JPH0895704A - Spatial coordinate detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the spatial coordinate detecting device which can easily detect the relative tilt angle and distance of the shaft connecting a light source and a detection part with high precision. CONSTITUTION: The light source 10 is arranged on the screen of an equipment main body and the detection part 11 is arranged at an operation member which is manually operated. When X-Y orthogonal coordinates which cross a Z axis that extends forward are set, three stop openings 13a-13c which are arrayed in a Y-axial direction and two Y-side photodetecting elements 15 and 17 and an X-side photodetecting element 16 which face the respective stop openings are provided at the detection part 11; and the Y-side photodetecting elements 15 and 17 each have two Y-axially divided photodetection parts and the X-side element 16 has two X-axially divided photodetection parts. The light from the light source is stopped down by the respective stop openings respectively to irradiate the opposite photodetecting elements respectively. For the tilt angle θ of the line connecting the centers of the light source 10 and detection part 11 to the Z axis, θx is found from the output of the X-side photodetection part and θy is found from the output of one Y-side photodetecting element or the mean value of the outputs of both the Y side photodetecting elements. Further, the relative distance between the light source 10 and detection part 11 is found from the outputs of both the Y-side photodetection parts by triangulation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a light source that emits identifiable light and a detector for detecting the light from the light source, and the inclination of the light source and the detector relative to the axis connecting the detectors. The present invention relates to a spatial coordinate detection device capable of detecting an angle and a distance between a light source and a detection unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a controller having a joystick or a planar coordinate input device having switch elements arranged in a matrix is used as an input device for inputting information from the outside to a screen on which various images are displayed. Etc. are the main ones. The controller with the joystick is suitable for moving characters on the screen in the action game and for performing operation instructions, but operations such as matching the cursor mark to a button appearing anywhere on the screen Not suitable for. Further, since this type of controller is of a cord type, it has a drawback that it can be operated only near the screen. On the other hand, the conventional planar coordinate input device requires a large space for installing a planar pointing panel in front of the screen, and has a complicated structure and high cost.

Therefore, recently, an input device using ultrasonic waves as shown in FIG. 9 has been considered. This input device is provided with sound sources 2a and 2b arranged on both sides of the screen 1 of the device body at intervals along the horizontal axis (X axis). The operation member 3 that the operator holds and operates by hand,
A detection unit for detecting the ultrasonic waves emitted from the sound sources 2a and 2b is provided. From the sound sources 2a and 2b, ultrasonic waves are emitted by being pulse-modulated with their phases shifted from each other.
The detection unit of the operation member 3 identifies and receives the ultrasonic waves from the sound sources 2a and 2b, and calculates the distance La from the sound source 2a and the distance Lb from the sound source 2b from the phase difference between the received ultrasonic waves. As a result, the horizontal plane of the operating member 3 (Hx-Hz
The coordinates on the surface are detected. When the operation member 3 is moved on the horizontal plane (Hx-Hz surface) and the operation button is pressed as necessary, the information received by the operation member 3 is given to the device body by wire or wirelessly, and the device body H
The position of the operation member 3 on the x-Hz plane is calculated, and for example, the cursor mark 4 appearing on the screen 1 of the device body is moved.

[0004]

However, in the conventional input device shown in FIG. 9, it is possible to detect the coordinates of the operating member 3 on the horizontal plane (Hx-Hz plane) and give the information to the device body. However, with the operating member 3 stopped at a certain position on the Hx-Hz plane, the operating member 3 is moved to θx.
Alternatively, there is a problem that the tilt angle cannot be detected even if tilted in the θy direction. Further, although ultrasonic waves can be realized with a simple configuration, there are still many problems in terms of reliability such as poor stability with respect to temperature and a large amount of disturbance noise. It should be noted that there has been proposed a method of obtaining a position and an angle in a three-dimensional space by utilizing an AC magnetic field other than ultrasonic waves, but this is very expensive because the device is large.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a relative tilt angle between the light source and the detection unit with respect to an axis connecting the detection unit and the light source and the detection unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a spatial coordinate detection device capable of detecting distance detection with high accuracy with a simple structure.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light source and a detection unit which are arranged at a distance from each other, and the detection unit has a predetermined area for the light emitted from the light source. Of three spot lights and three sets of light receiving portions for receiving each spot light are provided, and each aperture is arranged along the Y-axis direction when arbitrary XY orthogonal coordinates are set. , One set of each of the light receiving units is an X-side light receiving unit whose amount of received light changes with the movement of the spot light in the X-axis direction,
The remaining two sets of light-receiving parts are Y-side light-receiving parts whose amount of received light changes as the spot light moves in the Y-axis direction. In the above spatial coordinate detection device, Z that intersects the direction connecting the light source and the detection unit with the XY orthogonal coordinates based on the amount of light received by at least one of the Y-side light receiving units and the X-side light receiving unit. An angle calculator is provided to obtain the tilt angle with the axis. Further, the above-mentioned spatial coordinate detection device is provided with a distance calculation unit that obtains the distance between the light source and the detection unit based on the amount of light received by each of the Y-side light reception units.

