JPS6226774B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention This invention detects the posture of the operator's head when looking directly at the target display board using a posture detector attached to the operator's head, and generates a command signal corresponding to the direction of the operator's line of sight. The present invention relates to a posture identification device that generates a posture.

When a disabled person who is unable to use his or her upper limbs wants an automatic machine to do the work for him in a hospital room, an alternative to manual switches is needed to give commands to the machine. According to a conventionally known method, a command item display board is provided near the disabled person, and when the disabled person performs the first operation by moving his or her feet, a lamp is installed at each command entry location on the display board. will light up in sequence to display the command items. When the lamp of the desired command item lights up, operating the second switch fixes the display location, and performing the third operation outputs the displayed command to the automatic machine. However, this method takes time that varies depending on the array position when selecting a command item, and it takes a long time when selecting a command item that is arranged later, so the number of command items that can be arranged is limited to a small number. The problem was that it was inefficient when issuing many types of commands in succession.

The present invention provides a device that allows an operator wearing an attitude detector on his/her head to select a desired command item simply by looking directly at a predetermined portion of a target display board, and is easier to operate than conventional methods. Aims to improve efficiency.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, refer to Figure 2 to establish the physical quantities to be handled. The attitude detector is rotatably located at a point A on a horizontal plane H. A straight line SN passing through point A indicates the direction of the earth's magnetic field on the horizontal plane. The target display board is provided in the vertical plane V. However, in other implementations, the target display means may not be a vertical plane, but may be a curved surface, for example.

A point O on the vertical plane V indicates a reference position on the target display board, and a reference pointing direction A-O of the attitude detector is determined. A line segment A-O' created by perpendicularly projecting the reference orientation direction A-O onto the horizontal plane H and the geomagnetic direction S
-N is defined as θ ₀ , and the angle between the reference pointing direction and the horizontal plane, that is, the angle between line segments A-O and A-O' is defined as φ ₀ . Next, when the attitude detector points to an arbitrary point P on the vertical plane V, a line segment A-P' created by projecting the pointing direction A-P perpendicularly onto the horizontal plane H forms a line segment A-P' and the geomagnetic direction S-N. The angle is θ ₁ , the line segment A-P
The angle formed by and A-P' is defined as _φ1 . It is assumed that the pointing directions A-O and A-P of the attitude detector coincide with the line of sight direction when the operator wearing the attitude detector on his head looks directly at the points O and P, respectively.

Next, the components of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. Attitude detector 1 includes a pair of orientation sensors 1
It consists of a pair of inclinometers 1c and 1d. The orientation sensors 1a and 1b are attached to the left and right sides of the operator's head, and the front and rear directions, respectively, and the horizontal angle θ (θ ₀ or θ ₁ ) of the pointing direction defined in FIG.
is output as an electrical signal with the functions sinθ and cosθ. Inclinometers 1c and 1d are mounted on the operator's head in the vertical and longitudinal directions, respectively, and output the vertical angle φ (φ ₀ or φ ₁ ) of the pointing direction defined in FIG. 2 as electrical signals with functions sin φ and cos φ. .

The input selection circuit 2 selects and inputs one of the detection signals sin θ, cos θ, sin φ, and cos φ output from the detector at one o'clock. The A/D conversion circuit 3 converts the input analog electrical signal into an 8-bit digital signal (input data). Memory block 4,5
stores input data. The mode switch 6 is used to specify the operation mode, and is used to specify the reference direction θ.
₀ , φ ₀ ; mode 1, which detects the pointing direction θ ₁ , φ ₁ with respect to an arbitrary target portion;
and a switch 6 for specifying mode 2 for sending out a command signal corresponding to the target portion.
It is composed of a, 6b, and 6c. It should be noted that these switches can be operated by moving the lower limbs, for example, without using the operator's upper limbs.

The input control circuit 7 generates control signals for sequentially inputting the above four detection signals. When storing input data in memory block 4 or 5, memory selection circuit 8 selects one set of 8-bit memory sections 4a-4d and 5a-5d corresponding to detectors 1a-1d, respectively. The arithmetic control circuit 9 selects memory block 4 or 5 in accordance with mode 0 and mode 1, and further controls execution of arithmetic operations.

Arithmetic circuits 10 and 11 correct input data from the orientation sensor 1b. That is, direction sensor 1
Since the strength of geomagnetism detected by b is affected by the inclination of the detection axis, it is converted to a value on a horizontal plane using the following correction calculation formula.

