JP2013186661A - Input detection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress a tracing operation from being erroneously determined as a "pushing-in operation" while the tracing operation is being performed on the operation surface of an in-vehicle input device, and to improve the operability of the pushing-in operation.SOLUTION: The input detection system includes: a position sensor for detecting a fingertip contact position of a user on the operation surface of an input device 10 loaded on a vehicle; and a pressure sensor for detecting the pushing-in operation force of a user to the operation surface. When the detection value (pressing force detection value) of the pressure sensor is a second threshold TH2 or more, it is determined that the pushing-in operation has been performed. Then, the pressing force detection value during the tracing operation is successively acquired in a predetermined cycle, and the second threshold TH2 is variably set on the basis of the plurality of acquired pressing force detection values (pressing force history). Thus, when the tracing operation is performed with a weak force (refer to figure 3(d)), the second threshold TH2 can be changed to a low value on the basis of the pressing force history (refer to figure 3(e)). Therefore, it is possible to determine the presence/absence of the pushing-in operation by using the threshold TH2 corresponding to an actual pressing force in the tracing operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to an input detection system.

  The input device described in Patent Literature 1 includes a position sensor that detects a user's fingertip contact position on the operation surface, and a pressure sensor that detects a user's pushing operation force on the operation surface. Therefore, when the operation surface is traced with the fingertip (hereinafter referred to as “tracing operation”), the position of the fingertip is detected by the position sensor. When a predetermined position on the operation surface is pushed with a fingertip (hereinafter referred to as “pushing operation”), the pushing operation is detected by the pressure sensor. The user selects a desired button from the plurality of icon buttons displayed on the operation surface by a tracing operation, and then performs a pressing operation to execute the command of the button.

  In addition, since the pressure sensor detects the pressure from the fingertip even during the tracing operation, there is a concern that it may be erroneously determined as a “push-in operation” based on the detected pressure during the tracing operation. In response to this concern, in the input device described in Patent Document 1, if the detected value of the pressure sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the pushing operation has been performed.

JP 2006-251927 A

  However, the present inventors have revealed that the following problems occur when this type of input device is mounted on a vehicle. That is, a force may be applied to the fingertip for a moment during the tracing operation due to vibration during vehicle travel. Further, when traveling on a rough road, the user may intentionally perform a tracing operation while pressing the fingertip strongly against the operation surface. In these cases, the detected value of the pressure sensor tends to be equal to or greater than the threshold even during the tracing operation. Therefore, there arises a problem that it is erroneously determined as “push-in operation” during the tracing operation.

  On the other hand, if an attempt is made to avoid the misjudgment by setting the threshold value high, the operability of the pushing operation is deteriorated because it is necessary to push the fingertip strongly when performing the pushing operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to suppress erroneous determination as “push-in operation” while performing a tracing operation on the operation surface of the in-vehicle input device, and push-in An object of the present invention is to provide an input detection system that achieves both improved operability of operation.

  The invention for achieving the above object is characterized by the following points. That is, a position sensor that detects a user's fingertip contact position on an operation surface of an input device mounted on a vehicle, a pressure sensor that detects a user's pushing operation force on the operation surface, and a detection value of the pressure sensor. If it is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the push determination means for determining that the push operation has been performed by the user, and the detection values of the pressure sensor are sequentially acquired at a predetermined cycle, and the threshold is variably set based on the plurality of detection values acquired. And a threshold value setting means.

  According to this invention, the threshold value used for determination of pushing operation can be changed based on the pressure history. Therefore, if force is applied by vibration during the stroking operation as described above, or if the stroking operation is intentionally performed when driving on a rough road, the pressure history value should increase overall or temporarily, The threshold can be set higher only in that situation. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress erroneous determination as “push-in operation” during the tracing operation. On the other hand, except for the above situation, the value of the history should be lowered as a whole. In this case, the threshold value can be set lower. Therefore, it is possible to avoid pressing the fingertip strongly and perform the pressing operation, and the operability of the pressing operation can be improved.

  As described above, according to the above invention, the threshold value can be variably set according to the situation at the time, so that it is possible to achieve both suppression of erroneous determination as “pressing operation” and improvement in operability of the pressing operation. it can.

