JP2006323599A - Spatial operation input device and household electrical appliance system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To identify an operation pattern of an input device three-dimensionally operated in a space and give an operation instruction to the operated equipment. <P>SOLUTION: An acceleration applied to an operation detection means part is detected for each axial direction of orthogonal x, y and z-axes, and the detected x, y and z-axial accelerations are coordinate-converted and projected to an XY plane fixed in the space. A plurality of standard patterns and pattern codes thereof for the acceleration change pattern on the XY plane are preliminarily stored. The projected pattern of the detected acceleration to the XY plane is compared with the plurality of standard patterns to search a standard pattern matched thereto, and the pattern code of the matched standard pattern is transmitted to the operated equipment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a spatial operation input device that detects an operation pattern of an input device that is three-dimensionally moved in space and issues an instruction to an operated device to perform a predetermined operation corresponding to the operation pattern. And a home appliance system using the same.

  Conventionally, home appliances have been operated by a method in which a user directly operates an operation button or a dial attached to an operation panel of the home appliance or is remotely operated from a remote location by operating a remote control switch. However, with the high functionality and complexity of home appliances in recent years, many operation buttons and switches have been arranged on the operation panel and remote control switch. For this reason, these input parts have been reduced in size, and at the same time, the letters for explaining the operation / operation have been gradually reduced.

  The operation of the operation panel and the remote control switch in which a large number of small parts and a large number of small characters are arranged is not easy and may easily cause an operation error. The elderly are particularly resistant, and even young people find it difficult to operate when the surroundings are a little dark. In addition, it is cumbersome and troublesome to go to operate home appliances that are installed in remote places when it is cold.

  On the other hand, in the field of information devices such as personal computers and multimedia devices, development of input devices called three-dimensional coordinate input devices, space operation mice, and the like is underway. These input devices in the field of information equipment move the input device in space by moving the cursor on the display screen in conjunction with the input device and move it on a desired object. The main purpose is to improve the pointing operation by confirming or selecting by clicking a click button (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

On the other hand, there is an attempt to give a specific control instruction to the controlled device by moving the space operation mouse in the space instead of inputting to the information device. Patent Document 3 is a technique disclosed by the applicant included in the joint applicant of the present application, and detects the movement pattern of the spatially operated mouse operated in the air by the operator and informs the controlled device of the pattern. The corresponding operation is to be executed. This technology is suitable for remotely operating a controlled device from a remote location, but further improvement in operability is required for application to actual control devices, particularly home appliances.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-192423 JP-A-2-189619 JP 7-28591 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-180119

  The present invention has been made from such a background, and its problem is to detect an operation pattern of an input device that is moved three-dimensionally in space, and inform the operation target device of the operation pattern to cope with the operation pattern. An object of the present invention is to provide a space operation input device with good operability that gives an instruction to perform a predetermined operation and a home appliance system using the space operation input device.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem, an operation for detecting the acceleration applied to the motion detection means unit for each of the orthogonal x, y, and z axes fixed to the motion detection unit. Detection means; coordinate conversion means for projecting the accelerations in the x, y, and z axis directions detected by the motion detection means onto an XY plane including orthogonal X and Y axes fixed in space; and acceleration on the XY plane A plurality of standard patterns in which a plurality of standard patterns of change and their pattern codes are stored in advance, and a plurality of standard patterns in which the storage means stores projection patterns of acceleration applied to the motion detecting unit on the XY plane. A pattern determination unit that determines which standard pattern matches the pattern pattern, and the pattern code of the standard pattern that the pattern determination unit determines to match is read from the storage unit. A spatial manipulation input apparatus comprising: an output means for externally outputting the out.

Here, “matching” between two patterns used in the present specification refers to a case where the feature similarity between the shapes of the two patterns is high.
According to the spatial operation input device having such a configuration, it is possible to send a pattern code that causes the operated device to execute the intended operation content by moving the spatial operation input device three-dimensionally in space. By giving an instruction to the device to be operated in such an operation, it is not necessary to read a small character on the operation panel or operate a small switch. In particular, the operation can be performed with almost no inconvenience even when the surroundings are dark. In the case of this configuration, a three-dimensional motion pattern in space is projected onto an XY plane fixed in the space, and the two-dimensional motion pattern formed by the projection is compared with a two-dimensional standard motion pattern and output. Since the power pattern code is determined, there is an advantage that the pattern matching and the similar determination calculation are simplified as compared with the case where the three-dimensional operation pattern is determined by comparing with the three-dimensional standard operation pattern.

