Operating device for a motor vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to an operating device (1) for a motor vehicle, comprising an operating element (10), at least one capacitive sensor (20), and an evaluation unit (30) designed to evaluate a capacitive change (33) detectable by the at least one capacitive sensor (20), wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) has a sensor surface (24) on which the operating element (10) is movably mounted, wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) is designed to detect an operator's contact with the operating element (10) as a haptic component (103) of the capacitive change (33), and wherein the evaluation unit (30) is designed to determine, from the capacitive change (33), the contact with the operating element (10) detected by way of the haptic component (103).

Description

[0001] Control device for a motor vehicle

[0002] Description:

[0003] The invention relates to an operating device for a motor vehicle.

[0004] A wide variety of operating devices are known from the prior art, particularly for motor vehicles and, for example, for operating an infotainment system or seat adjustment. If the operating devices are to record various information, such as the force of actuation, direction of actuation, position of a control element of the operating device, or the number and position of an operator's fingers resting on the control element, a large number of sensors and information are required, making such operating devices complex, error-prone, and expensive. In particular, the number and position of an operator's fingers resting on the control element can only be recorded with great effort.

[0005] The invention is therefore based on the object of overcoming the aforementioned disadvantages and of providing an operating device by means of which a large number of operating information can be recorded in a simple manner.

[0006] This problem is solved by the combination of features according to patent claim 1.

[0007] According to the invention, an operating device for a motor vehicle is therefore proposed, comprising an operating element, at least one capacitive sensor, and an evaluation unit. As explained below, the capacitive sensor preferably comprises a measuring electrode, which, together with a counter electrode formed, for example, by the operator's fingers, forms a capacitor, as well as associated sensor electronics. The evaluation unit is designed to evaluate a capacitive change detectable by the at least one capacitive sensor. The at least one capacitive sensor has or defines a sensor surface. If a plurality of capacitive sensors is provided, these together form the sensor surface, a sensor surface, or each forms a section of a common sensor surface.The operating element is displaceably mounted on the sensor surface, so that both a movement of the operating element and a touch of the operating element by an operator can cause a change in capacitance that can be detected by the at least one capacitive sensor. According to the invention, the at least one capacitive sensor is designed to detect a touch of the operating element by an operator or by the operator's fingers as a haptic component of the capacitive change, so that the capacitive change is determined in particular by a superposition of various components, such as the translational component explained below, the rotational component explained below, and the force component explained below, with the haptic component.A touch of the operating element is understood to mean a touch of the operating element by an operator, in particular by at least one of the operator's fingers. It can additionally be provided that both the number of touch points on the operating element and / or the size of the touch points and / or the position of the touch points can be detected or evaluated, whereby in particular the number of fingers with which the operator touches the operating element can be determined. Furthermore, according to the invention, the evaluation unit is designed to determine the touch of the operating element detected by the haptic component from the capacitive change and accordingly optionally also the number, size and / or position of the touch points as well as the number of fingers with which the operating element is touched.

[0008] While in the prior art a wide variety of information and sensors are necessary to detect the operating inputs or operating information introduced by means of touch, according to the invention only at least one capacitive sensor or possibly a plurality of capacitive sensors, which are accordingly a plurality of similar sensors, are required, wherein the capacitance or capacitive change detected by the at least one capacitive sensor is evaluated to determine the various operating information.

[0009] As already explained, the capacitive change is composed of a superposition of various components. According to an advantageous development, the operating device provides that the at least one capacitive sensor is designed to detect a translational movement of the operating element on the sensor surface as a translational component of the capacitive change. The evaluation unit is designed to determine the translational movement of the operating element detected by the translational component from the capacitive change.

[0010] Additionally or alternatively, the operating device can further provide that the at least one capacitive sensor is configured to detect a rotational movement of the operating element about a rotational axis determined by the operating element as a rotational component of the capacitive change. The evaluation unit is configured to determine the rotational movement of the operating element detected by the rotational component from the capacitive change.

