Back to results
US 7,889,179 B2Granted
Control device including a ball that stores data
OwnerYi-Ming Tsenginventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for controlling movement of an object relative to an environment is disclosed. The device may include a ball configured to store data for determining at least an orientation of the object relative to the environment. The data may pertain to a plurality of possible orientations of the object. The device may also include a speed control unit configured to determine at least a speed of the object relative to the environment.
Claims18
A device for controlling movement of an object relative to an environment, the device comprising:
- a ball including data or representations of the data, the data or the representations of the data being distributed at least one of a spherical layer of the ball and an outer spherical surface of the ball, the data or the representations of the data being configured for determining at least a movement direction of the object relative to the environment, the data pertaining to a plurality of movement directions of the object, wherein rotation of the ball controls at least a movement direction change of the object without causing translation of the object;
- a first sensor for reading at least a portion of the data or at least a portion of the representations of the data from the at least one of the spherical layer of the ball and the outer spherical surface of the ball;
- and
- an alignment mechanism configured to rotate the ball to cause an axis of the object to be parallel to an X, Y, or Z-axis of a reference coordinate system.
1 more element
A device for controlling movement of an object relative to an environment, the device comprising:
- a ball including data or representations of the data, the data or the representations of the data being distributed at least one of a spherical layer of the ball and an outer spherical surface of the ball, the data or the representations of the data being configured for determining at least a movement direction of the object relative to the environment, the data pertaining to a plurality of movement directions of the object, wherein rotation of the ball controls at least a movement direction change of the object without causing translation of the object;
- a first sensor for reading at least a portion of the data or at least a portion of the representations of the data from the at least one of the spherical layer of the ball and the outer spherical surface of the ball;
- and
- at least one of a tip mark corresponding to a tip of the object and a tail mark corresponding to a tail of the object.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.