[0007]

The light emitted from the light source passes through the three openings in the detection section to become spot light of a predetermined area,
Each of these spot lights is received by the three light receiving units. These light receiving parts are one set of X side light receiving parts and two sets of Y side light receiving parts, and the X side light receiving parts detect the amount of movement of the spot light radiated thereto in the X axis direction, and both Y side light receiving parts. Detects the amount of movement of the spot light with which it is irradiated in the Y-axis direction. Of the relative tilt angles of the direction connecting the light source and the detector and the Z axis intersecting the XY orthogonal coordinates, the angle in the X axis direction is θ.
If the angle in the x-axis and Y-axis directions is θy, θx is obtained by calculating the output from the X-side light receiving unit by the angle calculation unit, and the angle calculation unit outputs from one Y-side light receiving unit or both Ys. Θy can be obtained by calculating the average value of the output from the side light receiving unit. If the relative distance between the light source and the detection unit is L, the position of the spot light irradiated on both Y-side light receiving units changes according to the size of L. L is obtained by calculating the output.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a basic structure of a spatial coordinate detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the spatial coordinate detecting device, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of a light receiving portion provided in the spatial coordinate detecting device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the angle detection principle of the spatial coordinate detection device, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the distance detection principle of the spatial coordinate detection device.

The spatial coordinate detecting apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a light source 1
0 and a detection unit 11, the light source 10 is installed in a device body having a display screen such as a computer, an AV device, or a game machine body, while the detection unit 11 is operated by an operator such as a remote controller. It is installed on an operation member that you can carry around with. The light source 10 is, for example, an infrared light emitting diode, and the light source 10 emits identifiable light. The detection unit 11 comprises a visible light cut filter 12, a diaphragm plate 13 and a light receiving element group 14, and as shown in FIG. 2, the visible light cut filter 12, the diaphragm plate 13 and the light receiving element group 14 are the light source 10
They are provided in parallel with each other in order from the side (however, in FIG.
Indicates that the visible light cut filter 12 is omitted).

The axis perpendicular to the light-receiving surface of the light-receiving element group 14 is defined as the Z-axis, and the detector 11 uses X-axis orthogonal to the Z-axis.
When the Y orthogonal coordinates are set, the diaphragm plate 13 is provided with three rectangular diaphragm openings 13a, 13b, 13c at predetermined intervals in the Y-axis direction. On the other hand, the light receiving element group 14 is composed of three light receiving elements 15, 16 and 17 facing the apertures 13a, 13b and 13c, and these light receiving elements 15, 16 and 17 are, for example, pin photodiodes. As shown in FIG. 3 (A), the upper aperture 1
The light receiving element 15 facing 3a has divided light receiving portions 15a and 15b divided into two in the Y-axis direction (hereinafter, referred to as a first Y-side light receiving element), and as shown in FIG. The light receiving element 16 facing the central aperture 13b is 2 in the X-axis direction.
Having divided light receiving portions 16a and 16b (hereinafter, this is referred to as an X side light receiving element), as shown in FIG.
The light receiving element 17 facing the lower aperture 13c has divided light receiving portions 17a and 17b which are divided into two in the Y-axis direction (hereinafter, this is referred to as a second Y-side light receiving element).

