User controlled device for sending control signals to an electric appliance, in particular user controlled pointing device such as mouse or joystick, with 3D-motion detection

A method for generating control signals correlated to positions of a user controlled device, comprising:

• moving the user controlled device into one of a plurality of positions of a three-dimensional space;
• detecting movements of said device through a MEMS acceleration sensor;
• deriving a rate of change of position and an amplitude of position from the detected movements of said device;
• comparing the rate of change with a speed threshold;
• sending function activation signals to an electrical appliance corresponding to an axis of movement of the device when the derived rate of change exceeds the speed threshold;
• comparing the amplitude of movement with an amplitude threshold;
• and
• sending pointer control signals to the electrical appliance corresponding to the axis and amplitude of position of the device only when the amplitude of position exceeds the amplitude threshold but the rate of change does not exceed the speed threshold.

A method, comprising:

• employing a MEMS sensor to detect movement of a body in a three-dimensional space;
• producing movement signals corresponding to the movement of the body;
• and
• producing control signals corresponding to the movement signals, and suitable for moving a pointer on a computer screen, provided the movement of the body does not exceed a speed threshold.

A system, comprising:

• a computer screen;
• a CPU coupled to the computer screen;
• a pointing device coupled to the CPU;
• a MEMS sensor coupled to the pointing device, the MEMS sensor configured to produce position signals corresponding to movement of the pointing device;
• and
• a microprocessor coupled to the MEMS sensor, configured to compare a rate of movement of the pointing device to a threshold and, only if the rate of movement of the pointing device does not exceed the threshold, convert the position signals of the MEMS sensor to control signals suitable for controlling position of a pointer on the computer screen.

A device comprising:

• a body;
• a sensor coupled to the body and configured to produce a first signal corresponding to rotation of the body around a first axis;
• and
• a circuit configured to produce a cursor movement command in a first direction, corresponding to a value of the first signal, only when the first signal indicates rotation of the body that is lower than a speed threshold, and to produce a first function command when the first signal indicates rotation of the body that exceeds the speed threshold.

A device for user control of a computer system, comprising:

• a body;
• a sensor coupled to the body and configured to detect a position of the body in a three dimensional space and to produce a corresponding output signal;
• and
• a circuit configured to:
• compare first X and Y output signals from the sensor with second X and Y output signals from the sensor and derive a change of position of the body from the first and second X and Y output signals,
• determine, from the change of position, a rate of change,
• compare the rate of change of position with a rate of change threshold, and,
• only if the rate of change does not exceed the rate of change threshold, produce a pointer control signal corresponding to a direction of movement of the body.