Control system for controlling a device remote from the system

Abstract

A control system (1) for controlling at least one remote device (2), the control system comprising: a communication module (3) for transmitting control instructions (5) to the remote device (2); a processing unit (4) for generating said control instructions (5) and sending them to said communication module (3): and a user interface (6) for detecting the information of a user. The user interface (6) comprises at least one muscular activity sensor (7, 7a, 7b) for detecting muscular activity information of the user by measuring the electrical activity of at least one muscle of the user, and this user interface (6) generates and transmits, to the processing unit (4), muscular activity signals (8) representing detected muscular activity information, the processing unit (4) generates the control instructions (5) as a function of the muscular activity signals (8) received by the processing unit.

Description

[0001] Control system for controlling a device that is remote from the system.

[0002] DESCRIPTION

[0003] The present invention relates to the field of control systems to enable a user to control at least one remote device.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] For example, it is known from patent document EP3465649A1, a control system for a remote device, in this case a drone, allowing the control of this remote device to be secured via an ergonomic interface.

[0006] It is desirable to improve this type of control system so that the user interface is as ergonomic and intuitive as possible. Ideally, it would be desirable to provide a control system that allows the user to operate the remote device while performing other tasks.

[0007] SUBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An object of the present invention is to provide a control system to control at least one remote device from this system, this system solving all or part of the aforementioned problems of the prior art.

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] To this end, the invention essentially relates to a control system for controlling at least one remote device of the system, this control system comprising: a communication module for transmitting control instructions to said at least one remote device; - a processing unit arranged to generate said control instructions and send them to said communication module; and

[0011] - a user interface arranged to detect information from a user of the system. The control system according to the invention is essentially characterized in that the user interface comprises at least one muscle activity sensor arranged to detect muscle activity information from the user by measuring the electrical activity of at least one muscle of the user, this user interface being arranged to generate and transmit, to the processing unit, muscle activity signals representative of the muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor, the processing unit being arranged to receive said muscle activity signals and such that said control instructions generated by the processing unit are a function of the muscle activity signals received by the processing unit.

[0012] By enabling the generation of control instructions for the remote device via at least one measurement of the electrical activity of at least one of the user's muscles, and via the muscle activity signals associated with such a measurement, the user no longer needs to hold a control in their hand to press a button, and can keep their hands free. It is the muscle contraction itself that is directly interpreted to create the control instruction, and not the effort or gesture resulting from that contraction.

[0013] This is particularly advantageous since the user retains full use of their hands; only the muscle or muscles whose electrical activity the sensor measures need to be controlled by the user to generate and transmit the control instructions to said at least one remote device.

[0014] According to another aspect, the invention relates to an assembly comprising: - a control system according to any one of the embodiments of the control system according to the invention; and

[0015] - at least one remote device of the system, this remote device being arranged to interact with the communication module and receive said control instructions transmitted by the communication module and to execute at least some of the control instructions received by this remote device of the control system. This assembly according to the invention offers the aforementioned advantages in relation to the control system according to the invention.

[0016] In a particular embodiment of the assembly according to the invention, said at least one remote device is chosen from a group of remote devices including a drone, a robot, a piloting module of an aircraft carrying the user of the system.

[0017] It is understood that the control system according to the invention is compatible for controlling various kinds of remote devices such as a drone, a robot, a machine tool, a vehicle control module, or an aircraft control module.

[0018] In the embodiment of the assembly according to the invention, where the remote device is an aircraft control module, the aircraft can carry the user, the control system according to the invention, and the control module. In this case, this control module is part of the aircraft's avionics, which allows the user to command the aircraft to perform actions via the control system according to the invention and the control module.

[0019] In another respect, the invention relates to an aircraft comprising:

[0020] - a control system according to any one of the embodiments of the control system according to the invention; and

[0021] - a remote device comprising an aircraft piloting module, the user interface being onboard on the aircraft to allow a user of the system located in the aircraft (in this case in the aircraft cockpit) to pilot this aircraft via the control system according to the invention and its at least one muscle activity sensor, the aircraft piloting module being connected to an aircraft avionics to transmit to the avionics said control instructions generated by the processing unit, these control instructions being selected by the control unit from a predefined list of control instructions based on muscle activity signals generated from muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor.

[0022] The list of predefined command instructions includes, for example, instructions to take off, land, climb, descend, move forward, turn right, turn left, stop one or more pieces of aircraft equipment (e.g., stop engines), perform a predefined action such as dropping an object.

[0023] Thus, the measurement of electrical activity of some of the user's muscles can be used to allow the user to select predefined command instructions from a list.

[0024] By predefining a list of simple instructions, the user can command the execution of these instructions without having to precisely control their muscle activity. The user can still perform other tasks, such as precisely piloting the aircraft by keeping their hands on the manual flight controls while transmitting instructions to the aircraft's avionics through contractions that cause variations in the electrical activity of certain muscles.

[0025] According to another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus comprising a control system according to any one of the embodiments of the invention and a remote device comprising a control module for the apparatus, the user interface being arranged to allow a user of the system to control this apparatus via the control system and its at least one muscle activity sensor, the control module for the apparatus being connected to control electronics of the apparatus to transmit to the control electronics of the apparatus said control instructions generated by the processing unit, these control instructions being selected by the control unit from a list of predefined control instructions according to muscle activity signals generated from muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor.Preferably, this device is a device from the group of devices comprising a car, a machine, a robot, a weapon, or any device comprising control electronics, a user-operable physical control interface, and actuators (i.e., any device that can be virtualized).

[0026] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the following description, which is by way of example and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0027] [Fig. 1] Figure 1 represents the general architecture of an assembly 100 according to the invention;

[0028] [Fig. 2] Figure 2 is an organic view of the whole of Figure 1 where a parameterization and calibration module of the system according to the invention is highlighted;

[0029] [Fig. 3] Figure 3 is a detailed view of a processing unit of the system according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] With reference to figures 1 and 2, the invention relates to a control system 1 for controlling at least one remote device 2 of the system.

[0031] The control system 1 includes: - a communication module 3 to transmit control instructions 5 to at least one remote device 2;

[0032] - a processing unit 4 arranged to generate said command instructions 5 and send them to said communication module 3; and

[0033] - a user interface 6 arranged to detect information from a human user of the system. Preferably, this communication module is arranged to transmit control instructions 5 to at least one remote device 2 via a wireless link. In this case, this wireless link is preferably a communication via a Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct protocol, or possibly via a Bluetooth communication protocol. In other words, the processing unit 4 is functionally connected to the communication module 3 to transmit the control instructions 5 to at least one remote device 2 via the communication module 3. The user interface 6 includes at least one muscle activity sensor 7, 7a, 7b arranged to detect muscle activity information from the user by measuring the electrical activity of at least one muscle of the user.

[0034] This measurement is done by contacting a part of the sensor against an area on the surface of the user's skin opposite at least one of the user's muscles whose activity we want to measure.

[0035] This user interface 6 is configured to generate and transmit, to the processing unit 4, muscle activity signals 8 representative of the muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor. For this purpose, this user interface may include a NUM module for signal preprocessing and / or digitization 8. The user interface 6 is configured to transmit the muscle activity signals 8 to the processing unit 4 via wireless communication 80.

[0036] In this case, this wireless communication 80 is preferably a communication via a Bluetooth communication protocol or possibly via a Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct protocol or any other secure wireless communication protocol, preferably encrypted. For this purpose, the user interface 6 includes at least one wireless telecommunication module 60 to transmit the signals 8 to the processing unit 4.

[0037] This module 60 is a Bluetooth module, but other types of modules and wireless communication protocols besides Bluetooth are possible.

[0038] Alternatively, this communication could be wired, for example a wired USB connection, to limit the risk of interception of communication between the user interface 6 and the processing unit 4.

[0039] The processing unit 4 is arranged to receive the aforementioned muscle activity signals 8.

[0040] For this purpose, the processing unit 4 includes at least one wireless telecommunication module 61 to receive the signals 8 from the user interface 6. This module 61 is here a Bluetooth module but other types of modules and wireless communication protocols than Bluetooth are conceivable.

[0041] As mentioned above, it could be considered that this communication between modules 60 and 61 be wired.

[0042] The processing unit 4 is also arranged so that the control instructions 5 generated by the processing unit 4 are a function of the muscle activity signals 8 received by the processing unit. The user interface 6 comprises a plurality of muscle activity sensors 7, 7a, 7b, said at least one muscle activity sensor 7 belonging to this plurality of sensors.

[0043] Each sensor in this array is arranged to detect, by measuring the electrical activity of at least one of the user's muscles, information about the user's muscle activity. The sensors in this array are spaced apart to detect the activity of different muscles or muscle groups.

[0044] These muscle activity sensors 7, 7a, 7b of this plurality of sensors are electrical activity sensors of several muscles.

[0045] Each of these sensors ideally comprises multiple electrodes spaced apart to detect electrical characteristics / activities at several widely separated points on the user's skin surface, thus obtaining an accurate representation of muscle activity. Characteristics of the electrical activities generated by the muscle activity of one or more of the user's muscles can include voltages, intensities, energies, and combinations thereof.

[0046] It is also possible that at least some of the sensors in this plurality of sensors (including said at least one muscle activity sensor 7, 7a, 7b) are arranged to simultaneously capture the activity of several of the user's muscles.

[0047] Such a sensor 7, 7a, 7b is known as a myoelectric sensor. Data is captured by electromyography (EMG). Preferably, each contraction or group of contractions corresponds to an instruction to be transmitted to the remote device 2.

[0048] In addition to such an electrical activity sensor of at least one muscle, it would also be possible to use a sensor arranged to measure a mechanical tension of at least one muscle of the user.

[0049] Such a sensor is a muscle tension / muscle effort sensor, capable of detecting muscle tension in at least one muscle of the user.

[0050] These electrical activity sensors are arranged to detect variations in the electrical activity of the muscles that the user generates by controlling variations in the muscle tension of said muscles while remaining still.

[0051] This is particularly advantageous for generating command instructions for the remote device while the user remains stationary. This is beneficial when the user wishes to remain discreet, or when performing other tasks that require them to stay still, or when their hands are occupied holding an object.

[0052] When user interface 6 includes one or more sensors with multiple electrodes, interface 6 is then preferentially arranged to simultaneously detect muscle activity information relating to several muscles in order to have a detailed analysis of the electrical activity of each of the muscles.

[0053] The user has a wide capacity to interact with the user interface since they can choose which muscles they will contract and the intensities of these contractions, which allows them to generate a wide variety of muscle activity signals.

[0054] Each muscle activity signal forms a unique signature that is recognizable and reproducible by the user.

[0055] It is therefore possible to associate a control instruction 5 with such a reproducible muscle activity signal 8 to allow the user to control the remote device 2 by simple contraction of some of his muscles.

[0056] The processing unit 4 and the communication module 3 are here integrated into the same portable electronic device 40, that is to say a device whose maximum dimensions are on the order of a few tens of centimeters and the maximum mass is a few hundred grams preferably less than 2kg.

[0057] Such a device 40 includes at least one processor and memories containing computer programs to perform data and signal processing necessary for the operation of the processing unit 4 and the communication module 3.

[0058] This device 40 also includes electronic communication boards 41, 42 for communicating with the sensor(s) (in this case, a Bluetooth receiver board 41 optionally with a transmission function)

[0059] Bluetooth) and with said at least one remote device (in this case a 42 Wifi or Wifi direct or Bluetooth transmission card).

[0060] This device 40 can also be equipped with a power source (for example a battery) for its power supply / operation and a screen or display means for displaying parameters or functions or information transmitted by said at least one sensor 7 and / or by said at least one remote device 2 (for example images taken by an optical sensor mounted on the remote device 2).

[0061] This device 40 is here an electronic tablet with a screen but it could be a mobile phone, a laptop or a personal assistant.

[0062] This device 40 is here a Crosscall (R) Trekker-X4 (R) mobile phone / smartphone, but it could also be any control box equipped with user interaction means and computing power. In a particular embodiment of the system 1 according to the invention, the processing unit 4 is arranged to select said control instructions 5 generated from a list of predefined control instructions distinct from one another and including, for example, instructions to take off, land, climb, descend, move forward, turn right, turn left, stop one or more pieces of equipment of an aircraft (for example, stop the aircraft engines), perform a predefined action (for example, drop an object).This predefined list of control instructions 5 is preferably stored in a specific memory area of ​​the processing unit and is preferably adaptable via a parameterization / calibration interface 90 of the control unit. The processing unit 4 is arranged here to perform said selection of the control instructions 5 generated in the predefined list of control instructions based on at least some of the muscle activity signals 8 received by the processing unit 4.To limit the risk of error in instruction selection, the processing unit 4 can also be configured to select, from a predefined sequence of control instructions 5, a current control instruction 5 contained within that sequence and send it to the communication module 3 for execution by at least one remote device 2 (this current control instruction 5 being an instruction generated by the processing unit 4). The processing unit is configured here to perform this selection of the current control instruction based on at least some of the muscle activity signals 8 received by the processing unit 4.

[0063] A sequence of instructions lists a series / succession of command instructions to be executed one after the other in an order defined by the sequence; generally, the instructions in a sequence are executed one after the other in the order in which they are written in the sequence.

[0064] The predefined command instruction sequence is preferably stored in a specific memory area of ​​the processing unit 4 and is preferably adaptable via the parameterization / calibration interface 90 of the control unit 4.

[0065] By pre-programming a sequence, the chances of confusion in instruction selection are limited because the processing unit seeks to identify only one muscle activity signal at each instant—that is, the signal corresponding to the next instruction in the sequence. The risk of signal confusion is thus greatly reduced because, during setup, the user can ensure that the pre-recorded parameters for successive instructions correspond to setup gestures that are very far apart, and whose respective signals cannot be confused.

[0066] As can be understood from Figures 1 and 2, the processing unit 4 is arranged to analyze the received signals 8 and determine / generate a succession of data sets 50 from these signals 8. This succession of data sets 50 is therefore representative of a succession of gestures performed by said user.

[0067] The term gesture here refers to a given muscular contraction, it being understood that this given muscular contraction does not necessarily cause a displacement of the user's articulated bones.

[0068] In this sense, a gesture is information about muscular activity of one or more muscles of the user which is not necessarily accompanied by a change in posture of the user.

[0069] Preferably, as illustrated in Figure 1, the processing unit 4 is arranged to:

[0070] - to perform at least one analysis A1, A2, A3 of the muscle activity signals 8 received by the processing unit 4, this at least one analysis being chosen from a spectral analysis A1, a spatial analysis A2, a temporal analysis, an analysis combining at least some of said spectral, spatial, temporal analyses; and - to determine said sequence of data sets 50 as a function of a result of this at least one analysis of the muscle activity signals received by the processing unit.

[0071] Spectral analysis, for example, is an analysis that defines a signal based on its amplitude, frequency, and / or period. Spectral analysis of a signal allows for the identification of characteristics or a signature specific to that signal.

[0072] Spatial analysis, for example, involves defining a signal based on the spatial arrangement of the muscles whose activity is being recorded. Spatial analysis of a signal allows for the recognition of characteristics or a signature specific to a particular movement that generated that signal. Temporal analysis, for example, involves recognizing the duration of at least some of the components of a signal, the temporal synchronization between these components, or the timing or duration of these components. Temporal analysis also allows for obtaining a unique and easily recognizable signature for a given movement.

[0073] The combination of these different spatial, temporal and spectral analyses makes it possible to obtain signatures specific to each signal in order to better distinguish two signals from each other and thus reduce the risk of error in interpreting and recognizing these signals in order to select the command instruction that corresponds to the user's wish and the gesture he has made.

[0074] The processing unit 4 is preferentially arranged to perform a gestural correlation analysis comprising processing the data from said succession of datasets 50 to identify in these datasets a first group of data representative of simple user gestures correlated with each other 51 and a second group of data representative of complex user gestures correlated with each other 52, the processing unit being further arranged to identify whether at least some of these data from the first and second groups of data correspond (according to predetermined correspondence rules between data groups and pre-recorded parameter groups contained in the database) to a pre-recorded parameter group contained in a database BD1.

[0075] This database BD1 contains several pre-recorded parameter groups and several pre-recorded command instructions (these are pre-recorded command instructions for at least one remote device). Each of these pre-recorded command instructions is associated with only one of these pre-recorded parameter groups.

[0076] Each pre-recorded parameter group is saved during a system configuration phase in which the user performs configuration gestures while simultaneously detecting muscle activity information to record the corresponding muscle activity signals. Configuration gestures can be simple, complex, or a combination of both.

[0077] Simple gestures are gestures associated with a variation in muscle activity of a limited number of given muscles of the user less than or equal to a predetermined integer value.

[0078] In other words:

[0079] - if the variation in muscle activity involves a number of given muscles less than or equal to the predetermined integer value, it can be deduced that it is a simple movement, and / or

[0080] - if the variation in activity is associated with a muscle contraction intensity that is less than or equal to a predetermined maximum electrical value for given muscles of the user; and / or

[0081] - If the variation in activity is associated with a muscle contraction duration less than or equal to a predetermined muscle contraction duration value for given muscles of the user, then it can be considered a simple gesture. Conversely, complex gestures are gestures associated with a variation in muscle activity of a given number of the user's muscles greater than the aforementioned predetermined integer value and / or associated with a muscle contraction intensity greater than the aforementioned predetermined maximum value and / or associated with a muscle contraction duration greater than the aforementioned predetermined muscle contraction duration value and / or associated with a plurality of simple gestures executed consecutively to create a gestural sequence (this gestural sequence is identified here as a complex gesture), then they can be considered complex gestures.

[0082] Other rules are conceivable to distinguish simple gestures from complex gestures.

[0083] In the parameterization / calibration phase, the processing unit, using muscle activity signals that correspond to the parameterization gestures performed by the user, generates pre-recorded parameter groups and saves them in the database, associating each pre-recorded parameter group with a pre-recorded command instruction 5 in the same database BD1.

[0084] The user can thus associate with each command instruction 5 of the remote device recorded in the BD1 database, a parameter gesture or a combination of parameter gestures.

[0085] When the user performs a gesture or combination of gestures similar to the parameter setting gesture or combination of parameter setting gestures, the processing unit 4 will then generate, from the analysis of the signals 8, data 50 which correspond to one of the groups of parameters pre-recorded in the database BD1. The processing unit 4 identifies / detects this correspondence between the data 50 it has generated and the group of parameters pre-recorded in the database BD1 and then transmits the corresponding command instruction 5 to the communication module 3 so that this module can retransmit this command instruction to the remote device for execution.It should be noted that the processing unit can also supplement this analysis by performing a fusion of these 53 gesture correlations with respect to a context, which can be either temporal (a moment in a remote device control process), historical (based on previously identified gestures or different gestures performed simultaneously), or sequential (based on instructions previously transmitted or to be transmitted in an instruction sequence). To this end, the processing unit can also record the history of analyses performed and / or the results of analyses obtained and / or the instructions transmitted and / or the contexts. In this case, the processing unit, based on the result of the fusion of these 53 gesture correlations, records the contexts to obtain a context history.

[0086] Depending on the fusion of these correlations 53 and of

[0087] 1'history of contexts 54, the processing unit can determine the common gesture(s) performed by the user.

[0088] As can be seen from Figure 1, the processing unit is functionally linked to an involuntary gesture database BD3 containing several groups of pre-recorded undesirable parameters. Each group of undesirable parameters is associated with involuntary user gestures, and the processing unit is arranged so that, using these groups of undesirable parameters contained in the involuntary gesture database BD3, the processing unit identifies muscle activity signals representative of undesirable gestures and extracts data corresponding to these muscle activity signals representative of undesirable gestures from a useful data stream which is used by the processing unit 4 to generate the said control instructions and send them to the communication module.

[0089] The extracted data corresponding to the involuntary gestures thus detected are extracted by a function called involuntary gesture rejection 56.

[0090] The useful data flow refers, as applicable:

[0091] - the data used to determine said sequence of datasets based on said at least one analysis of the muscle activity signals received by the processing unit (in this case the useful data stream is generated by extracting, from the beginning of the analysis of the muscle activity signals, the data that correspond to undesirable movements); or

[0092] - data from at least one of the said first and second groups of data respectively representative of the simple and complex gestures of the user correlated with each other (in this case the useful data stream is generated by extracting, from a data stream generated by the gestural correlation analysis, the data which correspond to the undesirable gestures.

[0093] Each pre-recorded group of unwanted parameters can be recorded during a control system setup phase in which the user performs setup gestures while detecting muscle activity information to record muscle activity signals that correspond to these involuntary gestures.

[0094] It is also possible that the BD3 involuntary gesture database is developed by observing the muscle activity of several users during several exercises using the system according to the invention.

[0095] Involuntary movements can be simple or complex, and / or a combination of simple and / or complex movements. During this parameterization phase, the processing unit, using muscle activity signals corresponding to involuntary movements, generates groups of unwanted parameters and stores them in the involuntary movement database. When the user performs an involuntary movement or combination of movements, the processing unit generates data corresponding to one of the pre-recorded groups of unwanted parameters in the database. Processing unit 4 identifies this match between the generated data and the pre-recorded group of unwanted parameters and deletes the data related to these involuntary movements (module 56).This simplifies signal analysis, as only data associated with non-involuntary gestures is retained for analysis to determine whether this data contains a set of pre-recorded parameters associated with a command instruction. As shown in Figure 1, the data stream, purged of involuntary gesture data, is then transmitted to a command instruction manager 57, which belongs to processing unit 4. Specifically, it is the command instruction manager 57 that identifies whether at least some of the data in the purged data stream corresponds to a pre-recorded parameter group contained in a database BD1.This database BD1 is integrated here into the command instruction manager 57, but it could be external to the processing unit 4 while being functionally linked to this processing unit 4.

[0096] If the command manager 57 detects data specific to a common voluntary gesture performed by the user that corresponds to one of the groups of parameters pre-recorded in the database BD1, then it selects the associated command instruction 5 from this database and generates this instruction to send it to the communication module 3. Conversely, no instruction is generated and transmitted to the communication module 3.

[0097] System 1 also includes a first library BI1 of computer drivers PX1, PX2, distinct from one another. At least one of these computer drivers PX1, PX2 from this first library BI1 is arranged to interact with said at least one remote device 2 to send it said control instructions, and other drivers may be incapable of interacting with said at least one remote device and are arranged to interact with remote devices other than said at least one remote device.

[0098] Such a first library allows the system according to the invention to be compatible with many remote devices of different types, which allows the system to be easily adaptable to any of the remote devices available commercially.

[0099] Thus, it will be possible to have pilots adapted to remote devices from different brands such as PARROT®, PARROT ANAFI® (PA), SQUADRONE®, SQUADRONE EQUIPIER®

[0100] (SE), or remote piloting simulators (SI) of the processing unit, such as a flight simulator or drone piloting simulator or other vector controllable via such a computer pilot.

[0101] It should be noted that the communication module 3 can execute API applications, such as specific computer drivers for the remote device(s) 2 to be controlled. Similarly, system 1 can also include a second library, BI2, of computer drivers that are distinct from one another.

[0102] At least one of these BIx, DELx computer drivers of this second BI2 library is arranged to interact with said at least one muscle activity sensor 7 to allow the user interface 6 to receive muscle activity information detected by said at least one sensor 7, and other of these BIx, DELx computer drivers of the second BI2 library are possibly incapable of interacting with said at least one muscle activity sensor 7 and are arranged to interact with other muscle activity sensors 7b, 7C than said at least one muscle activity sensor 7. Such a second BI2 library allows the system 1 according to the invention to be compatible with many muscle activity sensors 7, 7a, 7b of different types / manufacturers.

[0103] This allows system 1 to be easily adapted to any of the commercially available sensors.

[0104] Thus, we can have computer drivers BIT, DEL, MA respectively adapted to sensors / capture equipment of different brands BITalino ® (BIT), Delsys ® (DEL), or other sensors / equipment specific (MA) to the system according to the invention.

[0105] Finally, the user interface 6 includes at least one accessory 6a arranged to be worn, possibly fixed or glued, on a part of the user.

[0106] This at least one accessory 6a incorporates said at least one muscle activity sensor 7 and electrodes of this sensor to capture muscle activity on the surface of the user's skin.

[0107] This accessory 6a also incorporates a telecommunications module 60 to transmit said muscle activity signals 8 to the processing unit 4. Typically, such an accessory 6a is chosen from a group of accessories including a glove, a wristband, and a headband. The advantage of having a wristband is that the user's hands remain free, and only the contraction of the forearm muscles is sufficient for the user to generate a control instruction for the remote device.

[0108] This command is particularly discreet since the user can generate the command by simple muscle contraction, without having to move their hand or fingers or wrist or forearm.

[0109] For example, in the detail of figure 3, we see eight images which illustrate that the user can hold an object, here a weapon, and, without almost moving his hands in relation to this object, he can exert a multitude of muscular contractions which each generate 8 distinct muscle activity signals which are perfectly reproducible in different environments and at different times.

[0110] These images are images recorded during the setup controlled by setting module 90.

[0111] Each image depicts a specific gesture, which has allowed the generation of a set of parameters unique to that gesture. These parameter groups are stored in the BD1 database, which associates a command instruction with each of these parameter groups.

[0112] Reading the images from left to right and then from the top row to the bottom row, we have:

[0113] - a first image where the user is holding the object with four of their fingers;

[0114] - a second image where he generates a first couple on the object around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of his hand and passing from an inner face to an outer face of his wrist; - a third image where he generates a second couple on the object around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of his hand and passing from an outer lateral face to an outer lateral face of his wrist; - a fourth image where he squeezes the object with five of his fingers;

[0115] - a fifth image (left image of the second row of images) where the user generates an inverse pair of said first pair of the second image; - a sixth image where the user generates an inverse pair of said second pair of the third image;

[0116] - a seventh image where the user generates a pulling force from the object towards their body;

[0117] - an eighth image where the user generates a pushing force on the object going from their body outwards.

[0118] We observe that the user can, without moving their hand, perform a wide variety of gestures and associated muscular efforts that will generate very specific muscular signals recognizable by the processing unit 4.

