KR101541926B1 - Haptic apparatus using a plurality of vibrating devices and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a haptic device and a control method thereof for expressing tactile information by vibration. A haptic device and a control method thereof according to the present invention detect an operation direction as well as an operation amount of a dial switch by a user through a plurality of position sensors and employ a plurality of vibration elements to adjust the direction of vibration It is possible to improve the discrimination power of the tactile information to be fed back corresponding to the operation of the dial switch of the user. In addition, according to the present invention, by implementing a haptic device using a plurality of small vibration elements instead of an expensive large motor and a vibration generating unit, the cost of the product can be reduced and the haptic device can be downsized.

Haptic, Vibration Element, Vibration Direction, Tactile, Discrimination

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a haptic device using a plurality of vibrating elements and a control method thereof,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a haptic device for expressing tactile information by vibration and a control method thereof. More specifically, And more particularly, to a haptic device and a control method thereof that can easily realize a miniaturization of a product.

Audiovisual information is being used to exchange information between humans and machines. However, the user tends to obtain more specific and realistic information through a virtual reality including a machine or a computer.

In order to meet the needs of users, not only audiovisual information but also tactile information is used for information transmission between the user and virtual reality. Haptic technology is known as a technique for expressing tactile information. Recently, the application range of haptic technology has been widening, and it has been applied to the field of multimedia device manipulation of automobile and key input device of mobile phone.

Hereinafter, a conventional haptic device will be described with reference to FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a haptic device according to the prior art.

1, the haptic device according to the prior art includes a position sensor 13, a control unit 14, a motor 15, and a vibration generating unit 16. The haptic device shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a dial switch, and detects the switching state of the dial switch and feeds back the corresponding vibration information to the dial switch.

More specifically, the dial moving part 11 is installed so as to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise on the switch panel 12. When the dial moving part 11 rotates in a predetermined direction, a plurality of switches (not shown) provided on the switch panel 12 are turned on / off by a predetermined number in proportion to the amount of rotation of the dial moving part 11, do. In other words, since the number of switches to be turned on / off is changed in accordance with the amount of rotation of the dial moving part 11, the user can change the state of the switch by operating the dial and change the physical quantity of the device connected to the switch, Volume, menu items, and so on.

The position sensor 13 is provided on the switch panel 12 and detects the rotational position of the dial moving part 11 on the switch panel 12. [ Information about the rotational position of the dial moving part 11 detected by the position sensor 13 is input to the control part 14. [ The control unit 14 generates a vibration driving signal for feeding back to the switch panel based on the rotational position information of the dial moving unit 11. [ Here, the controller 14 analyzes the rotational position information of the dial moving part 11 to determine the intensity of the vibration and the pattern of the vibration time, and reflects the pattern to the vibration driving signal.

The vibration driving signal of the control unit 14 is applied to the motor 15, and the motor 15 performs rotation corresponding to the vibration driving signal. The vibration generating portion 16 generates vibration in the switch panel 12 by the rotation of the motor 15. [ More specifically, the vibration generating section 16 performs linear motion by the rotation of the motor 15, and the vibration generating section 16 vibrates periodically at the center of the convex switch panel 12, Occurs. Therefore, the user can receive the tactile information corresponding to the operation of the dial switch of his / her own through the vibration of the switch panel 12. [

In the haptic device according to the related art, a high-priced motor having a large volume is used, so that the product price of the haptic device is high and it is difficult to miniaturize the haptic device. In addition, since the haptic device according to the prior art uses only the intensity of the vibration and the pattern of the vibration time in transmitting the tactile information to the user, the representation of the tactile information is rather monotonous. Therefore, in order to increase the utilization of the haptic device and improve the discrimination power of the tactile information, a more various tactile information expression methods are required for the haptic device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished in order to solve the above-described technical problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a position detecting apparatus and a position detecting method for detecting rotational position information including a direction of operation of a dial switch by a user using a plurality of position sensors, And the vibration imparted with the direction of the vibration as well as the pattern of the vibration intensity and the vibration time are fed back to the dial switch through the plurality of vibration elements to improve the discrimination power of the tactile information fed back corresponding to the operation of the dial switch of the user And to provide a haptic device.

A haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements applied to a dial switch configured to be rotatable on a switch panel on a switch panel, the haptic device comprising: a dial movable operating part installed at one or more positions of a switch panel, A plurality of position sensors for detecting rotational position information on the switch panel of the switch panel and outputting the detected rotational position information as electric signals; And generates an oscillation drive signal corresponding to the rotational position information detected by the plurality of position sensors based on the relationship between the operating conditions of the dial switch and the oscillation drive command determined in advance by simulation And a control unit for outputting the control signal; A plurality of electrical contact portions for on / off switching according to a vibration driving signal provided from the control portion to output a driving current; And a plurality of electrical contact portions electrically connected to the plurality of electrical contact portions at a plurality of positions along a circumferential surface of the lower portion of the dial moving portion and electrically connected to the plurality of electrical contact portions in accordance with a driving current provided from a corresponding electrical contact portion And the control unit generates the vibration driving signal reflecting the direction of the vibration corresponding to the operating direction of the dial switch by adjusting the operation order of the plurality of vibration elements .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a haptic device using a plurality of vibrating elements, the method comprising: inputting an operation amount and an operating direction of a dial switch by a user as rotational position information; Loading a look-up table that stores in advance the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command; Generating a vibration driving signal reflecting the direction of vibration corresponding to the operating direction of the dial switch through adjustment of the operation order of the plurality of vibration elements based on the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command; And outputting the generated vibration driving signal to a plurality of electrical contact portions to generate vibration by a plurality of vibration elements.

The present invention detects a manipulation direction as well as an operation direction of a dial switch by a user through a plurality of position sensors and employs a plurality of vibration elements to express the direction of vibration by adjusting the vibration generation sequence of the vibration element, It is possible to improve the discrimination power of the tactile information fed back in response to the operation and realize the haptic device by using a plurality of small vibration elements instead of the expensive large motor and the vibration generating portion to reduce the product cost and achieve miniaturization of the haptic device can do.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art It is provided to let you know completely.

First, the configuration and operation of a haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

2 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a dial switch in which a dial moving part 21 is configured to be rotatable on a switch panel 22. The haptic device according to the embodiment of the present invention may be installed at one or more positions of the switch panel 22 and may include rotational position information on the switch panel 22 of the dial moving part 21 corresponding to the operation amount of the user's dial switch and the operating direction A plurality of position sensors (23) for detecting and outputting a plurality of position sensors (23) for outputting an output signal as an electric signal, and a plurality of position sensors A control unit 24 for generating and outputting a vibration driving signal corresponding to the rotation position information detected by the position sensor 23 of the control unit 24, (31, 32, 33, 34) and a plurality of electrical contact portions (31, 32, 33, 34) provided at a plurality of positions along the circumferential surface of the lower portion of the dial moving portion And a plurality of vibrating elements 25 (25, 26, 33, 34) which are electrically connected in one-to-one relation to each other and which generate vibrations at respective corresponding positions in accordance with drive currents provided from corresponding electrical contact portions among the electrical contact portions , 26, 27, 28).

In the present embodiment, the haptic device applied to the dial switch is illustrated, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the haptic device according to the present invention can be applied to other input devices such as a touch-type input device by a simple modification by a person skilled in the art, for example, a mounting method of a position sensor or a modification of an installation position.

Returning to the description of this embodiment, the haptic device shown in Fig. 2 detects the operating condition of the dial switch by the user using the position sensor 23, generates a vibration driving signal corresponding to the operating condition Then, there is a technical feature that the vibration corresponding to the operating direction of the dial switch, that is, the direction-imparted vibration is fed back to the dial switch by using a plurality of oscillation elements.

More specifically, the dial moving portion 21 is installed to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise on the switch panel 22. When the user rotates the dial moving part 21 in a predetermined direction to adjust or select an arbitrary physical quantity, for example, a volume or an audio item of audio, the switch panel 22 is provided with a plurality of switches Is turned on / off by a predetermined number in proportion to the amount of rotation of the dial moving part 21. [ That is, the number of switches to be turned on / off is changed according to the degree of rotation of the dial moving part 21, so that the user can operate the dial moving part 21 to determine the number of switches to be turned on and off. As a result, the user can operate the dial switch to adjust or select the physical quantity of the device connected to the dial switch, for example, the volume of the audio, menu items, and the like.

