional information regarding the tip of a foot, of the user U, stepped forward, the direction and distance of the tip of the foot stepped forward by the the user U; and motive power devices 13 (13a) which, on the basis of the calculated direction and distance, rotate the housing device 10 in a given direction.

Description

control system

According to the present invention, a part of the user is in contact with a part of the surface of the storage device (hereinafter, a part of the surface of the storage device with which the user is in contact is referred to as a "grounding surface"), and the load of the user is reduced. is a control system in which a user moves or exercises while being supported by a ground plane, and relates to a control system that keeps the user's position within a storage device within an arbitrary range by moving the ground plane.

There are technologies that change the user's position in response to the user's actions, such as walking or stepping left and right, to keep the user's position within a certain range. By combining such technology with virtual reality (VR) technology, users can experience more free movement within the virtual reality world.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a method and apparatus for immersing a user in virtual reality. Specifically, in Patent Literature 1, a closed shell that limits an actual closed space is formed, the shell is attached to support means so as to be rotatable about a central axis, and the user can move inside the shell. A device is described which allows free movement along the inner surface of the entrance.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-229500

However, there is a demand for a highly convenient control system that can respond to a wide variety of user actions. Therefore, the present invention provides a control system that can keep the position of the user within an arbitrary range inside the storage device and that can respond to various user actions (movement, exercise, etc.). With the goal.

The control system of the present invention includes a substantially spherical storage device that stores a user inside and can rotate in all directions; a sensor to be acquired, and a calculation means for calculating the direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user from changes in the positional information of the foot stepped by the user based on the position information of the object acquired for each time. and a power unit that rotates the enclosure in any direction based on the calculated direction and distance.
As a result, the direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user are calculated based on the time-based position information of the object obtained by the sensor provided inside the storage device, and the storage device is arbitrarily selected based on the calculation result. (eg, if the user's right foot is stepped forward, the storage device is rotated backward from the user's perspective).

In addition, the control system of the present invention includes a storage device that stores a user therein and includes a substantially spherical spherical portion on which the user can ride and rotate in all directions; A sensor that acquires the positional information of an internal object for each time, and the foot that the user has stepped on based on the change in the positional information of the user's foot based on the acquired positional information of the object for each time. and a power device for moving the spherical portion in any arbitrary direction based on the calculated direction and distance.
As a result, the direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user are calculated based on the positional information of the object for each time acquired by the sensor provided inside the storage device, and the user rides on the basis of the calculation result. The spherical portion that is positioned is rotated in an arbitrary direction (for example, when the user's right foot is stepped forward, the spherical portion is rotated backward as viewed from the user).

In addition, the power unit rotates the storage device and the spherical portion so as to move the ground contact surface of the foot different from the foot stepped by the user by the calculated distance in the direction opposite to the calculated direction. .
As a result, when the user takes a step in any direction and with what length of stride (distance), the storage device is rotated by the length of stride (distance) in the opposite direction.

The control system further includes a first support provided on the floor to support the storage device from below, a second support provided to a column extending from the floor to support the storage device from above, including.
As a result, the storage device is stably supported by the first support and the second support regardless of the shape or movement (rotation) of the storage device. .

The control system of the present invention includes a substantially spherical storage device that stores a user inside and can rotate in all directions; a sensor to be acquired, and a calculation means for calculating the direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user from changes in the positional information of the foot stepped by the user based on the position information of the object acquired for each time. , and a power unit that rotates the storage device in an arbitrary direction based on the calculated direction and distance, based on the position information of the object for each time obtained by the sensor provided inside the storage device. The direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user are calculated by the calculation result, and the storage device rotates in an arbitrary direction based on the calculation result (for example, when the user steps forward with the right foot, the storage device Therefore, even if the user inside the storage device performs any action, the storage device corresponding to that action is calculated based on the acquired position information. is controlled, the user can always stay within an arbitrary range. At the same time, since the storage device is controlled in rotation, it always stays in a fixed position, and can be used anywhere without taking up space and can be used in any way.

