JPH0580932A - Three-dimensional position indication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately specify a position in a three-dimensional space and prevent an arm from being fatigued at the time of the specification as to the three-dimensional position indication device which is used for CAD, CAM, CAE, and the editing of a threedimensional image. CONSTITUTION:This three-dimensional position indication device is equipped with an angle indicating means 2 which indicates the angle of rotation of a plane in the three-dimensional space on a display screen, a position indicating means 3 which indicates the position in the plane whose angle is indicated by the angle indicating means 2, a switching means 4 which selectively switches the operation of the angle indicating means 2 and the operation of the position indicating means 3, and a position coordinate holding means 5 which determines and holds the position coordinates of the indicated angle and position. The position on the plane whose direction is determined by the angle indicating means 2 is changed by using the position indicating means 3. The center of the rotation of the plane is changed to a new position. This operation is repeated to specify the position in the three-dimensional space.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to CAD, CAM, CAE and 3 which generate and retrieve three-dimensional shapes and information.
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional position pointing device in the field of drawing a three-dimensional image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as the calculation speed and display speed of workstations have improved, it has become possible to handle three-dimensional shapes in real time.
In the field of entertainment such as animation creation as well as in purely industrial systems such as AM, the handling of three-dimensional shapes is drawing attention. However, such 3
Many of the input devices used for creating and modifying a dimensional shape are not necessarily satisfactory because they ignore human operability.

An example of a conventional three-dimensional position pointing device will be described below. FIG. 7 shows the structure of a conventional three-dimensional position pointing device. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 denotes a magnetic field generating means, which generates a magnetic field at a constant cycle. Reference numeral 72 denotes a sensor, which has coils which are orthogonal to each other inside. A current measuring unit 73 measures a current flowing through the sensor 72.

The operation of the three-dimensional position pointing device configured as described above will be described below. First, when the magnetic field generating means 71 generates a magnetic field at a constant cycle, an induced current is generated in the coil of the sensor 72. The current generated at this time is proportional to the magnetic flux density passing through the cross section of the coil, and the maximum current flows when the coil is perpendicular to the magnetic field direction, and the magnitude of the current decreases when the coil angle changes. Become. Therefore, the position and orientation of the sensor 72 can be measured by measuring the magnitude of this current by the current measuring means 73.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional three-dimensional position pointing device, since the position and direction of the three-dimensional space are measured by using the magnetic field, a measurement error occurs due to the fluctuation of the magnetic field. There was a problem. Further, since the sensor is operated in the three-dimensional space, there is a problem that the arm is easily tired during the operation.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to provide a three-dimensional position pointing device capable of accurately pointing the position and direction of the three-dimensional space and having good operability. And

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an angle designating means for designating an angle for rotating a plane in a three-dimensional space on a display screen and a plane designated by the angle. The position indicating means for indicating the position in the position, the angle indicating means and the switching means for selectively switching the operation of the position indicating means, and the position coordinate holding means for fixing and holding the position coordinates of the indicated angle and position. There is.

[0008]

According to the present invention, with the above configuration, the angle designating unit designates the angle of a specific two-dimensional plane in the three-dimensional space,
Then, a position in the three-dimensional space can be determined by pointing a specific position on this plane by the position pointing means. Further, since the direction in the three-dimensional space can be specified by the angle specifying means, the position and direction in the three-dimensional space can be specified accurately. Further, since the user can operate the robot with his / her arm on the table, there is little fatigue and the operability is good.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of an image display device to which a three-dimensional position pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, 1 is a three-dimensional position indicating device, 2 is an angle indicating means for instructing an angle for rotating a plane in a three-dimensional space on a screen of a display device,
Reference numeral 3 is a position designating means for designating a position in the plane whose angle is designated by the angle designating means 2, and 4 is a switching means for selectively switching the operations of the angle designating means 2 and the position designating means 3. Is a position coordinate holding means for fixing and holding the position coordinates of the angle and position designated by the angle designating means 2 and the position designating means 3. 6 is a CRT
Such as a display device, 7 is a cursor control device for controlling the position of the cursor on the screen of the display device 6, 8 is a VRAM for storing a graphic screen, 9 is a coordinate storage device for storing the coordinate values of the graphic, and 10 is each of these parts. Is a control device for controlling the.

