Tactile control system
AssigneeElwha LLC
InventorsRoderick A. Hyde, Jordin T. Kare, Lowell L. Wood, JR.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tactile control system includes a control member configurable between a plurality of physical configurations and configured to receive manual input from a user. The tactile control system also includes a transducer coupled to the control member and configured to generate a signal based on the manual input from the user, and an actuator coupled to the transducer and the control member and configured to change the physical configuration of the control member based on the signal.
Claims28
A method for providing a tactile indication of a variable state of a control member, the method comprising:
- providing a control member having a plurality of physical configurations and being configured to receive manual input from a user;
- receiving, by a controller, a signal based on the manual input;
- and
- changing, by the controller, the physical configuration of the control member based on the signal, wherein the physical configuration of the control member provides a tactile indication of the variable state associated with the control member;
- and
- wherein the variable state is based on a current device or a current system configured to be modified by the control member.
A control system, comprising:
- a graspable control member having a plurality of physical configurations and being configured to receive manual input from a user;
- and
- a controller coupled to the control member and configured to control the physical configuration of the control member based on the manual input from the user, wherein the physical configuration of the control member is configured to provide a tactile indication of a current state of the control system;
- wherein the current state is based on a current device or a current system configured to be modified by the control member.
A control system, comprising:
- a graspable control member having a plurality of physical configurations and being configured to receive manual input from a user;
- and
- a controller coupled to the control member and configured to control the physical configuration of the control member based on the manual input from the user, wherein the physical configuration of the control member is configured to provide a tactile indication of a current varaiable state of the control system;
- wherein the physical configuration remains static absent further manual input from the user;
- and
- wherein the current variable state is based on a current device or a current system configured to be modified by the control member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.