Wearable Force Sensing for Task-Aware Command Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in allowing users to provide intuitive, repeatable, and voluntary commands while engaged in tasks, as physically independent signals are often not feasible due to cognitive bottlenecks and interference with task performance.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising sensors on the user's body that detect forces applied during tasks, allowing command identification through operational ranges and null spaces, enabling users to communicate commands even when hands or body parts are occupied, by distinguishing between task and command signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If physically independent signals are used for command input, then command clarity is improved, but user cognitive load increases and task performance is interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The command input is segmented into multiple dimensions: task performance signals and command signals are separated through operational range analysis. The system divides the signal space into task-related operational ranges and command-related null spaces, allowing simultaneous task execution and command input without cognitive conflict
Solution Approach 2:
The force sensing system serves multiple functions: it detects both task performance forces and command input forces through the same sensor array. By analyzing signals within operational ranges and null spaces, the system universally handles both task execution monitoring and command recognition without requiring separate input modalities
2Adaptability or versatility
If sensors are worn on body parts during task performance, then command input capability is maintained, but signal differentiation between task and command becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from temporal signal analysis to dimensional signal analysis by introducing operational range and null space dimensions. Commands are detected not by timing or amplitude alone, but by their projection onto specific dimensional subspaces (null spaces) that are orthogonal to task signal spaces, enabling clear differentiation despite simultaneous occurrence
Solution Approach 2:
The operational range analysis acts as an intermediary that mediates between raw sensor signals and command interpretation. By defining task-specific operational ranges and identifying null spaces relative to these ranges, the system creates an intermediate representation that clearly distinguishes task forces from command forces
3Ease of operation
If force sensors are integrated into wearable devices, then intuitive command input is enabled, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The force sensing system leverages the user's own body forces during natural task performance as the command input mechanism. The operational range analysis automatically adapts to the specific task being performed, and commands are issued through natural variations in force application that the system self-calibrates to recognize, eliminating the need for separate control interfaces or complex calibration procedures
Data Source
AI summary
A system and a method for controlling a system are described. The system includes a plurality of sensors configured to be worn on a user's body. The plurality of sensors are configured to generate a plurality of signals in response to forces applied by corresponding portions of a user's body. The system also includes a processor configured to receive the plurality of signals. The processor is configured to identify commands from the user based at least partly on the plurality of signals and an operational range and/or null space of the plurality of signals for a task being performed by the user. The processor is configured to control an operation of the system based on the identified commands.