JPH02156319A - Device controller by inclination - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To use information of the inclination of a controller to a horizontal plane to control a device by calculating information of the inclination based on information from an inclination sensing means which senses the degree of inclination and controlling the device based on this information. CONSTITUTION:An x axis and a y axis orthogonal to each other are taken on a horizontal plane, and inclination sensing means 1 are provided on the x axis and the y axis to sense an angle thetax of inclination in the x-axis direction and an angle thetay of inclination in the y-axis direction to the horizontal plane. An inclination information calculating means 2 uses functions f and g to calculate information related to a controlled variable x=f(thetax) in the x-axis direction and a controlled variable y=g(thetay) in the y-axis direction in accordance with values of angles thetax and thetay. Function f and g are so determined that actual angles of inclination accord with a human feeling of inclination. When information related to controlled variables is calculated, the device is controlled based on this information by a device control means 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an equipment control device using tilting.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, devices have been controlled by operating specific keys, moving a mouse, clicking a button, or the like.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Although the conventional methods described above are accurate, they have a problem in that they are difficult to grasp intuitively. In addition, particularly with portable devices, when a user attempts to operate the device with one hand, the user often has to support the device with the other hand, thus requiring the use of both hands.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate such conventional drawbacks and provide a novel device control device that controls devices using information on the inclination of the device with respect to a horizontal plane.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The equipment control device based on tilt according to the present invention includes (a) tilt sensing means for sensing the degree of tilt of the device with respect to a horizontal plane; (b) information from the tilt sensing means; (c) equipment control means for controlling equipment based on the information from the slope information calculation means.

(Function) In the present invention, information regarding the control of the device can be obtained by checking the inclination of the device from the horizontal plane, without relying on specific key operations.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The tilt sensing means 1 senses the tilt angle of the device from a horizontal plane in a certain direction. The slope information calculation means 2 calculates the degree of slope based on the information from the slope sensing means.

Two axes are taken orthogonal to the horizontal plane inside this device, and each
and the y-axis, and the tilt sensing means are provided on the y-axis and the y-axis. The inclination sensing means installed in the X-axis direction senses the inclination angle θ in the X-axis direction with respect to the horizontal plane. The tilt sensing means installed in the y-axis direction senses the tilt angle θ in the y-axis direction with respect to the horizontal plane. The information calculation means calculates the amount X to be controlled in the X-axis direction from the values of θ and θ.
and information regarding the amount y to be controlled in the y-axis direction using functions f and g, respectively.

x=f(θx), y=g(θ,) The functions f and g are determined so that the actual tilt angle matches the human sense of tilt. Once the information regarding the control amount is calculated, the equipment is controlled by the equipment control means based on this information.

In addition to the method of using the horizontal plane as an absolute standard of inclination, there is also a method of using relative inclination information with respect to the initial inclination. That is, once the initial inclination angle θ is set to 0.0 by the inclination sensing means. θ, 0 is sensed and stored in the inclination information calculation means, and the difference Δθ, Δθ, from the inclination angle θ, θ during control is determined. The tilt information calculation means further calculates information regarding the amount X to be controlled in the X-axis direction and the amount y to be controlled in the y-axis direction from the values of Δθ and Δθ, using functions p and q, respectively. .

Δθ engineering = θ knee θ wholesale, Δθ, = θ, -θ cutting x = p (Δθ
x), y=q(Δθ,) Depending on the situation, the coordinate system may be one-dimensional or three-dimensional. In this case, the number of the tilt sensing means is changed depending on the number of dimensions. The inclination sensing means is not an angle;
The same goes for sensing the distance by which a point deviates from the horizontal plane due to inclination. The coordinate system does not have to be a Cartesian coordinate system.