F _H =Ml−FsinIsinφ/cosφ……(
1) However, F _H : Horizontal component of geomagnetic force Ml: Output cosθ of direction sensor 1b F: Total magnetic force I: Inclination angle of geomagnetism φ: Inclination angle of detection axis of direction sensor with respect to horizontal plane Note that the detection axis of direction sensor 1a can be operated. The detected value is not corrected because it is in the left and right direction of the person's head, and tilting the head sideways is not taken into consideration.

Arithmetic circuits 12 and 13 divide the angular difference between the directivity directions in mode 0 and mode 1 into a horizontal component θ ₁ - _{θ 0} and a vertical component φ ₁ - φ ₀ according to the following formula.
Calculate as a sin function and output as 8 bits each.

sin(α−β)=sinαcosβ−cosαsinβ...(2) The discrimination circuits 14 and 15 are set in advance to correspond to the divisions on the target display board.For example, in this embodiment, there are 12 in the horizontal direction and 10 in the vertical direction. The calculation results of the calculation circuits 12 and 13 are compared and determined for each boundary value, and horizontal and vertical matrix signals are output to one of the 11 and 9 output lines, respectively. The display device 16 is composed of, for example, 99 (11×9) light emitting diodes arranged at each target portion of the target display board in this embodiment, so as to constitute a diode matrix of 11 elements vertically and 9 elements horizontally. Connected. The output of the discrimination circuit 14 is sent to the display drive circuit 17.
The output of the discrimination circuit 15 passes through the display drive circuit 18 and applies a zero potential to the horizontal lines of the diode matrix. As a result, the discrimination circuits 14 and 15
A pair of matrix signals from the display 16
One of the light emitting diodes lights up.

Output circuits 19 and 20 each hold horizontal and vertical matrix signals, convert them into 4-bit data, and send them as command signals to an external system. Timing circuit 21 provides timing for output circuits 19 and 20 to input matrix signals in mode 2. The constant setting circuit 22 sets the constant part FsinI of equation (1). Delay circuits 23-25 are used to delay each control signal by a predetermined time.

Next, the operation of the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to the operation sequence diagram in FIG. 3 and the signal input timing diagram in FIG. 4.

First, when the mode switch 6a is operated to set the reference pointing directions θ ₀ and φ ₀ , a signal M0 specifying mode 0 is generated. The input control circuit 7 generates binary input selection signals 1 and 2 shown in FIG. 4 to control the input selection circuit 2, and sequentially inputs analog signals from the detectors 1a to 1d. As a result, the input signal becomes a time-divided analog signal 8, which is further converted into input data 9 via the A/D conversion circuit 3. At the same time, the arithmetic control circuit 9 outputs the control signal 3 to designate the memory block 4, and the memory selection circuit 8 selects the signals A, B, C,
D, select memory parts 4a to 4d in order, and input data sinθ ₀ , cosθ ₀ , sinφ ₀ , cosφ
Store ₀ . When mode 0 is designated again as shown in FIG. 3, a detection signal is input as before and the contents of the memory are updated.

Next, when the mode switch 6b is operated to detect the pointing direction θ ₁ , φ ₁ for one target portion on the target display board, a signal M1 specifying mode 1 is generated.
occurs. Similar to the input operation in mode 0, in mode 1, the memory block 5 is specified by the control signal 4, and input data is sent to each memory section 5a to 5d.
sinθ ₁ , cosθ ₁ , sinφ ₁ , and cosφ ₁ are stored. Subsequently, the arithmetic control circuit 9 issues a control signal 6 to start the arithmetic circuits 10 and 11, and corrects the input data cos θ ₀ and cos θ ₁ based on equation (1).

Next, after a predetermined time required for the above correction calculation, the control signal 10 is generated by the delay circuit 23, which activates the calculation circuits 12 and 13, and performs calculation based on equation (2) to obtain sin(θ ₁ − θ ₀ ) and sin(φ
₁ −φ ₀ ) is obtained. After a predetermined time period required for this calculation, a control signal 11 is generated by the delay circuit 24, thereby activating the discrimination circuits 14 and 15. The outputs of the arithmetic circuits 12 and 13 are compared with respective preset boundary values, and
As a result, the discrimination circuits 14 and 15 output a set of matrix signals, and the display drive circuits 17 and 1
8 turns on one light emitting diode in the display 16.

