Remote-controlled motion apparatus with acceleration self-sense and remote control apparatus therefor

[0001] This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 096110076 filed in Taiwan, Republic of China on Mar. 23, 2007, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0002] 1. Field of Invention

[0003] This invention relates to a remote-controlled motion apparatus which includes a remote-controlled device and a remote controller.

[0004] 2. Related Art

[0005] Conventional remote control system uses a remote controller and a remote-controlled device, the user operates the remote controller to control the motion of the remote-controlled device. As shown in the FIG. 1 a remote controller 1 includes a manual input module 11 and a communication module 12, the manual input module 11 includes a stick and a variable resistor, the user uses the stick to move the variable resistor and change its resistance, and to generate different voltage output for every different stick positions. The output voltage, which is called the control signal S_CNT, uses different voltage levels to represent different input data, the communication module 12 connects to the input module 11's output and transmits the control signal S_CNT.

[0006] A remote-controlled model airplane 2 includes a communication module 21, a controller 22, a motor 23 and a rear fin 24, the communication module 21 receives the control signal S_CNT which is transmitted from the remote controller 1, the controller 22 connects to the communication module 21 and controls the motor 23 (or servo) according to the received control signal S_CNT, the motor 23 connects to the rear fin 24 and changes the angle of the rear fin 24, as a result the model airplane 2's flying attitude is controlled and changed. In most designs, the rear fin's angle is synchronized to the stick position of the remote controller 1, that is, the rear fin's angle is controlled by the voltage level of the control signal S_CNT.

[0007] Generally the remote controller uses a stick to control a switch or change a variable resistor's resistance to generate control signals, these kinds of controlling methods can only generate two X and Y axes control signals by one hand, if a 3-D X, Y and Z axes control is needed, two hands are required for control or extra switches are needed to switch the control, it requires two hands to control simultaneously and it's not an easy task at all. And since the stick is used to control the rear fin, which means the larger angle of the stick generates the larger angle at the rear fin, this kind of control method requires the user to use their own eyes to identify the resulting motion of the controlled aircraft and adjust the angle immediately, which makes it even more difficult to control.

[0008] Regarding the above-mentioned problems, it is an objective of the invention to provide an acceleration self-sensed control apparatus for a remote-controlled device and a remote controller. With the invention, the user can use the remote controller to control the remote-controlled device's motion with an acceleration self-sense capability.

[0009] According to the invention, the remote-controlled device is controlled by a remote controller. The remote controller transmits a target motion signal to the remote-controlled device. The remote-controlled device comprises a communication module, an acceleration sensing module, a processing module and a driving module. The communication module receives the target motion signal from the remote controller, the acceleration sensing module detects the acceleration of the remote-controlled device and outputs an acceleration sensing signal, the processing module connects to the acceleration sensing module and the communication module, and compares the acceleration sensing signal and the target motion signal to output a driving control signal, the driving module connects to the processing module and receives the driving control signal, and adjusts the motion drivers of the remote-controlled device according to the driver control signal.

[0010] According to the invention, a remote controller controls a remote-controlled device, the remote controller comprises an acceleration sensing module and a communication module, the acceleration sensing module detects the acceleration of the remote controller and outputs an acceleration sensing signal, the communication module connects to the acceleration sensing module and, in a first operating mode, the remote controller transmits a first target motion signal according to the acceleration sensing signal, and the remote-controlled device, which detects its own acceleration, refers to its own acceleration sensing signal to adjust and keep its acceleration of motion to align with the first target motion signal. The communication module, in a second operation mode, transmits a second target motion signal according to the acceleration sensing signal, and the remote-controlled device, which detects its own acceleration, refers to its own acceleration sensing signal to adjust and keep its moving velocity in the direction of acceleration to align with the first target motion signal.

[0011] According to the invention, a remote controller controls a remote-controlled device, the remote controller comprises a manual input module and a communication module, the manual input module comprises at least one direction control unit to output a direction control signal, the communication module connects to the manual input module and, in a first operation mode, transmits a first target motion signal according to the direction control signal, and the remote-controlled device, which detects its own acceleration, refers to its own acceleration sensing signal to adjust and keep its acceleration of motion to align with the first target motion signal. The communication module, in a second operation mode, transmits a second target motion signal according to the acceleration sensing signal, and the remote-controlled device, which detects its own acceleration, refers to its own acceleration sensing signal to adjust and keep its moving velocity in the direction of acceleration to align with the first target motion signal.

