Touch control device, touch control method, and robot

Abstract

This application discloses a touch control device, comprising: a touch detection circuit and an arithmetic logic unit, wherein: the touch detection circuit is connected to the arithmetic logic unit; the touch detection circuit is configured to generate a first level for each touch electrode; the arithmetic logic unit is configured to receive a plurality of first levels output by the touch detection circuit, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a second level, and output the second level to the touch detection circuit; the touch detection circuit is further configured to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from the plurality of touch electrodes based on the first level and the received second level. This application also discloses a touch control method and a robot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of intelligent touch control, and more particularly to a touch control device, touch control method, and robot. Background Technology

[0002] Health monitoring robots can measure and monitor various parameters of a user's vital signs, such as blood oxygen, blood pressure, respiratory rate, electrocardiogram, body temperature, and sleep status, and proactively issue warnings, thereby providing care and support for the user.

[0003] To increase the touch detection area and recognize more touch actions in health monitoring robots, existing technologies typically deploy a large number of touch detection electrodes on the robots. When a user touches these electrodes, the voltage level of the touch detection circuit changes. A polling method is then used to determine the target touch detection electrode from among the multiple electrodes based on the voltage level change, thereby detecting the user's action. However, during implementation, the inventors discovered at least the following problems with the existing technology: the polling method results in an excessively long polling cycle, leading to an excessively long touch response time for the health monitoring robot, which in turn results in poor user monitoring performance. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application aims to provide a touch control device, a touch control method, and a robot, thereby resolving the issue that the touch response time of existing health monitoring robots is too long, resulting in poor monitoring of users.

[0005] The technical solution of this application is implemented as follows:

[0006] This application provides a touch control device, the device comprising: a touch detection circuit and an arithmetic logic unit, wherein:

[0007] The touch detection circuit is connected to the arithmetic logic unit;

[0008] The touch detection circuit is used to generate a first level for each of the touch electrodes;

[0009] The arithmetic logic unit is used to receive multiple first level signals output by the touch detection circuit, perform logical operations on the multiple first level signals to obtain a second level signal, and output the second level signal to the touch detection circuit.

[0010] The touch detection circuit is further configured to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from among the plurality of touch electrodes based on the first level and the received second level.

[0011] In the aforementioned touch detection device, the touch detection circuit includes a microcontroller and multiple sensing chips, wherein:

[0012] The output terminal of the touch electrode is connected to the input terminal of the sensing chip, the output terminal of the sensing chip is connected to the first input / output terminal of the microcontroller and the input terminal of the arithmetic logic unit, and the output terminal of the arithmetic logic unit is connected to the microcontroller.

[0013] Each of the aforementioned sensing chips is configured to generate multiple first levels corresponding to the multiple touch electrodes, and output the multiple first levels to the first input / output terminals of the arithmetic logic unit and the microcontroller; each of the aforementioned sensing chips corresponds to multiple touch electrodes; each touch electrode corresponds to a first level;

[0014] The arithmetic logic unit is used to receive the plurality of first levels output by the plurality of sensing chips, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a second level, and output the second level to the microcontroller;

[0015] The microcontroller is configured to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from among the plurality of touch electrodes based on the first level and the received second level.

[0016] In the aforementioned touch detection device, the arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate, and each sensing chip corresponds to one first AND gate, wherein:

[0017] The input terminal of the first AND gate is connected to the output terminal of the sensing chip, and the output terminal of the first AND gate is connected to the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller.

[0018] The first AND gate is used to receive the plurality of first levels output by the sensing chip, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a third level, and output the third level to the second input / output terminal; wherein the second level includes the third level.

[0019] In the aforementioned touch detection device, the arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate and a second AND gate, wherein:

[0020] The input terminal of the first AND gate is connected to the output terminal of each of the sensor chips, the output terminal of each of the first AND gates is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate and the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller, and the output terminal of the second AND gate is connected to the third input / output terminal of the microcontroller.

[0021] The first AND gate is used to receive the plurality of first levels output by the sensing chip, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a third level, and output the third level to the second input / output terminal and the input terminal of the second AND gate;

[0022] The second AND gate is used to receive multiple third levels output by multiple first AND gates, perform logical operations on the multiple third levels to obtain a fourth level, and output the fourth level to the third input / output terminal; the second level includes the third level and the fourth level.

[0023] This application provides a touch control method, the method comprising:

[0024] If a user touch operation is received on the touch electrode, the second level output of each arithmetic logic unit is obtained;

[0025] The target sensing chip is determined from multiple sensing chips based on multiple second levels;

[0026] Based on multiple first levels output by the target sensing chip, the target touch electrode touched by the user is determined from multiple candidate touch electrodes corresponding to the target sensing chip; wherein, the touch electrode includes the candidate touch electrodes.

[0027] In the above-described touch control method, determining the target sensing chip from a plurality of sensing chips based on the second level includes:

[0028] Determine a first target level that satisfies the first condition from a plurality of second levels;

[0029] The sensor chip that outputs the first target level is determined from the plurality of sensor chips as the target sensor chip.

[0030] In the above touch control method, determining the first target level that satisfies the first condition from a plurality of second levels includes:

[0031] If the second level includes a third level, a first target level that satisfies the first condition is determined from a plurality of said third levels.

