JPH04180180A - Three-dimensional position input method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently operate a three-dimensional position input operation by moving a pointer along the surface of a three-dimensional object according to the input from a two-dimensional input device. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 4 searches the moving amount of a mouth 31 being the two-dimensional position input device in a three-dimensional position input mode. The moving amount on a three-dimensional absolute coordinate is searched by calculating from the moving amount and the normal vector Q of a face 51a in order to move the pointer along the face 51a. As the result of this movement, whether or not the pointer is on the face 51a is judged by referring to the boundary condition of a face and boundary storage part 6, and when the pointer is on the pertinent face, the value of a display pointer storage part 8 is updated, and when the pointer is not on the pertinent face, an adjacent face 51c is searched, a directional vector P is newly set based on the normal vector Q of the pertinent face, and the moving amount is recalculated. As this result, the pointer can be moved along the surface of an object 51 by operating the mouth 31 by an operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a three-dimensional position input method and apparatus, and in particular,
The present invention relates to a method for easily supporting input in a short time in computer graphics such as computer-aided design (CAD) and simulation, which require position input on three-dimensional figures.

[Prior art and its problems]

In the conventional three-dimensional position input method for computer systems equipped with two-dimensional position input devices such as mice and graphic tablets, and two-dimensional graphic display devices (displays) such as CRTs, it is not possible to directly input numerical values such as dimensions. ,
Two-dimensional coordinate systems such as XY coordinates, YZ coordinates, and XZ coordinates are displayed simultaneously or sequentially on the screen, and then coordinates are input two-dimensionally using a mouse or the like. For this reason, 3
When you want to input a position in dimensional space, it is difficult to determine the position intuitively, and you have to use the mouse multiple times to input the position.
Unable to enter dimensional coordinates.

A currently widely used method is to display a three-view diagram on a display and input coordinates by viewing it two-dimensionally from each of the three directions.

However, even with this method, the position can only be specified in a two-dimensional manner, so it is not possible to solve the problem of shortening the working time.

Normally, a three-dimensional figure can only be seen three-dimensionally and intuitively when a perspective view or perspective view is used, so it is ideal to enter the position in this state.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and its purpose is to point a pointer indicating a three-dimensional position to a three-dimensional object displayed as a perspective view or perspective view on a display. By placing a pointer on a surface and moving a pointer along the surface of a three-dimensional object in response to input from a two-dimensional position input device, three-dimensional position input can be performed intuitively.
The objective is to improve the efficiency of three-dimensional position input work.

[Means for solving problems]

In short, in the method of the present invention (first invention), a pointer for displaying a position on a graphic display device that displays a three-dimensional object according to an output from a computer main body is input from a two-dimensional position input device to the computer main body. A position input method for moving a pointer in response to a two-dimensional position input, characterized by moving a pointer along the surface of a three-dimensional object displayed on a graphic display device in response to the two-dimensional position input. be.

In the method of the present invention (second invention), the pointer has a shape capable of displaying a specific pointing direction, such as an arrow or an isosceles triangle, and the reference coordinates of the moving direction of the pointer corresponding to two-dimensional input are determined by the pointing direction. It is characterized by the fact that it is

The method of the present invention (third invention) changes the pointing direction of the pointer in the method of the second invention to two points such as a mouse, a click, a switch, etc.
It is characterized in that it is changed when there is an input from an input device attached to the dimensional position input device or an input device separately connected to the computer main body.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of an example of a system to which the present invention is applied. The three-dimensional position input device 1 includes a computer main body 2, a mouse 31 which is an example of a two-dimensional position input device, and a CRT display 32 which is an example of a two-dimensional graphic display device.

The computer main body 2 is equipped with a central processing unit 4 consisting of a microprocessor, an input interface 41 and an output interface 42 connected to the central processing unit, and a program/data storage section 43.
The data storage section 43 includes an object storage section 5, a surface/boundary storage section 6, an object pointer storage section 7, a display pointer storage section 8, and a program storage section 9.

The mouse 31 is a device for inputting the amount of two-dimensional positional movement on the orthogonal ST coordinates by moving it on a desk or a flat pad, and allows command input using a click switch 31a. The mouse 31 is
It is connected to the central processing unit 4 via an input interface 41 .