The invention according to claim 2 is the spatial operation input device according to claim 1, wherein the Y-axis direction is a direction parallel to the gravitational acceleration G direction.
If the Y-axis direction coincides with the gravitational acceleration G direction, the XY plane becomes a surface perpendicular to the ground surface. Therefore, the operator can easily imagine a two-dimensional motion pattern when the three-dimensional motion pattern is projected onto the XY plane. In addition, since the standard operation pattern is determined as a two-dimensional pattern on the XY plane, it is easy to determine and create the standard operation pattern.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the spatial operation input device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the motion detection means is formed in a bar shape with a flat cross section, and the x-axis direction is the flat bar shape. The y-axis direction is the thickness direction of the flat bar shape, and the z-axis direction is the longitudinal direction of the flat bar shape.

  If the x-, y-, and z-axis directions are determined as described above in relation to the shape of the spatial operation input device, the operator can easily recognize the x-, y-, and z-axis directions. Therefore, it becomes easy to recognize the positional relationship between the x, y, and z axis directions and the X, Y, and Z axes fixed in space, and a predetermined position between the x, y, and z axes and the X, Y, and Z axes. There is an effect that it is easy to operate with a relationship.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the spatial operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the coordinate conversion means matches the x-axis direction and the X-axis direction. It is considered that the coordinate conversion is performed on the assumption that the y-axis direction and the Y-axis direction form a certain angle θ.

  In this way, performing “considered” coordinate conversion has the advantage of simplifying the calculation of coordinate conversion. However, in order for the calculation result obtained by performing “coordinate conversion” in this way to include no large error, the operator matches the x-axis direction and the X-axis direction, and the y-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are It is premised on that the operation is performed at a constant angle θ. It is not so difficult for the operator to operate the spatial operation input device while keeping such conditions, as will be described later.

The invention according to claim 5 is the spatial operation input device according to claim 4, wherein the constant angle θ is the acceleration αy in the y-axis direction detected when the motion detecting unit is in a stationary state. And a value calculated by using the following equation from the value of the acceleration αz in the z-axis direction.
θ = tan ⁻¹ (−αz / αy)

  When the Y-axis direction matches the gravitational acceleration G direction and the x-axis direction matches the X-axis direction, the value of the constant angle θ can be easily obtained by using this configuration. .

  The invention according to claim 6 is the spatial operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising input means for receiving input of information for specifying the operated device, wherein the storage means The device code of the operated device is further stored in advance, and the output unit is a standard pattern that the pattern determining unit determines to be coincident after the input unit receives input of information specifying the operated device. When the pattern code is output to the outside, the device code of the operated device specified based on the information for specifying the operated device received by the input unit is read out from the storage unit, and together with the pattern code It is characterized by external output.

  According to this configuration, a pattern code corresponding to the intended operation content can be transmitted to an operated device selected from a plurality of operated devices, and a set of spatial operation input devices can be used. It becomes possible to remotely control a plurality of operated devices.

The invention according to claim 7 is the spatial operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the output means outputs information to be externally output by wireless communication. .
If output is performed by wireless communication in this manner, operation from a location far away from the operated device becomes easy.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the spatial operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the voice of the operator is used instead of or in addition to the input means. Voice recognition means for recognizing, and the storage means also stores in advance the utterance voice of the information specifying the operated device, and the input means has the utterance voice of the operator recognized by the voice recognition means as the voice It is determined whether or not the utterance voice of the information specifying the operated device stored in the storage means is matched, and if there is a matching utterance voice, the information corresponding to the matched utterance voice has been input. It is characterized by being regarded.

  If input can be performed by voice recognition in this way, the input operation becomes easier. Also, it is easy to input in a dark place.

  The invention described in claim 9 is a home appliance system comprising one or more home appliances and the space operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein each home appliance is the space. A receiving unit that receives the device code and pattern code output by the operation input device; and a correspondence table that describes the operation contents to be executed when the pattern code is received for each pattern code. When a pattern code attached with a device code for designating a pattern code is received, the operation content described for the pattern code is read from the correspondence table and executed. is there.

  According to the household electrical appliance system having such a configuration, the operator can cause the intended household electrical appliance to perform an intended operation remotely. Therefore, even when it is cold, it is not necessary to go to the operation panel of the home appliance. Also, the pattern code that indicates the operation content can be specified by operating the spatial operation input device in three dimensions in space. Therefore, there is no need to read small characters on the operation panel or operate small switches. For this reason, even if the surroundings are dark, the operation can be performed with almost no inconvenience.

  The invention described in claim 10 is the home appliance system according to claim 9, wherein each home appliance is connected to each home appliance such as “power ON”, “power OFF”, “pause”, etc. The common operation contents are characterized by corresponding the same pattern code.

  In this way, if the same pattern code is associated with the common operation content, the common operation content may be drawn on the spatial operation input device, so that the operation instruction can be easily operated.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a spatial operation input device and a home appliance system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the home appliance system.

  The home appliance system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a set of space operation input device 2, home appliance 3, and home appliance 4. The home appliance 3 is, for example, a washing machine, and the home appliance 4 is, for example, a refrigerator. Many more home appliances may exist. In the home appliance system 1, the home appliances 3 and 4 are remotely operated by radio signals from a set of space operation input devices 2.