A plurality of position sensors 23 are provided on the switch panel 22 to detect rotational position information of the dial moving part 21 on the switch panel 22. [ For example, the plurality of position sensors 23 may be disposed along the circumference of the disc-shaped switch panel 22. [ The rotational position information of the dial moving part 21 detected by the plurality of position sensors 23 on the switch panel 22 corresponds to an operation amount and an operating direction of the dial switch by the user. The output signal of the position sensor 23 is input to the control unit 24. [

As described above, the control unit 24 uses the rotation position information on the switch panel 22 of the dial moving unit 21 outputted from the position sensor 23, that is, the operation amount of the dial switch by the user and the operation direction And generates and outputs a vibration driving signal.

The control unit 24 uses a lookup table method in generating the vibration driving signal and stores in advance the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command in a lookup table format. Accordingly, the control unit 24 may be implemented as a microcomputer including a memory such as a ROM. The relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command is predetermined by simulation and a relationship representing the optimal result can be selected. On the other hand, in the present invention, the vibration driving command includes not only the intensity of vibration but also the pattern of vibration time as well as the direction of vibration. In the present invention, a plurality of vibration elements are adopted so that the directionality of vibration can be expressed. That is, in setting the vibration driving command, the order in which the vibration occurs in the plurality of vibration elements is set to correspond to the operating direction of the dial switch.

Based on the relationship of the vibration driving command with respect to the operating conditions of the dial switch previously determined and stored by the simulation, the control unit 24 controls the vibration driving signal corresponding to the rotation position information detected by the plurality of position sensors 23 Respectively. The procedure for generating the vibration driving signal will be described in detail later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The vibration drive signal output from the control unit 24 is applied to the plurality of electrical contact portions 31, 32, 33, The plurality of electrical contact portions 31, 32, 33, and 34 may be formed by elements such as relays or relays, and the plurality of electrical contact portions 31, 32, 33, One-to-one correspondence with the plurality of vibration elements (25, 26, 27, 28) arranged along the circumferential surface. The plurality of electrical contact portions 31, 32, 33, and 34 perform on / off switching according to the vibration driving signal provided from the control portion 24 to generate a plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, 28 to the corresponding vibrating elements.

As described above, the plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, and 28 are arranged at regular intervals along the circumferential surface of the lower portion of the cylindrical dial moving part 21, and the plurality of electric contact parts 31 , 32, 33, and 34, the vibrations are generated at respective corresponding positions. Ultimately, the plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, and 28 generate vibration with respect to the dial moving part 21 by the vibration driving signal outputted from the control part 24. [

More specifically, the plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, and 28 generate vibration to express the intensity of the vibration corresponding to the vibration driving signal, the pattern of the vibration time, and the direction of vibration. As described above, the directionality of the vibration can be expressed by appropriately controlling the operation sequence of each of the vibration elements. Depending on the amount of operation of the dial switch by the user, the control unit 24 determines which of the plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, 28 disposed on the circumferential surface of the dial moving unit 21 is to be operated . In addition, the pattern of the vibration time may be modified to a form suitable for conveying tactile information to the user. Therefore, the user can receive the tactile information corresponding to the operation of the dial switch of his / her own through the vibration of the dial moving part 21. [

Next, a method of controlling the haptic device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the haptic device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the steps shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 are performed to generate the vibration drive signal in the control unit 24 of FIG.

When the operation of the control unit 24 is started, the control unit 24 receives rotation position information on the switch panel 22 of the dial moving unit 21 output from the plurality of position sensors 23 (S31).

Next, the control unit 24 loads a look-up table that stores in advance the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command (S32). As described above, the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command is determined in advance by simulation.

Based on the stored contents of the loaded lookup table, that is, the relationship between the operating conditions of the dial switch and the vibration driving command, the control unit 24 controls the vibration driving And generates a signal (S33). The generated vibration drive signal reflects the direction of vibration as well as the pattern of vibration intensity and vibration time. The directionality of the vibration can be realized by adjusting the operation order of the plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, 28.

