Methods and apparatus for estimating and controlling behavior of animatronics units
AssigneePixar
InventorsJohn Anderson, Rob Cook
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for determining behavior of an animatronics unit includes receiving animation data comprising artistically determined motions for at least a portion of an animated character, determining a plurality of control signals to be applied to at least the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the animation data, estimating the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the plurality of control signals by driving a software simulation of at least the portion of the animatronics unit with the plurality of control signals, and outputting a representation of the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit to a user.
Claims20
A method for determining behavior of an animatronics unit comprising:
- receiving animation data comprising artistically determined motions for at least a portion of an animated character;
- determining a plurality of control signals to be applied to the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the animation data;
- estimating the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the plurality of control signals by driving a software simulation of at least the portion of the animatronics unit with the plurality of control signals;
- and
- outputting a representation of the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit to a user.
A computer system for determining behavior of an animatronics unit comprising:
- a memory configured to store animation data comprising artistically determined motions for at least a portion of an animated character;
- a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to determine a plurality of control signals to be applied to the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the animation data, wherein the processor is configured to estimate the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the plurality of control signals by driving a software simulation of at least the portion of the animatronics unit with the plurality of control signals, and wherein the processor is configured to output a representation of the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit to a user.
A computer program product resident on a tangible media comprises executable code that is executable on a computer system, wherein the computer system includes a processor and a memory, the computer program product comprising:
- code configured to direct the processor to receive animation data comprising artistically determined motions for at least a portion of an animated character;
- code configured to direct the processor to determine a plurality of control signals to be applied to the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the animation data;
- code configured to direct the processor to estimate the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit in response to the plurality of control signals by driving a software simulation of at least the portion of the animatronics unit with the plurality of control signals;
- code configured to direct the processor to output a representation of the behavior of at least the portion of the animatronics unit to a user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.