  In order to receive a radio signal transmitted by the spatial operation input device 2, the home appliance 3 includes a communication device 3a, and the home appliance 4 includes a communication device 4a. Although not shown, the home appliances 3 and 4 include a control device using a known microcomputer, and the operation is controlled by the control device. The radio signals received by the communication devices 3a and 4a are transmitted to the respective control devices.

  The space operation input device 2 issues operation instructions (instructions for operation details) such as “power ON” and “power OFF” to the home appliances 3 and 4. The instruction contents are distinguished by a pattern code described later. In this home electric appliance system 1, since one set of space operation input device 2 issues operation instructions to a plurality of home electric appliances, it is necessary to identify to which home appliance the operation instruction is an instruction. For this reason, an operation code transmitted by the space operation input device 2 is attached with a device code for specifying the home appliance (operated device) operated by the operation instruction. That is, an operation instruction for a specific home appliance is given as a combination signal of the device code and the pattern code of the home appliance.

  Each home appliance is assigned a device code. When the communication device 3a, 4a receives the combination signal of the device code and the pattern code, each control device of the home appliance 3, 4 determines whether the device code matches the device code assigned to itself in advance. Determine. If they do not match, it is determined that it is not an operation instruction for itself, and the received pattern code is ignored.

  When the received device code matches the device code assigned to the device in advance, it is determined as an operation instruction for the device code and the pattern code is fetched. As will be described later, the pattern code is a code number assigned to the operation pattern when the space operation input device 2 is moved by the operator in the space. The pattern codes are given as “P01”, “P02”, “P03”, and so on, for example.

  The pattern code is merely a code number corresponding to the operation pattern of the spatial operation input device 2 moved in the air. The pattern codes such as “P01”, “P02”, “P03” are “power ON”, “power Operation instruction contents such as “OFF” and “Start dehydration operation” are not directly meant. It is to be determined in advance on the home appliance side what kind of operation instruction to interpret each pattern code. When the device code of the home appliance 3 is “K3”, for example, when the home appliance 3 receives the pattern code “P1” with the device code “K3” attached, the “power ON” operation is performed. When the code “P2” is received, it is determined in advance on the home appliance 3 side that the operation of “power off” is performed. In this case, it may be determined to perform a combined operation on one pattern code. In the example of the washing machine, when the pattern code “P5” is received, “stop after performing one rinse operation”, “P6” is “stop after performing two rinse operations”, etc. You may decide to.

  Similarly, the home appliance 4 determines in advance an operation to be performed when it receives a pattern code “P01”, “P02”, “P03” or the like with its own device code attached. In this case, it is not necessary to determine that the home appliance 3 and the electric device 4 perform the same operation for the same pattern code. For example, the operation for the pattern code “P01” is “power ON” for the home appliance 3, “dehydration operation is started” for the electric device 4, and the operation for the pattern code “P02” is “power OFF” for the home appliance 3 4 can be determined as “power ON”.

  However, if the operation corresponding to the same pattern code “P01” is determined differently between the home appliance 3 and the home appliance 4, the operation instructed by the home appliance is performed by the operator (operation executed by the home appliance). It is necessary to remember the correspondence between the pattern code and the code. Then, since the space operation input device 2 must be operated in the space so that the pattern code determined for the desired operation of the home appliance to be operated is output, the operation becomes troublesome. Therefore, the correspondence relationship between at least the operations common to each home appliance, for example, “Power ON”, “Power OFF”, “Pause”, etc. and the pattern code is determined in the same manner for all home appliances. It is desirable. Each home appliance collects such correspondence in a correspondence table and stores it in a storage device in the control device in advance.

  Next, the configuration and operation of the spatial operation input device 2 that transmits the above-described combination signal of the device code and the pattern code toward the home appliances 3 and 4 and the operation method thereof will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the spatial operation input device 2 of this embodiment includes a control circuit 6, a triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7, a voice recognition device 8, a storage device 10, a communication device 11, an operation switch 12, and a display device with a touch panel. 13.

  The control circuit 6 controls the overall operation of the spatial operation input device 2 and is mainly composed of a microcomputer. The control circuit 6 includes a known CPU, RAM, ROM, a bus line connecting them, a power supply battery, and the like. .

The triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 is a sensor for detecting acceleration in the orthogonal triaxial direction applied to the spatial operation input device 2. The attachment and detection circuit will be described later.
The voice recognition device 8 analyzes the voice pattern of the operator captured by the attached microphone 8 a using voice recognition software and transmits the recognized voice to the control circuit 6. The operation switch 12 is a push button switch for inputting an operator instruction to the control circuit 6. The display device 13 with a touch panel has a touch panel switch 13b arranged on the display screen of a display device 13a using liquid crystal, and is used for both information input to the control circuit 6 and information output from the control circuit 6. .