The display 32 is a color CRT display, but any type of display can be used regardless of its operating method as long as it has graphic display capability. Display 32 is connected to central processing unit 4 via output interface 42 .

The program storage unit 9 stores programs necessary for the configuration and operation of the present invention, which will be described later. Furthermore, the program storage unit 9 includes a graphics system capable of handling three-dimensional objects to which the present invention is applied;
For example, programs necessary for configuring a CAD system (not shown) are also stored, but various programs can be used, and detailed explanations thereof will be omitted here.

Furthermore, detailed explanations of the general components of other computer systems connected to the computer main body 2, such as a keyboard for inputting numerical values and characters, and an external storage device, will be omitted here.

The object storage unit 5 stores data of three-dimensional objects created by, for example, a CAD system. That is, the vertex coordinates Kn(Xn.

Yn, Zn) and a straight line or curve Ln connecting the vertices
, and information expressing the surface Fn surrounded by these (in the case of a plane, the inclination; hereinafter referred to as the inclination of the surface, including the case of a curved surface) are stored. C
By accessing the object storage unit 5, the AD system determines the absolute position of the pointer (X
, , YP, Z, ) and direction vector P are stored.

The surface/boundary storage unit 6 stores the inclination of the surface Fn of the three-dimensional object on which the pointer exists in the three-dimensional absolute coordinate system, the boundary conditions, and the orthogonal VW on the normal vector Q ray 31.
It stores the absolute position of coordinates.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. In this embodiment, movement of the pointer A in response to input by the mouse 32 can be performed by switching between the conventional two-dimensional position input mode and the three-dimensional position input mode according to the present invention.

It is assumed that the pointer A is placed at a predetermined absolute position (V,,W,) on the display 31 in the initial value of the two-dimensional mode. In FIG. 3, in the two-dimensional mode starting from block IO, first, the moving needle (ΔS, Δt) of the mouse 2 at a predetermined time is determined (block 11),
The corresponding moving needle (ΔV, ΔW) of the pointer is determined (block I2). The absolute position (V, W) of the pointer is determined from the moving hands (ΔV, ΔW) (block 13), and further, in block 14, the display position of the pointer is moved by updating the display on the display 32. In block 15, it is determined whether or not a mode conversion command has been input, and if there is no input, the process returns to block 11. Here, the mode conversion command is the switch 31 of the mouse 31.
This is the operation a.

In this way, in the two-dimensional position input mode, the moving direction of the mouse 31 on the pad (not shown) and the moving direction of the pointer on the display 32 match.

In this embodiment, there is no correlation between the direction of the arrow of pointer A and the direction of movement of the pointer in the two-dimensional mode.

When it is determined that a mode conversion command has been input (block 15), the process moves to the mode conversion flow starting from block 16. First, in block 16, from the current pointer position ft (v, w) on the display to the pointer absolute position M (X, ,
Find Y,). Now, referring to Fig. 2(a), if Z is arbitrary for the absolute position (X,, Y, Find the surface of object 51 (block 17). This means that if we consider that the pointer A is placed on the surface of the object 51, it is determined at what position it can be seen placed, and is shown in FIG.
), there are cases where it is on the surface 51a represented by horizontal stripes and cases where it is on the surface 51b represented by vertical stripes. If in block 18, the point pointed to by pointer A can be specified at one location, the process branches to block 21, and the other parameters of pointer A 2. and direction vector P are set, and the mode shifts to three-dimensional position input mode (block 22).