The operation of the thus configured image display device will be described below. First, the graphic screen stored in the VRAM 8 is called on the screen of the display device 6,
Then, the angle indicating means 2 of the three-dimensional position indicating device 1
The Euler angle of the dimensional space is designated, the plane on the screen of the display device 6 is rotated, the position coordinate holding means 5 determines the position coordinates, and the coordinates are stored in the coordinate storage device 9. Next, the position indicating means 3 is selected by the switching means 4, and the position indicating means 3 indicates an arbitrary position within a specific plane on the screen of the display device 6. In response to this operation, the cursor control device 7 moves the cursor on the display screen. When the position is determined, the position coordinate holding means 5 determines the position and the coordinate value is stored in the coordinate storage means 9. Next, the angle indicating means 2 is selected again by the switching means 4, and the position indicating means 3 is selected.
The plane is rotated around the position specified by. By repeating these operations, the position in the three-dimensional space is designated.

Next, the structure of the three-dimensional position pointing device will be described. 2A and 2B are side views of a three-dimensional position pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A shows a closed state of the three-dimensional position pointing device, and FIG. 2B shows an open state. 3A is a plan view of the three-dimensional position pointing device, FIG.
(B) is a bottom view thereof. In these figures, 11
Is a ball, 12 is a case that holds the ball 11 rotatably and exposes the upper part, and 13 is the case where the ball 11 is the case 1
2 to prevent it from popping out
2 is an arc-shaped ball guide attached to the upper surface of 2. The ball 11 is a spherical concave portion 1 provided in the case 12.
The lower part of 2a is arranged so as to protrude from the bottom surface of the case. A U-shaped groove 12b is formed on the bottom surface of the case 12, and the U-shaped support leg 14 is housed therein. The support leg 14 is rotatably attached to the U-shaped groove 12b by a pin 15 on the open side thereof. A leaf spring 16 having one end fixed to the bottom surface of the groove 12b is interposed between the groove 12b and the support leg 14, and in the unloaded state, as shown in FIG. The case 12 is lifted with respect to the support leg 14 by the elastic force of 16.
The ball 11 is in a floating state. When the case 12 is pushed downward from this state, the state shown in FIG. 1A is obtained, and the ball 11 comes to project from the bottom surface of the case 12.

The ball guide 13 includes a rotation sensor 17 for detecting the amount of movement of the three-dimensional position pointing device in the x-axis direction (the amount of rotation about the y-axis) and the amount of movement in the y-axis direction (the amount of rotation about the x-axis). ) To detect the ball 11
It is attached so as to roll on contact with the surface of the.
A rotation sensor 19 for detecting the amount of rotation about the z-axis is attached to the case 12 so that the rotor 19a thereof makes contact with the surface of the ball 11 and rolls. Further, reference numeral 20 is an operation switching sensor for detecting a change from the state of (A) to the state of (B) of FIG. 1 or vice versa, 21 is an input instruction switch for determining a three-dimensional coordinate position, and 22 is It is an input instruction switch for confirming the two-dimensional coordinate position.

The operation of the three-dimensional position pointing device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, FIG. 2A shows a state in which the user applies pressure to the case 12 from above to close the three-dimensional position pointing device. In this state, since the ball 11 projects from the bottom surface of the case 12, when the user moves the three-dimensional position pointing device on an appropriate table, the ball 11 rotates. Rotation sensor 1
Reference numerals 7, 18, and 19 are orthogonal to each other, and rotation of the ball 11 can be detected. In this way, the amount of movement in a two-dimensional direction along a plane is detected,
The coordinate position is confirmed by pressing the input instruction switch 22.

FIG. 1B shows a state in which the three-dimensional position pointing device is opened by the elastic force of the leaf spring 16 because the user has released his hand. In this state, the ball 11 is in a floating state, so that the user can rotate the ball 11 in any direction with his fingertip. When the ball 11 rotates, the rotation sensor 1 in contact with the ball 11
7, 18, 19 also rotate. Since these three rotation sensors 17, 18 and 19 are in a relationship orthogonal to each other, the rotation amounts of the ball 11 with respect to the three axes x, y, x can be detected, and three-dimensional position coordinates can be obtained. You can