In addition, the control system of the present invention includes a storage device that stores a user therein and includes a substantially spherical spherical portion on which the user can ride and rotate in all directions; A sensor that acquires the positional information of an internal object for each time, and the foot that the user has stepped on based on the change in the positional information of the user's foot based on the acquired positional information of the object for each time. Acquired by a sensor provided inside the storage device with a configuration including a calculation means for calculating the direction and distance of and a power unit that moves the spherical portion in any arbitrary direction based on the calculated direction and distance The direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user is calculated based on the position information of the object obtained for each time, and the spherical portion on which the user is riding rotates in an arbitrary direction based on the calculation result (for example, the When the right foot of the user steps forward, the sphere rotates backwards from the user's point of view). Based on this, information about the movement is calculated and the sphere corresponding to the movement is controlled, so that the user can always stay within an arbitrary range. At the same time, since the spherical portion is controlled to rotate, it always stays in a fixed position, and can be used anywhere without taking up space, and can be used in any way.

In addition, the power unit rotates the storage device and the spherical portion so as to move the ground contact surface of the foot different from the foot stepped by the user by the calculated distance in the direction opposite to the calculated direction. Due to the configuration, when the user takes a step in any direction and with what stride (distance), the storage device is rotated in the opposite direction by the stride (distance). It is possible to keep the user within an arbitrary range regardless of what action is taken.

The control system further includes a first support provided on the floor to support the storage device from below, a second support provided to a column extending from the floor to support the storage device from above, The storage device is stably supported by the first support and the second support regardless of the shape or movement (rotation) of the storage device. Therefore, the stability is increased, and the control system can be used safely even when the user performs vigorous movements.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a control system according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the positional relationship when a user stands with their feet parallel when viewed from above the storage device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the positional relationship when a user stands with their feet parallel when viewed from the back of the storage device. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the operation of the control system when the user takes a step forward with the right foot, (A) before taking a step forward and (B) after taking a step forward. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a control system according to another embodiment of the invention;

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. is not limited to the contents of

[Control system]
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a control system according to an embodiment of the invention. The control system 1 includes a storage device 10 that stores the user U inside, a sensor 11, a computing means 12, and a power that rotates the storage device 10 and moves the contact surface with the user U inside the storage device 10. device 13; The control system 1 also includes a first support section 14 that is provided on the floor 20 and supports the storage device 10 from below, and a second support section 14 that is provided on a pillar P extending from the floor 20 and supports the storage device 10 from above. and two supports 15 .

The storage device 10 is a device in which the user U is stored, and the inside is hollow. The storage device 10 is provided with a door (not shown) as an entrance, and the user U uses the door to enter and exit the storage device 10 . Further, in this embodiment, the storage device 10 is a spherical body that can rotate in all directions (see arrows in FIG. 1), and has a concavely curved bottom surface. The size is about 1.5m to about 15m in radius. The storage device 10 may have a substantially spherical shape, and may have a shape such as a truncated icosahedron, for example, as long as it can rotate in all directions.

The sensor 11 is a sensor that is provided inside the storage device 10 and acquires position information of an object inside the storage device 10 for each time. The object inside the storage device 10 is the user U, an object possessed by the user U, or other objects. In other words, when an item possessed by the user U, such as a wallet that has been put in a pocket, falls out of the pocket, the sensor 11 can also obtain the wallet separately from the user U. An optical sensor can be used for the sensor 11 .

The positional information acquired by the sensor 11 is information indicating where in the storage device 10 an object in the storage device 10 is located. , width, height) information.

For example, in the present embodiment, the sensors 11 are CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensors provided along the longest circumferences in the vertical and horizontal directions of the inner surface of the storage device 10 (inner surface of the sphere). By using a CMOS image sensor, it is possible to acquire continuous images of an object inside the storage device 10, such as the user's U feet and hands.

From the difference between the continuous images acquired by the sensor 11, the computing means 12 obtains the moving direction, moving speed, moving distance, etc. of the moving part (moving object) as described later. The calculation means 12 is a program that performs calculation processing based on the information acquired by the sensor 11, and in this embodiment, the calculation means 12 is assumed to be incorporated in the power plant 13. FIG. In other words, the computing means 12 is a program executed using hardware resources (memory and CPU) of the power plant 13 .

The power unit 13 rotates the storage device 10 in any direction. Specifically, the power unit 13 rotates the storage device 10 in an arbitrary direction, thereby moving the contact surface with the user U inside the storage device 10 . In the present embodiment, storage device 10 is a sphere (rotating body), so power unit 13 is a control mechanism that rotates the sphere.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the power device 13 is made of cylindrical rubber without irregularities, and is in contact with the sphere and rotates the sphere in the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) by friction. , and a power device 13b that rotates the sphere in the lateral direction (horizontal direction). In the present embodiment, three power units 13a and one power unit 13b are provided on the column P, but the number of these may be increased to four or five, or they may be connected in series. may be configured in a circular shape (circle shape).

In addition, the power plants 13 (13a, 13b) are configured so that when some power plants operate to control the storage device 10, the other power plants do not interfere with the control. For example, when the power device 13b rotates the storage device 10 in the horizontal direction, the power device 13a does not come into contact with the storage device 10 only at that timing (the space between the storage device 10 and , etc.). In other words, the power unit 13 is configured so that the storage unit 10 can rotate smoothly in all directions.

It should be noted that the power plant 13 communicates with the sensor 11 by wire or wirelessly. In other words, the power unit 13 receives various information acquired by the sensor 11, and based on the movement direction calculated by the calculation means 12 based on the various information, the contact with the user U inside the storage device 10 is determined. Control the movement of the enclosure 10 so that the ground moves (rotate the enclosure 10).

The first support part 14 is provided on the floor surface 20 and supports the storage device 10 from below. Also, the second support part 15 is provided on a support post P extending from the floor surface 20 and supports the storage device 10 from above. In this embodiment, there are three pillars P, but the number of pillars P and the number and shape of the first support portions 14 and the second support portions 15 are determined so that the storage device 10 can be stably provided. The design can be changed as appropriate.

[Control system operation]
The operation of the control system 1 will be described below with reference to each drawing. In the following description, it is assumed that the computing means 12 is incorporated in the power plant 13 .

The user U performs some action such as movement or exercise inside the storage device 10 . FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the user U standing with the feet F (see FIG. 1) aligned in parallel, as viewed from above the storage device 10. As shown in FIG. Specifically, the left foot F1 is positioned at point L and the right foot F2 is positioned at point R coaxially along the x-axis direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the positional relationship when the user U stands with the legs F aligned in parallel when viewed from the back of the storage device 10 . As shown in FIG. 3, the right foot F2 is in contact with the curved surface inside the storage device 10 (sphere), and the position of the ground (temporary ground) positioned vertically below the grounding point is the point R. The same applies to the point L for the left foot F1.

The provisional ground shown in FIG. 3 means that the storage device 10 (sphere) is not in contact with the ground (floats) during operation as shown in FIG. The line when it is assumed that it is is represented as a temporary ground.

A point C is a point where the storage device 10 (sphere) is in contact with the provisional ground. That is, the point C is the lowest point of the enclosure 10 (sphere).
Note that the point O is a temporary ground point that is in contact with the storage device 10 (sphere).

4A and 4B are diagrams showing the operation of the control system 1 when the user U takes a step forward with the right foot F2. FIG. FIG. 11 shows the state after stepping forward;

In this case, the sensor 11 acquires the positional information of the moving object inside the storage device 10 (sphere) for each time and transmits the positional information to the power unit 13 . “Every time” may be, for example, every 1 millisecond, every 10 milliseconds, or more, or may be less than or equal to 1 millisecond.

Then, based on the position information, the computing means 12 incorporated in the power unit 13 obtains the position information of each foot F of the user U before and after the right foot F2 leaves the ground surface. Extract. For example, the positional information of the right foot F2 is changed by stepping (lifting the toe), but the positional information of the left foot F1 is not changed. Since there is no change, it can be determined that the left foot F1 is the pivot foot.
Alternatively, the power unit 13 can perform image analysis based on the image data (continuous images) acquired by the sensor 11 to determine whether or not the user's foot is off the ground.

In addition, the points in time acquired by the sensor 11 as described above are merely examples. It is also possible to extract positional information such as that the foot is at the top again, that it is descending, and so on.