[0011] Furthermore, as an alternative to these variants or in addition to each of the variants, the operating device can have at least one further sensor and preferably an optical sensor, which is designed to detect the translational movement of the operating element on the sensor surface and / or the rotational movement of the operating element about a rotation axis determined by the operating element.

[0012] With regard to both the rotary and the translatory movement, a direction component and / or a speed component and / or a path component of the respective movement can be determined.

[0013] According to a further development, it can also be provided that the at least one capacitive sensor is designed to detect a force applied to the sensor surface via the operating element as a force component of the capacitive change. This makes it possible to detect which force is applied to the sensor surface via the operating element or, if applicable, by the operator. Additionally or alternatively, the operating device can have a force sensor designed to detect a force applied to the sensor surface via the operating element, which can be taken into account accordingly by the evaluation unit. For example, a force acting on the sensor surface can thereby be directly taken into account by the evaluation unit; furthermore, a force determined by the force sensor can also be used to check the plausibility of the force component from the capacitive change or to correct the capacitive change with regard to a force component.

[0014] As already explained, the operating device can have a plurality of capacitive sensors, which can be arranged in a matrix form and together form the sensor surface.

[0015] The operating element is preferably formed from an electrically insulating core material and, for example, from a glass body. In addition, the operating element can have an electrically conductive layer or intermediate layer acting as a sheet resistance, which is preferably transparent and in particular made of indium tin oxide (ITO). Furthermore, the operating element can have an electrically insulating and likewise in particular transparent surface layer, which can in particular be a hard coat. From a design perspective, the operating element can therefore advantageously be made completely transparent, although it can otherwise be designed in any desired geometric shape. In addition to an oval or round basic shape, other geometries are possible, so that the operating element can in particular be modeled on an element to be operated.Thus, the control element, particularly in its basic form—that is, a base surface resting on the sensor surface—can be designed, for example, in a seat-like or L-shaped manner for operating a vehicle seat. However, the conductive layer or intermediate layer can, if necessary, be designed asymmetrically or with a predetermined shape in order to be able to determine the orientation or rotation of the control element through a specific capacitive change caused by the asymmetry.

[0016] The capacitive sensor and the control element, and in particular the capacitive coupling of the control element and the measuring or counter electrode, are preferably coordinated such that the overlapping components contribute a correspondingly detectable portion of the capacitive change. For example, the capacitive change upon touching the control element or the capacitive coupling can correspond to a ratio of at least 1:10.

[0017] Furthermore, according to an advantageous development, the at least one capacitive sensor or each of the plurality of capacitive sensors has sensor electronics and at least one measuring electrode. The counter electrode to the measuring electrode is formed by the operator or by the hand and in particular by the finger or fingers of the operator with which the operator touches the operating element. Consequently, the at least one measuring electrode is designed, together with a counter electrode formed by the operator or by the operator's hand or by the operator's fingers, to form a capacitor of an RC oscillator circuit of the sensor electronics. The evaluation unit is designed to determine a charging behavior, which is determined in particular by the charging curve and the charging speed, and a capacitance orto evaluate a change or the course of the change in the capacitance of the capacitor and the RC oscillator circuit to determine the translational movement of the operating element and / or the rotational movement of the operating element and / or the touch of the operating element, whereby the touch of the operating element can in turn be divided into the number of touch points on the operating element and / or the size of the touch points and / or the position of the touch points and / or the number of fingers with which the operator touches the operating element. If a force component is also detected, the evaluation unit can also be designed to determine a force acting on the sensor surface via the operating element.

[0018] For this purpose, a particularly advantageous variant provides that at least one neural network is stored in the evaluation unit. The evaluation unit is thus designed to evaluate the charging behavior and the capacitance or the capacitance profile over time of the RC oscillator circuit using the at least one neural network and to use this information to determine the touch of the control element or the number of touch points on the control element and / or the size of the touch points and / or the position of the touch points and / or the number of fingers with which the operator touches the control element.