[0032] In the above touch control method, determining the first target level that satisfies the first condition from a plurality of second levels includes:

[0033] If the second level includes a third level and a fourth level, a second target level that satisfies the second condition is determined from the plurality of said fourth levels;

[0034] Based on the second target level, a first target level that satisfies the first condition is determined from a plurality of the third levels.

[0035] In the above-described touch control method, determining the target touch electrode touched by the user from a plurality of candidate touch electrodes corresponding to the target sensing chip based on a plurality of first levels output by the target sensing chip includes:

[0036] A third target level that satisfies the third condition is determined from a plurality of first levels output by the target sensing chip;

[0037] The touch electrode that outputs the third target level is determined from the plurality of candidate touch electrodes as the target touch electrode.

[0038] This application provides a robot that includes the aforementioned touch control device.

[0039] Because the touch control device includes a touch detection circuit and an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the touch detection circuit is connected to the ALU. The touch detection circuit generates a first level for each touch electrode, and the ALU receives multiple first levels output by the touch detection circuit, performs logical operations on the multiple first levels to obtain a second level, and outputs the second level to the touch detection circuit. The touch detection circuit also determines the target touch electrode touched by the user from multiple touch electrodes based on the first level and the received second level. In this way, multiple touch electrodes can be grouped by the added ALU, that is, the ALU is polled in groups. When a level change occurs in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one, thereby shortening the polling cycle by a factor of two and shortening the robot's touch response time. This improves the monitoring effect on the user and overcomes the problem that the touch response time of health monitoring robots in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user. Attached Figure Description

[0040] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a touch control device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0041] Figure 2 A timing diagram of a touch detection circuit in a touch control device provided in this application embodiment;

[0042] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a touch control device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0043] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of another touch control device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 5 A touch control schematic diagram is provided in an embodiment of this application for a touch control device.

[0045] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another touch control device provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0046] Figure 7 This application provides another touch control principle diagram for a touch control device.

[0047] Figure 8 A flowchart illustrating a touch control method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0048] Figure 9 A flowchart illustrating a touch control method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0049] Figure 10 A flowchart illustrating another touch control method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0050] Figure 11 A flowchart illustrating yet another touch control method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0051] Figure 12 A schematic diagram showing the touch control device being triggered in another touch control method provided in this application embodiment;

[0052] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of a touch control device in another touch control method provided in this application when it is not triggered;

[0053] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of a robot working in a touch control method provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0054] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] It should be understood that the phrases "embodiments of this application" or "foreign embodiments" throughout the specification mean that a specific feature, structure, or characteristic related to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of this application. Therefore, "embodiments of this application" or "in the foreign embodiments" appearing throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the various embodiments of this application, the sequence numbers of the above-described processes do not imply a sequential order of execution; the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of this application. The sequence numbers of the above-described embodiments are merely descriptive and do not represent the superiority or inferiority of the embodiments.

[0056] Unless otherwise specified, any step in the embodiments of this application performed by the electronic device may be executed by the processor of the electronic device. It is also worth noting that the embodiments of this application do not limit the order in which the electronic device performs the following steps. Furthermore, the methods used to process data in different embodiments may be the same or different methods. It should also be noted that any step in the embodiments of this application can be executed independently by the electronic device; that is, when the electronic device performs any step in the following embodiments, it may not depend on the execution of other steps.

[0057] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0058] It should be noted that the JD Health monitoring robot can move freely in the home environment and can measure and monitor various parameters such as the user's vital signs, blood oxygen, blood pressure, respiratory rate, ECG, body temperature, and sleep status, and actively issue warnings, thereby enabling care and support for the elderly. To increase interaction between the robot and the user, multiple touch detection devices are distributed on the robot's body. The touch detection devices use a capacitive detection method. The robot's shell is made of 3mm thick acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer (ABS) material, and a large number of flexible printed circuit (FPC) detection electrodes are arranged on the bottom of the shell. When the user's hand touches the area with the touch device, the touch device will detect the change in capacitance, thus detecting that the user has touched that area.

[0059] To increase the robot's touch detection area and recognize more touch actions, the robot needs to be equipped with a large number of touch detection electrodes. For example... Figure 1 As shown, Touch PAD0 to Touch PAD4 are the touch electrodes (i.e., touch buttons) located under the robot, each PAD being approximately 1 square centimeter. When a user touches the top of a touch button, the voltage level at the output terminal (i.e., the OUT terminal) of the sensing chip changes as follows: Figure 2 The changes shown indicate that user actions can be detected when the OUT terminal of the sensing chip is connected to the general purpose input / output (GPIO) terminal of the microcontroller. Related technologies typically use a polling method to recognize user touch actions; however, due to the large number of touch electrodes deployed on the robot, this polling method results in excessively long polling cycles.

[0060] Based on this, embodiments of this application provide a touch control device 1, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the touch control device 1 may include: a touch detection circuit 11 and an arithmetic logic unit 12, wherein:

[0061] Touch detection circuit 11 is connected to arithmetic logic unit 12;

[0062] Touch detection circuit 11 is used to generate a first level for each touch electrode 13.