The infrared light emitted from the light source 10 passes through the visible light cut filter 12, and is then narrowed down by the respective diaphragm openings 13a, 13b, 13c of the diaphragm plate 13,
The light receiving surface of the light receiving element group 14 is irradiated as rectangular spot light. At this time, the visible light cut filter 12 is provided so that external light noise components other than the rectangular spot of infrared light are blocked in the light receiving element group 14 as much as possible. In FIG. 3, the spot light of infrared light with which the divided light receiving portions 15a and 15b of the first Y-side light receiving element 15 are irradiated is indicated by S15, and is irradiated onto the divided light receiving portions 16a and 16b of the X-side light receiving element 16. The spot light of infrared light is indicated by S16, and the spot light of infrared light with which the divided light receiving portions 17a and 17b of the second Y-side light receiving element 17 are irradiated is S1.
It is shown by 7.

In each of the divided light receiving portions of the respective light receiving elements 15 to 17, a detection current photoelectrically converted based on the irradiation area and the irradiation light intensity of the spot light S15 to S17 is obtained. Although the processing circuit will be described later, this detected current is converted into a voltage and processed. In FIG. 3, the detection outputs based on the irradiation areas of the spot lights S15 and S17 are indicated by U and D, respectively, and the detection outputs based on the irradiation area of the spot light S16 are indicated by L and R. As described above, the divided light receiving portions 15 of the first and second Y-side light receiving elements 15 and 17 are provided.
Since a, 15b and 17a, 17b are each divided into two in the Y-axis direction, U and D are equal when the centers of the spot lights S15 and S17 are at the centers of the two divided light receiving parts, and the spot lights S15 and S17 are equal to each other. When the center is displaced in the Y-axis direction, U and D have different values. In addition, the X-side light receiving element 16
Since the divided light-receiving portions 16a and 16b are divided into two in the X-axis direction, L and R are equal when the center of the spot light S16 is at the center of both divided light-receiving portions, and the center of the spot light S16 is in the X-axis direction. When the position shifts to, L and R have different values.

As shown in FIG. 4, the line connecting the light source 10 and the center of the detection unit 11 is O, and the inclination angle formed by this line O and the Z axis extending in front of the detection unit 11 is θ (radian).
Then, the X-direction and Y-direction components θ of this tilt angle θ
x and θy can be obtained as follows. First, the spot light S at each of the light receiving elements 15 to 17 shown in FIG.
The positional deviation amounts Δx and Δy of the centers of 15 to S17 can be expressed as Δx∝ (RL) / (R + L) ……………… Δy∝ (UD) / (U + D) …………. To be In this equation, the denominator (R
By dividing by + L) or (U + D), the fluctuation of the irradiation light intensity is taken into consideration. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the detection unit 11 is tilted by θy in the Y direction with respect to the Z axis. In this case, the divided light receiving units 15 a, 1
5b and divided light receiving portions 17a, 1 of the second Y-side light receiving element 17
The centers of the spot lights S15 and S17 deviate from Δ7b by Δy. In FIG. 4, assuming that the distance between the diaphragm plate 13 and the light receiving surfaces of the light receiving elements 15 to 17 is d, d is very small. Therefore, Δy = d · tan θy≈d · θy θy = Δy / d .... ...... becomes. In this equation, d is known and Δy is obtained by giving U and D in the above equation,
Θy can be calculated from these U and D values. However, Δy may be obtained from the values of U and D corresponding to either one of the first Y-side light receiving element 15 and the second Y-side light receiving element 17, or both Y-side light receiving elements 15 and 17 may be calculated. It may be obtained from the average value of U and D corresponding to each. Further, by setting Δy in the above equation to Δx, θx
Becomes θx = Δx / d .... Also in this equation, d is known, and Δx is obtained by giving L and R in the above equation. Therefore, θx can be calculated from the values of L and R corresponding to the X-side light receiving element 16.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when the distance between the light source 10 and the detecting section 11 in the Z-axis direction is L, the first Y-side light receiving element 15 is divided as the distance L changes. Since the centers of the spot light S15 and S17 with respect to the light receiving portions 15a and 15b and the divided light receiving portions 17a and 17b of the second Y-side light receiving element 17 are shifted by Δy in opposite directions, the distance L can be obtained as follows. it can. First, in FIG. 5, the first Y-side light receiving element 15 and the second Y-side light receiving element 1
7 is m, and the spot lights S15 and S17 irradiated on the first and second Y-side light receiving elements 15 and 17 are m.
Is m ', and the center distance between the upper aperture 13a and the lower aperture 13c is n, then m' = m + 2Δy. Further, in FIG. 5, the triangle having the diaphragm plate 13 as the base and the triangle having the light receiving surfaces of the light receiving elements 15 to 17 as the base have similar shapes. Therefore, from the principle of triangulation, n: m ′ = L: (L + d ) L = nd / (m′−n) ………………. In this equation, n, m, d are known,
Since m ′ is obtained by substituting Δy obtained by the above equation into the above equation, both Y side light receiving elements 15 and 17 are obtained.
L can be calculated from the values of U and D corresponding to each of.