[0019] If the detection of the respective further components is also provided, the evaluation unit can also be designed to evaluate the charging behavior and the capacity or the course of the capacity over time of the RC oscillator circuit by means of the at least one neural network and to determine therefrom the translational movement of the operating element and / or the rotational movement of the operating element and / or the force acting on the sensor surface.

[0020] In this case, it should be noted that the neural network is based on an already trained neural network, which can, however, be further trained to meet specific operator requirements within the framework of a learning process.

[0021] In addition to the information provided by the at least one capacitive sensor, the evaluation unit and in particular also the at least one neural network can use further information as an input variable to determine the touch of the operating element or the number of touch points on the operating element and / or the size of the touch points and / or the position of the touch points and / or the number of fingers with which the operator touches the operating element. The same applies to the determination of the translational movement of the operating element and / or the rotational movement of the operating element, provided that their determination is intended. This further information is preferably recorded anyway in the overall system, for example in the vehicle, and therefore does not need to be recorded additionally.For example, the force applied by the force sensor via the operating element to the sensor surface and / or the translational movement of the operating element on the sensor surface detected by the further sensor, which is designed in particular as an optical sensor, and / or the rotational movement of the operating element about a rotation axis determined by the operating element can be used as further information or

[0022] The input variable of the neural network can be used. For example, the seat position detected by position sensors can also be used, which in a simple case can be detected by limit switches.

[0023] Although, in principle, a single neural network can be provided to determine the various sensor information, according to one variant, a first neural network for evaluating at least the translational component and / or a second neural network for evaluating at least the rotational component and / or a third neural network for evaluating at least the haptic component and / or a fourth neural network for evaluating the force component can be stored in the evaluation unit. Instead of a single third neural network for evaluating the haptic component, multiple third neural networks can also be provided.In this variant, the evaluation unit is designed to evaluate the charging behavior and the capacitance of the RC oscillator circuit using at least one of the neural networks, and to use this to determine the translational movement of the operating element, the rotational movement of the operating element, and the touch of the operating element—that is, preferably the number of touch points on the operating element and / or the size of the touch points and / or the position of the touch points and / or the number of fingers with which the operator touches the operating element. If the detection of the force component is also provided, the evaluation unit can be designed to determine the force using the fourth neural network.

[0024] Although the operating element can be freely movable on the sensor surface according to one variant, it is alternatively possible for the operating element to be guided along a guide on the sensor surface that restricts at least one degree of freedom. Furthermore, the operating element can be spring-returned to a home position.

[0025] Experiments have already shown that a neural network or several neural networks can differentiate the overlapping components of the capacitive change and extract, i.e. determine, the individual components, so that the desired quantities can be differentiated and determined.

[0026] The features disclosed above can be combined as desired, as long as this is technically possible and they do not contradict each other.

[0027] Other advantageous developments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims or are presented in more detail below, together with the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the figures. They show:

[0028] Fig. 1 shows a structure of an operating device;

[0029] Fig. 2 shows an example of a signal evaluation. The figures are schematic examples. Identical reference numerals in the figures indicate identical functional and / or structural features.

[0030] Figure 1 shows an exemplary structure of an operating device 1 with an operating element 10, an evaluation device 30 and a capacitive sensor 20, wherein such an operating device 1 can also comprise a plurality of capacitive sensors 20, which are then each connected to the evaluation device 30 for signaling purposes and together provide a sensor surface 24 along or on which the operating element 10 can be moved.

[0031] In the present case, the operating element 10 is freely movable on the sensor surface 24 and is therefore not physically connected to it. The operating element 10, or its mobility, may also be restricted in its degrees of freedom by a corresponding guide or guide device. For example, the operating element 10 could also be movable purely rotationally and not translationally, or purely translationally along a predetermined path.