[0063] In this embodiment, the first level can refer to the level directly generated by the sensing chip, and each touch electrode will generate a first level. When the user touches the touch electrode 13, the first level corresponding to the touch electrode 13 is low, and when the user does not touch the touch electrode 13, the first level corresponding to the touch electrode 13 is high.

[0064] Arithmetic logic unit 12 is used to receive multiple first levels output by touch detection circuit 11, perform logical operations on the multiple first levels to obtain a second level, and output the second level to touch detection circuit 11.

[0065] In this embodiment of the application, the second level may refer to the result obtained by performing logical operations on multiple first levels by the arithmetic logic unit 12, and the second level may include a high level and a low level; the arithmetic logic unit 12 may receive the first level output by the touch detection circuit 11, and may perform logical operations on the received multiple first levels to obtain a second level and output it to the touch detection circuit 11.

[0066] The touch detection circuit 11 is also used to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from among the plurality of touch electrodes 13 based on the first level and the received second level.

[0067] In this embodiment of the application, the target touch electrode may refer to the electrode touched by the user among multiple touch electrodes, and the target touch electrode is the electrode with a low output level; the touch detection circuit 11 may first analyze the second level, then analyze the first level based on the analysis result, and then determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from multiple touch electrodes 13 based on the analysis result.

[0068] The touch control device provided in this application embodiment can group multiple touch electrodes by adding an arithmetic logic unit. That is, the arithmetic logic unit is polled in groups. When a level change is found in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one. This can shorten the polling cycle by a factor of two, shorten the robot's touch response time, and thus improve the monitoring effect on the user. This overcomes the problem that the touch response time of the health monitoring robot in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user.

[0069] Based on the foregoing embodiments, embodiments of this application provide a touch control device 2, such as... Figure 4As shown, the touch control device 2 includes a sensor chip 111 and a microcontroller 112; the arithmetic logic unit 12 includes a first AND gate 121, wherein:

[0070] The output terminal of the touch electrode 13 is connected to the input terminal of the sensing chip 111. The output terminal of the sensing chip 111 is connected to the first input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112 and the input terminal of the first AND gate 121. The output terminal of the first AND gate 121 is connected to the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112.

[0071] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the touch detection circuit 11 may include multiple sensing chips 111, and each sensing chip 111 has multiple touch electrodes 13. Each touch electrode 13 is connected to the input terminal of the sensing chip 111. Therefore, when the user touches the touch electrode 13, the output level of the sensing chip 111 where the touch electrode 13 is located will change.

[0072] In this embodiment of the application, a plurality of arithmetic logic units 12 may be included, and each arithmetic logic unit 12 may include a first AND gate 121, such as Figure 5 As shown, it can specifically include a first AND gate A, a first AND gate B, a first AND gate C, and a first AND gate D. Each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip A is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate A; each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip B is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate B; each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip C is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate C; and each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip D is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate D.

[0073] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the microcontroller 112 has multiple input / output (IO) terminals, specifically including a first IO terminal, a second IO terminal, and a third IO terminal. The first IO terminal can refer to a port directly connected to the output terminal of the sensing chip 111. Each output terminal of each sensing chip 111 corresponds to the first IO terminal of the microcontroller 112, that is, each output terminal of the sensing chip 111 is connected to the first IO terminal. The output terminal of the sensing chip 111 is also connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate 121, that is, the level of the output terminal of the sensing chip is input to the first IO terminal and the first AND gate 121 of the microcontroller 112 respectively.

[0074] In this embodiment, the second input / output terminal may refer to the port of the microcontroller 112 connected to the first AND gate 121; the output of each first AND gate 121 is connected to a second input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112, such as... Figure 5As shown, the output of the first AND gate A is connected to the second input / output terminal IO6, the output of the first AND gate B is connected to the second input / output terminal IO8, the output of the first AND gate C is connected to the second input / output terminal IO19, and the output of the first AND gate D is connected to the second input / output terminal IO21. In this way, all touch electrodes are divided into four groups through the first AND gates A, B, C, and D. Then, the output levels of the first AND gates A, B, C, and D can be polled in groups. When a level change is found in the output level of a certain first AND gate, the change of touch electrodes in that group is queried one by one, thereby shortening the polling cycle by 1 / 4, thus shortening the robot's touch response time.

[0075] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the sensor chip 111 may include sensor chip A, sensor chip B, sensor chip C, and sensor chip D. Sensor chip A has output terminals OUT1 to OUT5, and each output terminal is connected to one of the first input / output terminals IO1 to IO5 of the microcontroller 112, i.e., OUT1 is connected to IO1, OUT2 to IO2, OUT3 to IO3, OUT4 to IO4, and OUT5 to IO5. Sensor chip B has output terminals OUT1 to OUT5, and each output terminal is connected to one of the first input / output terminals IO9 to IO13 of the microcontroller 112, i.e., OUT1 is connected to IO9, OUT2 to IO10, OUT3 to IO11, and OUT4 to IO12. 2. Connections: OUT5 is connected to IO13; Sensor chip C has output terminals OUT1 to OUT5, and each output terminal is connected to one of the first input / output terminals IO22 to IO26 of microcontroller 112, i.e., OUT1 is connected to IO26, OUT2 is connected to IO25, OUT3 is connected to IO24, OUT4 is connected to IO23, and OUT5 is connected to IO22; Sensor chip D has output terminals OUT1 to OUT5, and each output terminal is connected to one of the first input / output terminals IO14 to IO18 of microcontroller 112, i.e., OUT1 is connected to IO18, OUT2 is connected to IO17, OUT3 is connected to IO16, OUT4 is connected to IO15, and OUT5 is connected to IO14.

