KR19980053567A - Digital Glove Sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sensor for a digital glove that can accurately detect a user operation signal in the digital glove using a simple structure using a variable coil, for this purpose, the present invention is a line that is fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove A fixed shaft; One end is connected to the line fixed shaft through the line, and the output end is connected to the controller of the glove input device. The resistance value is adaptively changed according to the expansion and contraction motion corresponding to the bending action of the digital glove. A variable coil for providing a value to the controller; A voltage providing means having a free end, the fixed end opposite to the free end being fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove, and providing a voltage provided from the controller to the variable contact portion of the variable coil; And a holder fixed to the digital glove to support the variable coil and the voltage providing means from external pressure.

Description

Digital Glove Sensor

The present invention relates to a sensor used in an input device for a virtual reality (hereinafter referred to as VR) system, and more particularly, to perform a specific operation in a virtual environment realized by a virtual reality system using a digital glove. The present invention relates to a sensor for a digital glove suitable for detecting an operation signal required to make.

In general, virtual reality means that in a virtual environment of a three-dimensional stereo image generated by a virtual reality system, a user inputs (eg, dataglove, datasuit, head, etc.) while the user hears three-dimensional sound. Through the manipulation of input means such as a mounted display (HMD), a spaceball (Spaceball, etc.), the virtual environment created by the virtual reality system can be made to feel as if the real world.

Herein, the present invention provides a user manipulation signal necessary for various operations (for example, catching or picking up an object) that a user intends to perform in a virtual environment set on a screen of a virtual reality system, among input devices of a virtual reality system. It is related to the improvement of the sensor for the data glove which occurs. Such data gloves are typically used while worn on the user's hand.

As is well known, the data glove input device is equipped with a sensor for detecting various control signals (ie, command signals) manipulated by a user, and using the detection information (or detection information) of the sensor, x, y, The position information of the analog type hand such as the z coordinate is detected and the bending information of each finger of the analog type is also detected. At this time, the position information of the hand may be represented by an orientation representing a position representing the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand in the space and the direction of the palm.

As described above, as a digital glove sensor for detecting the motion information of the glove, there are an optical fiber sensor and a bend sensor.

However, the above-mentioned conventional glove optical fiber sensor is not only complicated because the overall hardware of the sensor part, that is, the driving amplifier, filter circuit, etc. must be employed when employing the data glove, the overall circuit is not only complicated but also expensive to manufacture. Has its drawbacks. In addition, the bend sensor has a disadvantage in that the risk of breakage during frequent use of filling the conductive ink in the bend, that is, the durability is poor, and the sensor itself is expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and an object thereof is to provide a sensor for a digital glove that can accurately detect a user manipulation signal in the digital glove using a simple structure using a variable coil. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is adopted to a digital glove input device including a controller for generating a virtual environment operation command signal according to a user operation in a virtual reality system having a virtual environment virtual environment setting function for user operation A sensor for detecting a signal, comprising: a line fixing shaft fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove; One end is connected to the line fixed shaft through a line, and an output end is connected to the controller. The resistance value is adaptively changed according to the expansion and contraction motion corresponding to the bending operation of the digital glove. A variable coil providing the controller to the controller; A voltage providing means having a free end, the fixed end opposite to the free end being fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove, and providing a voltage provided from the controller to the variable contact portion of the variable coil; And a holder fixed to the digital glove, the holder supporting the variable coil and the voltage providing means from an external pressure.

On the other hand, the sensor for a digital glove according to the present invention, when employed in a digital glove, one sensor for detecting a wrist movement of the digital glove, and at least five sensors for detecting each finger movement of the digital glove It may be configured to include, and may be configured to include one wrist movement detection sensor for detecting wrist movement of the digital glove, and at least 14 finger movement detection sensors for detecting each finger movement of the digital glove. .

1 is a block diagram of a typical virtual reality digital glove input device suitable for applying a sensor for a digital glove according to the present invention.