  The storage device 10 is a storage device composed of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory that can electrically rewrite the stored content and can retain the stored content even when the power is turned off. The communication device 11 is for transmitting information output from the control circuit 6 to the home appliances 3 and 4 wirelessly. The information to be transmitted is a combination signal of the aforementioned device code and pattern code.

  FIG. 2 is an overview diagram of the space operation input device 2. The space operation input device 2 is manufactured in a small size so that an operator can easily hold it with one hand and move it three-dimensionally in space. The storage case 9 is formed in a substantially bar shape with a flat cross section. The operator holds the handle 9a with one hand and moves it in the air in the left / right, up / down, front / rear (longitudinal direction), and the direction in which they are combined.

  A display device 13 with a touch panel is attached to a portion slightly closer to the tip from the center of the surface of the storage case 9, and an operation switch 12 is attached to the lower side thereof. A microphone 8a for voice recognition is attached to a portion near the leading edge.

  Three acceleration detection elements 7a, 7b, and 7c are attached to the inside of the portion near the tip of the storage case 9. Each acceleration detecting element 7a, 7b, 7c is an element for detecting acceleration in one axis direction. As the acceleration detection element, for example, a detection element using a semiconductor is used. The three acceleration detecting elements 7a, 7b, and 7c are attached so as to detect accelerations in the three axial directions orthogonal to each other. The acceleration detection element 7a is the width direction (x-axis direction) of the storage case 9, the acceleration detection element 7a is the thickness direction (y-axis direction) of the storage case 9, and the acceleration detection element 7a is the longitudinal direction (z-axis direction) of the storage case 9. The acceleration of is detected.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7. The outputs of the acceleration detection elements 7a, 7b, and 7c are amplified by the corresponding amplifiers 71a, 71b, and 71c and input to the multiplexer 72. Switching of the multiplexer 72 is controlled by the control circuit 6. The output signals of the amplifiers 71a, 71b, 71c selected by the multiplexer 72 are converted into digital signals by the A / D converter 73 at the next stage and read into the control circuit 6. The conversion timing by the A / D converter 73 is also controlled by the control circuit 6. With such a circuit configuration, accelerations in the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions can be periodically read.

  Next, referring to the control flow shown in FIG. 4 for a series of operations in the case of transmitting the combination signal of the device code and the pattern code described above to the home appliances 3 and 4 under such a configuration. I will explain. FIG. 4 shows a flow executed by the control circuit 6.

  In the first step S1, the operator receives designation of a home electric appliance that is a partner to which the pattern code is transmitted. Note that the pointing mark outside the frame in step S1 indicates that a human operation is involved (the same applies hereinafter). The operator performs designation using the display device 13 with a touch panel or the voice recognition device 8. The control circuit 6 displays on the display device 13a of the display device 10 with a touch panel, the home appliance name existing in the correspondence table between the home appliance name and the device code stored in the storage device 10 in advance. The operator selects a home electric appliance to be transmitted from among them and operates the touch panel switch 13b of that portion. The control circuit 6 reads the device code corresponding to the selected home appliance from the correspondence table and temporarily stores it.

  When the voice recognition device 8 is used for designation, the operator utters the name of the home appliance to be transmitted toward the microphone 8a. The voice recognition device 8 analyzes the voice pattern captured by the microphone 8 a using voice recognition software and transmits the recognized uttered voice to the control circuit 6. The control circuit 6 checks whether a home appliance name that matches the recognized utterance voice exists in the correspondence table between the home appliance name and the device code stored in the storage device 10 in advance. If it exists, the corresponding device code is read and temporarily stored, and at the same time, the recognized home appliance name is displayed on the display device 10 with a touch panel. If it does not exist, nothing is displayed. The operator checks the name of the home appliance displayed on the display device with a touch panel 10 to confirm that the instruction is correctly recognized.

  When the device code of the specified home appliance is obtained, an operation for determining a pattern code to be transmitted to the home appliance is received. The operation for determining the pattern code is performed by moving the space operation input device 2 so as to draw a predetermined pattern in the space. The predetermined pattern drawn in the space is predetermined for each pattern code.

  Prior to the operation in the space, an input notifying the start of the operation is received (step S2). The operation is started by operating the operation switch 12 in a state where the space operation input device 2 is temporarily stopped at the operation start point of the space. For example, an operation start push button switch is provided as one of the operation switches 12, and the operator notifies the control circuit 6 of the operation start by pressing the switch. It is also possible to input by voice using the voice recognition device 8 instead of the switch operation.

  If the start of the operation is notified, the control circuit 6 starts reading the acceleration in the x, y, and z directions from the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7. Reading is repeated at a constant cycle and temporarily stored in the RAM in the control circuit 6 (step S3). While the operator moves the space operation input device 2 in space, the reading is continued (step S4).