[0076] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, each sensing chip 111 is connected to a first AND gate 121, and the input terminal of the first AND gate 121 is connected to the output terminal of the sensing chip 111. The output terminal of the first AND gate 121 is connected to the input and output terminals of the microcontroller 112. That is, the first AND gate 121 can receive the level output by the sensing chip 111, process the received level, and output it to the input and output terminals of the microcontroller 112.

[0077] The touch detection circuit 11 generates a first voltage level for each touch electrode via the sensing chip 111:

[0078] Each sensing chip 111 is used to generate multiple first levels corresponding to multiple touch electrodes 13, and output multiple first levels to the first AND gate 121 and the first input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112;

[0079] Each sensing chip 111 corresponds to multiple touch electrodes 13; each touch electrode 13 corresponds to a first level.

[0080] Specifically, when a user touches the touch electrode 13, the sensing chip 111 where the touch electrode 13 is located generates a first level corresponding to each touch electrode 13, and directly outputs each first level to the first AND gate 121 and the first input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112 through the output terminal of the sensing chip 111.

[0081] The first AND gate 121 is used to receive multiple first levels output by multiple sensing chips 111, perform logical operations on the multiple first levels to obtain a third level, and output the third level to the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112.

[0082] The second level includes the third level.

[0083] In this embodiment, the third level is the level obtained by the first AND gate 121 performing logical operations on multiple first levels; after the touch detection circuit 11 generates the first level through the sensing chip 111, it can output the first level to the first AND gate 121. Then, after receiving multiple first levels, the first AND gate 121 performs logical operations on the multiple first levels to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the microcontroller 112 in the touch detection circuit 11. The third level may include a high level and a low level.

[0084] In this embodiment, for each first AND gate 121, multiple first levels output by the connected sensing chip 111 can be received, and a third level is obtained by performing a logical AND operation on the multiple first levels, and the third level is output to the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112; specifically, as shown... Figure 5As shown, for the first AND gate A, the first AND gate A receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip A, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO6; for the first AND gate B, the first AND gate B receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip B, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO8; for the first AND gate C, the first AND gate C receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip C, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO21; for the first AND gate D, the first AND gate D receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip D, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO19.

[0085] The microcontroller 112 is used to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from a plurality of touch electrodes based on a first level and a received second level.

[0086] In this embodiment, when the user touches the touch electrode, the level of the output terminal of the sensing chip 111 will change (such as the first level). After receiving the first level output by the sensing chip 111 and the second level output by the first AND gate 121 after performing a logical operation on the first level, the microcontroller 112 can first judge each second level. Then, if a certain second level is judged to be low, the multiple first levels output by the sensing chip 111 connected to the second level are judged. Then, the multiple first levels determine the target touch electrode.

[0087] The touch control device provided in this application embodiment can group multiple touch electrodes by adding an arithmetic logic unit. That is, the arithmetic logic unit is polled in groups. When a level change is found in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one. This can shorten the polling cycle by a factor of two, shorten the robot's touch response time, and thus improve the monitoring effect on the user. This overcomes the problem that the touch response time of the health monitoring robot in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user.

[0088] Based on the foregoing embodiments, embodiments of this application provide a touch control device 3, such as... Figure 6 As shown, the touch control device 3 includes touch electrodes 13, a sensing chip 111, and a microcontroller 112. The arithmetic logic unit 12 includes a first AND gate 121 and a second AND gate 122, wherein:

[0089] The output terminal of the touch electrode 13 is connected to the input terminal of the sensing chip 111, the input terminal of each first AND gate 121 is connected to the output terminal of each sensing chip 111, the output terminal of each first AND gate 121 is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate and the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112, and the output terminal of the second AND gate 122 is connected to the third input / output terminal of the microcontroller 112.

[0090] In this embodiment, a plurality of arithmetic logic units 12 may be included, and each arithmetic logic unit 12 may include a first AND gate 121 and a second AND gate 122. The third input / output terminal may refer to the port connected to the second AND gate 122 among the plurality of input / output terminals of the microcontroller; such as Figure 7 As shown, specifically, the first AND gate 121 may include first AND gate A, first AND gate B, first AND gate C, and first AND gate D; the second AND gate 122 may include second AND gate E and second AND gate F. Each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip A is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate A; the output terminal of the first AND gate A is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate E; and the output terminal of the second AND gate E is connected to the third input / output terminal IO7 of the microcontroller. Similarly, each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip B is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate B; the output terminal of the first AND gate B is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate E; and the output terminal of the second AND gate E is connected to the third input / output terminal IO7 of the microcontroller. Each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip C is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate C; and the output terminal of the first AND gate C is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate F. The output of gate F is connected to the third input / output terminal IO20 of the microcontroller; each output terminal OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip D is connected to the input terminal of the first AND gate D, the output terminal of the first AND gate D is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate F, and the output terminal of the second AND gate F is connected to the third input / output terminal IO20 of the microcontroller. In this way, through the second AND gate E and the second AND gate F, all touch electrodes are divided into two groups. Then, the output levels of the second AND gate E and the second AND gate F can be polled in groups. When a level change occurs in the output level of a certain second AND gate, the first AND gate connected to that second AND gate is queried instead of all first AND gates. Then, when a level change occurs in the output level of a certain first AND gate, the change of touch electrode in that first AND gate is queried one by one, thereby shortening the polling cycle by a factor of two, thus shortening the robot's touch response time.

