US 7,437,684 B2Granted

Graphical interface system for manipulating a virtual dummy

AssigneeSnecma

InventorsBruno Maille, Edouard Ramstein, Patrick Chedmail

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

To make it easier to manipulate in direct action and to manage the degrees of freedom of a virtual dummy, the invention provides a graphical interface system enabling two windows to be displayed on a screen. The first window contains an overall representation of the dummy making it possible, using pointer means such as a mouse, for example, to select a member of the dummy directly on the screen. In response to such selection, the selected member appears in the second window on a larger scale together with symbols indicating all of the degrees of freedom available on the member in question. The operator can then act directly on the symbols of the degrees of freedom to block or unblock them or indeed to manipulate the dummy in direct action.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A graphical interface system for managing degrees of freedom of a virtual dummy in a dynamic environment, said dummy comprising jointed members with degrees of freedom, the system comprising:

means for displaying the dummy in a first window and in a second window;
means for designating a point on the means for displaying and for acting thereon;
means for causing the means for displaying to display the dummy in the first window;
and
means for responding to the means for designating to cause the second window to display a selected member of the dummy displayed in the first window,
wherein said selected member includes symbols indicating the degrees of freedom of said selected member,
wherein the means for responding affects a movement of the dummy with respect to the indicated degree of freedom in response to the means for designating selecting at least one of the symbols, and
wherein the means for responding responds to the means for designating by blocking or unblocking the corresponding degree of freedom in response to the means for designating selecting the at least one of the symbols, such that
when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is changed from a blocked state to an unblocked state, the selected member moves with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom, and
when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is changed from the unblocked state to the blocked state, the movement of the selected member with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom stops.

7 more elements

A graphical interface system for managing degrees of freedom of a virtual dummy in a dynamic environment, the dummy including jointed members with degrees of freedom, comprising:

a display unit configured to display the dummy in a first window and in a second window;
a pointer unit configured to designate a point on the display unit and configured to act thereon;
a processor unit configured to cause the display unit to display the dummy in the first window and configured to respond to the pointer unit to cause the second window to display a selected member of the dummy displayed in the first window;
a plurality of symbols displayed in the second window, each of the symbols indicating a degree of freedom of the selected member of the dummy, wherein
when one of the symbols is selected by the pointer, the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is either changed from a blocked state to an unblocked state or changed from the unblocked state to the blocked state,
when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is in the blocked state, the selected member cannot be moved with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom,
when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is changed from the blocked state to the unblocked state, the selected member moves with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom, and
when the corresponding degree of freedom of the selected member is changed from the unblocked state to the blocked state, the movement of the selected member with respect to the corresponding degree of freedom stops.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/819,987Filed 8 Apr 2004
Priority: FR 03 043779 Apr 2003
Published: US 2004/0257338 A123 Dec 2004
Granted: 14 Oct 2008
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

G06T 13/40
Three-dimensional [3D] animation: of characters, e.g. humans, animals or virtual beings
G05B 2219/31066
From computer integrated manufacturing till monitoring: virtual assembly disassembly planning
G05B 2219/40433
Robotics, robotics mapping to robotics vision: distributed, trajectory planning for each virtual arm
Y02P 90/02
Enabling technologies with a potential contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation: total factory control, e.g. smart factories,…