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing how the rotation of the ball 11 is detected in the three-dimensional space. Such an instruction is given with the three-dimensional position pointing device as shown in FIG. 1B open. In FIG. 4, 41 is a plane in the three-dimensional space, and 42 is a normal vector of the plane 41. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the plane 41 coincides with the xy plane. For example, when the ball 11 is operated with the fingertip in the y-axis direction, the angle of the flat surface 41 rotates around the x-axis and changes, as shown in FIG. When the rotation is further continued, it coincides with the zx plane as shown in FIG. The starting point of the normal vector 42 is always at the origin during this time.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing how the movement on a two-dimensional plane is detected by this three-dimensional position pointing device.
Such an instruction is given with the three-dimensional pointing device as shown in FIG. 1A closed. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 51 represents a plane placed on the xy plane. 52 is this plane 51
It represents the direction vector above. When the three-dimensional position pointing device is moved on an appropriate horizontal plane to rotate the ball 11 in the horizontal direction in the state of FIG. 5 (A), the direction of the direction vector 52 changes, and as shown in FIG. 5 (B). Become. When the three-dimensional position pointing device is moved in parallel, the ball 1
It is possible to move the start point of the direction vector 52 from the rotation of 1. As a result, the direction vector 52 is shown in FIG.
The state shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a state in which an arbitrary direction at an arbitrary position in the three-dimensional space is shown by operating the three-dimensional position pointing device. In FIG. 6, 61 is a plane, 62 is a normal vector of the plane 61,
Reference numeral 63 indicates a direction vector. That is, the plane 61 is rotated with the three-dimensional position pointing device opened, the position coordinates of the normal vector 62 are held, and then the direction vector 63 is changed in the plane 61 to hold the desired two-dimensional coordinate position. To do.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to freely indicate an arbitrary position and direction in the three-dimensional space, and further, the position and the angle are detected by the ball 11 and the rotation sensor contacting the ball 11. Since 17, 18, 19 are used,
It can be done very accurately. Further, since the present apparatus is placed on a suitable table and operated, it has an excellent effect that the arm is less tired.

In the above embodiment, even when the ball 11 is floated as shown in FIG. 2B, the operation of the Z-axis rotation sensor 19 is stopped to input the position coordinates on the two-dimensional plane. Since it is possible to configure it from the beginning, by using it in the same way as a normal mouse as shown in Fig. 2 (A), the operating direction and the moving direction of the cursor on the display screen match. There is an advantage that can be made.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the 3
An angle designating means for designating an angle for rotating the plane in the dimensional space, a position designating means for designating a position in the plane whose angle is designated by the angle designating means, and an operation of the angle designating means and the position designating means selectively. Switching means to switch to,
Since the position coordinate holding means for fixing and holding the position coordinates of the designated angle and position is provided, the position and direction in the three-dimensional space can be accurately measured, and moreover, the feeling of fatigue is small. Have the effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an image display device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

2A and 2B are side views showing different usage states of the three-dimensional position pointing device in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the same three-dimensional position pointing device. FIG. 3B is a bottom view of the same three-dimensional position pointing device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the same three-dimensional position pointing device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing another operation of the three-dimensional position pointing device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing still another operation of the three-dimensional position pointing device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional three-dimensional position pointing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Three-dimensional position pointing device 2 Angle pointing means 3 Position pointing means 4 Switching means 5 Position coordinate holding means 6 Display device 7 Cursor control device 8 VRAM 9 Coordinate storage device 10 Control device 11 Ball 12 Case 13 Ball guide 14 Support leg 15 pins 16 leaf springs 17, 18, 19 rotation sensor 17a, 18a, 19a rotation sensor rotor 20 operation switching sensor 21, 22 input instruction switch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Takamasa Koyama, Inoue 1006, Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masao Kato 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An angle instructing means for instructing an angle for rotating a plane in a three-dimensional space on a display screen, a position instructing means for instructing a position in the plane whose angle is instructed by the angle instructing means, A three-dimensional position pointing device comprising: a switching unit for selectively switching between operations of an angle pointing unit and a position pointing unit; and a position coordinate holding unit for fixing and holding the position coordinates of the designated angle and position. 2. The three-dimensional position pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the angle pointing means and the position pointing means have a shared structure. 3. The angle indicating means and the position indicating means contact one ball, a ball holding means for holding the ball so that the ball is rotatable and the upper portion thereof is exposed, and a ball holding means for contacting the peripheral surface of the ball with x, The three-dimensional position pointing device according to claim 2, further comprising three sensors that detect a movement amount about three axes of y and z. 4. The three-dimensional position pointing device according to claim 3, wherein the ball holding means can have a first position where a part of the ball is projected from the lower surface thereof and a second position where the ball is floated from the lower surface thereof. ..