[0012] In summary, in the invention, the remote-controlled device detects its own acceleration and uses the acceleration data as a controlling feedback, and by synchronizing its acceleration of motion with the target motion signal from the remote controller, the motion of the remote-controlled device is synchronized with the motion of the remote controller. The invention makes the remote control operation become an easy task, and greatly reduces the risk of out of control situation.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 2, the remote controller 3 transmits a target motion signal STAR to control the motion of remote-controlled device 4.

[0021] The remote-controlled device 4 consists of a communication module 41, an acceleration sensing module 42, a processing module 43 and a driving module 44. The communication module 41 receives the target motion signal S_TAR from the remote controller 3, the acceleration sensing module 42 detects the acceleration of the remote-controlled device 4 and outputs an acceleration sensing signal S_ACC, the processing module 43 connects to the acceleration sensing module 42 and the communication module 41, and outputs a driving control signal S_DRV after processing the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC and the target motion signal S_TAR, the driving module 44 connects to the processing module 43 and receives the driving control signal S_DRV, and controls the motion of the remote-controlled device 4 according to the driving control signal S_DRV.

[0022] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the remote controller 3 consists of an acceleration sensing module 31 and a communication module 33, the acceleration module 31 detects the acceleration of the remote controller 3 and outputs an acceleration sensing signal S_G, the communication module 33 connects to the acceleration module 31 and transmits a target motion signal S_TAR according to the acceleration sensing signal S_G, the target motion signal S_TAR is used to control the remote-controlled device 4 to keep its acceleration of motion to align with the target motion signal S_TAR. The acceleration sensing signal S_G is used to represent the acceleration information of the remote controller 3.

[0023] The acceleration sensing module 31 consists of an accelerometer to detect the remote controller's acceleration in the X, Y and Z axes. Since the gravity of the earth is a constant and vertical to the ground surface, when the remote controller 3 is held by the user and is moved with a motion related to the ground surface, the acceleration sensing module 31 will detect a change in the acceleration since the remote controller body's angle or position to the ground has been changed, so the resulting acceleration sensing signal S_G will be changed.

[0024] In the user's operation, the user holds the remote controller 3 and moves it or rotate it, the acceleration sensing module 31 in the remote controller 3 will detect a change in acceleration, and accordingly outputs an acceleration sensing signal S_G, the acceleration sensing signal S_G provides the communication module 33 a reference to transmit the target motion signal S_TAR to control the remote-controlled device 4. For example, the acceleration sensing signal S_G contains three voltage levels to represent the accelerations of X, Y and Z axes, the three voltage levels can be converted and transmitted by the communication module 33 (such as using radio transmission with the PCM coding technique). The user can even use only one hand to operate the remote controller 3 and generate the 3-D X, Y and Z axes target motion signal S_TAR.

[0025] The acceleration sensing module 42 includes an accelerometer to detect the acceleration of the remote-controlled device 4 and outputs an acceleration sensing signal S_ACC. Similar to the remote controller 3, the acceleration sensing module 42 can detect a change in the acceleration due to the motion of the remote-controlled device 4, and the processing module 43 compares the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC with the target motion signal S_TAR and generates a driving control signal S_DRV to control the motors or servo units and makes the remote-controlled device 4 to generate a synchronized motion with the remote controller 3. For example, the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC and the target motion signal S_TAR both include three data of voltage levels which represent the three acceleration values in X, Y and Z axes, and the processing module 43 can directly compare these data of voltage levels to generate the driving control signal S_DRV.

[0026] In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the target motion signal S_TAR includes the acceleration information of the remote controller 3, the acceleration information includes the earth gravity information in it. According to the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC, the processing module 43 can calculate the motion direction of the remote-controlled device 4. The processing module 43 compares the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC and the target motion signal S_TAR, calculates their acceleration differences, and uses the difference data to output the corresponding driving control signal S_DRV.

[0027] To reduce the acceleration differences, the driving control signal S_DRV is output to the driving module 44 to adjust the motion of the remote-controlled device 4, as a result the remote-controlled device 4's motion will be synchronized with the remote controller 3, which means the remote-controlled device 4 has the ability of self-adjustment in the motion and is controlled in a closed-loop real-time feedback mode, this makes the remote control an easier job than before.

