Conical Mirror and TOF Sensor for Large Surface Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional whiteboards and chalkboards are not easily integrated with electronic information displays, require specialized writing surfaces, and information captured electronically is costly to implement, especially for large areas, as existing solutions involve costly touchscreens or complex sensor configurations.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus using a conical mirror and a time-of-flight sensor array to determine the position of objects on a planar surface, capturing ranged images and processing them to determine the object's position relative to the mirror's axis, allowing for cost-effective and space-efficient electronic writing capture without the need for extensive hardware overlays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a touchscreen is used to enable touch input capability on a display, then the display can detect user input, but the cost increases proportionally or exponentially with the increasing area of the screen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary optical system consisting of a conical mirror and TOF sensor array that mediates between the user's touch input and the display system. This intermediary approach allows touch detection without requiring the display surface itself to be touch-sensitive, thereby avoiding the exponential cost increase associated with large-area touchscreen implementations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical touch sensing system with an optical measurement system. Instead of using capacitive or resistive touch sensors integrated into the display, the system uses optical time-of-flight measurement to detect the position of objects interacting with the display surface, substituting a costly mechanical sensing approach with a more scalable optical approach.
2Productivity
If electronic scanning capability is added to whiteboards to capture information electronically, then information can be captured for computerized processing, but the scanning mechanism must span the entire whiteboard and be configured for controlled mechanical movement, increasing complexity and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a one-dimensional linear scanning approach to a two-dimensional field-of-view measurement approach. By using a conical mirror to reflect light from the entire whiteboard surface into the TOF sensor array, the system captures spatial information across the entire surface simultaneously rather than scanning point-by-point, thereby eliminating the need for complex mechanical scanning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an optical copy or representation of the entire whiteboard surface in the sensor's field of view. The conical mirror system effectively maps the spatial positions of objects on the whiteboard surface to corresponding positions in the sensor array, allowing electronic capture of information without physical contact or mechanical scanning.
3Ease of manufacture
If a conical mirror and TOF sensor array are used to determine object position, then cost-effective and space-efficient electronic writing capture is enabled, but the system requires precise spatial relationship and calibration between the mirror and sensor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-calibration mechanism where the system automatically determines the spatial relationship between the conical mirror and TOF sensor array by analyzing the reflected light patterns. This self-service approach eliminates the need for manual precision calibration during assembly, reducing the impact of manufacturing tolerances on the final system performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables cost-effective and space-efficient electronic writing capture on large surfaces, adaptable to existing displays, by using a conical mirror and TOF sensor array to determine object positions, reducing the need for expensive touchscreens and complex sensor configurations.
Implementation Method 1
a conical mirror having an axis that is perpendicular to the planar surface and a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor array having a spatial relationship to the conical mirror such that a field of view of the TOF sensor array is reflected radially from the conical mirror in a plurality of directions across the planar surface
Implementation Method 2
a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor array having a spatial relationship to the conical mirror such that a field of view of the TOF sensor array is reflected radially from the conical mirror
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for determining a position of an object on a planar surface is provided. The apparatus includes a conical mirror having an axis that is perpendicular to the planar surface and a time-of-flight sensor array having a spatial relationship to the conical mirror such that a field of view of the time of flight sensor array is reflected radially from the conical mirror in a plurality of directions across the planar surface. The apparatus also includes electrical circuitry configured to receive a ranged image captured by the time-of-flight sensor array through the conical mirror, process the ranged image to determine the position of the object on the planar surface by determining an angle and a radius of the object relative to the axis of the conical mirror, and transmit the position of the object to a display system.