The figure which shows the arrangement | positioning layout in the vehicle interior of an input device and a display apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the input device shown in FIG. 2. In 1st Embodiment, the time chart which shows the pressing pressure change when operating an input device. The flowchart which shows the procedure which learns the threshold value used for pushing operation determination in 1st Embodiment. The time chart explaining the learning method of the threshold value used for pushing operation determination in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The time chart explaining the learning method of the threshold value used for pushing operation determination in 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of an input detection system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same or equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and the description thereof is incorporated.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the input device 10 is mounted within a range of a vehicle driver (user) within the vehicle. The content of operation by the input device 10 is displayed on the display device 20. The display device 20 is installed in the vicinity of the front windshield 30. The input device 10 is installed in the center console 40 located between the driver's seat and the passenger seat. That is, the input device 10 and the display device 20 are separately disposed separately, and the display device 20 is disposed above the input device 10.

  In this way, by disposing the input device 10 and the display device 20 separately, the display device 20 can be seen without greatly moving the line of sight when the vehicle is driven, and the driving driver does not lose its posture. The input device 10 located at hand can be operated.

  The input device 10 is a device that operates the operation contents of various devices mounted on the vehicle. Specific examples of devices include devices that perform navigation, audio, air conditioning, and the like. The display device 20 displays the operation contents for the various devices described above, and also displays the operating states of the various devices.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the input device 10 includes a capacitance detection sheet 11 (position sensor) formed in a sheet shape, a pressure detection sheet 12 (pressure sensor) formed in a sheet shape, and a circuit board 13. Are stacked in the vertical direction. Note that the surface of the capacitance detection sheet 11 functions as an operation surface 11a that is operated by a driver touching a fingertip.

  The capacitance detection sheet 11 detects a change in capacitance due to a fingertip touching the operation surface 11a. Thereby, the fingertip contact position of the driver on the operation surface 11a is detected. The pressure detection sheet 12 detects the pressure that the operation surface 11a receives from the fingertip. Thereby, the pushing operation force of the driver with respect to the operation surface 11a is detected. An MPU 13 a (micro processing unit) having a microcomputer is mounted on the circuit board 13.

  A signal (position detection value) output from the capacitance detection sheet 11 and a signal (pressing pressure detection value) output from the pressure detection sheet 12 are input to the MPU 13a. Note that these position detection value and pressure detection value are sequentially input to the MPU 13a at a predetermined cycle (for example, 10 milliseconds). The predetermined cycle is set to, for example, a calculation cycle of the CPU included in the MPU 13a.

  The MPU 13a (pushing determination means) determines whether or not there is an operation of tracing the operation surface 11a with a fingertip or an operation of pressing the operation surface 11a based on the detected pressure value. Specifically, a first threshold value TH1 for determining a tracing operation and a second threshold value TH2 for determining a pushing operation are set in advance. If the detected pressure value (hereinafter simply referred to as “pressing pressure”) is equal to or greater than the first threshold value TH1 and less than the second threshold value TH2, it is determined that the drag operation is being performed. If the pressing pressure is equal to or greater than the second threshold TH2, it is determined that the pressing operation is being performed.

  When it is determined that the tracing operation is being performed, the MPU 13a calculates the fingertip contact position on the operation surface 11a based on the position detection value, and outputs the calculation result (position information) to the display device 20. . When it is determined that the push operation is performed, the fact that the push operation has been performed (push information) and the position information at that time are output to the display device 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3 </ b> B, and 3 </ b> C, a cursor 21 and a plurality of icon buttons 22 are displayed on the display device 20. The cursor 21 is displayed at a position corresponding to the position information output from the input device 10 in the display area of the display device 20. When the user performs a tracing operation so as to position the cursor 21 on the desired icon button 22, and then performs a pressing operation at the cursor position, the command assigned to the icon button 22 (for example, as described above) Command for starting various devices).

  In this way, when the user places a fingertip on the operation surface 11a and performs a pushing operation by performing a tracing operation, the pressing pressure changes as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, at time t1 when the fingertip is placed on the operation surface 11a, the pressing pressure is equal to or higher than the first threshold TH1 and lower than the second threshold TH2, and the MPU 13a detects the start of the tracing operation. After the stroking operation is performed as shown in FIG. 3B, at the time t2 when the pushing operation is performed as shown in FIG. 3C, the pressing pressure starts to rise rapidly. Thereafter, at time t3 when the pressing pressure reaches the second threshold value TH2, the MPU 13a detects the pressing operation.