[0032] It is generally known in the prior art to record operating inputs by means of capacitive changes using a capacitive sensor, wherein a threshold value 32 is often simply used to detect the operating inputs. If the determined capacitance or the capacitive change 33 exceeds the threshold value 32, as shown in diagram 31, an actuation or operating input has occurred and is recognized as such. If the value of the capacitance or the capacitive change 33 is below the threshold value 32, no operating input has occurred. Accordingly, however, it can only be deduced from this whether or not an operating input has occurred. Further information cannot usually be derived from the capacitive change, i.e. the course of the capacitance over time. For example, diagram 31 shows the course of the capacitance ortheir change over time is shown, wherein the operating element 10 is first actuated by a finger F of an operator, which leads to a first maximum 34, and then a second finger F of the operator additionally acts on the operating element 10, which leads to a second maximum 35, wherein the capacitive change 33 fluctuates between the maxima 34, 35. The curve 33 detected by the capacitive sensor 20 is now evaluated in the evaluation unit 30 by means of at least one neural network, whereby various overlapping components of the capacitive change 33 can be detected and individual sensor information can be extracted.

[0033] Thus, from the capacitive change 33 or the course of the change 33, at least one touch of the operating element 10 can be detected and extracted as a haptic component of the capacitive change 33 by means of at least one neural network stored in the evaluation unit 30, wherein the touch can in turn be divided into the position and size of the touch by the finger F or the fingers F of the operator as well as the number of touch points or fingers F. Furthermore, if necessary, a translational movement of the operating element 10 on the sensor surface 24 can also be extracted as a translational component of the capacitive change 33 and / or a rotational movement of the operating element 10 about a rotation axis R determined by the operating element 10 can be extracted as a rotational component of the capacitive change 33.

[0034] The operating element 10 has a glass body as core material 11, an intermediate layer 12 made of ITO acting as a sheet resistance, and an electrically insulating surface layer 13, which is designed as a transparent hard-coat coating, so that the operating element 10 can be completely transparent if required and can have any shape or geometry. Since each measuring electrode 21, 22 and the counter electrode formed by the finger F together form a capacitor of an RC oscillator circuit of the sensor electronics 23, the capacitive change 33, i.e. the charging behavior and the capacitance of the capacitor and the RC oscillator circuit, can be used as the input variable of the neural network.

[0035] Figure 2 schematically shows the evaluation by the evaluation unit 30 or the recording of the operating inputs by the operating device 1.

[0036] First, within the scope of input E, the physical operating input is made via the operating element 10, which leads to a capacitive change 33 in which a translational component 101, a rotational component 102, a haptic component 103 and a force component 104 and possibly further components are superimposed.

[0037] Within the scope of the input E, in particular the components 101, 102, 104 can also be supplied by further sensors or replaced by information which can be provided by further sensors. Thus, the operating device 1 can have at least one further sensor, for example designed as an optical sensor, which is designed to detect the translational movement of the operating element 10 on the sensor surface 24 and / or the rotational movement of the operating element 10 about an axis of rotation R determined by the operating element 10 and to provide this to the input E as an input variable. Furthermore, the operating device 1 can have a force sensor which is designed to detect a force applied to the sensor surface 24 via the operating element 10 and to provide this to the input E as an input variable.The input E with the resulting capacitive change 33 is detected by the capacitive sensor 20 and processed by the evaluation unit 30 as part of the signal processing V. In this case, a signal conditioning 200 preferably first takes place, during which the capacitive change 33 can be subjected to filtering or amplification, for example.

[0038] In the signal processing V, the possibly processed signal and the information provided by other sensors are taken into account! With reference to Figure 2 as an example

[0039] 201 Monitoring of capacitive change 33 with a change in a finger support surface or a change in the size of the touch points

[0040] 202 Temporal analysis of capacitive change 33

[0041] 203 Movement information of control element 10 (translational and / or rotational movement)

[0042] 204 Change in the finger contact area or size of the contact points when a force is applied to the sensor surface 24 via the control element 10

[0043] 205 Analysis of the signal edges of the capacitive change 33

[0044] 206 Analysis of the steady-state capacitance when touching control element 10 (change Z signal plateau)

[0045] 207 Operator Analysis

[0046] In addition, further information or variables can be taken into account. For example, environmental influences (humidity / temperature) or sensor signals from other sensors already present in the vehicle can be considered. The information is then input into one or more neural networks 208, which provide, as output A, information 301 on the movement of the control element 10 (translational and / or rotational movement, trajectory and / or movement speed), information 302 on the touch of the control element 10 (one or two fingers, position of one finger or two fingers on the control element 10) and / or information 303 on a force acting on the sensor surface 24 via the control element 10.

