# US 2013/0239787 A1 · Multi-touch pad controller > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0239787 A1 - Document ID: US20130239787A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/799,304 - Filed: 2013-03-13 - Published: 2013-09-19 - Earliest claimed: 2012-03-14 - Assignees: Kesumo LLC - Applicants: Kesumo LLC - Inventors: Keith McMillen; Daniel Eric McAnulty - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130239787A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/04166: {Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving (Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184)} - G06F 1/16: Constructional details or arrangements - G06F 3/04144: {using an array of force sensing means (position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells G06F3/0447)} - G06F 3/04847: Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials - G06F 3/0485: Scrolling or panning - G06F 3/0488: using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures - G10H 1/00: Details of electrophonic musical instruments - G10H 1/0008: {Associated control or indicating means} - G10H 1/02: Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos - G10H 1/0556: {using piezoelectric means} - G10H 1/34: Switch arrangements, e.g. keyboards or mechanical switches specially adapted for electrophonic musical instruments - G06F 2203/04104: Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger - G06F 2203/04105: Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position - G10H 2220/061: LED, i.e. using a light-emitting diode as indicator - G10H 2220/096: using a touch screen - G10H 2230/015: PDA [personal digital assistant] or palmtop computing devices used for musical purposes, e.g. portable music players, tablet computers, e-readers or smart phones in which mobile telephony functions need not be used - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G10H: ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE ## Abstract A highly configurable controller is described that includes a number of different types of control mechanisms that emulate a wide variety of conventional control mechanisms using pressure and location sensitive sensors that generate high-density control information which may be mapped to the controls of a wide variety of devices and software. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A controller, comprising N control pads and one or more processors, N being an integer greater than zero, each control pad having sensor circuitry associated therewith configured to generate one or more sensor signals representing corresponding touch events on a corresponding surface of the control pad, the one or more sensor signals associated with each control pad also representing corresponding locations of the touch events on the surface of the control pad, the one or more processors being configured to generate control information from the sensor signals, wherein in a first operational mode the one or more processors are configured to map the control information to N control functions, and wherein in a second operational mode the one or more processors are configured to map the control information to N×M control functions corresponding to the locations of the touch events on the surfaces of the N control pads, M being an integer greater than one. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The controller of claim 1, wherein N is 16 and M is 4, wherein the N control pads are arranged in a 4×4 array, and wherein the locations of the touch events on the surfaces of the N control pads corresponding to the N×M control functions form an 8×8 control array. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The controller of claim 1, wherein the first mode of operation corresponds to a drum pad controller, and wherein the second mode of operation corresponds to a grid controller. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The controller of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensor signals associated with each control pad also represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the control pad, and wherein the pressure of the touch events is reflected in the control information. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The controller of claim 1, wherein the sensor circuitry associated with each control pad includes four sensor quadrants, each sensor quadrant including first conductive elements connected to a first voltage reference and second conductive elements connected to a second voltage reference, at least some of the first and second conductive elements being connected to the corresponding voltage reference via a resistive element, the sensor circuitry also comprising a conductive material configured to make contact with at least some of the first and second conductive elements in at least some of the sensor quadrants in response to the touch events, thereby forming one or more voltage dividers corresponding to the sensor quadrants with which contact is made. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The controller of claim 5, wherein the conductive material or at least some of the first and second conductive elements comprise a piezoresistive material. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The controller of claim 5 wherein the first and second conductive elements are arranged as concentric conductive traces across the four sensor quadrants, at least some of the concentric conductive traces being discontinuous, thereby defining the four sensor quadrants. ### Claim 8 A sensor configured to generate one or more sensor signals representing corresponding touch events on a corresponding surface associated with the sensor, the sensor comprising sensor circuitry that includes four sensor quadrants, each sensor quadrant including first conductive elements connected to a first voltage reference and second conductive elements connected to a second voltage reference, at least some of the first and second conductive elements being connected to the corresponding voltage reference via a resistive element, the sensor circuitry also comprising a conductive material configured to make contact with at least some of the first and second conductive elements in at least some of the sensor quadrants in response to the touch events, thereby forming one or more voltage dividers corresponding to the sensor quadrants with which contact is made. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The sensor of claim 8, wherein the conductive material or at least some of the first and second conductive elements comprise a piezoresistive material. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The sensor of claim 8, wherein the first and second conductive elements are arranged as concentric conductive traces across the four sensor quadrants, at least some of the concentric conductive traces being discontinuous, thereby defining the four sensor quadrants. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The sensor of claim 8, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent corresponding locations of the touch events on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The sensor of claim 11, wherein the touch events correspond to an object in contact with the surface of the sensor, and wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent movement of the object across the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The sensor of claim 12, wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor, and wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent wiggling of the object on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The sensor of claim 8, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 15 (depends on 8) A control system comprising at least one instance of the sensor of claim 8, the control system also comprising one or more processors configured to generate control information from the one or more sensor signals, and to map the control information to one or more control functions. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The control system of claim 13 wherein the one or more control functions include cursor control, musical effect control, or commands to change state of a system. ### Claim 17 A sensor configured to generate one or more sensor signals representing corresponding touch events on a corresponding surface associated with the sensor, the sensor comprising sensor circuitry that includes an arrangement of conductive elements, first one of the conductive elements being connected to a voltage reference, and second ones of the conductive elements being configured to receive sequential drive signals, at least some of the first and second conductive elements being connected to a resistive element, the sensor circuitry also comprising a conductive material configured to make contact with at least some of the first and second conductive elements at locations associated with the touch events, thereby forming one or more voltage dividers when the second conductive elements with which contact by the conductive material is made are driven by a corresponding one of the sequential drive signals. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The sensor of claim 17, wherein the conductive material or at least some of the first and second conductive elements comprise a piezoresistive material. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The sensor of claim 17, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent corresponding locations of the touch events on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The sensor of claim 19, wherein the touch events correspond to an object in contact with the surface of the sensor, and wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent movement of the object across the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The sensor of claim 20, wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor, and wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent wiggling of the object on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The sensor of claim 19, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent the corresponding locations of multiple and simultaneous ones of the touch events on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 23 (depends on 17) The sensor of claim 17, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The sensor of claim 23, wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent corresponding locations of multiple and simultaneous ones of the touch events on the surface of the sensor. ### Claim 25 (depends on 17) The sensor of claim 17, wherein the arrangement of the first and second conductive elements is an alternating arrangement of the first and second conductive elements. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The sensor of claim 25, wherein the alternating arrangement of the first and second conductive elements comprises one of linear, circular, or rectilinear. ### Claim 27 (depends on 17) A control system comprising at least one instance of the sensor of claim 17, the control system also comprising one or more processors configured drive the second conductive elements with the sequential drive signals, to generate control information from the one or more sensor signals, and to map the control information to one or more control functions. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The control system of claim 27, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor, wherein a first one of the touch events corresponds to the conductive material making contact with more than one pair of the first and second conductive elements, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the control information to represent a first location of the first touch event as corresponding to one of the pairs of the first and second conductive element with reference to the representation of the pressure of the first touch event in the one or more sensor signals. ### Claim 29 (depends on 27) The control system of claim 27, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor, wherein the one or more sensor signals also represent corresponding locations of multiple and simultaneous ones of the touch events on the surface of the sensor, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the control information to represent the pressure associated with each of the simultaneous touch events. ### Claim 30 (depends on 27) The control system of claim 27, wherein the one or more sensor signals represent corresponding locations and pressure of the touch events on the surface of the sensor, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to map the control information to multiple control functions corresponding to different gestures. ### Claim 31 (depends on 27) The control system of claim 27, wherein the first and second conductive elements are each wedge-shaped and the arrangement of the first and second conductive elements is an alternating circular arrangement of the first and second conductive elements, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the control information to represent a distance from a center of the circular arrangement based on a number of the conductive elements represented in the one or more sensor signals. ### Claim 32 A computer-implemented method for configuring a music controller to operate with one or more of a plurality of music applications from a plurality of different vendors, the method comprising: presenting the plurality of music applications as selectable options in a user interface of a computing device; receiving one or more selections of the music applications; identifying a location in memory of the computing device for each selected music application; and storing a plurality of script code files in each location, each script code file mapping control information generated by the music controller to functions of the selected music application for the corresponding location; wherein each selected music application is configured to perform the functions in response to the control information from the controller using the script code files stored in the corresponding location in the memory of the computing device. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The method of claim 32, further comprising storing copies of the script code files in one or more directories in the memory of the computing device separate from the locations for each of the selected music applications. ### Claim 34 (depends on 32) The method of claim 32, further comprising storing an example file for each selected music application in the memory of the computing device, each example file including code representing one or more sounds that may be generated using the corresponding selected music application in conjunction with the controller. ### Claim 35 A computer program product for configuring a music controller to operate with one or more of a plurality of music applications from a plurality of different vendors, the computer program product comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer program instructions stored therein that are configured such that, when executed by a computing device, the computer program instructions cause the computing device to: present the plurality of music applications as selectable options in a user interface of the computing device; receive one or more selections of the music applications; identify a location in memory of the computing device for each selected music application; and store a plurality of script code files in each location, each script code file mapping control information generated by the music controller to functions of the selected music application for the corresponding location; wherein each selected music application is configured to perform the functions in response to the control information from the controller using the script code files stored in the corresponding location in the memory of the computing device.