[0028] The communication module 41 comprises a receiver to receive the target signal from the remote controller 3, and transfers the target signal into a base-band signal. The processing module comprises a microcontroller, or a microprocessor, or a digital signal processor, or a comparator circuit. In advance, the processing module can comprise a memory unit to store a look-up table of the relationship between the acceleration and the motion, and the processing module can use the look-up table to calculate the motion of the remote-controlled device 4 from the input of the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC.

[0029] The remote-controlled device 4 can be a remote-controlled airplane (fixed-wing aircraft), or a remote-controlled helicopter, or a remote-controlled car or a remote-controlled robot. In most cases the remote-controlled airplane comprises at least one wing and at least one driving unit. The driving unit is connected to the processing module to receive the driving control signal, and adjusts the pitch of the wing according to the driving control signal. The wing could be a main wing, or a horizontal stabilizer or a vertical stabilizer. The remote-controlled helicopter comprises at least one rotor and at least one driving unit, the driving unit is connected to the processing module to receive the driving control signal, and adjusts the rotor's rotating speed or the pitch, the rotor is a horizontal rotor or a tail rotor. The driving unit could be a motor or a servo or the like.

[0030] The following descriptions use a remote-controlled airplane and a remote-control helicopter as the examples.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 3, the remote-controlled device 4 is a remote-controlled airplane. The driving module 44 includes three servos 441˜443, a main wing 444, a horizontal stabilizer 445 and a vertical stabilizer 446. The processing module 43 connects to the servos 441˜443, the processing module 43 receives and calculates the differences of the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC and the target motion signal S_TAR, and outputs the driving control signals S_DRV1˜S_DRV3 to control the servos 441˜443 and adjust the main wing's ailerons and the angles of the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, and so the motion of the remote-controlled device 4 is controlled.

[0032] As the remote controller 3 is held and moved with a motion in the roll or pitch direction, the processing module 4 will output the driving control signal S_DRV1, S_DRV2 and S_DRV3, which control the servos 441, 442 and 443 correspondingly, to change the ailerons of the main wing 444, the angle of the horizontal stabilizer 445 and the vertical stabilizer 446. The roll and pitch motion of the remote-controlled device 4 is thus adjusted and synchronized with the motion of the remote controller 3.

[0033] When the remote-controlled device 4's motion is gradually aligned with the remote controller 3, the differences between the received target motion signal S_TAR and the detected acceleration sensing signal S_ACC from the acceleration sensing module 42 will become smaller or zero, the output driving control signal S_DRV1, S_DRV2 and S_DRV3 from the processing module will then be kept at a value to keep the motion aligned. In the example, the acceleration sensing signal S_ACC plays like a feedback signal for the processing module 43 to control the servos 441, 442 and 443 to gradually adjust the ailerons of the main wing 444 and the angles of the horizontal stabilizer 445 and vertical stabilizer 446, and finally aligns the roll and pitch motion of the remote-controlled device 4 with the remote controller 3. The motion control is thus completed in a closed-loop real time feedback system.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 4, the remote-controlled device 4 is a remote-controlled helicopter, the driving module 44 comprises two servos 447 and 448, a main rotor 449 and a tail rotor 440, the servos 447 and 448 is connected to the processing module 43 to receive the driving control signal S_DRV4 and S_DRV5, and to adjust the pitch of the main rotor 449 and the tail rotor 440 to control the motion of the remote-controlled device 4. The basic control theory is quite the same with the remote-controlled airplanes as described in the previous sections. The motion of the remote-controlled helicopter is thus controlled in a closed-loop real time feedback system.

[0035] In the preferred embodiment, the remote controller 3 does not need a complicated control stick system, the user can hold the remote controller 3 by only one hand and generate a real 3D control signal, and the remote-controlled device 4 can be automatically synchronized with the motion of the remote controller 3, as a result the controlling of the remote-controlled device 4 becomes very easy and straight forward, and the risk of going into out of control situation is greatly reduced.

[0036] In another preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5, a remote controller 5 comprises an acceleration sensing module 51, a communication module 53 and a manual input module 54. Different with the previous example, the remote controller 5 has three operation modes.

[0037] The first operation mode is the same with the previous example, the acceleration sensing module 51 detects the acceleration of the remote controller 5 and outputs an acceleration sensing signal S_G, the communication module 53 connects to the acceleration sensing module 51 and transmits a first target motion signal S_TAR1 according to the acceleration sensing signal S_G, the first target motion signal S_TAR1 controls the motion of the remote-controlled device 4 to align with the acceleration sensing signal S_G. As so, the remote-controlled device 4 detects its own acceleration and receives the first target motion signal S_TAR1 to align itself with the acceleration sensing signal S_G. The detailed operation is the same and can be found in the previous examples. In short, the first operation mode uses the acceleration sensing signal S_G and the first target motion signal S_TAR1 to control the motion of the remote-controlled device 4.