[0091] Each sensing chip 111 is used to generate multiple first levels corresponding to multiple touch electrodes 13, and output multiple first levels to the first AND gate 121 and the first input / output terminal of the microcontroller.

[0092] Each sensing chip corresponds to multiple touch electrodes; each touch electrode corresponds to a first voltage level.

[0093] The first AND gate 121 is used to receive multiple first levels output by the sensing chip 111, perform logical operations on the multiple first levels to obtain a third level, and output the third level to the second input / output terminal and the input terminal of the second AND gate 122;

[0094] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 7 As shown, for the first AND gate A, the first AND gate A receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensor chip A, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO6 and the input terminal of the second AND gate E; for the first AND gate B, the first AND gate B receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensor chip B, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO8 and the input terminal of the second AND gate E. For the first AND gate C, the first AND gate C receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip C, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO21 and the input terminal of the second AND gate F; for the first AND gate D, the first AND gate D receives the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 of the sensing chip D, performs a logical AND operation on the first level output from OUT1 to OUT5 to obtain the third level, and outputs the third level to the second input / output terminal IO19 and the input terminal of the second AND gate F.

[0095] The second AND gate is used to receive multiple third levels output from multiple first AND gates, perform logical operations on the multiple third levels to obtain a fourth level, and output the fourth level to the third input / output terminal;

[0096] The second level includes the third level and the fourth level.

[0097] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 7 As shown, for the second AND gate E, the second AND gate E can receive the third level output by the first AND gate A and the third level output by the first AND gate B, and perform a logical AND operation on the third level output by the first AND gate A and the third level output by the first AND gate B to obtain the fourth level, and output the fourth level to the third input / output terminal IO7; for the second AND gate F, the second AND gate F can receive the third level output by the first AND gate C and the third level output by the first AND gate D, and perform a logical AND operation on the third level output by the first AND gate C and the third level output by the first AND gate D to obtain the fourth level, and output the fourth level to the third input / output terminal IO20.

[0098] The microcontroller 112 is used to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from among the plurality of touch electrodes 13 based on a first level and a received fourth level.

[0099] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 7 As shown, the touch electrodes corresponding to sensor chips A and B are located in the same area of ​​the robot's shell, as are the touch electrodes corresponding to sensor chips C and D. The output of sensor chip A is connected to the first AND gate A simultaneously with the first input / output (I / O) of the microcontroller, and the output of sensor chip B is also connected to the first AND gate B simultaneously with the first I / O of the microcontroller. The first AND gate B is connected to the second I / O of the microcontroller (IO6) and also to the second AND gate E; the first AND gate B is connected to the second I / O of the microcontroller (IO8) and also to the second AND gate E; the second AND gate E is connected to the third I / O of the microcontroller (IO7). The output of sensor chip C is connected to the first I / O of the microcontroller (IO7) simultaneously with the first AND gate C; the output of sensor chip D is connected to the first I / O of the microcontroller (IO7) simultaneously with the first AND gate D. The first AND gate C is connected to the second input / output terminal IO21 of the microcontroller, and also to the second AND gate F; the first AND gate D is connected to the second input / output terminal IO19 of the microcontroller, and also to the second AND gate F; the second AND gate F is connected to the third input / output terminal IO20 of the microcontroller. When a user touches the electrode, the corresponding output terminal of the sensing chip will output a low level; when the touch electrode does not detect a user touch, the corresponding output terminal of the sensing chip will output a high level.

[0100] Therefore, when the user does not touch the touch electrode on the robot, the first AND gates A, B, C, and D, and the second AND gates E and F all output a high level. When the user touches an electrode corresponding to sensor chip A, the corresponding channel of sensor chip A outputs a low level, the first AND gate A outputs a low level, and the second AND gate E outputs a low level. When the user touches an electrode corresponding to sensor chip B, the corresponding channel of sensor chip B outputs a low level, the first AND gate B outputs a low level, and the second AND gate E outputs a low level. When the user touches an electrode corresponding to sensor chip C, the corresponding channel of sensor chip C outputs a low level, the first AND gate C outputs a low level, and the second AND gate F outputs a low level. When the user touches an electrode corresponding to sensor chip D, the corresponding channel of sensor chip D outputs a low level, the first AND gate D outputs a low level, and the second AND gate F outputs a low level. Therefore, the target touch electrode can be determined by whether the first and fourth levels are low.