In FIG. 2(a), it is determined in block 18 that there is a plurality of objects. In the block 19, the corresponding surfaces 51a and 51b
Increase the brightness on Display 32 (highlight)
, and change the color to notify the operator. By operating the click switch 31a of the mouse 31, the operator can alternately switch the highlighting of the surface 51a and the surface 51b. When the operator operates the click switch 31b when the surface 51a is highlighted, the pointer A can be specified at a position on the surface 51a (
block 20). As a result, the absolute position Z2 of the pointer in the Z direction is determined. The direction vector P of pointer A is
This corresponds to the direction of the arrow on the display, but in the initial value it points upwards on the display 32. Pointer A is the click switch 31a of the mouse 31
By rotating it by a predetermined angle by the operation, it can be rotated as shown in FIG. 2(b). The value of the direction vector P after rotation is stored in the pointer storage unit 8 (block 21). In addition, in the following explanation,
A direction that coincides with the direction of the direction vector P is defined as a P direction, and a direction perpendicular to this is defined as an R direction.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the three-dimensional position input mode,
First, the moving needle (ΔS, Δt) of the mouse 31 is determined, and from this, the moving needle (Δr, Δp) of the pointer A is determined (blocks 23 and 24). Calculated from Δp, Δr and the normal vector Q of the surface 51a, the moving needle (ΔX
, Δy, ΔZ) (block 25). As a result of this movement, it is judged whether or not the pointer A is on the same surface (surface 51a) in light of the boundary conditions in the surface/boundary storage unit 6 (block 26). Update the value of (X,,Y,,Z,) in block 8 (block 2
7). If it is determined in block 26 that they are not on the same plane, in block 28 the adjacent plane 51c is determined,
Based on the normal vector Q of the surface, a new direction hector P is set, and (ΔX, Δy, Δ2) are recalculated (block 29). When (X,, Y,, Z,) is updated, the display pointer position (V, W) on the display 32 corresponding to the value of (X,, Y,, Z,) is calculated. , by updating the display on the display 32,
Move pointer A (block 30). The three-dimensional position input mode continues until a mode conversion command is input (block 34).

With such a configuration and operation, the operator can
By operating pointer A, pointer A is moved to Fig. 2 (a) (c
) As shown in (d), it can be moved along the surface of the object 51.

In addition, even in the three-dimensional position input mode, pointer rotation commands by the click switch 31a of the mouse 31 can be processed at all times, and each time the switch 31a is operated, the pointer vector P is rotated by 45 degrees in the RP plane. (Figure 5). Therefore, the operator can intuitively select a direction that is easy to operate.

[Another embodiment of the present invention]

In the above embodiment, the moving needles ΔS and Δt of the mouse 31 are
Corresponding to, the moving needle ΔX, Δ of the pointer on the three-dimensional coordinates
Y, ΔZ, and move the absolute positions x, y, z along the object surface. ) was explained as something that changes.

However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and the moving needle ΔS of the mouse 3I.

The moving needles ΔV and ΔW of the pointer A on the display are determined in accordance with Δt, and the pointer A is moved to determine the absolute positions X and Y on the object surface corresponding to the absolute positions aV and W on the display 32.

Alternatively, z2 may be determined. In this case, the pointer does not need to have a shape that indicates the direction of movement, and may be a bright spot, a cross, or the like. For example, the three-dimensional position input mode can be a process as shown in FIG.

When entering the three-dimensional position input mode of this embodiment from the two-dimensional position input mode shown in FIG. , ΔW) are determined, and the absolute position of pointer A on the display is calculated (block 63
, 64.65).

The two-dimensional position of pointer A on the display 32 (V, W
), the absolute position M (X,,Y,) of pointer A on the three-dimensional absolute coordinates where object 51 exists.
is determined (block 66).

Under the condition that the pointer A moves along the surface of the object 51, the two-direction position z corresponding to the pointer position (Xp, Y,) is calculated from the data stored in the surface/boundary storage unit 6 (block 67).

The pointer A points to the boundary line between the visible surface J and the hidden surface J of the object that are adjacent to each other (for example, as shown in FIG. 2(d)).
Then, it is determined in block 68 whether or not the line (as indicated by reference numeral 52) has been reached, and if it has not been reached, the display on the display 32 is updated (block 69). When the boundary line is reached, the pointer A is stopped on the boundary line and the operator is notified by highlighting the pointer A (block 71). The surfaces sandwiching the stopped pointer A are displayed on the display to be distinguished from other surfaces (block 72), and the surfaces are selected by inputting a command (block 73). Further, when the mouse 3I is operated, the pointer A moves along the selected surface (block 63~).

In this embodiment, while the moving direction of the mouse 31 and the direction of the pointer A on the display 32 match as in the conventional case, it is possible to directly point to an object with the pointer A.

In this embodiment, if the surface of the object has a large inclination with respect to the XY plane, position input becomes difficult. In such a case, the object can be displayed by rotating it.

[Another embodiment of the present invention]

In the description of the above embodiment, the three-dimensional object is
Although it is explained as a three-dimensional object surrounded by a plane,
Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to cylinders, cones, spheres, annular bodies, and other curved surfaces.