  When the operation in the space is completed, an operation end input is received from the operation switch 12 (step S5). Instead of pushing the push button switch for starting operation in step S2 and pushing the push button switch for ending operation in step S5, the operation switch 12 is kept pressed during the operation, that is, from step S2 to step S5. It may be opened at the end of the operation. Receiving the operation end input, the control circuit 6 stops reading the acceleration (step S6).

  When an operation for drawing a predetermined pattern is completed by moving the space operation input device 2 in space, and an operation end input is received, an operation for specifying the drawn operation pattern and obtaining the pattern code is next performed. Move on to pattern recognition processing.

  The reason why the operator moves the spatial operation input device 2 so as to draw a predetermined pattern is to cause the designated home appliance to perform a control operation determined in advance by the home appliance corresponding to the drawn pattern. . The control circuit 6 determines how the spatial operation input device 2 is operated in the space, that is, what operation pattern is drawn and moved based on the acceleration pattern detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7. To do. Then, a pattern code determined in advance corresponding to the determined acceleration pattern is transmitted to the home appliance together with the device code.

  The determination as to which operation pattern is drawn is based on a plurality of standard operation patterns previously stored in the storage device 10 as the operation patterns recognized based on the acceleration change detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7. This is done by determining which pattern of the pattern matches. Since the motion pattern drawn by the operator and the standard motion pattern cannot completely match, the pattern matching is determined by determining which standard motion pattern is most similar.

  Since the operation pattern drawn by the similarity determination with the standard operation pattern is specified in this way, data of a plurality of standard operation patterns is stored in the storage device 10 in advance. At the same time, a pattern code for identifying the standard operation pattern is also stored.

  The standard operation pattern is, for example, as shown in FIG. (1) in FIG. 5 is a pattern for drawing a reciprocating straight line in the x-axis direction with the spatial operation input device 2, (2) is a pattern for drawing a reciprocating straight line in the y-axis direction, and (3) is an oblique reciprocating straight line on the xy plane. A pattern to be drawn, (4) is a pattern to draw a triangle on the xy plane, (5) is a square, (6) is a rectangle, and (7) is a pattern to draw a circle. (8) and (9) are patterns for writing numbers and letters. These are examples of patterns on the xy plane, but a three-dimensional motion pattern obtained by adding a motion in the z-axis direction to this may be used as the standard motion pattern.

  The acceleration detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 is the acceleration in the aforementioned x, y, and z directions fixed to the spatial operation input device 2. Accordingly, the data of the standard operation pattern as shown in FIG. 5 that is stored in advance in the storage device 10 is also expressed in an orthogonal three-dimensional coordinate system with the same x, y, and z directions as axes. This is because it is easier to determine the coincidence and similarity of two patterns if they are expressed in the same coordinate system. The standard motion pattern may be expressed by an acceleration pattern, may be expressed by a speed pattern, or may be expressed by a trajectory pattern. This is because matching and similarity determinations may be performed according to the expression format.

  Such matching and similarity determination between the motion pattern recognized from the acceleration detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 and the standard motion pattern in the storage device 10 is disclosed in a known technique (for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4). Technology). For example, in a method called a pattern matching method, the motion pattern data obtained by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 is converted into the same format as the data of the standard motion pattern, and the similarity between the data is calculated. Then, the standard operation pattern having the highest similarity is determined and it is determined that the operation of the pattern has been performed. In addition to such a pattern matching method, a determination method using motion vectors disclosed in detail in Patent Document 3 previously filed by the present applicant is also effective.

  It is assumed that the space operation input device 2 of the present embodiment is operated in space (in the air) while being held by a hand. It is not assumed that the space operation input device 2 is operated by being pressed against a plane including any two of the x, y, and z axes fixed to the space operation input device 2. This is because the operation may be performed by pressing against such a plane, but this makes the operability worse. In the present embodiment in which such an operation condition is not applied, when the operator operates the spatial operation input device 2 in the air, the acceleration detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 changes in the x, y, and z directions. It will be a thing.

  When a person operates the space operation input device 2 in space, the acceleration detected by hand shake changes in the x, y, and z directions. Even if the operation is performed by pressing against any plane other than the plane including any two of the x, y, and z axes, the acceleration detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 changes in the x, y, and z directions. .

  Therefore, when the operator operates the spatial operation input device 2 in the air, the matching and similarity determination between the motion pattern and the standard motion pattern is performed by comparing the motion patterns represented in three dimensions. . Such a match / similar determination of two motion patterns expressed in three dimensions can be performed by using a known determination method such as the above-described determination method using pattern matching or a determination method using motion vectors. it can.