2 is a structural diagram of a sensor for a digital glove according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the sensor according to the present invention in the digital glove for virtual reality

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment in which the sensor according to the present invention is applied to the virtual reality digital glove

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

10: fixed shaft 12: connecting line

14 contact point 15 protrusion

16 conductor 18 elastic body

20: fixing part 22: holder

110: sensor block 130: multiplexer

150: A / D conversion block 170: control block

190: interface block 200: virtual reality system

The above and other objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by those skilled in the art.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a typical virtual reality digital glove input device suitable for applying a sensor for digital gloves according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, a typical digital glove input device includes a sensor block 110, a multiplexer 130, an A / D conversion block 150, consisting of a plurality of sensors 110/1-110 / n, Control block 170 and interface block 190. In the same figure, the virtual reality system 200 provides a virtual environment to a user through a screen, and performs data processing for a specific operation on the virtual environment through a data interface with a digital glove.

Referring to FIG. 1, the sensor block 110 is composed of a plurality of sensors 110/1-110 / n so that each finger (thumb, index finger, middle finger, etc.) according to the operation during the operation of the data glove by the user is included. The bending information (operation signal or command signal for an operation in the virtual environment) is detected, and the operation signal (or command signal) respectively detected here is provided to the multiplexer 130 of the next stage. In this case, the sensor according to the present invention employed in the sensor block 110, as shown in Figure 2a, is configured using a variable coil, the configuration of such a sensor and the operation of detecting the operation signal according to the present invention This will be described later in detail with reference to the accompanying FIG. 2.

At this time, the position information of the analog type hand such as x, y, z coordinates is detected by using the detection information (or sensing information) of each sensor, and the bending information of each analog type finger is also detected. At this time, the position information of the hand may be represented by an orientation representing a position representing the three-dimensional coordinates of the hand in the space and the direction of the palm.

On the other hand, the multiplexer 130 receives the detected operation signal (or command signal) provided from each sensor in the sensor block 110 and sequentially outputs to the next A / D conversion block 150, A The / D conversion block 14 sequentially converts the sensed operation signals in analog form, respectively, into digital signals by sampling at predetermined predetermined frequency and converts the digital operation signals into the next control block ( 170).

On the other hand, the control block 130 is composed of a microcomputer, for example, for each detection signal whenever a detection signal (operation signal or command signal) according to the glove operation is input from each sensor in the sensor block 110. The operation control signals for a virtual environment operation (eg, grabbing or picking up an object) which are finally obtained through the signal processing routine are executed by the interface block 190 and the interface line. IFL) is transmitted to the virtual reality system 200.

Accordingly, the virtual reality system 20 responds to various operation control signals (operation signals or command signals) received from the interface block 190 in the data glove through the interface line IFL in the corresponding virtual environment. Signal processing for the operation will be performed, for example, operation control such as grabbing or picking up an object.

In this case, the virtual reality system 200 may be a typical virtual system that processes a typical 3D stereoscopic image, or may be an image processing device such as a PC capable of graphic processing of a 3D stereoscopic image.

Next, a sensor according to the present invention employed in a typical virtual reality digital glove input device having the above-described configuration, and an operation of sensing an operation signal using such a sensor will be described.

2 is a diagram showing the structure of a sensor for a digital glove employed in the digital glove as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the sensor of the present invention has a fixed shaft 10 fixed to a predetermined portion of the glove and a predetermined end connected to the fixed shaft 10 and the other end connected to the multiplexer 130 of FIG. It includes a variable coil (VL) having a length. At this time, the variable coil (VL) has a coil-specific elasticity, according to the elasticity, the contraction and expansion in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2a, for example, as shown in Figures 2b and 2c, the sensor according to the present invention Assuming that is attached to the glove finger, the glove finger expands gradually as it is bent, and as the bent glove finger unfolds, the operation is gradually contracted, i.e., returned to position.

In addition, the sensor of the present invention is provided with a conductor (16) for providing a voltage (Vcc) to the variable coil (VL), a predetermined portion of such a conductor (16) is provided with a projection (15) in contact with the variable coil (VL) It is provided. Furthermore, the conductor 16 is elastically fixed to the glove for maintaining contact with the variable coil VL, for which the elastic body 18 is fixed between the fixing portion 20 and the conductor 16 fixed to the glove. ) Is provided. Therefore, the contact between the protrusion 15 of the conductor 16 and the variable coil VL is reliably maintained in accordance with the vertical movement of the elastic body 18 interlocked with the finger movement of the glove. In addition, when the elastic body 18 employ | adopted for the sensor of this invention considers the structural characteristic of a digital glove, it is preferable to comprise with a plate-shaped spring.