Then, the calculation means 12 calculates the direction and distance of the stepped foot (right foot F2) from such position information. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, if the point of the right foot F2 before stepping forward is point R, and the point of right foot F2 after stepping forward is point R', point R and point R The direction and distance of the stepped foot are calculated from the difference in position information (vertical, horizontal) from '. At the same time, since the distance traveled per unit time is obtained from the difference in the positional information (longitudinal, horizontal, height) of the point R and the point R', the speed can also be calculated.

Then, the power device 13 moves the ground contact surface of the toe (left foot F1) different from the toe (right foot F2) stepped by the user U by the calculated distance in the direction opposite to the calculated direction. Rotate the enclosure 10 so that the That is, the storage device 10 is rotated so that the point L moves to the position of the point L'. As a result, the left foot F1 (which is the pivot foot) in contact with the ground surface moves to the position of the point L'. On the other hand, when the right foot F2, which is not in contact with the ground surface (is in a state of floating in the air), is stepped down, the ground surface moves in the opposite direction to the stepping distance, so The position of the point R' seen from the temporary ground is the same as the position of the point R before stepping out.

In short, since the storage device 10 (sphere) rotates while the stepping foot leaves the ground plane and touches the ground plane again, the plane A inside the storage device 10 becomes the plane A' as shown in FIGS. , the pivot foot that is in contact with the ground plane moves with the ground plane, and the stepping foot that is not in contact with the ground plane does not move and is stepped down to its original position (Fig. 4 ( B)).

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, since the storage device 10 is a sphere, it is possible to accommodate the movement of the user U in an oblique direction. Since the storage device 10 is a sphere, after the rotation, another lowest point C that has rotated is located at the position where the lowest point C was, and the opposite foot (left foot F1) is stepped. Even if there is, the rotation of the storage device 10 (sphere) is similarly controlled. In other words, the storage device 10 itself does not change its installed position when viewed from the outside and rotates in the same place, but the ground surface inside the storage device 10 moves in an arbitrary direction according to the movement of the user U. will do.

Further, the operation of the power unit 13 may be such that the stepping foot (the right foot F2 in the description of the operation of this control system) is floating in the air and the ground contact surface is moved. The ground plane may be moved just before it touches the ground. The determination immediately before the stepping foot touches the ground surface is performed by, for example, the sensor 11 adding the positional information to the vertical and horizontal directions, obtaining three-dimensional coordinates including height, and calculating the stepping foot by the calculation means 12. If it is determined that the height is equal to or less than a certain value, it can be determined that the stepping foot is about to touch the ground surface.

The operation of the control system 1 has been described above, but the control system 1 allows the stepping foot to move not only straight (for example, along the y-axis), but also diagonally, laterally, or backwards. Any suitable ground plane movement can be controlled as well. Therefore, it is possible to respond to not only moving behaviors such as walking and running, but also a wide variety of user movements such as dancing. At the same time, since the storage device is controlled to rotate, it always stays in a fixed place and can be used in any place such as indoors or outdoors without taking up space. Any usage is possible.

In addition, the information acquired from the sensor 11 has been described as two types before and after the right foot F2 leaves the ground surface, but of course, the time (span) for acquiring the position information may be further subdivided. The timing at which the power unit 13 moves the ground plane (the timing at which the storage device 10 is rotated) can also be appropriately changed in design.

In addition, the position information of the right foot F2 may be the central portion (around the arch of the foot) of the right foot F2, or another portion such as the heel or thumb may be used as the position information of the right foot F2. Further, a plurality of pieces of information such as each toe, arch, and heel of the right foot F2 may be used as one set as the positional information of the right foot F2.

(another embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a control system according to another embodiment of the invention. In the present embodiment, the storage device 10 stores the user U inside and is described as a sphere that can rotate in all directions. , and can include a spherical portion 10s on which the user U can ride and rotate in all directions. Of course, the spherical portion 10s does not have to be a sphere as long as it can rotate in all directions (a substantially spherical shape is acceptable).

Hereinafter, the operation of the control system 1A according to another embodiment will be described with reference to each drawing, but the same components as those of the control system 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the spherical portion 10s is a part of the spherical body 10a that is visible from the floor surface 20. The user U rides on the spherical portion 10s to move or exercise. Then, the sensor 11 acquires the positional information of the moving object in the storage device 10A for each time, and transmits the positional information to the power unit 13 (not shown in FIG. 5).