[0038] In a second operation mode, the manual input module 54, which comprises at least one direction control unit 55, outputs a direction control signal S_CNT. The communication module 53 connects to the manual input module 54 and transmits a second target motion signal S_TAR2 according to the direction control signal S_CNT, and the second target motion signal S_TAR2 controls the motion of the remote-controlled device 4. In short, the second operation mode uses the direction control signal S_CNT and the second target motion signal S_TAR2 to control the motion of the remote-controlled device 4.

[0039] In a third operation mode, the communication module 53 transmits a third target motion signal S_TAR3 according to the acceleration sensing signal S_G and the direction control signal S_CNT, the third target motion signal S_TAR3 is used to control the motion of the remote-controlled device 4 to align with both the acceleration sensing signal S_G and the direction control signal S_CNT. So the remote-controlled device 4 detects its own acceleration and receives the third target motion signal S_TAR3 to align itself with the motion of the remote controller 5. In short, the third operation mode uses the acceleration sensing signal S_G, the direction control signal S_CNT and the third target motion signal S_TAR3 to control the motion of the remote-controlled device 4.

[0040] Furthermore, the remote controller 5 comprises a configuration switch module 52. The configuration switch module 52 selects the mode of operation, which means it selects the acceleration sensing module 51 and/or the manual input module 54 as the input for the communication module 53.

[0041] And when the configuration switch module 52 switches the selection between the acceleration sensing module 51 and the manual input module 54, the communication module 53 can transmit commands to inform the remote-controlled device 4 about the selection.

[0042] Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, an example of the manual input module 54 is shown. The manual input module 54 has a direction control stick 541. Referring to FIG. 6, which is an example for the remote-controlled airplane in the second operation mode, the Y direction offset of the control stick 541 controls the remote-controlled airplane's pitch, and the X direction offset controls the remote-controlled airplane's roll. When the control stick 541 is in its neutral center position, the remote-controlled airplane is controlled at a flying position parallel to the ground surface. When the user pushes the stick backward, the airplane climbs up. When the user pushes the stick forward, the airplane dives. When the user pushes the stick left or right, the airplane rolls left or right.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 7, which is an example for the remote-controlled helicopter, the Y direction offset of the control stick 541 represents the desired pitch for the horizontal rotor, and the X direction offset represents the desired pitch for the tail rotor. When the user pushes the stick backward, the helicopter descends. When the user pushed the stick forward, the helicopter ascends. When the user pushes the stick left or right, the helicopter turns left or right.

[0044] Referring to FIG. 8, in another preferred embodiment of the invention, the remote controller 6 comprises a manual input module 64, a configuration switch module 62 and a communication module 63, in different with the FIG. 5, the remote controller 6 does not have the acceleration sensing module, but simply use the manual input module 64 to provide two different operation modes.

[0045] In this example, the communication module 63 connects to the manual input module 64, and in a first operation mode a first target motion signal S_TAG1 is transmitted according to the direction control signal S_CNT, the remote-controlled device 4 detects its own acceleration and compares with the received first target motion signal S_TAG1, and according to the comparison result to control its motion to keep aligned with the direction control signal S_CNT. In this mode the target motion signal S_TAG1 is an absolute acceleration value to the remote-controlled device 4. In a second operation mode a second target motion signal S_TAG2 is transmitted according to the direction control signal S_CNT, the remote-controlled device 4 takes the second target motion signal S_TAG2 as a moving velocity to be fulfilled in the direction of motion, as a result the remote-controlled device will continue its movement in the desired direction until the second target motion signal S_TAG2 returns to a neutral or zero value. In this mode the target motion signal S_TAG2 is a relative acceleration value to the remote-controlled device 4. And the detailed operation of motion in the remote-controlled device 4 is the same with the previous examples.

[0046] According to the above descriptions, in the remote-controlled device with acceleration self-sense ability and the remote controller of the invention, the remote-controlled device can detect its own acceleration to form a closed-loop real-time feedback, and synchronize its motion with the target motion signal from the remote controller, which makes the operation of the remote controller becomes simple, straight forward and no need to count on the user's visual feedback, and thus greatly reduces the risk of out of control situation.

[0047] Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.