GB2586616A - Operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment - Google Patents

Operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2586616A
GB2586616A GB1912376.9A GB201912376A GB2586616A GB 2586616 A GB2586616 A GB 2586616A GB 201912376 A GB201912376 A GB 201912376A GB 2586616 A GB2586616 A GB 2586616A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
control unit
operator
mobile part
movements
transducer
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
GB1912376.9A
Other versions
GB201912376D0 (en
Inventor
Achim Stoian Liviu
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Continental Automotive GmbH
Continental Automotive Romania SRL
Original Assignee
Continental Automotive GmbH
Continental Automotive Romania SRL
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Continental Automotive GmbH, Continental Automotive Romania SRL filed Critical Continental Automotive GmbH
Priority to GB1912376.9A priority Critical patent/GB2586616A/en
Publication of GB201912376D0 publication Critical patent/GB201912376D0/en
Publication of GB2586616A publication Critical patent/GB2586616A/en
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05G—CONTROL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS INSOFAR AS CHARACTERISED BY MECHANICAL FEATURES ONLY
    • G05G25/00—Other details or appurtenances of control mechanisms, e.g. supporting intermediate members elastically
    • G05G25/04—Sealing against entry of dust, weather or the like
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/20—Drives; Control devices
    • E02F9/2004—Control mechanisms, e.g. control levers
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/20—Drives; Control devices
    • E02F9/2004—Control mechanisms, e.g. control levers
    • E02F9/2008—Control mechanisms in the form of the machine in the reduced scale model
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F9/00—Component parts of dredgers or soil-shifting machines, not restricted to one of the kinds covered by groups E02F3/00 - E02F7/00
    • E02F9/20—Drives; Control devices
    • E02F9/2025—Particular purposes of control systems not otherwise provided for
    • E02F9/205—Remotely operated machines, e.g. unmanned vehicles
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05G—CONTROL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS INSOFAR AS CHARACTERISED BY MECHANICAL FEATURES ONLY
    • G05G9/00—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously
    • G05G9/02—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only
    • G05G9/04—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only in which movement in two or more ways can occur simultaneously
    • G05G9/047—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only in which movement in two or more ways can occur simultaneously the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks
    • G05G2009/0474—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only in which movement in two or more ways can occur simultaneously the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks characterised by means converting mechanical movement into electric signals
    • G05G2009/04755—Magnetic sensor, e.g. hall generator, pick-up coil
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
    • G05G—CONTROL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS INSOFAR AS CHARACTERISED BY MECHANICAL FEATURES ONLY
    • G05G9/00—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously
    • G05G9/02—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only
    • G05G9/04—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only in which movement in two or more ways can occur simultaneously
    • G05G9/047—Manually-actuated control mechanisms provided with one single controlling member co-operating with two or more controlled members, e.g. selectively, simultaneously the controlling member being movable in different independent ways, movement in each individual way actuating one controlled member only in which movement in two or more ways can occur simultaneously the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks

Abstract

An operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a mobile part of industrial or agricultural equipment, comprising control electronics placed inside a sealed housing 100 and at least one control element 20 having its exterior surface made from radar-reflective material, placed outside said sealed housing 100 within the range of radar beams of at least one miniaturised radar Rn, further comprising a transducer control unit TCU communicating with said at least one miniaturized radar Rn and with said control electronics, said transducer control unit TCU comprising a transducer T, a transducer processing unit TPU and at least one memory M, said transducer control unit TCU being configured to convert the signals received from the at least one miniaturized radar Rn into signals corresponding to instructions for carrying out the desired movements by said mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment. The instructions are selected from a pre-determined set of instructions. The control element may be a dummy button, a joystick or a dummy replica of the mobile part to be moved.

Description

Description
Operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a 5 mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment
Field of the invention
The invention refers to an external remote control of industrial or agricultural equipment such as but not limited to earth mover, earth dozer, earth loader, cranes as well as of industrial robots, all of them hereafter referred to by the term "equipment". In particular, the invention refers to the external remote control of the mobile part of said equipment. It shall be understood that, in some situations, the mobile part of the equipment is the equipment itself, such as the case of earth mover.
Background of the invention
Manoeuvring of equipment usually requires remote control, for multiple reasons such as safety of the persons and/or a better visibility of the operator regrading the movements carried out by said equipment. A classical example is the crane, where the operator sits inside a cabin, for his protection and for a better visibility of the movements of the crane.