The moving needle of pointer A can be determined from the relationship between the direction vector P of pointer A on the surface of the object and the normal vector Q of the surface, the same as in the case of a plane.

In the above embodiment, the movement of the pointer on the object surface was explained, but by preparing another specific command, the pointer can be moved outward from the object surface as shown in FIG. 2(e). It is also possible to move A in parallel or towards the inside of the object.

Further, it goes without saying that the CAD system to which the above embodiment is applied may be used not only for wire models but also for surface models or solid models.

Further, although the pointer shown in FIG. 2 is shown in an isometric projection so as to be located on the surface of the object 51, it may always have the same shape on the display 32.

Further, although the three-dimensional coordinates where the object exists have been described assuming that the XY plane is parallel to the display 32, the present invention is not limited to this.

Furthermore, the user may be able to arbitrarily change the absolute coordinates.

Furthermore, although the two-dimensional position input device has been described as a mouse, it goes without saying that various two-dimensional position input devices such as a graphic tablet, light pen, touch panel, trackball, etc. can be used.

It is also possible to use a cursor key on a keyboard, a joystick, or the like as a two-dimensional position input device.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, switching from the two-dimensional position input mode to the three-dimensional position input mode was explained as being achieved by the user selecting the surface where the pointer should be located. It may be arranged so that it is always placed on the visible surface instead of the hidden surface. Furthermore, when a three-dimensional object is created, a pointer may always be present at some position of the three-dimensional object.

〔effect〕

Since the present invention is configured and operates as described above, a pointer indicating a three-dimensional position is placed on the surface of a three-dimensional object displayed as a perspective view or perspective view on a display, and the two-dimensional position is input. 3 depending on the input from the device
3 because the pointer moves along the surface of the dimensional object.
The effect is that dimensional position input can be performed intuitively, and the efficiency of three-dimensional position input work can be improved.

Furthermore, since the pointer is shaped so that the pointing direction can be recognized and the pointing direction is associated with the direction of movement of the mouse, the user can move the pointer over an object as if remotely controlling it with a mouse. It will be done.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings relate to embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a three-dimensional position input device. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a three-dimensional object and a pointer displayed on the display. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing switching from two-dimensional position input to three-dimensional position input according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the process of three-dimensional position input. FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining pointer rotation. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a three-dimensional position input process according to another embodiment. 4: Computer body 4. 51: Three-dimensional object; 31: Mouse, which is an example of a two-dimensional position input device; 32: CRT display, which is an example of a graphic display device; A: Pointer. Applicant Yokogawa Huylett Packard Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Tsuguo Hasegawa (a)
Light (c) Figure 2 (b) Bottom (d) - Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) Move the pointer that displays the position on the graphic display device that displays the three-dimensional object according to the output from the computer main body according to the two-dimensional position input input from the two-dimensional position input device to the computer main body. A three-dimensional position input method comprising: moving the pointer along a surface of the three-dimensional object displayed on the graphic display device in response to the two-dimensional position input. (2) A computer main body connected to a two-dimensional position input device such as a mouse or a graphic tablet, and a two-dimensional position input device connected to the computer main body and capable of displaying a figure representing a three-dimensional object and inputting the two-dimensional position of the two-dimensional position input device. A position input device comprising a graphic display device such as a color CRT that displays a pointer for indicating a position corresponding to the two-dimensional position input,
3, characterized in that it is displayed on the graphic display device to display movement of a dimensional object on a surface.
Dimensional position input device. (3) The pointer has a shape capable of displaying a specific pointing direction, such as an arrow or an isosceles triangle, and the reference coordinates of the moving direction of the pointer corresponding to the two-dimensional input are determined by the pointing direction. The three-dimensional position input method according to claim 1, characterized in that: (4) The pointer has a shape capable of displaying a specific pointing direction, such as an arrow or an isosceles triangle, and the reference coordinates of the moving direction of the pointer corresponding to the two-dimensional input are determined by the pointing direction. The three-dimensional position input method according to claim 1, characterized in that: (5) The direction indicated by the pointer is changed when there is an input from an input device attached to the two-dimensional position input device, such as a mouse, click, or switch, or an input device separately connected to the computer main body. 4. The three-dimensional position input method according to claim 3. (6) The three-dimensional position input device according to claim 4, further comprising an input device connected to the computer main body for giving a command to change the pointing direction of the pointer.