  Further, the MPU 13a (threshold setting means) variably sets the above-described second threshold TH2 according to the history of the detected pressure value. Hereinafter, the procedure of the variable setting will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the processing in FIG. 4 is repeatedly executed by the MPU 13a at a predetermined cycle.

  First, in step S10 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not the fingertip is touching the operation surface 11a based on the pressure detection value. Specifically, if the pressing pressure is equal to or greater than the first threshold TH1, it is determined that the touch is being made. That is, it is determined that the user has not touched until the start of the tracing operation is detected. If it is not touched (S10: NO), the process of FIG. 4 is ended, and if it is determined that it is touched (S10: YES), in the next step S20 (threshold setting means), the pressure detection value is predetermined. Sequentially acquired and stored in cycles. That is, the pressure pressure history is acquired and stored.

  In a succeeding step S30, it is determined whether or not the tracing operation is finished. Specifically, when the pressing pressure is equal to or higher than the first threshold value TH1 and the change in the position information is less than a predetermined value or zero, it is determined that the tracing operation is finished. Until it is determined that the tracing operation has been completed, the acquisition of the detected pressure value in step S20 is continued. When it is determined that the tracing operation is finished (S30: YES), the acquisition of the pressing pressure detection value is finished and the process proceeds to Step S40. In short, the pressing pressure during the tracing operation is sequentially acquired and stored at a predetermined cycle.

  In the next step S40 (threshold value setting means), a second threshold value TH2 for determining the pressing operation is calculated based on the pressing pressure (pressing history) during the tracing operation acquired in step S20. Specifically, an average value Pave (see FIG. 3D) of a plurality of detected pressure detection values acquired during one tracing operation is calculated. And 2nd threshold value TH2 is set to a high value, so that average value Pave is high. For example, a value obtained by multiplying the average value Pave by a predetermined coefficient (for example, 1.5) is calculated as the second threshold value TH2. In subsequent step S50 (threshold setting means), the second threshold TH2 calculated in step S40 is updated and learned.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pressing pressure during the tracing operation is sequentially acquired in real time, and the second threshold value TH2 for determining the pressing operation is changed based on the acquired average value of the pressing pressure. When the tracing operation is performed (see FIG. 3D), the fact is learned and the second threshold value TH2 is changed to a low value (see FIG. 3E). Therefore, by variably setting the second threshold value TH2 according to the situation at that time, the chance of erroneous determination as “pushing operation” during the tracing operation is reduced, and the pushing force required for the pushing operation is minimized. The push-in operability can be improved.

  Moreover, since the average value of the pressing pressure is used as the pressing history during the tracing operation, the calculation process of the second threshold value TH2 in step S40 can be simplified.

(Second Embodiment)
The present embodiment is a modification of the method for calculating the second threshold TH2. That is, in calculating the second threshold value TH2 in step S40 of FIG. 4, the maximum value Pmax and the minimum value Pmin shown in FIG. 5 are excluded from the plurality of pressing pressure values (sampling values) acquired in step S20, and the remaining values The second threshold value TH2 is calculated based on the average value of the sampling values.

  Here, the amount of fingertip force at the time of the tracing operation varies depending on the user. However, since the second threshold value TH2 is changed based on the pressing pressure average value at the time of the tracing operation, the second threshold value TH2 corresponding to the user's force adjustment is used. It becomes possible to determine whether or not there is a pushing operation. However, there is a case where force is temporarily applied to the fingertip or the force is lost due to vibration of the vehicle. In view of this point, this embodiment excludes a sampling value (maximum value Pmax) when a force is temporarily applied to the fingertip and a sampling value (minimum value Pmin) when the force of the fingertip is temporarily lost. Thus, since the average value is calculated, setting to the second threshold value TH2 corresponding to the user force can be realized with high accuracy.

(Third embodiment)
The present embodiment is a modification of the method for calculating the second threshold TH2. That is, in calculating the second threshold value TH2 in step S40 of FIG. 4, the plurality of pressing pressure values acquired in step S20 are integrated over the tracing operation period. The area of the shaded portion shown in FIG. 6 corresponds to the integral value. Note that the start time of the tracing operation period is the time t1c when the tracing operation is detected. On the other hand, the start time point of the tracing operation period may be a time point when the predetermined time T10 is subtracted from the time point t3c when the pushing operation is detected, or may be a time point when the change in the position information becomes less than the predetermined value or zero.

