RU2197746C2 - "wonder turtle" handler (alternatives) - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: manual data entry in computer. SUBSTANCE: device has turn transducers, two-coordinate wheel-like members mounted on axles, motors and/or brake mechanisms; two-coordinate wheel-like members have framework and supporting bodies of revolution. EFFECT: provision for mechanical computer-to-operator communication. 3 cl, 13 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to devices for manually entering information into a computer.

State of the art
A number of designs of two- and three-coordinate manipulators of the mouse type are known, for example, some designs are described in
[1] Russian Patent SU 1737473 A1 dated 05/30/92.

 [2] Prokhorov VV. Three-dimensional graphic information manipulator "turtle". Patent of Russia RU 2123201 C1, 03/31/97.

 [3] Olson, L.T. Inertial mouse system. Patent US 4787051, Nov.22, 1988.

 [4] Lawrence, James G .; Diaz, Oscar R .; Erdmann (Jr.), Robert E. Point and select device. Patent US 4,939,508, July 07, 1990 (Oct. 31, 1988).

 [5] Glynn, B. J. Computer apparatus input device for three-dimensional information. Patent US 5181181, Sep. 27, 1990.

 [6] Gorniak, A.M. System and apparatus for providing three dimensions of input into a host processor. Patent US 4961138, Oct. 2, 1990.

 The design [1] includes a body moved by the operator by hand on the table, in which a two-coordinate displacement sensor is installed, consisting of a ball located in the housing socket and in contact with the work surface under its own weight, kinematically connected with the ball of two rollers, the rotation angle of each of which registered by the sensor, flags are connected to each of the rollers, the direction of deviation of which is registered by two more sensors.

 One of the drawbacks of this design is the inability to use feedback from the computer to the operator in the form of a computer creating a controlled increase in resistance to movement of the manipulator by the operator or computer-initiated movement of the manipulator along the supporting surface without operator effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to devices for manually entering information into a computer.

 The task of creating mechanical feedback from the computer to the operator was solved in the invention according to claim 1 of the claims by using "two-coordinate wheel-like elements" (2ke) on the axes fixed in the manipulator body. 2kKE has the ability not only to roll (in the broad sense), like a normal wheel, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of 2kKE (the direction of possible rolling), but also to move along the supporting surface in an arbitrary direction relative to the axis of rotation of 2kKE, including in the direction perpendicular to the direction of its possible rolling, moreover, all such movements for 2kKE occur without slipping. The direction of possible rolling is the "working direction" of 2kKE. Each of these 2kKE can, together with the rotation sensor, participate in the measurement of the displacement component of a certain “working point” associated with the 2kKE along the “working direction” associated with the 2kKE, and is insensitive to the displacement component of the measurement point in the direction perpendicular to the working direction. Each of these 2kKE or part of them together with the engine or (and) with the braking device creates a vector of driving or braking force applied to the "working point" along the "working direction".

 Depending on the number of used 2kKE with rotation sensors, the manipulator can measure linear displacements (if 1 2kKE with a rotation sensor is used), two coordinates of the manipulator movement on the supporting surface (when using 2 2kKE with rotation sensors), as well as the manipulator rotations relatively straight perpendicular to the supporting surface (when using 3 or more 2kKE elements with rotation sensors).

 In the invention according to claim 2, the formula solves the problem of reducing the number of engines, if necessary, only translational movement of the manipulator by installing several 2kKE of the same size on a common axis.

 The problem of increasing the number of factors affecting the operator in feedback from the computer to the operator is solved in the invention according to claim 3 by performing the upper part of the housing movable and using actuators (motors) to move the upper part of the housing relative to the base, and (or) controlled braking devices that make it difficult to move. In this case, the position of the moving upper part of the housing relative to the base can be detected by sensors additionally installed on the housing.

Information confirming the possibility of carrying out the invention
Some of the possible engineering solutions 2kke on which the device is based, are presented in figure 1-4.

 2kKE consists of a skeleton-frame 1, an axis of rotation of the skeleton-frame 3 and a number of supporting bodies of revolution 2, which can freely rotate around axes fixed on the periphery of the skeleton-frame perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the skeleton-frame. With the described construction, 2 kKE can, due to the rotation of the core frame around the axis of rotation of the core frame, move in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the core frame; while the supporting bodies of revolution are motionless relative to the frame. On the other hand, 2kKE can move along the supporting surface in the direction along the axis of rotation of the core frame due to the rotation of the supporting body of rotation in contact with the supporting surface around its axis (all such supporting bodies of revolution around its axes, if there are several) the frame frame does not rotate relative to the rotation of the frame frame. When the device moves in an arbitrary direction, both the skeleton-frame and supporting bodies of rotation can rotate.