Remote control units for remotely controlling the movement of the mobile part of the equipment comprise, in general, control electronics arranged on a printed circuit board PCB inside a housing and at least one control element that, when manoeuvred by the operator, has as effect the desired movement of said mobile part of the equipment. The typical control elements are levers and buttons. The control element or elements communicate with the control electronics via some electric or electronic contacts. For example, US 8,050,016 B2 discloses a control unit, particularly a remote control unit for industrial equipment comprising a housing for accommodating control elements and at least one control element, wherein the housing is formed by a wall part having to end faces and holding elements that close the two end faces of the wall parts and the wall part consists of two horizontally connectable components. In one embodiment, the wall part has openings for accommodating control elements. As 5 mentioned in the disclosure of US 8,050,016 B2, contained with the housing are the usual control components that are commonly known, wherefrom the person skilled in the art would understand that the communication between the electronics inside the housing and the control elements is done via electric or electronic 10 contacts.
Disadvantages of prior art
Since the remote control units used for controlling the mobile part of the equipment are exposed to harsh environment conditions, such as water, dust, mud, oil, grease, extreme hi/low temperature, it is required to completely isolate the electronic contacts of the control elements, as well as the control electronics from the outside environment. This requirement may have as inconvenient one or both of the following: an increase of the size of the remote control unit and a reduction of the capacity of movements of the lever(s) due to protection of the electronic contacts for the levers by gaskets or other mechanical means.
Problem solved by the invention The problem solved by the invention is to simplify the operation of the remote control of at least one mobile part of the equipment and to protect both the control electronics and the control element or elements from the harsh environment by avoiding any electric or electronic contact between the printed circuit board PCB of the remote control unit and the control element or elements that actually command the movement of the at least one mobile part of the equipment, giving the possibility of sealing the electronic components of the remote control and leaving outside only the control element or elements that can resist the harsh environment.
Summary of the invention
In order to solve the problem, the inventor conceived an operator 5 remote control unit for controlling the movements of at least one mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment, said operator remote control unit comprising control electronics accommodated on a printed circuit board, said control electronics being placed inside a sealed housing and at least one control 10 element communicating with said control electronics in such way that, when maneuvered by the operator, controls the movements of said at least one mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment, wherein: - said operator remote control unit further comprises at least one miniaturized radar, accommodated on said printed circuit board, said at least one miniaturized radar being configured to detect the movements and the position of the at least control element by means of radar beams; - said at least control element is placed outside said sealed housing within the range of said radar beams, being configured to have its exterior surface from a radar-reflective material; - said operator remote control unit further comprises a transducer control unit, accommodated on the same printed circuit board and communicating with said at least one miniaturized radar and with said control electronics by electrical paths of said printed circuit beard said transducer control unit comprising: -a transducer configured to receive from the at least one miniaturized radar the data about the movements and the position of the at least one control element, to convert said data into signals and to send said signals to a transducer processing unit; -the transducer processing unit configured to receive said signals from the transducer and to convert said signals into instructions corresponding to the desired movements of said at least one mobile part of the equipment, said instructions selected from a pre-determined set of instructions for carrying out the desired movements by said at least one mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment and being further configured to send said instructions to the control electronics; -At least one memory is configured to store at least data about the pre-determined set of instructions corresponding to all the desired movements of said at least one mobile part of the equipment and the signals received by the transducer processing unit that correspond to each of the instructions of the pre-determined set.
- said control electronics is configured to receive from the transducer processing unit signals corresponding to the instructions for carrying out the desired movements by said at least one mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment.
Advantages of the invention By removing the electric or electronic contacts between the control electronics accommodated inside the sealed housing and the at least one control element, the invention has the following advantages: - The control electronics can be now completely isolated from the outside environment within the corresponding sealed housing; - The operator control unit according to the invention can be used in a wide range of situations of harsh environment, given that the control electronics can be now completely isolated from the outside environment; - Gaskets or other sealing methods are no longer necessary to isolate said control electronics, further leading to cost reductions when manufacturing the remote control unit because of the decrease of the number of its components and the simplification of the layout of the operator remote control unit; - The operator remote control unit according to the invention can be used in a wider variety of situations requiring remote control of the at least one mobile part of the equipment, because it allows placing as many control elements as necessary, including combination of the types of control elements; -The operator remote control unit according to the invention allows more flexibility in remote control of the at least one mobile part of the equipment, said flexibility including more complex movements of the mobile part of the equipment that are possible now due to the removal of the limitations of said control once gaskets or other sealing methods are eliminated; - The operator remote control unit according to the invention allows remote control of more than one mobile part of the same equipment, for example when the equipment is an industrial robot; - The operator remote control unit according to the invention is smaller than the operator remote control unit of prior art because it accommodates less components. The size reduction is welcome when there is little place for storage of the remote control unit; - The operator remote control unit according to some of the embodiments of the invention may allow the operator the possibility of a more natural maneuvering of the at least one mobile part of the equipment.