6 and 7 show the circuit configuration used in the spatial coordinate detecting apparatus according to the above embodiment. The light emission from the light source 10 is intermittent light emission based on a constant pulse. Therefore, each divided light receiving unit 15a,
In 15b and 16a, 16b and 17a, 17b, the received light output having a substantially sine curve change corresponding to the pulse period is obtained.

In FIG. 6, a current / voltage converter 18 is connected to each of the divided light receiving portions, and the current value of the light reception output in each divided light receiving portion is converted into a voltage value. Each output voltage passes through the bandpass filter 19, and the frequency component of pulse emission (intermittent emission) is removed. Then, the detected voltage is amplified by the amplifier 20 and detected by the detector 21, and the voltage corresponding to the amount of received light of each divided light receiving unit is extracted as a DC component. In addition, each detector 2
The voltage output from 1 is added as a voltage value by the adder 22 and given to the automatic gain control circuit 23. Then, the gain control circuit 23 causes the amplifier 2
The amplification factor of 0 is controlled.

Each detected voltage from the detector 21 is converted into a digital value by the analog / digital converter 24 shown in FIG. 7, and the sum, difference,
Each operation of quotient and product is performed. That is, each calculation shown in the above equations is performed by the digital calculator 25, and the digital calculator 25 corresponds to the angle calculator and the distance calculator.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic structure of an entrance / exit device to which the above-described spatial coordinate detecting device is applied. The entrance / exit device has a device main body 26 on the fixed side, and the device main body 26 includes a computer, an AV device, a game console main body, or the like. And has a CRT screen 27. Further, the moving side is an operation member 28, and this operation member 28 functions as a remote controller and is formed in a size that an operator can hold and move by hand. The light source 10 is installed at an arbitrary position on the device body 26, and the detection unit 11 is installed on the front surface of the operation member 28. Further, each calculation shown in the above formulas is performed in the operation member 28, and the result is transmitted to the device body 26 by wire or wirelessly, or the detection unit 11
Only the received light detection output of is transmitted to the device body 26, and the above calculation is performed on the device body 26 side.

In FIG. 8, the center O1 of the light source 10 is displayed on the screen 27.
In the actual device, the center O1 of the light source 10 is placed at a position deviated from the screen 27, for example, as indicated by (B). In this case, the detection unit 11
A line J ₀ connecting the center of the detection unit 11 and the center of the light source 10 when the Z axis extending in the front of the screen 27 is directed to the center of the screen 27.
Since an offset angle θ ₀ is generated between the Z axis and the Z axis, if the offset angle θ ₀ is divided from the detected angle in the Y direction detected by the detection unit 11, the direction of the Z axis with respect to the screen 27 (the facing angle). ) Θy can be calculated.

In this input device, since information about the inclination amounts of θx and θy of the operating member 28 can be given to the device body 26 side, the cursor mark on the screen 27 is moved based on this information on the device body 26 side. By doing so, it is possible to feel that the cursor mark has moved by tilting the operation member 28, and it becomes possible to input a cursor instruction on the screen 27 by operating the remote control of the operation member 28.