The vibration driving signal generated in the step S33 is applied to the plurality of electric contact portions 31, 32, 33 and 34 to control the switching operation of the plurality of electric contact portions 31, 32, 33 and 34, The driving current is outputted to the corresponding vibration elements 25, 26, 27, 28 by the switching operation of the electrical contact portions 31, 32, 33, 34 (S34). The plurality of vibration elements 25, 26, 27, and 28 generate vibrations by the drive current, and more specifically, generate vibrations corresponding to the vibration drive signal, a pattern of the vibration time, .

4 is a view for explaining a process of operating a dial switch when a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle multimedia operating instrument panel.

In Fig. 4, the dial switch is stopped at the default position (2) before the user's operation. The user can operate the dial moving part 21 of the dial switch to rotate the dial moving part 21 in the direction 1 or 3 on the switch panel 22. [ Here, the haptic device of the present invention described in FIGS. 2 and 3 detects rotation position information of the dial switch to generate a vibration driving signal, and the vibration driving signal includes a plurality of The vibration element is operated. Therefore, the user can receive the feedback of the tactile information corresponding to the operation of the dial switch of the user through the vibration of the switch panel 22 by the operation of the plurality of vibration elements. In particular, The directionality of the antenna can also be fed back.

This technical feature of the present invention improves the discrimination power of the tactile information so that the user can grasp his or her manipulated amount through the tactile sense without visually confirming the operation amount of the dial switch. That is, when the haptic device according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle or the like, it is possible to recognize the operation amount of the dial switch by the tactile sense even in the forward looking state for reasons such as driving, .

5 is a diagram showing a state in which the haptic device according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied as a keypad of the cellular phone 50. [

Since the conventional haptic device uses a large motor, it is difficult to apply the haptic device to the mobile phone in terms of the volume increase and the product unit price. However, in the present invention, a haptic device is implemented by using a plurality of small vibration elements instead of a motor and a vibration generating unit, so that the haptic device can be applied to a small portable device such as a mobile phone.

The configuration and operation of the embodiment of the present invention have been described so far. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the claims and equivalents thereof.

1 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a haptic device according to the prior art.

2 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a view for explaining a process of operating a dial switch when a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle multimedia operating instrument panel.

5 is a view showing a state in which a haptic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied as a keypad of a mobile phone.

Claims (6)

1. A haptic device using a plurality of vibrating elements applied to a dial switch configured to be rotatable on a switch panel, A plurality of position sensors installed at one or more positions of the switch panel for detecting rotational position information on the switch panel of the dial moving part corresponding to the operation amount of the dial switch and the operating direction of the user and outputting them as electric signals; And generates an oscillation drive signal corresponding to the rotational position information detected by the plurality of position sensors based on the relationship between the operating conditions of the dial switch and the oscillation drive command determined in advance by simulation And a control unit for outputting the control signal; A plurality of electrical contact portions for on / off switching according to a vibration driving signal provided from the control portion to output a driving current; And The plurality of electrical contact portions being electrically connected to each other in a one-to-one manner, the plurality of electrical contact portions being provided at a plurality of positions along the circumferential surface of the lower portion of the dial moving portion, And a plurality of vibrating elements for generating vibrations in the position, The control unit generates the vibration driving signal reflecting the direction of the vibration corresponding to the operating direction of the dial switch by adjusting the operation order of the plurality of vibration elements A haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements. The method according to claim 1, The relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command is determined by simulation and stored in advance in a look-up table format A haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements. delete The method according to claim 1, The haptic device is applied to a keypad of a mobile phone A haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements. Receiving an operation amount and an operation direction of a dial switch by a user as rotation position information; Loading a look-up table that stores in advance the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command; Generating a vibration driving signal reflecting the direction of vibration corresponding to the operating direction of the dial switch through adjustment of the operation order of the plurality of vibration elements based on the relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command; And And outputting the generated vibration driving signal to the plurality of electrical contact portions to generate vibration by the plurality of vibration elements A method of controlling a haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements. 6. The method of claim 5, The relationship between the operating condition of the dial switch and the vibration driving command is determined in advance by simulation A method of controlling a haptic device using a plurality of vibration elements.

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