Brief description of the drawings
Fig.la depicts the side view of the operator control unit of a preferred embodiment wherein said at least one control element 5 is a dummy button; Fig lb depicts the top view of the operator control unit of the same preferred embodiment wherein said at least one control element is the dummy button; Fig.2a depicts the side view of the operator control unit of a 10 preferred embodiment wherein said at least one control element is a joystick; Fig 2b depicts the top view of the operator control unit of the same preferred embodiment wherein said at least one control element is the joystick; Fig 3 depicts the side view of the operator control unit of another preferred embodiment, wherein said at least control element is a dummy replica of the mobile part of the equipment; Fig. 4 depicts the side view of the operator control unit of another preferred embodiment, wherein said at least control 20 element is operator hand gestures List of references in the drawings: printed circuit board PCB accommodating control electronics, said control electronics not represented graphically sealed housing accommodating said printed circuit board PCB at least one control element 20-1n plurality of segments of the dummy replica, when the control element is dummy replica 20-2 final effector of the dummy replica when the control element is dummy replica Rn at least one miniaturized radar TCU transducer control unit T transducer TPU transducer processing unit M memory a angle of movement Reference axes and origin of the axes
Detailed description
With reference to Fig.1, Fig 2, Fig 3 and Fig.4, the operator remote control unit according to the invention comprises: -control electronics accommodated on a printed circuit board PCB 10, said control electronics being placed inside a sealed housing 10 100 and -at least one control element 20 communicating with said control electronics in such way that, when maneuvered by the operator controls the movements of said at least one mobile part of the equipment.
For an easier understanding of the invention, the detailed description below refers to the control of one mobile part of the equipment. It shall be understood that the same configurations of the operator remote control unit allow control of more than one mobile part of the equipment.
The control electronics controls the movement of said mobile part of the equipment via commonly known way. For the sake of simplicity, the control electronics is not represented schematically in Fig.1, Fig 2, Fig 3 and Fig.4.
The at least one control element 20, when maneuvered by the operator, communicates with said control electronics for controlling the movements of said mobile part of the equipment. In the state of art, this communication is done by means of electric or electronic contacts.
In order to remove completely said electric or electronic contacts, the operator control unit according to the invention comprises two new types components specially configured for the invention whereas the control electronics accommodated on a printed circuit board PCB 10 and the at least one control element 20 are adapted to the invention as it will be detailed below.
The operator remote control unit further comprises at least one miniaturized radar Rn as a first new type of component specially configured for the invention, accommodated on said printed circuit board PCB 10. Said at least one miniaturized radar Rn is configured to detect the movements and the position of the at least one control element 20 by means of radar beams.
Said movements and position of the at least one control element 20 as well as the corresponding movements of the mobile part of the equipment may be expressed for example using a system of axes 10 with a pre-determined origin.
The use of miniaturized radar instead of standard radar is for the purpose of allowing its accommodation on said printed circuit board PCB 10.
In order to enable detection of the movements and position by 15 the radar beams, the at least at least one control element 20 is adapted as follows: -said at least one control element 20 is placed outside said sealed housing 100 but within the range of said laser beams and, -the at least one control element 20 has its exterior surface from a radar-reflective material in order to enable said laser beams to detect its position.
For this purpose, the frequency range of the at least one miniaturized radar Rn is selected depending on the distance between the at least one miniaturized radar Rn and the at least one control element 20 in such a way to ensure that the movements of the at least one control element 20 are within the range of said laser beams of at least one miniaturized radar Rn.
The number of the control elements 20, as well as the number of the miniaturized radars Rn depend on the type and number of mobile part or respectively parts of the equipment to be controlled as well as the complexity of desired movements. The number of miniaturized radars Rn for each control element 20 depend on the complexity of the movements of the each said control element 20, as the movements of said control elements 20 must be at any moment within the range of at least one of the miniaturized radars Rn. For example, Fig 1 illustrates four miniaturized radars Rn and four control elements 20, whereas Fig 2 illustrates four miniaturized radars Rn and a single control element 20.
In order to convert said movements detected by the at least one miniaturized radar Rn into clear instructions that the control electronics must send to the mobile part of the equipment, the operator remote control unit comprises a second new type component specially configured for the invention, a transducer control unit TCU.
Said transducer control unit TCU is accommodated on the same printed circuit board PCB 10, communicating with said at least one miniaturized radar Rn and with said control electronics by electrical paths of said printed circuit board PCB 10.
Said transducer control unit ICU comprises: a transducer T, a transducer processing unit TPU and at least one memory M. The transducer T is configured to receive from the at least one miniaturized radar Rn the data about the movements and the 20 position of the at least one control element 20, to convert said data into signals and to send said signals to the transducer processing unit TPU.
The transducer processing unit TPU is configured to receive said signals from the transducer T by electrical paths and to convert said signals into instructions corresponding to the desired movements of said mobile part of the equipment, said instructions selected from a pre-determined set of instructions. The signals received from the transducer T refer to the change of position of the at least one control element 20 as a result of its maneuvering by the operator. There is a pre-determined set of instructions for each mobile part of the equipment, corresponding to the desired movements of said mobile part. A change of position of the at least one control element 20 is assigned to each instructions from the pre-determined set. The transducer processing unit TPU is configured in such a way that, when it receives the signal from the transducer T, it verifies the existence in the at least one memory M if there are instructions associated with the signal received. If there is match of the signal with instructions from the pre-determined set, the transducer processing unit TPU is configured to send said instructions to the control electronics.
The at least one memory M is configured to store at least data about the pre-determined set of instructions corresponding to all the desired movements of said mobile part of the equipment and the signals received by the transducer processing unit TPU that correspond to each of the instructions of the pre-determined set.
The control electronics is configured to receive from the transducer processing unit TPU.71-le instructions corresponding to the desired movements of said mobile part of the equipment and to communicate said instructions to the mobile part of the equipment. It is assumed that the control electronics communicate with said mobile part of the equipment in the commonly known way. The at least one control unit 20 may be either mechanically attached or fixed to the sealed housing 100, or may be completely 20 independent from said sealed housing 100.
In one preferred embodiment depicted in Fig la and Fig lb, said at least one control unit 20 is a dummy button 20, mechanically attached or fixed to the sealed housing 100.
Depending on the specific need to control the movements of said 25 mobile part of the equipment, there may be more than one dummy button 20.
Fig la and Fig lb depict a non-limiting example with four dummy buttons 20, each one being mechanically fixed on the outer surface of the sealed housing 100 and being placed within the range of four miniaturized radars Rn, one miniaturized radar Rn for each dummy button 20. In this non-limiting example, each of the four dummy buttons 20 may be assigned a specific movement of said mobile part of the equipment such as: move forward, move backward, move to the left, move to the right. An example of pre-determined instructions may be: when the dummy button 20 is pressed, move forward said mobile part of the equipment until the durrmy button 20 is released, said release corresponding to discontinue of the movement forward.
In another preferred embodiment depicted in Fig 2a and Fig 2b, 5 the at least one control unit 20 is a joystick 20, mechanically attached or fixed to the sealed housing 100.
Using the joystick may be convenient in cases when the desired movements of said mobile part of the equipment are more complex, such as for example moving in more than one direction.
Depending on the specific need to control the movements of said mobile part of the equipment, there may be more than one joystick 20.
Fig 2a and Fig 2b depict a non-limiting example with a single joystick 20 mechanically fixed on the outer surface of the sealed housing 100 and being placed within the range of four miniaturized radars Rn. The joystick can be maneuvered in any direction, for each direction entering within the range of laser beams of one of the four miniaturized radars Rn.
The joystick 20 and the miniaturized radars Rn may be additionally configured in such way to divide the maximum angle a of movement of the joystick 20 between the number of the miniaturized radars Rn to ensure that any movement of the joystick 20 within the maximum angle takes place within the range of laser beams of one of the four miniaturized radars Rn. For the sake of simplicity Fig. 2b depicts the position of the joystick 20 in the middle of the place of attachment to the sealed housing 100, whereas the four miniaturized radars Rn are placed symmetrically around it, thus the ranges of action of them divide the maximum angle of movement a having a value of 360° of the joystick 20 in four quarters. The reference system for the movement of the joystick 20 is pre-determined. It includes the reference axis X, represented graphically in Fig 2b and the origin, said origin corresponding to the place where the joystick 20 is in a still, neutral position JO. This neutral position is shown as an example in Fig. 2a and 2b as being perpendicular on the plane of the housing 100.
When the joystick 20 is moved within the range of cne of the miniaturized radars Rn, said miniaturized radar Rn is configured to detect the angle of movement a in respect to the pre-determined reference axis and to send the signal to the transducer T which is configured to convert the data, respectively said angle of movement into a signal that is then sent from the transducer T to the transducer processing unit TPU.
With reference to Fig 2b, the joystick 20 is configured to move 10 into three positions: - the still position is JO; - the position J1 corresponding to an angle a of 45° with the reference axis X; - the position J2 corresponding to an angle a of 165° with the reference axis X; - the position J3 corresponding to an angle a of 285° with the reference axis X. The values of the angle a as well as the positions J1, J2 and J3 of the joystick 20 are given for exemplification only and shall not be considered limiting. The joystick 20 and the transducer processing unit TPU may be further configured to process pre-determined instructions associating distances to values of the angle of movement a. This is not represented graphically in Fig 2.
Said transducer processing unit TPU is configured to look in the at least one memory M if there are associated instructions with the signal received, respectively with the values of each angle, corresponding to the positions Jl, J2, J3. An example of pre-determined instructions may be: JO corresponds to no action of the mobile part of the equipment; J1 corresponds to lifting the mobile part of the equipment; J2 corresponds to lowering the mobile part of the equipment; J3 corresponds to rotating the mobile part of the equipment to the right; In another preferred embodiment, depicted in Fig.3, the 5 desired movements of the mobile part of the equipment are more complex than in the preceding embodiments.
In this case, the at least one control element 20 is a dummy replica 20 of the mobile part of said equipment and the movements of the at least one dummy replica 20 mimic the desired movement of said mobile part of the equipment. The additional advantage is to allow the operator the possibility of a more natural maneuvering of the mobile part of the equipment. For the sake of simplicity, the description of the embodiments using dummy replica will be limited to the use of a single dummy replica 20.
More than one dummy replica 20 may be used, if necessary.
For abetter imitation of the movements desired to be carried out by the mobile part of said industrial or agricultural equipment, the special configurations of the dummy replica 20 include, as shown in Fig. 3. a plurality of segments 20-1, flexibly joined together mechanically to allow rotation around the joint and rotation around all axes of up to 360° and a final effector 20-2 placed at the free end of said dummy replica 20.
In one non-limiting example with reference to Fig. 3, the mobile part of the equipment is a crane and the dummy replica imitates the crane. For simplicity, it is depicted the possibility to rotate of up to 360° around the axis Z and the possibility to rotate of up to 180° around the axis Y, not visible on the figure. The final effector 20-2 is configured to be maneuvered by the operator and is further configured to move the plurality of segments 20-1 so that to imitate the movements that the operator wishes to be carried out by the mobile part of the equipment.
The configurations of the final effector 20-2 and of the plurality of segments 20-1 include allowing movement within the range of the laser beams of at least one miniaturized radars Rn. In this example with reference to Fig 3, two miniaturized radars Rn are used, being configured to divide the pre-determined maximum angle of movement into two equal parts.
When the final effector 20-2 is moved by the operator, the plurality of the flexible segments 20-1 is also moved within the range of one of the two miniaturized radars Rn.
The pre-determined set of instructions in this case refer to a range of movements to be carried out by the mobile part of the equipment for which corresponding movements of the at least one dummy replica 20 are assigned. Thus, moving the dummy replica 20 to the right would trigger movement of the mobile part of the equipment to the right. The pre-determined set of instructions comprise details regarding the correspondence of the movements, such as for example moving the dummy replica with 1 cm shall result in moving the mobile part of the equipment with lm.
In another preferred embodiment, with reference to Fig 4, the at least one control element 20 is completely independent from said sealed housing 100, consisting in operator hand gestures 20 carried out outside said sealed. housing 100 but within the range of radar beams of the at least one miniaturized radar Rn. In this example two miniaturized radars Rn are used, however the number of miniaturized radars Rn shall not be limited.
Operator hand gestures 20 take the place of the physical 25 control element 20. This has the additional advantage that it allows the operator the possibility of a natural maneuvering of the mobile part of the equipment. Yet another advantage of using operator hand gestures is that there are no physical components such as buttons, dummy replicas, joysticks. Consequently 30 manufacturing, installation and maintenance of these components are avoided. The operator control unit is very much simplified. In this embodiment, the transducer control unit TCU is further configured to recognize operator hand gestures 20 carried out outside said sealed housing 100 that are within the range of the 35 radar beams selected from a pre-determined set of stored gestures, each stored gesture corresponding to specific instructions for carrying out the desired movements by said mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment.
The operator control unit is configured such that, when the 5 operator makes hand gestures 20 outside said sealed housing 100, but within the range of radar beams of the at least one miniaturized radar Rn, the corresponding miniaturized radars Rn are configured to detect the movement and to send the result of detection to the transducer control unit TCU. Gestures of one hand 10 or both hands may be, for example, interpreted against one or more pre-determined reference axes.
One example of hand gestures 20 may be: move the right hand 7 cm along a line making an angle of 48° with the reference axis X in the opposite direction of the origin of the axes.
The pre-determined set of instructions comprise details regarding the correspondence of the hand gestures 20 with the desired movements of the mobile part of the equipment.
In this case, the instructions corresponding to the example of hand gestures 20 would be move the mobile part of the equipment 20 with 7m along a line making an angle of 48° with the reference axis X of the equipment.
In another preferred embodiment using operator hand gestures 20 as a control element, the transducer control unit TCU may be further configured to add new gesture to the stored gestures.
It maybe possible to combine various types of control elements in order to enhance the control of the mobile part of the equipment: for example, using dummy buttons and joystick or using dummy buttons and dummy replica, etc. The control element or elements 20 may control more than one mobile part of the equipment, such as for example in case of industrial robots that usually have more than one mobile part. There are no limitations to such combinations, as long as the pre-determined set of instructions stored in the at least one memory M define the range of action of each type of control element 20 on each mobile part of the equipment.
The transducer control unit TCU of the invention may, in a preferred embodiment, be a micro-controller. The the micro-controller ICU may be used with any combination of control elements 20, because its selection does not depend on the type or number of control elements 20.
The micro-controller TCU may be placed in any suitable location within said sealed housing 100. However, the preferred location of the micro-controller TCU, as depicted in Fig 1, Fig 2, Fig 3 and Fig 4, is on the printed circuit board 10 because it allows easier communication with the other components via electrical paths.
While the description of the operator remote control unit was disclosed in detail in connection to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that changes may be made to adapt a particular situation without departing from the essential scope to the teaching of the invention.

Claims (10)

  1. Patent claims 1. An operator remote control unit for controlling the movements 5 of at least one mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment, said operator remote control unit comprising control electronics accommodated on a printed circuit board PCB (10), said control electronics being placed inside a sealed housing (100) and at least one control element (20) communicating with 10 said control electronics in such way that, when maneuvered by the operator, controls the movements of said at least one mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment, characterized in that: -said operator remote control unit further comprises at least one miniaturized radar (Rn), accommodated on said printed circuit board PCB (10), said at least one miniaturized radar (Rn) being configured to detect the movements and the position of the at least control element (20) by means of radar beams; -said at least control element (20) is placed outside said sealed housing (100) within the range of said radar beams, being configured to have its exterior surface from a radar-reflective material; -said operator remote control unit further comprises a transducer control unit (TCU), accommodated on the same printed circuit board PCB (10) and communicating with said at least one miniaturized radar (Rn) and with said control electronics by electrical paths of said printed circuit board PCB (10), said transducer control unit (TCU) comprising: -a transducer (T) configured to receive from the at least one miniaturized radar (Rn) the data about the movements and the position of the at least one control element (20) , to convert said data into signals and to send said signals to a transducer processing unit (TPU); the transducer processing unit (TPU), configured to receive said signals from the transducer (T) and to convert said signals into instructions corresponding to the desired movements of said at least one mobile part of the equipment, sa=d instructions selected from a pre-determined set of Thstructions for carrying out the desired movements by said at least one mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment and being further configured to send said instructions to the control electronics; At least one memory (M) is configured to store at least data about the pre-determined set of instructions corresponding to all =he desired movements of said at least one mobile part of the equipment and the signals received by the transducer processing unit (TPU) that correspond to each of the instructions of the pre-determined set.-Said control electronics is configured to receive from the transducer processing unit (TPU) signals corresponding to the instructions for carrying out the desired movements by said mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment.