The input control circuit 7 and the arithmetic control circuit 9 are in mode 1.
is specified, control signals 1, 2,
Generates 4 and 6. As a result, the arithmetic circuits 10 to 1
3 and discrimination circuits 14 and 15 are activated repeatedly, and a new pointing direction is calculated and discriminated based on the input data in the memory block 5 which is updated from time to time, and is outputted to the display 16. The operator checks whether the indicator (light-emitting diode) of the target part that he is looking directly at is lit, and if the indicator of another target part is lit, he corrects the pointing direction, that is, the direction of his line of sight. The pointing direction can be re-detected.
Additionally, when the operator moves his/her line of sight on the target display board, the indicators of the detected target areas will light up one after another, making it easy to guide the pointing direction of the attitude detector toward the desired target area. can.

As shown in Figure 3, if a new operation mode can be entered and the display of the desired target area is lit, press the mode switch 6 in Figure 1.
c is operated to designate mode 2, and signal M2 is generated. The arithmetic control circuit 9 outputs a control signal 7 to keep the outputs of the discrimination circuits 14 and 15 constant. Next, the timing circuit 21 outputs the control signal 12 after a certain period of time has elapsed since the mode 2 was designated, and opens the input gates of the output circuits 19 and 20. As a result, the output circuits 19 and 20 respectively input and hold horizontal and vertical matrix signals, convert them into 4-bit data 14 and 15, respectively, and output them as command signals to be given to an external system.

After a predetermined time required for the output circuit to operate, a signal 13 is output from the delay circuit 25, specifying the timing at which the external system receives the command signals 14,15. The control signal 6 is also used to release the holding states of the output circuits 19 and 20 and return the timing circuit 21 to its initial state.

As shown in FIG. 3, when mode 1 is designated again within a certain period of time measured by the timing circuit 21, the output circuit does not input the matrix signal and the operation of mode 1 is executed again.

FIG. 5 shows the usage state of this embodiment, in which an attitude detector 31 consisting of an orientation sensor 32 and an inclinometer 33 is attached to the operator's head. Target display board 3
4 consists of 99 target portions (eg 35), each target portion being provided with a light emitting diode indicator (eg 36). A reference position 37 for setting a reference pointing direction is shown at the center of the target display board. A broken line 38 indicates the operator's line of sight, that is, the pointing direction of the posture detector 31. It is also possible to display the contents of a command to be given to an external system in accordance with the pointing direction detected by the auxiliary display device 39.

In the above embodiment, a device for identifying a large number of target portions arranged on a plane consisting of horizontal and vertical directions of a target display board was shown using both an azimuth sensor and an inclinometer. Accordingly, it is also possible to identify a number of horizontally or vertically arranged target parts using only orientation sensors or inclinometers.

In addition, although the above embodiment shows a device for identifying a large number of target parts arranged within one target display board, another implementation device may include a plurality of target display boards each having a reference position. , one of which can be specified by setting the reference direction θ ₀ , φ ₀ at the beginning of the operation, and subsequently identifying multiple target parts within the specified target display board. .

With this device, more types of command items can be displayed and selected.

As described above, according to the present invention, display positions of individual target parts are identified by identifying a large number of arranged target parts by detecting the direction and/or inclination of the head of the operator who looks directly at the target. It is possible to select one of a large number of target portions with a simple operation and in a short time regardless of the order and order, and to generate a corresponding command signal.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a control circuit block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a principle diagram, Fig. 3 is a timing diagram of signal input operation (mode 0), Fig. 4 is a control sequence diagram, and Fig. 5 is a control circuit diagram. It is a schematic diagram showing the usage state of this example. 1...Attitude detector, 4, 5...Memory, 6...
...Mode switch, 10,11...Correction calculation circuit, 12,13...Direction direction calculation circuit, 14,1
5...Discrimination circuit, 16...Display device, 19, 20...
...Output circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Posture detection means that is attached to the head of a human body and detects as an angular signal whether the head is displaced in at least the horizontal direction or the vertical direction; a target display means in which a display portion is formed; one of the target display means is set as a reference position;
an arithmetic circuit that calculates the amount of displacement from the reference position to the target section using a signal obtained when the posture detecting means displaces the head from the reference position to another target section; a discrimination circuit that compares and discriminates with predetermined boundary values corresponding to a plurality of categories, lights up a display section of the target display means for the category, and sends a command signal corresponding to the lit category; A posture identification device characterized by comprising: