Determination and avoidance of over-excursion of the transducer's internal mass.

Abstract

This invention provides a method for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer. [Solution] The method of the present invention includes the steps of: determining a waveform-specific transformation that minimizes internal mass over-excursion based on playback conditions for each of a set of known playback waveforms; storing the transformation in memory; and applying the respective transformations associated with a particular known waveform and based on playback conditions during runtime and playback of a particular known waveform, wherein the step of limiting the electrically driven signal includes the steps of applying an excursion threshold to an estimated displacement signal to generate a limited displacement signal; and converting the limited displacement signal into an electrically driven signal.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This disclosure generally relates to methods, apparatus, or implementations for haptic devices. More specifically, the embodiments described herein may disclose systems and methods for detecting and blocking nonlinear excursions in haptic actuators. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, vibro-haptic transducers, such as linear resonant actuators (LRAs), are widely used in portable devices such as mobile phones to generate vibrational feedback to the user. Various forms of vibro-haptic feedback can create a variety of sensations of contact with the user's skin and can play an increasing role in human-machine interaction for modern devices.

[0003] LRAs are sometimes modeled as mass-spring electromechanical vibration systems. When driven by a properly designed or controlled drive signal, an LRA can generate a specific desired form of vibration. For example, a sharp and distinct vibration pattern on the user's finger may be used to create a sensation mimicking a mechanical button click. This distinct vibration may therefore also be used as a virtual switch to replace a mechanical button.

[0004] When a haptic transducer is driven by an electrical signal, the internal mass of the haptic transducer may collide with its external housing, which can have undesirable effects, including permanent damage to the transducer, alteration of the transducer's characteristics, undesirable audio artifacts (e.g., a loud "rattling" sound when the internal mass hits the external housing), and / or distorted haptic effects. Typically, such collisions can be avoided if only "known" content in the form of pre-stored waveforms is played back to the haptic transducer. However, such collisions can occur if the playback conditions change or if unknown content is played back (e.g., streaming with audio-to-haptic playback). Limiting the playback level for unknown content can mitigate or eliminate such collision events, but such limitations may weaken the haptic effect.

[0005] Manufacturers of tactile actuators often specify a maximum signal voltage (e.g., the maximum number of volts, which is the root mean square, at a particular frequency) to minimize or eliminate damage. Excursion limits in terms of displacement or distance can be inferred from such voltage limits. However, with unknown playback content, adhering to the manufacturer's inferred excursion limits can be difficult for under-damped devices such as tactile transducers.

[0006] While methods and systems exist for limiting speaker excursion, they often fail to work well with under-attenuated devices. Such approaches to limiting speaker excursion often involve directly applying attenuation to the drive voltage signal sent to the speaker. However, since tactile transducers are typically under-attenuated (i.e., have a higher Q factor compared to loudspeakers), directly applying a limited voltage signal to the drive voltage may not control the mass position in such a way that excursion is limited to a given threshold.

[0007] Therefore, other approaches may be desirable to prevent over-excursion in haptic transducers and other under-attenuated devices. [Overview of the project]

[0008] The teachings of this disclosure may reduce or eliminate the shortcomings and problems associated with existing approaches to avoid over-excursion in haptic transducers.

[0009] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer may include: converting an electrical playback signal into an estimated displacement signal; determining the estimated over-excursion of the internal mass corresponding to the electrical playback signal based on the estimated displacement signal; and limiting an electrical drive signal induced from the electrical playback signal and for driving the electromechanical transducer in order to mitigate the over-excursion of the internal mass based on the estimated over-excursion.

[0010] According to these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer may include determining, for each of a set of known playback waveforms, a waveform-specific transformation that minimizes over-excursion of the internal mass based on playback conditions; storing the transformation in memory; and applying the respective transformation, associated with a particular known waveform and based on playback conditions, during runtime and playback of that particular known waveform.

[0011] According to these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a system for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer may comprise: an electrically driven-excursion model configured to convert an electrical playback signal into an estimated displacement signal; and an excursion limiter configured to determine, based on the estimated displacement signal, the estimated over-excursion of the internal mass corresponding to the electrical playback signal, and, based on the estimated over-excursion, to limit an electrically driven signal induced from the electrical playback signal and for driving the electromechanical transducer in order to mitigate the over-excursion of the internal mass.

[0012] According to these and other embodiments of the present disclosure, a system for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer, the system comprising: a memory configured to store waveform-specific transformations that minimize over-excursion of the internal mass for each of a set of known playback waveforms, based on playback conditions; and a controller configured to apply the respective transformations associated with a particular known waveform and based on playback conditions during runtime and playback of that particular known waveform.

[0013] The technical advantages of the present disclosure can be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the figures, descriptions, and claims contained herein. The objectives and advantages of the embodiments will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.

[0014] It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the claims described in the present disclosure.

[0015] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and their advantages can be obtained by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like features.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a vibrotactile system within a device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram of selected components of an example controller that can be used to implement the controller depicted in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram of selected components of an example excursion limiter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram of selected components of another example controller that can be used to implement the controller depicted in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram of selected components of another example controller that can be used to implement the controller depicted in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] [[ID=3G]]FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a vibrotactile system in device 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, device 100 has a drive signal V applied to amplifier 102 DRVA controller 101 may be provided, configured to control the drive signal V. DRV It may be triggered by a trigger that outputs a signal. The trigger may include, for example, a pressure or force sensor on the screen or virtual button of device 100.

[0018] The controller 101 may include any system, device, or apparatus configured to interpret and / or execute program instructions and / or process data, and may include, without limitation, a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuit equipment configured to interpret and / or execute program instructions and / or process data. In some embodiments, the controller 101 may interpret and / or execute program instructions and / or process data stored in a memory or other computer-readable medium (not explicitly shown) connected to the controller 101. In some embodiments, as described in more detail below, the controller 101 may receive a drive signal V for driving the vibration actuator 103. DRV However, the system may be configured to determine whether this could lead to over-excursion of the internal moving mass of the vibration actuator 103, and to apply displacement-based limits to minimize or eliminate the over-excursion.

[0019] Next, amplifier 102 receives the drive signal V DRV Based on this, a vibration actuator (e.g., a tactile transducer or other under-damping transducer) 103 can be driven. The amplifier 102 may be any system, device, or apparatus configured to amplify the signal received from the controller 101 and transmit the amplified signal (e.g., to the vibration actuator 103).

[0020] As described above, the controller 101 drives the vibration actuator 103 with a drive signal V DRV and may be configured to determine whether the internal moving mass of the vibration actuator 103 can lead to over - excursion and to apply displacement - based limitations to minimize or remove over - excursion. To do so, the controller 101 can apply displacement - based conversion to the raw electrical drive signal to generate a drive signal V DRV for driving the vibration actuator 103 via the amplifier 102.

[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates selected components of an exemplary controller 101A that can be used to implement the controller 101 depicted in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 101A can include an electrical - drive - excursion model 202, an excursion limiter 204, and an excursion - electrical - drive model 206.

[0022] The electrical - drive - excursion model 202 can have an electrical - drive - excursion transfer function such that when applied to a raw drive signal V DRV ′ representing the drive signal applied to the vibration actuator 103, the result is the estimated displacement D DRV of the vibration actuator 103 as if the raw drive signal V EST ′ were applied to the vibration actuator 103 (or, next, to the amplifier 102 that drives the vibration actuator 103). For example, the electrical - drive - excursion model 202 may be based on characteristics derived from testing and / or characterizing the vibration actuator 103 in response to drive voltages at various frequencies and / or amplitudes.

[0023] The excursion limiter 204 has a limited displacement D LIMTo generate the excursion threshold (e.g., the safe maximum displacement of the internal mass of the vibration actuator 103), the estimated displacement D is used. EST This can be applied to [the following]. Figure 3 illustrates selected components of an exemplary excursion limiter 204 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, the excursion limiter 204 may include a look-ahead delay element 302, a gain generator 304, a gain smoother 306, and a gain element 308.

[0024] The look-ahead delay element 302 is the look-ahead displacement D LOOKAHEAD To generate the signal delay, the estimated displacement D EST It may include any suitable system, device, or apparatus configured to be added to it. Such delays and look-aheads may be required to detect possible excursion threshold violations and to perform signal attenuation before such violations occur.

[0025] The gain generator 304 predicts the displacement D of the internal mass of the vibration actuator 103 based on the excursion threshold in order to maintain the displacement below such an excursion threshold. LOOKAHEAD The multiplicative attenuating gain G for LIM The system may include any suitable system, device, or apparatus configured to generate the smoothed gain G. The gain smoother 306 generates the smoothed gain G based on smoothing parameters (e.g., attack, hold, release) and / or the application of filtering. SMOOTH It can generate the following. The gain element 308 is limited by the displacement D LIM To generate the smoothed gain G SMOOTH Look ahead for displacement D LOOKAHEAD It can be applied to this.

[0026] Returning to Figure 2, the excursion-electric drive model 206 can have an excursion-electric drive transmission function, which can be the reverse transmission function of the electric drive-excursion model 202. Therefore, when the excursion-electric drive transmission function of the excursion-electric drive model 206 is applied to the displacement signal representing the excursion of the internal mass of the vibration actuator 103, the result is a drive signal V that, when applied to the vibration actuator 103, maintains the displacement of the internal mass within the excursion threshold. DRV That is the case.

[0027] Figure 4 illustrates selected components of an exemplary controller 101B that may be used to implement the controller 101 depicted in Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4, the controller 101B may include a look-ahead delay element 402, an electrically driven excursion model 404, an excursion-gain function 406, and a gain element 408.

[0028] The look-ahead delay element 402 receives the look-ahead drive signal V LOOKAHEAD To generate the raw drive signal V, the signal delay is used. DRV The system may include any suitable system, device, or apparatus configured to add to the '. Such delays and look-aheads may be required to detect excursion threshold violations and to perform signal attenuation before such violations occur.

[0029] The electric drive-excursion model 404 has an electric drive-excursion transmission function, and the raw drive signal V represents the drive signal applied to the vibration actuator 103. DRV When applied to ', the result is the raw drive signal V DRV The estimated displacement D of the vibration actuator 103 when ' is hypothetically applied to the vibration actuator 103 (or to the amplifier 102 that then drives the vibration actuator 103) ESTAn electric drive-excursion transmission function can be provided, such as the one shown. For example, the electric drive-excursion model 202 may be based on features derived from testing and / or characterization of the vibration actuator 103 in response to the drive voltage at various frequencies and / or amplitudes. In some embodiments, the electric drive-excursion model 404 may be similar to or identical to the electric drive-excursion model 202 depicted in Figure 2.

[0030] The excursion-gain function 406 maintains the displacement of the internal mass of the vibration actuator 103 below such an excursion threshold by looking up the drive signal V based on the excursion threshold. LOOKAHEAD Multiplicable decay gain G LIM It may include any suitable system, device, or apparatus configured to generate the drive signal V. The gain element 408 is connected to the drive signal V. DRV To generate the gain G LIM The look-ahead drive signal V LOOKAHEAD It can be applied to this.

[0031] Figure 5 illustrates selected components of an exemplary controller 101C that may be used to implement the controller 101 depicted in Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, the controller 101C may comprise a transformer 502 and a transformer lookup table 504.

[0032] In the controller 101C, an offline process may be used to analyze known playback content offline and determine multiple electric drive-to-electric drive conversions for each of the known playback waveforms based on different playback conditions. Examples of playback conditions may include temperature, features of device 100 to be enabled and disabled, and any other appropriate conditions. Such conversions may be stored in a lookup table 504, and during the runtime of device 100, the controller 101C detects the playback conditions, selects a conversion 502 from the lookup table 504 associated with the known waveform to be played back, and drives the V DRV To generate such a conversion, the raw drive signal V DRV These conversions can be applied to '. Such conversions vary in complexity, ranging from simple conversions such as gain conversions to more complex conversions that manipulate frequency content and / or dynamic range.

[0033] As used herein, when two or more elements are referred to as “linked” to one another, such term, where applicable, indicates that such two or more elements are communicating electronically or mechanically, whether indirectly or directly, with or without intervening elements.

[0034] This disclosure includes all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the exemplary embodiments described herein as a person skilled in the art would understand. Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims include all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the exemplary embodiments described herein as a person skilled in the art would understand. Furthermore, references in the appended claims to an apparatus or system, or component of an apparatus or system, that is adapted to a particular function, arranged to a particular function, capable of performing a particular function, configured to perform a particular function, enabled to perform a particular function, operable to perform a particular function, or operational to perform a particular function, include this apparatus, system, or component, regardless of whether this apparatus, system, or component or this particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, insofar as this apparatus, system, or component is adapted, arranged, capable of performing, configured, enabled, operable, or operational in that manner. Accordingly, modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems, apparatus, and methods described herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, the components of the systems and apparatus may be integrated or separated. Furthermore, the operation of the systems and apparatus disclosed herein may be carried out by more, fewer, or other components, and the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps. In addition, the steps may be carried out in any suitable order. As used herein, “each” means each member of a set, or each member of a subset of a set.

[0035] Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described below, but the principles of this disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. This disclosure should not be limited in any way to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described above.

[0036] Unless otherwise specifically stated, objects depicted in drawings are not necessarily drawn to a fixed proportion.

[0037] All examples and conditional statements listed herein are intended to assist the reader in understanding the disclosure and concepts to which the inventors have contributed to the advancement of the art, and are not limited to such specifically listed examples and conditions. While embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and modifications may be made to this specification without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

[0038] While specific advantages have been listed above, various embodiments may include some or all of the listed advantages, or none of them. Additionally, other technical advantages may become readily apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the aforementioned figures and descriptions.

[0039] To assist patent firms and readers of any patents issued in connection with this application in interpreting the claims attached herein, the applicant would like to point out that, unless the words “means for” or “steps for” are expressly used in a particular claim, none of the attached claims or claim elements are intended to invoke Section 112(f) of the United States Patent Act.

Claims

1. A method for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer, For each of the known sets of playback waveforms, the steps include determining a waveform-specific transformation that minimizes the over-excursion of the internal mass, based on the playback conditions, The steps include storing the conversion in memory, The steps include applying the respective transformations associated with and based on the playback conditions of a specific known waveform during runtime and playback of the said specific known waveform, and Includes, The step of limiting the electric drive signal is, The steps include applying an excursion threshold to the estimated displacement signal in order to generate a restricted displacement signal, The steps of converting the restricted displacement signal into the electric drive signal and Methods that include...

2. A system for determining and mitigating over-excursion of the internal mass of an under-attenuated electromechanical transducer, A memory configured to store, for each of the known sets of playback waveforms, a waveform-specific transformation that minimizes over-excursion of the internal mass based on the playback conditions, A controller configured to apply the respective transformations associated with and based on the playback conditions of a specific known waveform during the runtime and playback of that specific known waveform. Equipped with, Limiting the aforementioned electric drive signal To generate a limited displacement signal, an excursion threshold is applied to the estimated displacement signal, and Converting the restricted displacement signal into the electric drive signal. A system that includes this.

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