Force feedback system and actuator power management Number:6,801,008 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent A system and method for providing a tactile virtual reality to a user is present. The position and orientation of the user is utilized to generate a virtual reality force field. Forces are in turn generated on the user as a function of this force field. A six-axis manipulator is presented for providing a user interface to such a system. This manipulator provides a unique kinematic structure with two constant force springs which provide gravity compensation so that the manipulator effectively floats.<H management, actuator, Force, feedback, , 6801008.html, Patent, pto, 6801008

Title: Force feedback system and actuator power management

Abstract: A system and method for providing a tactile virtual reality to a user is present. The position and orientation of the user is utilized to generate a virtual reality force field. Forces are in turn generated on the user as a function of this force field. A six-axis manipulator is presented for providing a user interface to such a system. This manipulator provides a unique kinematic structure with two constant force springs which provide gravity compensation so that the manipulator effectively floats.

Patent Number: 6,801,008 Issued on 10/05/2004 to Jacobus, et al.

Inventors: Jacobus; Charles J. (Ann Arbor, MI), Riggs; Alan J. (Ann Arbor, MI), Taylor; Mark J (Ann Arbor, MI)
Assignee: Immersion Corporation (San Jose, CA)

Appl. No.: 09/638,485

Filed: August 14, 2000

Related U.S. Patent Documents


Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
333613	Jun., 1999	6104158
185301	Nov., 1998
854375	May., 1997	5831408
543606	Oct., 1995	5629594
257070	Jun., 1994	5459382
984324	Dec., 1992	5389865

Current U.S. Class: 318/568.11 ; 318/560; 318/561; 318/568.1; 318/696

Field of Search: 318/560-696 901/1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15-23 414/730-735 395/95,99 345/161,163 463/30,38,37 74/471Y 434/45

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Primary Examiner: Nappi; Robert
Assistant Examiner: Smith; Tyrone
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kilpatrick Stockton LLP

Parent Case Text

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/333,613, filed Jun. 15, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,158, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/185,301, filed Nov. 3, 1998, now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/854,375, filed May 12, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,408, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/543,606, filed Oct. 16, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,594, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/257,070, filed Jun. 9, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,382, which is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/984,324, filed Dec. 2, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,865.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A computer mediated control system for use in a force feedback system, said force feedback system including at least one actuator and at least one position sensor, said control system comprising: a memory storing at least one force feedback effect, said at least one force feedback effect providing forces to be output to a user of said force feedback system; and a computer mediated controller coupled to said at least one actuator and to said at least one position sensor, wherein said computer mediated controller receives input information through a communication port of said computer mediated controller and decodes commands from said input information, reads force values from said communication port, outputs output data on said communication port, said output data including position data from said at least one position sensor, determines at least one installed force feedback effect to contribute to output of said force feedback system, processes said stored force feedback effect to determine a force contribution from said force feedback effect, and outputs a force feedback value based on said determined force contribution to cause a force based on said force feedback value to be output by said actuator to the user of said force feedback system.

2. A computer mediated control system as recited in claim 1, wherein said force feedback effect is one of a detent effect, a wall effect, and a spring effect.

3. A computer mediated control system as recited in claim