On the other hand, the sensor for a digital glove of the present invention detects a change in the resistance value using the variable coil VL to detect the movement of the glove finger, that is, the operation operation of the glove to bend and straighten it.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, the voltage Vcc is applied to the variable coil VL having one end connected to the fixed shaft 10 through the protrusion 15 of the conductor 16. Sensor is mounted on the glove finger, the distance between the contact point 14 where the protrusion 15 of the conductor 16 and the variable coil VL abuts as the glove finger is bent, and the other end of the variable coil VL. (Ie, the interval) gradually becomes shorter (change from L1 in FIG. 2B to L2 in FIG. 2C). At this time, even if the glove finger is bent, the contact between the protrusion 15 of the conductor 16 and the variable coil VL is continuously caused by the elasticity of the elastic body 18 corresponding to the bending, that is, the bending in the downward direction. Can be maintained. As a result, the resistance value in the variable coil VL, that is, the resistance value between the contact point 14 and the other end of the variable coil VL will gradually decrease. In FIG. 2B, reference numeral 22 denotes a holder for supporting the conductor 16 having the variable coil VL and the elastic body 18.

On the contrary, as the bent glove fingers are stretched, i.e., as the glove fingers change from the state shown in Fig. 2C to the state of Fig. 2B, the protrusion 15 of the conductor 16 and the variable coil VL come into contact with each other. The distance (ie, the spacing) between the contact point 14 and the other end of the variable coil VL becomes gradually longer (change from L1 in FIG. 2C to L2 in FIG. 2B). As a result, the resistance value in the variable coil VL, that is, the resistance value between the contact point 14 and the other end of the variable coil VL will gradually increase.

As an example, assuming that the resistance value between the contact point 14 and the other end of the variable coil VL is 20 kΩ minimum to 40 kΩ maximum, for example, if the glove finger is fully extended, the resistance value will be 20 kΩ. If the finger is fully bent, the resistance value will be 40 kΩ. Accordingly, the control block 170 of FIG. 1 detects movement information of each finger or glove wrist of the glove according to the resistance value change (that is, the resistance value change within the range of 20 kΩ to 40 kΩ) detected according to the present invention.

That is, the sensor for a digital glove of the present invention is a conductor 16 having a variable coil VL, one end of which is fixed to the fixed shaft 10, and an elastic body 18 and a protrusion 15 fixed to the fixed portion 20. By using the present invention, not only the structure is simpler than the conventional optical fiber sensor but also has high durability compared with the conventional band sensor. Therefore, when manufacturing the digital glove using the sensor of the present invention will be able to reduce the manufacturing cost of the glove itself and ensure high durability of the glove.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a sensor according to the present invention having the structure as described above is employed in a digital glove input device.

As shown in the drawing, the digital glove input device includes one sensing unit (sa) for detecting the movement movement of the glove wrist and five sensing units for detecting the movement movement of each finger respectively corresponding to each finger of the glove. (sb, sc, sd, se, sf) are provided.

In this case, each of the sensing units (sb, sc, sd, se, sf) is a fixed axis (fa, fb, fc, fd, fe, ff) and each fixed axis (fa, fb, fc, fd, fe, ff) and respective connecting lines la, lb, lc, ld, le, and lf connecting the sensing units.

In addition, each of the sensing units sb, sc, sd, se, and sf is connected to the control device 100 through each voltage line vl and each output line ol. That is, each of the sensing units sb, sc, sd, se, and sf is provided with a voltage Vcc required for motion detection through each voltage line vl, and according to the movement of the glove wrist and each finger, respectively. The variable resistance values are provided to the control device 100 through each output line ol.