  Then, the integral value calculated in this way is divided by the movement distance of the tracing operation, and the second threshold value TH2 is calculated based on the value (integration / distance). For example, a value obtained by multiplying the integration / distance described above by a predetermined positive coefficient is set as the second threshold value TH2. Also according to the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the above embodiments are exhibited.

(Fourth embodiment)
In the present embodiment, the learning value updated and stored in step S50 in FIG. 4 is deleted from the memory when the vehicle is finished driving. Then, at the start of the next vehicle operation, the preset initial value is reset to be set as the second threshold value TH2.

  Here, since the pressing pressure at the time of the tracing operation is different for each user, learning the second threshold value TH2 during one driving of the vehicle is meaningful because the second threshold value TH2 can be set and changed to a value according to the user. is there. However, it is not always the same user as the previous time when the vehicle is driven next time. Therefore, the second threshold value TH2 set during the previous driving may be greatly different from a value desirable for the user during the current driving.

  In the present embodiment in view of this point, the second threshold value TH2 is reset to the initial value every time the vehicle is driven, so that the value of the second threshold value TH2 at the start of driving can be prevented from greatly differing from the desired value. Moreover, since the learning value is deleted from the memory every time the operation is completed, the memory capacity can be reduced.

(Fifth embodiment)
The MPU 13a according to the present embodiment determines whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a rough road, and the second threshold value TH2 calculated in step S40 in FIG. Correct to increase.

  More specifically, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a rough road if the degree of variation of the plurality of detected pressure detection values acquired in step S20 in FIG. Then, the second threshold value TH2 calculated in step S40 is corrected by adding a predetermined value or multiplying by a predetermined coefficient.

  Here, it is as described above that the momentary force is applied to the fingertip during the stroking operation due to vibration during vehicle travel. However, since the vibration increases during rough road travel, the force applied by the fingertip increases. . In this embodiment in view of this point, the second threshold value TH2 is corrected so as to increase when traveling on a rough road, so that it is possible to suitably suppress the possibility of erroneous determination as a “push-in operation” during a tracing operation.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment, and may be modified as follows. Moreover, you may make it combine the characteristic structure of each embodiment arbitrarily, respectively.

  In the first embodiment, the present invention is applied to a vehicle in which the input device 10 is installed in the center console 40. However, as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. The present invention may be applied to an installed vehicle.

  The idea of excluding the maximum value Pmax and the minimum value Pmin in the second embodiment and the idea of calculating the second threshold TH2 based on integration / distance in the third embodiment may be combined as follows. That is, the integral / distance value may be calculated for the pressing pressure curve excluding the maximum value Pmax and the minimum value Pmin.

  In the first embodiment, the fingertip position is detected by the capacitance detection sheet 11 (position sensor) that detects a change in capacitance. For example, the fingertip position may be detected by a photo sensor, The fingertip position may be detected by a pressure sensor.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Input device, 11 ... Capacitance detection sheet | seat (position sensor), 11a ... Operation surface, 12 ... Pressure detection sheet | seat (pressure sensor), 13a ... MPU (push-in determination means, threshold value setting means), S20, S40, S50 ... Threshold setting means

Claims (5)

A position sensor (11) for detecting a fingertip contact position of the user on the operation surface (11a) of the input device (10) mounted on the vehicle;
A pressure sensor (12) for detecting a user's pushing operation force on the operation surface;
If the detected value of the pressure sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, a push determination means (13a) for determining that a push operation has been performed by the user
Threshold value setting means (13a, S20, S40, S50) for sequentially acquiring detection values of the pressure sensor at a predetermined period and variably setting the threshold value based on the plurality of acquired detection values;
An input detection system comprising:   The input detection system according to claim 1, wherein the threshold setting unit sets the threshold based on an average value of the plurality of acquired detection values.   The input detection system according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value setting unit sets the threshold value based on a value obtained by removing a maximum value and a minimum value from the plurality of acquired detection values.   The input detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the threshold value setting unit resets the set threshold value to an initial value every time the vehicle is driven.   The input detection system according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value setting unit corrects the threshold value to increase when the vehicle is traveling on a rough road.

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