 One possible engineering solution of the device "Manipulator" Self-propelled turtle Prokhorov Wonder Turtle "" is presented in Fig.5. In this case, 3 elements of 2kKE 2 on the axles 3 are used, with which the engine and the rotation sensor and (or) the controlled brake device 4 are connected; axis 3 are mounted on the housing with the possibility of rotation on the bearings 6.

 Depending on the number of used 2kKE with rotation sensors, the manipulator can measure linear displacements (if 1 2kKE with a rotation sensor is used), two coordinates of the manipulator moving along the supporting surface (when using 2 elements of 2kKE with rotation sensors), as well as the rotations of the manipulator relative to a direct, perpendicular supporting surface (when using 3 or more 2kKE elements with rotation sensors).

 When using 1 or 2 kKE elements with rotation sensors in the manipulator, the sensor readings can be directly used in applications with which the manipulator is used.

 When 3 or more 2kKE elements with rotation sensors are used in the manipulator, the sensor readings can be used directly or after preliminary conversion of the sensor readings by the additional software module of the computer that the manipulator is used with or the microcontroller integrated in the manipulator into the translational components of the manipulator and its rotation relative to the axis perpendicular to the supporting surface.

 Let us show the fundamental possibility of calculating the components of the translational motion and rotation of the manipulator according to the readings of the sensors of the manipulator for the case when three elements of 2kKE with rotation sensors are used in the manipulator. We assume that for single-axis wheel sensors formed by 2kKE with rotation sensors, 2 conditions are satisfied: (1) the working directions of the 1st and 2nd 2kKE are not parallel, (2) the straight lines passing through the 2kKE working points in the working direction are not intersect at one point. The construction is illustrated in Fig.6.

соответственно (это двумерные вектора). Пусть единичные векторы рабочих направлений этих 2кКЭ -

Пусть ds₁, ds₂, ds₃ - показания (либо приращения показаний) датчиков поворота этих 2кКЭ при малом перемещении манипулятора.Suppose that in the coordinate system associated with the base of the manipulator, the working points of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd 2nd kKE are characterized by vectors

respectively (these are two-dimensional vectors). Let the unit vectors of the working directions of these 2kke -

Let ds ₁ , ds ₂ , ds ₃ be the readings (or increments of readings) of the rotation sensors of these 2kKE with a small movement of the manipulator.

- произвольная фиксированная относительно основания манипулятора в данный момент времени точка опорной поверхности. Поскольку в силу вышеуказанных свойств 2кКЭ i-й датчик измеряет проекцию перемещения рабочей точки

относительно опорной поверхности на рабочее направление

то для любого i имеет место соотношение

где

- проекция указанного векторного произведения на ось, перпендикулярную опорной поверхности,

- перемещение точки

относительно опорной поверхности в системе координат, связанной с основанием манипулятора, dω - поворот основания манипулятора относительно оси, перпендикулярной опорной поверхности. (. ..,...) обозначает скалярное, а (...х...) - векторное произведение векторов.Let be

- an arbitrary fixed point of the supporting surface relative to the base of the manipulator at a given time. Since, due to the above properties of 2 kKE, the i-th sensor measures the projection of the movement of the operating point

relative to the bearing surface in the working direction

then for any i the relation

Where

- the projection of the specified vector product on the axis perpendicular to the supporting surface,

- moving point

relative to the supporting surface in the coordinate system associated with the base of the manipulator, dω is the rotation of the base of the manipulator relative to the axis perpendicular to the supporting surface. (..., ...) stands for scalar, and (... x ...) is the vector product of vectors.

точку пересечения двух прямых, одна из которых проходит через

, в направлении

а другая проходит через

в направлении

Тогда получаем уравнения:

Обозначим φ_ij - угол между

то есть

Тогда из предыдущего уравнения получаем:

Таким образом, выше получено (с точностью до обозначений), что

где

- фиксированные для данного манипулятора параметры, определяемые размещением и ориентацией 2кКЭ.Choose as a point

the intersection point of two lines, one of which passes through

, in the direction

and the other goes through

in the direction

Then we get the equations:

Let φ _ij be the angle between

i.e

Then from the previous equation we get:

Thus, it was obtained above (up to the notation) that

Where

- parameters fixed for this manipulator, determined by the location and orientation of 2kKE.