[0101] In other embodiments of this application, such as Figure 8The image shows a physical diagram of the robot's touch control device. The device mainly consists of a control board and touch buttons. The touch buttons can be constructed from FPC flexible circuit boards of different sizes and integrate touch sensing chips. The control board is responsible for computation and logic processing, and reports the processing results via the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus.

[0102] The touch control device provided in this application embodiment can group multiple touch electrodes by adding an arithmetic logic unit. That is, the arithmetic logic unit is polled in groups. When a level change is found in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one. This can shorten the polling cycle by a factor of two, shorten the robot's touch response time, and thus improve the monitoring effect on the user. This overcomes the problem that the touch response time of the health monitoring robot in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user.

[0103] This application provides a touch control method that can be applied to touch control devices, such as... Figure 9 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0104] Step 101: If a user touch operation is received for the touch electrode, obtain the second level output of each arithmetic logic unit.

[0105] In the embodiments of this application, the second level output of each arithmetic logic unit can be obtained from the third input / output terminal or the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller. Specifically, when the arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate, the second level output of the first AND gate can be obtained from the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller; when the arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate and a second AND gate, the second level output of the second AND gate can be obtained from the third input / output terminal of the microcontroller.

[0106] Step 102: Determine the target sensing chip from multiple sensing chips based on multiple second levels.

[0107] In this embodiment, the target sensing chip may refer to the sensing chip where the electrode touched by the user is located; multiple second levels can be analyzed to determine the second level that is low, and then the target sensing chip can be determined from the multiple sensing chips based on the second level that is low.

[0108] Step 103: Based on the multiple first levels output by the target sensing chip, determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from the multiple candidate touch electrodes corresponding to the target sensing chip.

[0109] The touch electrodes include the selectable touch electrodes.

[0110] In this embodiment of the application, the electrodes of the target sensing chip are candidate touch electrodes; after the target sensing chip is determined according to multiple second levels, multiple first levels output by the target sensing chip can be analyzed to determine the first level with a low level, and the candidate touch electrode that outputs the first level with a low level is determined as the target touch electrode.

[0111] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 and Figure 7 As shown, if the target sensing chip is determined to be sensing chip A, the target touch electrode is determined from the candidate touch electrodes corresponding to sensing chip A based on multiple first levels output by sensing chip A; if the target sensing chip is determined to be sensing chip B, the target touch electrode is determined from the candidate touch electrodes corresponding to sensing chip B based on multiple first levels output by sensing chip B; if the target sensing chip is determined to be sensing chip C, the target touch electrode is determined from the candidate touch electrodes corresponding to sensing chip C based on multiple first levels output by sensing chip C; if the target sensing chip is determined to be sensing chip D, the target touch electrode is determined from the candidate touch electrodes corresponding to sensing chip D based on multiple first levels output by sensing chip D.

[0112] The touch control method provided in this application embodiment can group multiple touch electrodes by adding an arithmetic logic unit. That is, the arithmetic logic unit is polled in groups. When a level change is found in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one. This can shorten the polling cycle by a factor of two, shorten the robot's touch response time, and thus improve the monitoring effect on the user. This overcomes the problem that the touch response time of the health monitoring robot in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user.

[0113] Based on the foregoing embodiments, embodiments of this application provide another touch control method, applied in a touch control device, such as... Figure 10 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0114] Step 201: If a user touch operation is received for the touch electrode, obtain the second level output of each arithmetic logic unit.

[0115] Step 202: If the second level includes the third level, determine the first target level that satisfies the first condition from among the multiple third levels.

[0116] In the embodiments of this application, the first target level may refer to the level in the second level that satisfies the first condition; the first target level in the second level that satisfies the first condition may refer to the level in the second level that is low (i.e., the first target level).

[0117] In the embodiments of this application, the second level including the third level may refer to the arithmetic logic unit including only the first AND gate, the level output by each first AND gate being the third level, and the third level that is low is determined from the multiple third levels as the first target level.

[0118] In this embodiment of the application, as shown in Figure 5, the third level output by the first AND gate A can be obtained from the second output terminal IO6 of the microcontroller, the third level output by the first AND gate B can be obtained from the second output terminal IO8 of the microcontroller, the third level output by the first AND gate C can be obtained from the second output terminal IO21 of the microcontroller, and the third level output by the first AND gate D can be obtained from the second output terminal IO19 of the microcontroller; if the third level output by the second output terminal IO8 is low, then the third level output by the second output terminal IO8 is determined to be the first target level.

[0119] Step 203: Determine the target sensing chip from among multiple sensing chips that outputs the first target level.

[0120] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, if the third level output by the second output terminal IO8 is low, then the third level output by the second output terminal IO8 is determined to be the first target level, and the sensing chip B connected to the second output terminal IO8 is determined to be the target sensing chip.

[0121] Step 204: Determine the third target level that satisfies the third condition from the multiple first level outputs of the target sensing chip.

[0122] In this embodiment of the application, the third target level that satisfies the third condition in the first level can refer to the first level where the level is low (i.e., the third target level); in this embodiment of the application, such as Figure 5 As shown, if the target sensing chip is determined to be sensing chip B, then each first level output by sensing chip B is analyzed, and the third target level that is low is determined from multiple first levels.