A computing means 12 (not shown in FIG. 5) incorporated in the power unit 13 determines the movement or exercise of the user U based on the received positional information (for example, the direction of the foot stepped by the user U and distance). Then, the power unit 13 rotates the sphere 10a in an arbitrary direction based on the calculated direction and distance. As a result, the spherical portion 10s also rotates, and the position of the user U inside the storage device 10A can be kept within an arbitrary range. Such rotation of the spherical body 10a and the spherical portion 10s can be realized smoothly by a plurality of bearings B provided along the edge of the spherical portion 10s with the floor surface 20. FIG.

[Modification]
As a modification of the embodiment described above, the sensor 11 for acquiring the movement direction and movement distance of each foot of the user is provided as an angular velocity sensor (gyro sensor) on each foot of the user. good too. For example, a part of the sensor 11 may be built in shoes worn by the user, and a tag containing the sensor 11 may be worn like an anklet. This makes it possible to accurately acquire information about the user's foot even when the user makes a vigorous motion.

Furthermore, the sensor 11 can also be realized by combining a sensor provided on the user's foot as described above and an electric shock sensor (not shown) embedded inside the storage device. Thereby, it is also possible to obtain the positional information (coordinate information) of the user's foot from the potential difference (electrostatic band distribution) caused by the distance (contact/separation, etc.) of these sensors.

The sensor provided on the user's foot is a transmitter, and the position information of the user's foot may be obtained by communicating with a receiver provided on the floor or inside the storage device. Of course, the transmitter can be attached not only to the user's foot, but also to various parts and various moving objects (such as objects carried by the user).

The sensor 11 can also acquire (determine) the posture of the user based on the position information. The posture of the user is, for example, standing on one leg, raising a hand, or taking an arbitrary pose. As a result, for example, when the user U loses an item while exercising, the lost item (wallet, key, etc.) can be retrieved and the control system 1 can be brought to an emergency stop.

In addition, the power unit 13 can adopt a mechanism other than the mechanism that rotates the sphere in an arbitrary direction by friction as described in the present embodiment. For example, gears may be provided on the sphere and the power device, respectively, and the sphere may be rotated in any direction by transmitting the rotational force from the power device to the sphere via the gears. Alternatively, the control mechanism may be such that the sphere is floated on water and rotated by the water flow.

The embodiment described above is merely an example, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the storage device 10 does not have to be a perfect sphere such as an ellipse, and the material that makes up the storage device 10 does not matter. Furthermore, the computing means 12 may be incorporated in a device other than the power plant 13, and there is no particular limitation on the hardware configuration.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used as a control system that can respond to a wide variety of user actions. It is useful for

1,

1A control system

10, 10A storage device 10a sphere 10s sphere portion 11 sensor 12 computing means 13, 13a, 13b power unit 14 first support 15 second support 20 floor surface U user F foot F1 left foot F2 Right foot P Post B Bearing

Claims

a substantially spherical storage device that stores a user inside and can rotate in all directions;
a sensor provided inside the storage device for acquiring time-based position information of an object inside the storage device;
a calculation means for calculating the direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user from changes in the position information of the foot stepped by the user based on the acquired position information of the object for each time;
a power unit that rotates the storage device in any direction based on the calculated direction and distance;
Control system including.
a storage device containing a generally spherical spherical portion for storing a user therein and allowing said user to ride and rotate in all directions;
a sensor provided inside the storage device for acquiring time-based position information of an object inside the storage device;
a calculation means for calculating the direction and distance of the foot stepped by the user from changes in the position information of the foot stepped by the user based on the acquired position information of the object for each time;
a power device that moves the spherical portion in any direction based on the calculated direction and distance;
Control system including.
The power device rotates the storage device so as to move the ground contact surface of the foot different from the foot stepped by the user by the calculated distance in the direction opposite to the calculated direction. A control system according to claim 1 .
a first support provided on the floor for supporting the storage device from below;
a second support part provided on a pillar extending from the floor surface and supporting the storage device from above;
4. The control system of any one of claims 1 or 3, comprising:
The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sensor is an optical sensor provided inside the enclosure.
The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sensor is attached to each leg of the user.
The control system according to claim 6, wherein the sensor acquires position information based on a potential difference between one attached to the foot and one embedded inside the enclosure.