In this case, the control device 100 corresponds to the multiplexer 130, the A / D conversion block 150, the control block 170, and the interface block 190 shown in FIG. 1, and each sensing unit (sb, sc). , sd, se, and sf) sequentially detect the motion detection signals (ie, resistance value changes) and convert them into digital signals, and perform predetermined signal processing routines on each of the converted detection signals. The operation control signals for the operation (eg, grabbing or picking up an object) in the virtual environment finally obtained through the transmission are transmitted to the virtual reality system 200 through the interface block and the interface line (IFL).

As a result, the virtual reality system 20 responds to various operation control signals (operation signals or command signals) received from the interface block 190 in the data glove through the interface line IFL in the corresponding virtual environment. Perform signal processing for the operation of, for example, to control the operation such as grabbing or picking up something.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to implement a digital glove input device having a cheap and simple structure.

4 is a diagram illustrating another example in which a sensor according to the present invention, that is, a sensor using a variable coil, is employed in a digital glove input device. In the figure, only the arrangement of the sensors mounted on the glove is shown for convenience of description and the understanding, but the sensors employed in the glove shown in FIG. 4 are not shown in the figure through each voltage line and each output line. Connected to the control.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the present embodiment differs from the above-described embodiment in that each joint portion of the digital glove is equipped with a sensor according to the present invention. That is, in the above-described embodiment, the digital glove input device is equipped with six sensors (one wrist motion detection sensor and five finger motion detection sensors) to detect a user operation signal (or command signal). However, in the present embodiment, the sensor of the present invention is mounted on each joint, that is, a sensor for detecting movement of one glove wrist and a sensor for detecting movement of 14 fingers are detected to detect a user operation signal (or command signal). .

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the effect obtained in the above-described embodiment as well as the movement of the glove finger may be detected more accurately.

As described above, according to the present invention, by constructing a sensor using a variable coil and a conductor providing a voltage, a sensor having a simple structure can be realized as compared to a conventional optical fiber sensor, and also having high durability compared to a conventional band sensor. It is possible to realize a sensor having a. Therefore, by manufacturing the digital glove using the sensor of the present invention, it has the effect of reducing the manufacturing cost of the glove itself, as well as ensuring high durability of the glove.

Claims (7)

A sensor for detecting a user operation signal, the sensor being employed in a digital glove input device including a controller for generating an operation command signal for operating a virtual environment according to a user's operation in a virtual reality system having a virtual environment setting function for a virtual reality. A line fixing shaft fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove; One end is connected to the line fixed shaft through a line, and an output end is connected to the controller. The resistance value is adaptively changed according to the expansion and contraction motion corresponding to the bending operation of the digital glove. A variable coil providing the controller to the controller; A voltage providing means having a free end, the fixed end opposite to the free end being fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove, and providing a voltage provided from the controller to the variable contact portion of the variable coil; And A holder fixed to the digital glove to support the variable coil and the voltage providing means from an external pressure Sensor for digital gloves. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the voltage providing means comprises: a fixing device fixed to a predetermined portion of the digital glove; An elastic body having one side attached to the fixing device and providing elasticity in a movement direction of the digital glove in conjunction with a bending operation of the digital glove; And an opposite end opposite to the free end is attached to the other end of the elastic body, and has a protrusion on one side that contacts the variable contact portion of the variable coil, through which the voltage from the controller is applied to the variable contact portion of the variable coil. Digital glove sensor, characterized in that consisting of a conductor provided to. The digital glove sensor according to claim 2, wherein the elastic body is a flat spring. The sensor for a digital glove according to claim 1, wherein the holder is a cylindrical holder having both open spaces inside and accommodating the variable coil and the voltage providing means in the open space. The sensor for a digital glove according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: one wrist sensor for detecting wrist movement of the digital glove; And at least five sensors for detecting each finger movement of the digital glove. The sensor for a digital glove according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: one wrist motion detecting sensor for detecting wrist movement of the digital glove; And at least 14 sensors for detecting finger movements respectively detecting finger movements of the digital gloves. 7. The digital glove sensor according to claim 6, wherein the fourteen finger motion detection sensors are mounted to detect bending motions of each node portion of each finger of the digital glove.