[0119] This solution allows operational acceptance by the user (for example a combatant) since it is not consumed by piloting, since it does not have to hold a specific remote control (reduction of payload), since it benefits from an suitability to the use cases and the environment.

[0120] Another advantage of the solution is to reduce the cognitive load on the user (thanks to the study of gestures and the user path of the application, the system is particularly intuitive to use).

[0121] The gestures associated with controlling the remote device are preferentially selected for their specificity to that control, without risk of interference with other gestures normally used for the task. Thanks to the invention, the user can remain silent (which would not be the case with voice commands) and still (which would not be the case with a touchscreen remote control requiring hand movement). The system according to the invention is easily configurable to make it compatible with the environment in which it is to be used.

[0122] Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described but encompasses any variant falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

[0123] In particular, although the invention has been described in relation to the use of a weapon, the invention is applicable to a user holding any type of object or, conversely, no object at all.

[0124] Similarly, although the control interface described above primarily measures muscle activity, it is also possible that the user interface 6 includes at least one motion sensor (for example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes) arranged to detect movement characteristics performed by the user wearing the user interface (for example, accelerations or orientations). In this embodiment, the user interface 6 is arranged to generate and transmit to the processing unit 4 signals representative of movements detected by said at least one motion sensor, the processing unit 4 being arranged to receive said representative movement signals and such that said control instructions 5 generated by the processing unit 4 are a function of the muscle activity signals 8 received by the processing unit and of said representative movement signals.The use of electromyography associated with movement signals, i.e. inertial signals acquired through the accelerometers and gyroscopes of the user interface (for example the user interface can be in the form of one or more bracelets integrating gyroscopes and / or accelerometers) makes it possible to diversify the types of measurements and thus enrich the control capability offered to the user.

[0125] The processing of movement / inertial signals follows the same process as that of the previously described muscle activity signals. Combining the user's muscle activity signals with the user's movement signals enriches the data set to be compared with the pre-recorded parameter sets contained in the BD1 database. The user can thus configure the system to command the remote device to: execute certain actions via their muscle activity alone, without movement; execute other actions via a combination of their muscle activity associated with one or more coordinated movements (orientations and / or translations); and potentially execute specific actions solely through movement.

Claims

DEMANDS 1. Control system (1) to control at least one remote device (2) of the system, the control system comprising: - a communication module (3) to transmit control instructions (5) to at least one remote device (2); - a processing unit (4) arranged to generate said control instructions (5) and send them to said communication module (3); and - a user interface (6) arranged to detect information from a user of the system, the user interface (6) comprising at least one muscle activity sensor (7, 7a, 7b) arranged to detect muscle activity information from the user by measuring the electrical activity of at least one muscle of the user and this user interface (6) being arranged to generate and transmit, to the processing unit (4), muscle activity signals (8) representative of the muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor, the processing unit (4) being arranged to receive said muscle activity signals (8) and such that said control instructions (5) generated by the processing unit (4) are a function of the muscle activity signals (8) received by the processing unit,characterized in that the processing unit is functionally linked to a database of involuntary gestures containing several groups of pre-recorded undesirable parameters, each group of undesirable parameters being associated with involuntary gestures of the user, and the processing unit is arranged so that, using said groups of undesirable parameters contained in the database of involuntary gestures, the processing unit identifies activity signals, muscular signals representative of undesirable movements and extracts data corresponding to these muscular activity signals representative of undesirable movements from a useful data stream which is used by the processing unit to generate said control instructions and send them to said communication module.

2. Control system (1) according to claim 1, wherein the user interface (6) comprises a plurality of muscle activity sensors (7, 7a, 7b), said at least one muscle activity sensor (7) belonging to this plurality of sensors, this plurality of sensors being arranged to be able to detect, by measuring electrical activities of a plurality of the user's muscles distant from each other, information on the user's muscle activity.

3. Control system according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the user interface (6) is arranged to transmit muscle activity signals (8) to the processing unit (4) via a wireless link (80).

4. Control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the processing unit (4) is arranged to select said control instructions (5) generated from a predefined list of control instructions comprising instructions to take off, land, climb, descend, move forward, turn right, turn left, stop one or more pieces of equipment of an aircraft, perform a predefined action, the processing unit (4) being arranged to perform said selection of the control instructions (5) generated from the predefined list of control instructions as a function of at least some of the muscle activity signals (8) received by the processing unit (4).

5. Control system according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the processing unit (4) is arranged to select from a predefined sequence of control instructions (5) a current control instruction (5) and send it to the communication module (3) for execution by said at least one remote device (2), the processing unit being arranged to perform this selection of the current control instruction based on at least some of the muscle activity signals (8) received by the processing unit (4).