  2. 2. The operator control unit of Claim 1, wherein said at least one control element (20) is mechanically attached or fixed to the sealed housing (100) at one end.
  3. 3. The operator control unit of Claim 2, wherein said at least one control element (20) is a dummy button (20).
  4. 4. The operator control unit of Claim 2, wherein said at least one control element (20) is a joystick (20).
  5. 5. The operator control unit of Claim 2, wherein said at least one control element (20) is a dummy replica (20) of the mobile part of the equipment being configured to be manually maneuvered by the operator in such a way to imitate the movements desired to be carried out by the mobile part of said industrial or agricultural equipment.
  6. 6. The operator control unit of Claim 2, wherein, for a better imitation of the movements desired to be carried out by the mobile part of said industrial or agricultural equipment, said dummy replica (20) may be made of a plurality of segments (20-1n) flexibly joined together mechanically to allow rotation on all axes and a final effector (20-2) placed at the free end of said dummy replica (20).
  7. 7. The operator control unit of Claim 1, wherein said at least one control element (20) consists in operator hand gestures (20) carried out outside said sealed housing (100) within the range of radar beams of the at least one miniaturized radar (Rn) and wherein said transducer control unit (TCU) is further configured to recognize operator hand gestures (20) carried out outside said sealed housing (100) that are within the range of the radar beams selected from a pre-determined set of stored gestures, each store gesture corresponding to instructions for carrying out the desired movements by said mobile part of the industrial or agricultural equipment.
  8. 8. The operator control unit of claim 7, wherein the transducer control unit (TCU) may be further configured to add new gesture to the stored gestures.
  9. 9. The operator control unit of any of the preceding claims, wherein the transducer control unit (TCU) is a micro-controller.
  10. 10. The operator control unit of claim 9, wherein the micro-controller (TCU) is accommodated on the printed circuit board PCB (10).
GB1912376.9A 2019-08-29 2019-08-29 Operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment Pending GB2586616A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1912376.9A GB2586616A (en) 2019-08-29 2019-08-29 Operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1912376.9A GB2586616A (en) 2019-08-29 2019-08-29 Operator remote control unit for controlling the movements of a mobile part of an industrial or agricultural equipment

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GB201912376D0 GB201912376D0 (en) 2019-10-16
GB2586616A true GB2586616A (en) 2021-03-03

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Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE10043179A1 (en) * 2000-09-01 2002-03-14 Mannesmann Rexroth Ag Controller for machines e.g. dredges, has transmitter with spoon stem, undercarriage, rotational mechanism, extension arm and spoon which are movable relatively to each other according to moving mechanism
DE102013012466A1 (en) * 2013-07-26 2015-01-29 Audi Ag Operating system and method for operating a vehicle-side device
DE102013019937A1 (en) * 2013-11-28 2015-05-28 Bundesrepublik Deutschland, vertreten durch das Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, dieses vertreten durch das Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr Control device for controlling a cantilever arm
US20150277569A1 (en) * 2014-03-28 2015-10-01 Mark E. Sprenger Radar-based gesture recognition
US20180267620A1 (en) * 2015-11-20 2018-09-20 Audi Ag Motor vehicle with at least one radar unit

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE10043179A1 (en) * 2000-09-01 2002-03-14 Mannesmann Rexroth Ag Controller for machines e.g. dredges, has transmitter with spoon stem, undercarriage, rotational mechanism, extension arm and spoon which are movable relatively to each other according to moving mechanism
DE102013012466A1 (en) * 2013-07-26 2015-01-29 Audi Ag Operating system and method for operating a vehicle-side device
DE102013019937A1 (en) * 2013-11-28 2015-05-28 Bundesrepublik Deutschland, vertreten durch das Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, dieses vertreten durch das Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr Control device for controlling a cantilever arm
US20150277569A1 (en) * 2014-03-28 2015-10-01 Mark E. Sprenger Radar-based gesture recognition
US20180267620A1 (en) * 2015-11-20 2018-09-20 Audi Ag Motor vehicle with at least one radar unit

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