где du_x и du_y - составляющие поступательного движения точки

манипулятора в системе координат Оху; dω - элемент вращательного движения основания манипулятора относительно оси, перпендикулярной опорной поверхности; k_1x, k_1y, k_2x, k_2y, k_3x, k_3y, l₁, l₂, l₃ - фиксированные для данного манипулятора константы, определяемые размещением и ориентацией 2кКЭ на манипуляторе, а также выбором системы координат.If Ohu is the coordinate system associated with the base of the manipulator in the plane of the supporting surface, then the quantities can be calculated

where du _x and du _y are the components of the translational motion of the point

a manipulator in the Ohu coordinate system; dω - element of the rotational movement of the base of the manipulator relative to the axis perpendicular to the supporting surface; k _1x , k _1y , k _2x , k _2y , k _3x , k _3y , l ₁ , l ₂ , l ₃ - constants fixed for this manipulator, determined by the location and orientation of 2 kKE on the manipulator, as well as the choice of coordinate system.

 Thus, each of the components of the movement of the base of the manipulator — translational along the support surface and rotation about an axis perpendicular to the support surface — can be calculated by multiplying the readings of the single-axis wheel sensors by some coefficients and then adding them up. These calculations can be performed, for example, in the computer program with which the manipulator is used, or in the microcontroller built into the manipulator itself, since the commands for multiplying by the number and adding numbers are part of all common microprocessor programming tools.

 When using more than 3 2 kKE in the manipulator with rotation sensors, the components of the movement of the base of the manipulator can be calculated, for example, as follows. For all different triples of single-axis wheel sensors for which the conditions are satisfied that the working directions of these sensors do not intersect at one point and not all working directions are parallel, it is possible to calculate the translational and rotational components of the movement of the base of the manipulator from the measurements of this triple of sensors. Using the values obtained for each of these triples, one can calculate the average translational and rotational components of the displacement of the base of the manipulator.

 The control of motors connected in a device with 2 kKE creates a force that impedes or facilitates the movement of the manipulator, and, if there is a 1st 2 kKE with an engine, it is possible to create efforts in one direction, if there are 2 2 kKE with motors (if the direction of their possible rolling is not parallel) it is possible to create a force in any direction on a supporting surface, if there are 3 2 kKE with engines it is possible to create a force in any direction on a supporting surface (if the rolling directions are at least 2 out of 2 kKE with a motor lyami not parallel) and the torque with respect to a line perpendicular to the support surface (if the same for at least 2 2kKE rolling direction not intersect at one point).

 Figure 6 shows an embodiment of the device according to claim 2 of the claims.

 Figure 7 explains the kinematic relationships between the position of the manipulator and the movements of the sensors.

 On Fig shows an embodiment of the device according to claim 3 of the formula. In this embodiment of the device, 3 motors or an electromagnet or (and) a controlled brake device 5 are used, which can move the upper part of the housing relative to the base.

Claims (3)

 1. The graphic information manipulator, comprising a housing with rotation sensors, characterized in that on the axes fixed in the housing, one or more two-coordinate wheel-like elements are installed, made with the possibility of moving along the supporting surface in an arbitrary direction without slipping and consisting of a frame-frame and supporting bodies of revolution in contact with the supporting surface during movement and forming the peripheral part of the two-coordinate wheel-like element, while the supporting bodies of rotation are installed on the skeleton-frame pivotably about their axes of rotation and allow displacement xy kolesopodobnogo member along the rotation axis of the core-frame skeleton-frame is pivotally mounted with respect to the axis of rotation XY kolesopodobnogo element; rotation sensors are configured to detect the rotation of all or part of two-coordinate wheel-like elements, while all or part of two-coordinate wheel-like elements are equipped with motors or / and controlled brake devices.  2. The manipulator according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two two-coordinate wheel-like elements are installed on the axes fixed in its body and at least two of the two-coordinate wheel-like elements are mounted on a common axis.  3. The manipulator according to claim 1, characterized in that its body is made in the form of a base and a movable upper part, made with the possibility of displacement relative to the base by engines and / or braking relative to the base of the housing by controlled brake devices, while the movable upper part of the housing can be made with the possibility of registering its position relative to the base of the sensors.

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