  However, even if the determination can be made, the calculation becomes very complicated if the matching and the similarity are determined in a three-dimensional state. Thus, in the spatial operation input device 2 of the present embodiment, a motion pattern first detected as a three-dimensional change is projected onto a specific plane, and then a two-dimensional motion pattern formed by being projected onto the specific plane. Is compared with a two-dimensional standard motion pattern assumed on the same specific plane, and the similarity is examined. Then, a method of specifying the original three-dimensional motion pattern from the degree of similarity is adopted. If such a method is adopted, a comparison is made between two motion patterns expressed in two dimensions, so that there is an advantage that the calculation for matching and similarity determination is easier than in the case of three-dimensional expression.

  Since a specific plane (hereinafter referred to as a projection plane) projects a three-dimensional motion pattern in the space of the space operation input device 2, a plane fixed in the space (a plane fixed on the earth on which the operator stands) Must. Any plane may be used as long as the plane is fixed in the space. However, since it is a plane for comparing two operation patterns, it is desirable to select a plane that is easy to compare.

  It is convenient to use a Cartesian coordinate system to express the plane using mathematical formulas. Accordingly, consider an orthogonal XYZ coordinate system in which the projection plane is represented as an XY plane including the X axis and the Y axis. The positional relationship of the orthogonal XYZ coordinate system with respect to the space (earth) is automatically determined when the positional relationship of the projection plane with respect to the space (earth) is determined.

  The motion pattern in the space of the space operation input device 2 is projected onto the XY plane which is a projection plane. The means for detecting the movement of the space operation input device 2 in the space is only the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 fixed to the space operation input device 2. The acceleration detected by the triaxial acceleration detection sensor 7 is an acceleration in each axis direction in an xyz coordinate system that is fixed to the spatial operation input device 2 and moves together with the spatial operation input device 2, that is, an acceleration vector expressed in the xyz coordinate system. is there.

  Therefore, in order to obtain the motion pattern of the spatial operation input device 2 projected onto the XY plane, which is the projection plane, the detected acceleration vector represented by the xyz coordinate system is subjected to coordinate transformation to express the acceleration vector represented by the XYZ coordinate system. It needs to be converted to an expression. For the coordinate conversion, it is necessary to know a total of nine angles formed by the three axes of the xyz coordinate system and the three axes of the XYZ coordinate system.

  The acceleration vector of the acceleration received by the spatial operation input device 2 is repeatedly detected at minute time intervals. It is necessary to perform coordinate transformation on all of these acceleration vectors. Therefore, it is important to determine the XY plane, that is, the projection plane, so that the coordinate conversion formula is as simple as possible.

  As a first means for simplifying the coordinate conversion formula, in this embodiment, the Y axis is determined in the direction of the gravitational acceleration G. Then, the X axis and the Z axis are automatically in the horizontal direction. This means that the projection plane is determined as a vertical plane (XY plane) including the gravitational acceleration direction.

  However, the coordinate conversion formula is not so simple just by determining the XYZ coordinate system in this way. Therefore, as a second means for making the coordinate conversion formula a simpler formula, an assumption is made that the x-axis direction and the X-axis direction always coincide. In addition, as a third means, an assumption is made that the angle between the y-axis and the Y-axis is always maintained at a constant angle θ. Since an orthogonal coordinate system is employed, if the angle between the y-axis and the Y-axis is θ, the angle between the z-axis and the Z-axis is also θ.

  The relative relationship between the xyz coordinate system and the XYZ coordinate system when the three assumptions of the first to third means are established is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the case where the coordinate origins of the xyz coordinate system and the XYZ coordinate system coincide is depicted. The Y axis coincides with the direction of gravity acceleration G. The X axis is the horizontal direction, and the x axis direction and the X axis direction coincide with each other. The yz plane coincides with the YZ plane rotated clockwise by a certain angle θ around the X axis.

When the xyz coordinate system and the XYZ coordinate system have such a positional relationship, acceleration vectors (αx, αy, αz) expressed in the xyz coordinate system are expressed in the XYZ coordinate system by the following simple coordinate conversion formula. Are converted into acceleration vectors (αX, αY, αZ).
αX = αx (1) Equation αY = αy · cos (θ) −αz · sin (θ) (2) Equation αZ = αy · sin (θ) + αz · cos (θ) (3) Equation where αx, αy , Αz, αX, αY, αZ represent the components of the acceleration vector α in the x, y, z, X, Y, Z directions, respectively, and θ is from the Y axis to the y axis measured clockwise around the X axis. Represents an angle.

  Since the xyz coordinate system is a coordinate system fixed to the moving space operation input device 2 and the other XYZ coordinate system is a coordinate system fixed to space, the assumptions of the second and third means are always satisfied. It is impossible to do it. However, it is not so difficult to move the spatial operation input device 2 so that the assumptions of the second and third means are approximately established.

  Moving in a state where the assumptions of the second and third means are established means that the y axis always maintains an angle of θ with respect to the Y axis so that the x axis always coincides with the X axis. And move it. Such movement is similar to the movement of writing characters using chalk on a blackboard. This is because when writing characters on the blackboard, the characters are usually written with the angle between the axial direction of the chalk and the blackboard surface maintained substantially constant.