[0123] Step 205: Determine the touch electrode that outputs the third target level from among multiple candidate touch electrodes as the target touch electrode.

[0124] In the embodiments of this application, such as Figure 5 As shown, if the third target level is output by OUT3 of the sensing chip B, the multiple candidate touch electrodes can refer to the touch electrodes connected to the sensing chip B. Then, the electrode connected to channel 3 of the sensing chip B can be determined as the target touch electrode.

[0125] The touch control method provided in this application embodiment can group multiple touch electrodes by adding an arithmetic logic unit. That is, the arithmetic logic unit is polled in groups. When a level change is found in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one. This can shorten the polling cycle by a factor of two, shorten the robot's touch response time, and thus improve the monitoring effect on the user. This overcomes the problem that the touch response time of the health monitoring robot in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user.

[0126] Based on the foregoing embodiments, embodiments of this application provide yet another touch control method, applied in a touch control device, such as... Figure 11 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0127] Step 301: If a user touch operation is received for the touch electrode, obtain the second level output of each arithmetic logic unit.

[0128] Step 302: If the second level includes the third level and the fourth level, determine the second target level that satisfies the second condition from the multiple fourth levels.

[0129] Step 303: Based on the second target level, determine the first target level that satisfies the first condition from multiple third levels.

[0130] In this embodiment, the second level including the third level and the fourth level indicates that the arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate and a second AND gate, and the output level of the first AND gate is the third level, and the output level of the second AND gate is the fourth level; the second target level satisfying the second condition in the fourth level can refer to the fourth level where the level is low (i.e., the second target level). After determining the second target level, the area where the target touch electrode is located can be determined. Specifically, as shown... Figure 4 As shown, if the second target level is the level output by the second AND gate E, then the area where the target touch electrode is located can be determined to be the area where the sensing chip A and the sensing chip B are located. Then, the first target level that satisfies the first condition can be determined from the third level output by the first AND gate A connected to the sensing chip A and the third level output by the first AND gate B connected to the sensing chip B.

[0131] Step 304: Determine the target sensing chip from among multiple sensing chips that outputs the first target level.

[0132] Step 305: Determine the third target level that satisfies the third condition from the multiple first level outputs of the target sensing chip.

[0133] Step 306: Determine the touch electrode that outputs the third target level from among multiple candidate touch electrodes as the target touch electrode.

[0134] In this embodiment of the application, if the arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate and a second AND gate, such as Figure 12 As shown, the microcontroller first queries the output IO7 corresponding to the second AND gate E. If IO7 is detected to be low (indicating that at least one of IO6 and IO8 is low), the microcontroller queries the output IO6 corresponding to the first AND gate A and the output IO8 corresponding to the first AND gate B. If IO6 is high and IO8 is low, the microcontroller queries the outputs IO9 to IO13 corresponding to the sensor chip B; if IO6 is low and IO8 is high, the microcontroller queries the outputs IO1 to IO5 corresponding to the sensor chip A; if IO6 is low and IO8 is low, the microcontroller queries the outputs IO1 to IO5 corresponding to the sensor chip A and queries the outputs IO9 to IO13 corresponding to the sensor chip B. This completes the detection of this group, and the microcontroller proceeds to query the second AND gate F group. If IO20 is high, after a delay polling interval, the microcontroller enters other task processing processes. The controller re-enters the polling loop. If IO20 is low, the microcontroller queries the output IO21 corresponding to the first AND gate C and the output IO19 corresponding to the first AND gate D. If IO21 is low and IO19 is high, the microcontroller queries the outputs IO22 to IO26 corresponding to the sensor chip C. If IO19 is low and IO21 is high, the microcontroller queries the outputs IO14 to IO18 corresponding to the sensor chip D. If IO21 is low and IO19 is low, the microcontroller queries the outputs IO22 to IO26 corresponding to the sensor chip C and the outputs IO14 to IO18 corresponding to the sensor chip D. At this point, the detection of this group ends. If IO19 is high, the detection of this group ends. It should be noted that after the detection of the first AND gate D group ends, the microcontroller enters other task processing processes after a delay polling interval, and the microcontroller re-enters the polling loop.

[0135] In other embodiments of this application, such as Figure 13 As shown in the diagram, the robot's touch control device is not triggered. The microcontroller's output IO7, corresponding to AND gate E, is high due to the lack of a touch event. Similarly, the output IO20, corresponding to AND gate F, is also high due to the lack of a touch event. After a delay, the microcontroller enters other task processing processes and proceeds to the next polling cycle. Using AND gates in a grouped manner significantly reduces polling time, allowing the microcontroller more time to handle other tasks and reducing missed detection events.

[0136] In other embodiments of this application, such as Figure 14The diagram illustrates the operation of a health monitoring robot. This robot works in a home environment, moving freely indoors and actively monitoring the user's vital signs. Users can also issue commands to the robot. The robot uploads the monitored vital sign data to the cloud, where a health inference model calculates the results and sends them back to the robot. The robot can then display the results to the user via a monitor and voice prompts. In emergencies, the robot can connect to an emergency medical center and upload the user's status information to facilitate assessment by emergency personnel. The robot's body is equipped with touch devices in multiple locations, allowing it to recognize user gestures such as patting and swiping.