[0047] * * * * *

Claims

Patent claims 1. Operating device (1) for a motor vehicle with an operating element (10), at least one capacitive sensor (20) and an evaluation unit (30) which is designed to evaluate a capacitive change (33) which can be detected by the at least one capacitive sensor (20), wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) has a sensor surface (24) on which the operating element (10) is displaceably mounted, wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) is designed to detect a touch of the operating element (10) by an operator as a haptic component (103) of the capacitive change (33), wherein the evaluation unit (30) is designed to determine the touch of the operating element (10) detected by the haptic component (103) from the capacitive change (33).

2. Operating device according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation unit (30) is designed to determine from the haptic part (103) a number of touch points and / or a size of the touch points and / or a position of the touch points and / or a number of fingers (F) with which the operating element (10) is touched by the operator.

3. Operating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) is designed to detect a translational movement of the operating element (10) on the sensor surface (24) as a translational component (101) of the capacitive change (33), and wherein the evaluation unit (30) is designed to determine from the capacitive change (33) the to determine the translational movement of the operating element (10) detected by the translational component (101), and / or wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) is designed to detect a rotational movement of the operating element (10) about an axis of rotation (R) determined by the operating element (10) as a rotational component (102) of the capacitive change (33), and wherein the evaluation unit (30) is designed to determine the rotational movement of the operating element (10) detected by the rotational component (102) from the capacitive change (33), and / or wherein the operating device (1) has at least one further sensor which is designed to detect the translational movement of the operating element (10) on the sensor surface (24) and / or the rotational movement of the operating element (10) about an axis of rotation (R) determined by the operating element (10).

4. Operating device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) is designed to detect a force applied to the sensor surface (24) via the operating element (10) as a force component (104) of the capacitive change (33), and / or wherein the operating device (1) has a force sensor which is designed to detect a force applied to the sensor surface (24) via the operating element (10).

5. Operating device according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of capacitive sensors (20) which are arranged in a matrix form and together form the sensor surface (24).

6. Operating device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the operating element (10) is formed from an electrically insulating core material (11) and / or has an electrically conductive layer (12) acting as a surface resistance and / or has an electrically insulating surface layer (13).

7. Operating device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one capacitive sensor (20) has sensor electronics (23) and at least one measuring electrode (21, 22), wherein the measuring electrode (21, 22) is designed, together with an operator forming the counter electrode (F), to form a capacitor of an RC oscillator circuit of the sensor electronics (23), and wherein the evaluation unit (30) is designed to evaluate a charging behavior and a capacitance of the capacitor and the RC oscillator circuit to determine the touch of the operating element (10).

8. Operating device according to the preceding claim, wherein at least one neural network is stored in the evaluation unit (30) and the evaluation unit (30) is designed to evaluate the charging behavior and the capacitance of the RC oscillator circuit by means of the at least one neural network and to determine therefrom the contact of the operating element (10).

9. Operating device according to the preceding claim, wherein in the evaluation unit (30) a first neural network for evaluating at least the translational component (101) and / or a second neural network for evaluating at least the rotational component see component (102) and / or a third neural network for evaluating at least the haptic component (103) and / or a fourth neural network for evaluating the force component (104) and the evaluation unit (30) is designed to evaluate the charging behavior and the capacitance of the RC oscillator circuit by means of at least one of the neural networks and to determine therefrom the translatory movement of the operating element (10), the rotary movement of the operating element (10), the contact of the operating element (10) and / or a force acting on the sensor surface (24) via the operating element (10).

10. Operating device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the operating element (10) is freely movable on the sensor surface (24) or wherein the operating element (10) is guided along a guide on the sensor surface (24) that restricts at least one degree of freedom. * * * * *

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