  Therefore, when operating the space operation input device 2 in the air, it is necessary to hold the handle 9 and make a promise to make it move as if writing characters on the blackboard with chalk. If the operator operates according to such a convention, the data obtained by projecting the three-dimensional motion pattern in the space at that time onto the two-dimensional XY plane by using the conversion formulas (1) and (2) above. Can be requested.

  The operator thinks that the X-axis direction is a line parallel to the line connecting his shoulders, that is, an upright blackboard corresponding to the XY plane is in front of him, and characters and figures are placed on it. You can operate as if writing. Then, the operation pattern is drawn with the assumptions of the second and third means approximately established. Unlike the case of writing characters on the blackboard, when the spatial operation input device 2 is so operated, there may be movement in the Z-axis direction. This is because the projection component of the movement in the Z-axis direction onto the XY plane is zero. In short, it is important that the operation is performed with the assumptions of the second and third means approximately established.

The angle θ formed between the Y axis and the y axis is obtained as follows. When the spatial operation input device 2 is stationary, the acceleration acting on the spatial operation input device 2 is only the gravitational acceleration G. The direction of the gravitational acceleration G coincides with the Y-axis direction according to the definition of the Y-axis direction. Therefore, when the space operation input device 2 is stationary, the following relationship is established from the above-described equation (3).
0 = αy · sin (θ) + αz · cos (θ) (4) From this, θ can be obtained as follows.
θ = tan ⁻¹ (−αz / αy) Equation (5)

  The values of αy and αz in the equation (5) are accelerations in the y-axis direction and the z-axis direction when the spatial operation input device 2 is stationary in a posture in which a motion pattern is drawn. The value can be obtained by reading the value at the moment (step S2) at which the operator inputs that informs the start of operation in space.

  Returning to the control flow of FIG. 4, when the input of the space operation start is received in step S2, the value of the above-mentioned constant angle θ is detected and stored. In step S3, acceleration detection is started. In step S4, the spatial operation input device 2 is operated in accordance with the above-described convention, and the detected acceleration vector in the xyz coordinate system is subjected to coordinate transformation according to the equations (1) and (2) each time to obtain the X axis, Y The axis component is obtained and temporarily stored. When the spatial operation is finished (step S5) and the acceleration detection is stopped, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the obtained two-dimensional motion pattern data is compared with a plurality of two-dimensional standard motion patterns assumed on the same XY plane, the similarity is examined, and it is determined whether any of the standard motion patterns matches. . For the determination, a known determination method as described above is used.
If the similarity is low with any of the standard operation patterns, a message indicating that there is no matching standard operation pattern is displayed on the display device 13 with a touch panel to notify the operator. Then, the process returns to step S1 (step S8).

  If there is a matching standard operation pattern, the pattern code attached to the standard operation pattern is read from the storage device 10. And the signal which combined the apparatus code which received the instruction | indication in step S1, and its pattern code is transmitted toward the household appliances 3 and 4 from the communication apparatus 11 (step S9).

  With such a series of operations and operations, a pattern code that causes the operator to perform the operation intended by the operator is transmitted to the household electrical appliance intended by the operator. The home appliance side receives the transmitted signal, and determines whether the device code matches its own device code. If they match, it is determined as an instruction to itself, and the predetermined operation for the pattern code is executed. In this way, the operator can remotely operate the home appliances 3 and 4 from a remote location as intended.

  In the home appliance system 1 according to the present embodiment, a home appliance to be operated is designated and a pattern code corresponding to the intended operation content is transmitted. For this reason, the intended household electrical appliance can be remotely operated from among a plurality of household electrical appliances by the one set of space operation input device 2. Therefore, even when it is cold, it is not necessary to go to the operation panel of the home appliance. Further, the pattern code for instructing the operation content can be designated by operating the spatial operation input device 2 in a three-dimensional manner in space. Therefore, it is not necessary to read small characters on the operation panel or operate small switches. Further, according to such an operation, the operation can be performed with almost no inconvenience even in a dark surrounding.

(Modified embodiment)
Next, some modified embodiments of the above-described embodiment will be described.

  One of them is how to specify the home appliance in step S1 of FIG. In the control flow of FIG. 4, after transmitting the device code and the pattern code in step S9, the process returns to step S1 again. Then, before performing the operation of generating the next pattern code, the home appliance is designated again in step S1. However, it is troublesome to designate a home appliance every time when it is desired to continuously transmit a plurality of pattern codes to the same home appliance.

  In order to alleviate this annoyance, the home appliance specified in step S1 is stored in the control circuit 6, and in step S9, the stored device code of the home appliance is attached and a pattern code is attached. It is good to send. Then, unless a different home appliance is specified in step S1, a pattern code with the same device code attached is transmitted in step S9. As a result, when a plurality of pattern codes are continuously transmitted to the same home appliance, the re-designation operation in step S1 can be omitted.