Consider an information display device as a device to be controlled. in this case,
The device control means moves the image information displayed on the information device in the direction calculated by the device control calculation means. Of the pixels that were displayed before the movement, those whose coordinate values exceed those that can be displayed on the information display device after the movement are ignored. There are two methods for controlling the portion that becomes blank after movement by the device control means. One method is to assume that there is a virtual large screen and apply the above equation to pixels in areas that are not displayed before movement. The other method is to divide the display information into sections according to the size (pages) that can be displayed simultaneously on the information display device, and to fill in blank areas after the move with pages other than those that were displayed on the information display device before the move. This is a method of displaying part or all of a page.

Consider the case where multiple devices are selected. For example, in the selection menu on the information display device, device 1, device 2, device 3,
It is assumed that the devices 4 are arranged at the top, bottom, left and right, respectively. At this time, according to the present invention, it is sufficient to tilt the device in the direction in which the menu is present without performing a specific key operation, and to provide the tilt information to the tilt sensing means. The inclination information calculation means determines the up, down, left and right directions of the inclination, and the equipment control means selects the corresponding equipment based on this information. Note that the placement within the selection menu is not limited to the top, bottom, left, and right, but may be placed at an appropriate position as necessary.

Consider another case where multiple devices are selected. For example, in the selection menu on the information display device, device 1, device 2, etc.
, device 3, and device 4 are arranged in a line from left to right. At this time, according to the present invention, it is sufficient to tilt the device in the direction in which the menu is present without performing a specific key operation, and to provide the tilt information to the tilt sensing means. The inclination information calculation means determines the left and right direction of inclination and its degree, and the equipment control means selects the corresponding equipment based on this information. Note that the placement within the selection menu is not limited to the left and right, but may be placed at an appropriate position as necessary.

Consider the case of changing the control amount of a device. For example, assume that an increase and a decrease are arranged above and below in a selection menu on an information display device. At this time, according to the present invention, it is sufficient to tilt the device in the direction in which the menu is present without performing a specific key operation, and to provide the tilt information to the tilt sensing means. The slope information calculation means
The up and down direction of the inclination is determined, and based on this information, the device control means increases or decreases the control amount. Note that the placement within the selection menu is not limited to the top and bottom, but may be placed at an appropriate position as necessary.

Consider the case of changing the control direction of the Jfi device. For example, assume that the control target space corresponds to the information display device. At this time, according to the present invention, it is sufficient to tilt the device in the direction in which the menu is present without performing a specific key operation, and to provide the tilt information to the tilt sensing means. the tilt information calculation means identifies a direction to be controlled;
Based on this information, the device control means controls in that direction.

Consider the output from the central controller to the peripheral devices and the human power from the peripheral devices to the central controller. For example, assume that a central control unit and peripheral devices are placed on the left and right sides of an information display device, respectively. At this time, according to the present invention, the device is tilted based on the direction in which information flows on the menu, without specifying the function of output or human power by a specific key operation, and the tilt information is given to the tilt sensing means. Bye. That is, in order to output from the central control unit (displayed on the left side of the information display device) to the peripheral device (displayed on the right side of the information display device), the device must be tilted to the right and the tilt sensing means The instruction may be given as slope information. In addition, in order to perform input from the peripheral device to the central control device, it is sufficient to tilt the device to the left and give an instruction. The inclination information calculation means determines the left and right directions, and the equipment control means selects manual power or output based on this information. Note that the placement within the selection menu is not limited to the left and right, but may be placed at an appropriate position as necessary. The same applies even if there are a plurality of peripheral devices.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, it is possible to easily control a device with one hand by tilting the device with respect to a horizontal plane without operating any specific keys.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1... tilt sensing means, 2... tilt information calculation means, 3... equipment control means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An equipment control device using tilting, characterized by comprising the following (a), (b), and (c). (a) Tilt sensing means for sensing the degree of inclination of the apparatus with respect to a horizontal plane; (b) Tilt information calculation means for calculating information about the inclination of the apparatus based on information from the tilt sensing means; (c) Equipment control means for controlling equipment based on information from the slope information calculation means.