Further, since the information of the distance L to the operation member 28 can be given to the device body 26 side, the operation member 2
It is possible to prevent a difference in the operation feeling between when the operation member 28 is close to the screen 27 and when the operation member 28 is away from the screen 27. That is, when the cursor mark is moved on the screen 27 based on only the tilt angles of the operating member 28 in the θx and θy directions, for example, the operating member 28
Is tilted in the θx direction at a position close to the screen 27 and when the operating member 28 is tilted in the θx direction at a position sufficiently separated from the screen 27 by the same angle, a screen based on the information of the tilt angle θx. Since the moving amount of the cursor mark on 27 is the same distance, the operation member 2 is moved away from the screen 27.
When 8 is tilted, it feels as if the cursor mark does not move much on the screen 27. Therefore, taking into account the distance L calculated by the above equation, for example, the light source 10 and the detection unit 1
As the distance L from 1 increases, the inclination of the operation member 28 in the θx or θy direction is corrected by increasing the moving distance of the cursor mark on the screen 27.
It is possible to correct the difference in the operation feeling between when the operation member 28 approaches the screen 27 and when the operation member 28 moves away from the screen 27.

On the contrary, when the operating member 28 is separated from the screen 27 by a considerable distance, the above correction causes the operating member 28 to be slightly tilted and the cursor mark on the screen 27 to move largely, resulting in an operation input by hand shake. There is also a possibility that the madness of. In this case, the correction reverse to the above is performed, and when the distance L becomes long, the θ of the operation member 28 is changed.
The movement distance of the cursor mark on the screen 27 may be kept short with respect to the inclinations of x and θy.

[0023]

As described above, according to the spatial coordinate detecting apparatus of the present invention, not only the relative tilt angle of the light source and the detecting unit with respect to the axis connecting the detecting unit but also the distance between the light source and the detecting unit can be detected. Highly accurate detection is possible with a simple structure. Therefore, when this spatial coordinate detection device is applied to an input device, by tilting the operation member held by hand, the cursor mark on the screen can be moved and controlled in accordance with the tilt angle, and By adding the distance between the light source and the detection unit to the tilt angle, it is possible to correct the difference in the operation feeling due to the variation in the distance between the light source and the detection unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a basic structure of a spatial coordinate detecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the spatial coordinate detection device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a light receiving unit provided in the spatial coordinate detecting device.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an angle detection principle of the spatial coordinate detection device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a distance detection principle of the spatial coordinate detection device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration provided in the spatial coordinate detection device.

7 is a block diagram showing a latter stage of the circuit of FIG.

8 is a perspective view of an input device to which the spatial coordinate detection device of FIG. 1 is applied.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional input device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 light source 11 detection unit 12 visible light cut filter 13 diaphragm plate 13a, 13b, 13c diaphragm aperture (opening) 15 first Y-side light receiving element 15a, 15b split light receiving unit 16 X side light receiving element 16a, 16b split light receiving unit 17th 2 Y side light receiving element 17a, 17b Split light receiving section S15 to S17 Spot light 26 Device body 27 Screen 28 Operation member

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sato Arao 1-7 Yukiya Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junichi Saito 1-7 Yukiya-Otsuka-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Alp Su Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A light source and a detection unit are arranged at positions distant from each other, and in the detection unit, three openings for narrowing the light emitted from the light source into spot light of a predetermined area, and each spot light are received. And three sets of light receiving portions are provided, and each of the openings is arranged along the Y-axis direction when arbitrary XY orthogonal coordinates are set, and one set of each of the light receiving portions is in the X-axis direction of the spot light. Is the X-side light receiving unit in which the amount of received light changes with the movement of
The spatial coordinate detecting device, wherein the remaining two sets of light receiving portions are Y-side light receiving portions whose amount of received light changes as the spot light moves in the Y-axis direction. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the direction connecting the light source and the detection unit and the XY orthogonal coordinates are based on the amount of light received by at least one of the two Y-side light receiving units and the X-side light receiving unit. A spatial coordinate detecting device, characterized in that an angle calculation unit for obtaining an inclination angle with respect to an intersecting Z axis is provided. 3. The distance calculation unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the light source and the detection unit based on the amount of light received by each of the Y-side light reception units. Spatial coordinate detection device. 4. The light source according to claim 1, wherein the light source is arranged on a device body side having a screen, and the detection section is arranged on an operation member side manually operated by an operator. A spatial coordinate detection device characterized by the above.