6. Control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing unit (4) is further arranged to determine a succession of data sets (50), this succession of data sets (50) being representative of a succession of gestures performed by said user.

7. Control system according to any one of claim 6, wherein the processing unit (4) is: - arranged to perform at least one analysis (A1, A2, A3) of the muscle activity signals (8) received by the processing unit, this at least one analysis being chosen from a spectral analysis (A1) of these muscle activity signals received by the processing unit, a spatial analysis (A2) of these muscle activity signals received by the processing unit, a temporal analysis (A3) of these muscle activity signals received by the processing unit, an analysis combining at least some of said spectral, spatial, temporal analyses; and is - arranged to determine said sequence of data sets (50) according to this at least one analysis of the muscle activity signals received by the processing unit.

8. A control system according to any one of claims 6 or 7, wherein the processing unit is arranged to perform a correlation analysis gestural comprising a processing of the data of said succession of datasets (5Q) to identify in these datasets a first group of data representative of simple gestures of the user correlated with each other (51) and a second group of data representative of complex gestures of the user correlated with each other (52), the processing unit being further arranged to identify whether at least some of these data of the first and second groups of data correspond to a group of pre-recorded parameters contained in a database (BD1), this database (BD1) containing several groups of pre-recorded parameters and several pre-recorded command instructions, each of these pre-recorded command instructions being associated with only one of these groups of pre-recorded parameters.

9. Control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, comprising a first library (BI1) of computer drivers (PX1, PX2) distinct from one another, at least one of these computer drivers (PX1, PX2) of this first library (BI1) being arranged to interact with said at least one remote device (2) to send said control instructions to it and other of these drivers being incapable of interacting with said at least one remote device and being arranged to interact with remote devices other than said at least one remote device.

10. Control system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising a second library (BI2) of computer drivers (BIx, DELx) distinct from one another, at least one of these computer drivers (BIx, DELx) of this second library (BI2) being arranged to interact with said at least one muscle activity sensor (7) to enable the user interface (6) to receive muscle activity information detected by said at least one sensor (7) and other computer drivers (BIx, DELx) of the second library (BI2) being unable to interact with said at least one muscle activity sensor (7) and being arranged to interact with other muscle activity sensors (7b, 7C) than said at least one muscle activity sensor (7).

11. Control system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the user interface (6) includes an accessory arranged to be worn on a part of the user, this accessory integrating said at least one muscle activity sensor and a telecommunications module (60) for transmitting said muscle activity signals (8) to the processing unit (4).

12. Control system according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the user interface (6) includes at least one motion sensor arranged to detect movement characteristics made by the user wearing the user interface, this user interface (6) being arranged to generate and transmit to the processing unit (4) signals representative of movements detected by said at least one motion sensor, the processing unit (4) being arranged to receive said signals representative of movements and such that said control instructions (5) generated by the processing unit (4) are a function of the muscle activity signals (8) received by the processing unit and of said signals representative of movements.

13. An assembly (100) comprising a control system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 12 and comprising at least one remote device (2) of the system, such remote device (2) being arranged to interact with the communication module (3) and to receive said control instructions (5) transmitted by the communication module (3) and to execute at least some of the control instructions received by that remote device of the control system.

14. Assembly (100) according to claim 13 wherein said at least one remote device (2) is selected from a group of remote devices comprising a drone, a robot, a machine tool, a vehicle piloting module, an aircraft piloting module carrying the system user.

15. Aircraft comprising a control system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 12 and a remote device (2) comprising an aircraft piloting module, the user interface (6) being carried on the aircraft to enable a user of the system located in the aircraft to pilot the aircraft via the control system (1) and its at least one muscle activity sensor (7), the aircraft piloting module being connected to aircraft avionics to transmit to the avionics said control instructions (5) generated by the processing unit (4), these control instructions (5) being selected by the control unit (4) from a list of predefined control instructions based on muscle activity signals (8) generated from muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor (7).

16. Device comprising a control system (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 12 and a remote device (2) comprising a device control module, the user interface (6) being arranged to allow a user of the system to control this device via the control system (1) and its at least one muscle activity sensor (7), the device control module being connected to device control electronics to transmit to the device control electronics said control instructions (5) generated by the processing unit (4), these control instructions (5) being selected by the control unit (4) in a list of predefined control instructions based on muscle activity signals (8) generated from muscle activity information detected by said at least one muscle activity sensor (7).

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