Optical Joystick Movement Sensing for Miniaturized Rotation Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Miniaturization of game controllers limits the sensitivity of detecting joystick movement, making it difficult to accurately detect rotation and translation.
Innovation Solution
A movement detection method and joystick device that utilize a navigation pattern with a center pattern and a radial pattern, where an image sensor captures and processes images to compute translation and rotation angles based on the pattern shifts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the game controller is miniaturized to make it thinner and lighter, then the size of the controller is reduced, but the sensitivity of detecting joystick movement is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional mechanical or capacitive sensing to optical image sensing, adding a dimensional shift from physical contact-based detection to light-based pattern recognition. This allows the use of a camera module to capture radial pattern images, enabling movement detection through image processing rather than direct mechanical sensing, thus maintaining sensitivity in a miniaturized form factor
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the detection parameter from mechanical displacement or electrical capacitance to optical image characteristics. By capturing radial pattern images and analyzing pixel intensity distributions, the system transforms physical movement into optical parameter changes that can be precisely measured even in small devices
2Device complexity
If traditional sensing methods are used in miniaturized controllers, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision of rotation and translation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical or electrical sensing mechanisms with an optical imaging system. Instead of using complex mechanical linkages or capacitive arrays, the system uses a camera module to capture images of a radial pattern, substituting mechanical sensing with optical field detection that achieves higher precision in a more compact configuration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an optical copy of the movement information by projecting a radial pattern and capturing its image. The movement of the joystick is copied into the displacement and distortion of the radial pattern in the image plane, allowing precise measurement through image analysis rather than direct mechanical measurement
Data Source
AI summary
A movement detection method, applied to a navigation input device with a navigation pattern comprising a center pattern and a radial pattern. The movement detection method comprises: (a) capturing a sensing image comprising a center pattern image and at least portion of a radial pattern image by an image sensor, wherein the center pattern image corresponds to the center pattern and the radial pattern image corresponding to the radial pattern; (b) computing a translation of the navigation input device according to shift of the center pattern image; and (c) computing a rotation angle of the navigation input device according to a first pattern relation between the center pattern image and a first portion of the radial pattern image. The translation and the rotation angle can be precisely and sensitively detected even if the joystick device is miniaturized, since the translation and the rotation angle are computed according to the navigation pattern.