  As another modified embodiment, the device code may be omitted from the spatial operation input device and only the pattern code may be transmitted. This is because the device code is not required when there is one household appliance as the controlled device. In this case, an input device and an input operation for inputting information for specifying the operated device are not necessary.

  Note that the following means described in the claims is constituted by the following components in the embodiment. The motion detection means includes a three-axis acceleration detection sensor 7 and a control circuit 6. The coordinate conversion means is constituted by a control circuit 6. The storage means is constituted by the storage device 10. The pattern determining means is constituted by the control circuit 6. The output means includes the communication device 11 and the control circuit 6. The input means includes an operation switch 12, a display device 13 with a touch panel, and a control circuit 6. The voice recognition means includes a voice recognition device 8 and an attached microphone 8a. The receiving means is composed of communication devices 3a and 3b.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a home appliance system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a general-view figure of a space operation input device. It is a block diagram of the circuit structure of a 3-axis acceleration detection sensor. It is a control flow of a space operation input device. It is an example of an operation pattern. It is a figure which shows the relative relationship of an xyz coordinate system and an XYZ coordinate system.

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a home appliance system, 2 is a spatial operation input device, 3 and 4 are home appliances, 6 is a control circuit, 7 is a three-axis acceleration detection sensor, 8 is a voice recognition device, 10 is a storage device, and 11 is a communication device. Device, 12 is an operation switch, and 13 is a display device with a touch panel.

Claims (10)

Motion detection means for detecting the acceleration applied to the motion detection means for each of the orthogonal x, y and z axes fixed to the motion detection means;
Coordinate conversion means for projecting the accelerations in the x, y, and z axis directions detected by the motion detection means onto an XY plane including orthogonal X and Y axes fixed in space;
Storage means for storing in advance a plurality of standard patterns of acceleration changes on the XY plane and their pattern codes;
Pattern determination means for comparing the projection pattern of the acceleration applied to the motion detection means section on the XY plane with the plurality of standard patterns stored in the storage means to determine which standard pattern matches; ,
An output unit that reads out the pattern code of the standard pattern determined to be coincident by the pattern determination unit from the storage unit and externally outputs the pattern code;   2. The spatial operation input device according to claim 1, wherein the Y-axis direction is a direction parallel to the gravitational acceleration G direction.   3. The space operation input device according to claim 1, wherein the motion detection unit is formed in a bar shape having a flat cross section, the x-axis direction is a width direction of the flat bar shape, and the y-axis direction is the A space operation input device characterized in that the thickness direction is a flat bar shape, and the z-axis direction is a longitudinal direction of the flat bar shape.   4. The spatial operation input device according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate conversion unit considers the x-axis direction and the X-axis direction to coincide with each other, and the y-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. A spatial operation input device that performs coordinate conversion on the assumption that a direction forms a certain angle θ. 5. The spatial operation input device according to claim 4, wherein the constant angle θ is based on values of the acceleration αy in the y-axis direction and the acceleration αz in the z-axis direction detected when the motion detection unit is stationary. A spatial operation input device characterized in that the value is calculated using the following equation.
θ = tan ⁻¹ (−αz / αy) The spatial operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising input means for receiving input of information for specifying an operated device,
The storage means further stores in advance a device code of the operated device,
When the output means outputs the pattern code of the standard pattern determined by the pattern determination means to match after the input means receives input of information for specifying the operated device, the input means A spatial operation input device, wherein the device code of the operated device specified based on the information specifying the operated device that has received the input is read from the storage means and externally output together with the pattern code.   The space operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the output means outputs information to be externally output by wireless communication. The spatial operation input device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: a voice recognition unit that recognizes a voice uttered by an operator instead of or in addition to the input unit.
The storage means also stores in advance a voice of information specifying the operated device, and the input means stores the voice of the operator recognized by the voice recognition means stored in the storage means. A space characterized by determining whether or not it matches the utterance voice of the information specifying the operating device, and if there is a matching utterance voice, it is considered that the input of the information corresponding to the matched utterance voice has been received Operation input device. 10. A home appliance system comprising one or more home appliances and the spatial operation input device according to claim 1, wherein each home appliance has the device code and pattern output by the spatial operation input device. A receiving means for receiving a code, and a correspondence table in which the operation contents to be executed when the pattern code is received are described for each pattern code,
When the receiving means receives a pattern code attached with a device code designating itself, it reads the operation content described for the pattern code from the correspondence table and moves to execution. Household appliances system. 10. The home appliance system according to claim 9, wherein each home appliance has the same pattern code for operation contents common to the home appliances such as “power ON”, “power OFF”, and “pause”. Home appliance system characterized by keeping it compatible.

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