[0137] The touch control method provided in this application embodiment can group multiple touch electrodes by adding an arithmetic logic unit. That is, the arithmetic logic unit is polled in groups. When a level change is found in a group, the change of touch electrode in the group is queried one by one. This can shorten the polling cycle by a factor of two, shorten the robot's touch response time, and thus improve the monitoring effect on the user. This overcomes the problem that the touch response time of the health monitoring robot in the prior art is too long, resulting in poor monitoring effect on the user.

[0138] This application provides a robot, the robot including... Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 6 The corresponding touch control device.

[0139] It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0140] The sequence numbers of the embodiments in this application are for descriptive purposes only and do not represent the superiority or inferiority of the embodiments.

[0141] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware platforms. Of course, they can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes several instructions to cause a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of this application.

[0142] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart... Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0143] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0144] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable equipment to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable equipment for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0145] The above are merely preferred embodiments of this application and do not limit the patent scope of this application. Any equivalent structural or procedural transformations made using the content of this application's specification and drawings, or direct or indirect applications in other related technical fields, are similarly included within the patent protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A touch control device, characterized in that, The device includes: a touch detection circuit and an arithmetic logic unit, wherein: The touch detection circuit is connected to the arithmetic logic unit; The touch detection circuit is used to generate a first level for each of the touch electrodes; The arithmetic logic unit is used to receive multiple first level signals output by the touch detection circuit, perform logical operations on the multiple first level signals to obtain a second level signal, and output the second level signal to the touch detection circuit. The touch detection circuit is further configured to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from among the plurality of touch electrodes based on the first level and the received second level.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The touch detection circuit includes a microcontroller and multiple sensing chips, wherein: The output terminal of the touch electrode is connected to the input terminal of the sensing chip, the output terminal of the sensing chip is connected to the first input / output terminal of the microcontroller and the input terminal of the arithmetic logic unit, and the output terminal of the arithmetic logic unit is connected to the microcontroller. Each of the aforementioned sensing chips is configured to generate multiple first levels corresponding to the multiple touch electrodes, and output the multiple first levels to the first input / output terminals of the arithmetic logic unit and the microcontroller; each of the aforementioned sensing chips corresponds to multiple touch electrodes; each touch electrode corresponds to a first level; The arithmetic logic unit is used to receive the plurality of first levels output by the plurality of sensing chips, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a second level, and output the second level to the microcontroller; The microcontroller is configured to determine the target touch electrode touched by the user from among the plurality of touch electrodes based on the first level and the received second level.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that, The arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate, and each of the sensing chips corresponds to one first AND gate, wherein: The input terminal of the first AND gate is connected to the output terminal of the sensing chip, and the output terminal of the first AND gate is connected to the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller. The first AND gate is used to receive the plurality of first levels output by the sensing chip, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a third level, and output the third level to the second input / output terminal; wherein the second level includes the third level.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that, The arithmetic logic unit includes a first AND gate and a second AND gate, wherein: The input terminal of the first AND gate is connected to the output terminal of each of the sensor chips, the output terminal of each of the first AND gates is connected to the input terminal of the second AND gate and the second input / output terminal of the microcontroller, and the output terminal of the second AND gate is connected to the third input / output terminal of the microcontroller. The first AND gate is used to receive the plurality of first levels output by the sensing chip, perform logical operations on the plurality of first levels to obtain a third level, and output the third level to the second input / output terminal and the input terminal of the second AND gate; The second AND gate is used to receive multiple third levels output by multiple first AND gates, perform logical operations on the multiple third levels to obtain a fourth level, and output the fourth level to the third input / output terminal; the second level includes the third level and the fourth level.

5. A touch control method, characterized in that, The method, applied to the touch control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprises: If a user touch operation is received on the touch electrode, the second level output of each arithmetic logic unit is obtained; The target sensing chip is determined from multiple sensing chips based on multiple second levels; Based on multiple first levels output by the target sensing chip, the target touch electrode touched by the user is determined from multiple candidate touch electrodes corresponding to the target sensing chip; wherein, the touch electrode includes the candidate touch electrodes.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The step of determining the target sensing chip from multiple sensing chips based on the second level includes: Determine a first target level that satisfies the first condition from a plurality of second levels; The sensor chip that outputs the first target level is determined from the plurality of sensor chips as the target sensor chip.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, Determining the first target level that satisfies the first condition from a plurality of second levels includes: If the second level includes a third level, a first target level that satisfies the first condition is determined from a plurality of said third levels.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, Determining the first target level that satisfies the first condition from a plurality of second levels includes: If the second level includes a third level and a fourth level, a second target level that satisfies the second condition is determined from the plurality of said fourth levels; Based on the second target level, a first target level that satisfies the first condition is determined from a plurality of the third levels.

9. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The step of determining the target touch electrode touched by the user from a plurality of candidate touch electrodes corresponding to the target sensing chip based on a plurality of first levels output by the target sensing chip includes: A third target level that satisfies the third condition is determined from a plurality of first levels output by the target sensing chip; The touch electrode that outputs the third target level is determined from the plurality of candidate touch electrodes as the target touch electrode.

10. A robot, characterized in that, The robot includes a touch control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4.

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