초록 ▼

A method and apparatus implementing a user interface device, such as a mouse or trackball, having electronically controllable tactile responsiveness which is flexibly programmable. A user interface device effects positioning of a cursor within a limited area, such as on a display screen, with limits

A method and apparatus implementing a user interface device, such as a mouse or trackball, having electronically controllable tactile responsiveness which is flexibly programmable. A user interface device effects positioning of a cursor within a limited area, such as on a display screen, with limits imposed by controllable tactile responsiveness. Programmable force-position characteristics relate the tactile responsiveness of the interface device to the position of the cursor within the limited area or on the display screen. In a described embodiment, the interface device includes at least two sets of wheels that move as the interface device is actuated. The at least two sets of wheels are aligned on mutually orthogonal axes. A servo motor is attached to each of the at least two sets of wheels. A position encoder is associated with each servo motor and outputs position information to a controller that has access to force-position relation information that is a function of a screen display on which the cursor is manipulated. The controller outputs a digital signal, in accordance with the force-display position relation information. The digital signal is converted to an analog current signal applied to the servo motor(s) to generate force in the servo motor. The force, presenting a tactile response to a human interacting with the user interface device, is perceived as a resistance, tactile pressure or lack thereof, or as a positive, assisted motion which is indicative of position on a screen display.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A device, comprising: an actuator having a user interface, the actuator being configured to output haptic feedback to the user interface, the haptic feedback including a modulating force simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions; a data storage component

What is claimed is: 1. A device, comprising: an actuator having a user interface, the actuator being configured to output haptic feedback to the user interface, the haptic feedback including a modulating force simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions; a data storage component configured to store torque data associated with the haptic feedback simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions, the torque data being associated with a force profiles, the torque data being provided by a host computer based on a selection of at least one force profile from the plurality of force profiles based on a host software application running on the host computer; a sensor coupled to the user interface, the sensor being configured to send position information associated with a position of the user interface to the host computer; and a local controller coupled to the data storage component and the actuator, the local controller being configured to be in communication with the host computer, the local controller being configured to receive position data from the host software application of the host computer, the local controller being configured to send a control signal to the actuator based on the position data and the torque data to simulate the plurality of electronically defined stop positions. 2. The device of claim 1, the actuator being a first actuator, the device further comprising a second actuator, the local controller being configured to output the control signal to the first and second actuators, the first and second actuators configured to produce the haptic feedback. 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the data storage component is configured to receive and store a plurality of torque values from the host computer. 4. The device of claim 3, wherein each of the torque values is associated with a different tactile sensation. 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the data storage component is external to the local controller. 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the data storage component is resident on the local controller. 7. A device, comprising: a user interface, the user interface being configured to provide haptic feedback simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions based on a plurality of torque data values associated with a processor executable application, the haptic feedback simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions being associated with a plurality of force output profiles, each of the plurality of force output profiles being uniquely associated with a torque data value from the plurality of torque data values; a local data storage component configured to store the plurality of torque data values, the plurality of torque data values being provided by a host computer based on a selection of a force output profile from the plurality of force output profiles based on the processor executable application; a sensor coupled to the user interface, the sensor being configured to send a position signal associated with a position of the user interface to the host computer; and a local controller coupled to the local data storage component and the sensor, the local controller configured to receive position information from the host computer, the local controller being configured to control the haptic feedback simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions in response to the position information and based on the plurality of torque data values. 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the user interface is at least a portion of an actuator, the actuator being configured to provide the haptic feedback. 9. The device of claim 7, wherein the data storage component is external to the local controller. 10. The device of claim 7, wherein the data storage component is resident on the local controller. 11. The device of claim 7, wherein the local data storage component is configured to receive data from a remote processor. 12. A method, comprising: receiving a position signal at a local controller, the position signal being based on at least one of a position and a movement of a user interface; generating a control signal based on torque data and the position signal, the torque data being provided to the local memory device by a host computer based on a selection of a torque profile associated with a computer program running on the host computer; and transmitting the control signal to the user interface to output haptic feedback simulating a plurality of electronically defined stop positions at the user interface. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the torque data includes a plurality of data values, each data value from the plurality of data values being associated with different tactile sensations of the haptic feedback. 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: receiving at a local memory device the torque data from the host computer, the torque data including an input signal identifying the computer program running on the host computer.