KR101068049B1 - Optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness and click recognition method of the optical pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness and a click recognition method of the optical pointing device, and more specifically, (1) acquiring an image and surface sharpness of a finger from a sensing area; Detecting the vertical movement of the finger using at least one or more surface sharpness, (3) deriving the horizontal movement amount of the finger using the obtained at least one image of the finger, and (4) And generating a click signal based on the sensed vertical movement and the derived horizontal movement amount.

According to a click recognition method of an optical pointing device and an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpnesses of the present invention, a click is detected only by a finger movement on the optical pointing device without using a separate button, It is possible to provide a click recognition method that can distinguish finger movements for clicks. Further, by using the plurality of surface sharpnesses, the touch of the sensing area of the finger and the detachment of the finger in the sensing area are sensed, thereby making it possible to accurately recognize the click.

Optical pointing device, click recognition, surface sharpness

Description

A DEVICE AND A METHOD OF DETECTING A CLICK EVENT USING MULTIPLE SURFACE QUALITIES IN OPTICAL POINTING DEVICE}

The present invention relates to an optical pointing device, and more particularly, to an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness and a click recognition method of the optical pointing device.

In general, a personal mobile terminal such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) employs a user interface using a keypad and has a keypad including a plurality of buttons and direction buttons for inputting numbers and characters. In recent years, as wireless Internet services such as WIBRO (Wireless Broadband) services have been commercialized, an operating system supporting a Graphical User Interface (GUI), such as Microsoft's WindowsTM, has been adopted in personal portable terminals. In addition, with the development of the technology, a pointing device such as a mouse for a personal computer is also used in a personal portable terminal, and such technology has already been described in US patent applications 10 / 579,702 and 11 / 189,656. Optical pointing devices used in conventional personal portable terminals can generally only move the pointer and cursor. Accordingly, the user may move the pointer or cursor to a desired position by using the optical pointing device, and then press a separate button provided around or under the optical pointing device to perform so-called "click" or "double click". Here, the button may be used a variety of buttons, such as mechanical buttons or electrical buttons. However, a technique is disclosed for obtaining a result similar to a click by the vertical movement of the finger (movement on the Z-axis) on the optical pointing device without clicking a separate button. For example, US Pat. No. 7,313,255 (registered Dec. 25, 2007). However, since the U.S. patent determines only whether the user clicks by considering only the vertical movement of the finger (movement on the Z axis), such as the finger movement for scrolling, the vertical movement (movement on the Z axis) and the horizontal movement (movement on the XY plane) at the same time. In this case, there is a problem that a click event which is not intended by the user occurs. In addition, the conventional click recognition method of the optical pointing device detects contact of the detection area by a finger and finger release from the detection area by using only the current and previous image, so that a wrong click event is likely to occur.

The present invention provides a click recognition method that can detect a click by using only a finger movement on an optical pointing device without using a separate button, and can distinguish a finger movement for a pointer movement and a finger movement for a click. In addition, the present invention provides a method of accurately detecting a click by detecting a touch of a sensing region of a finger and a detachment of a finger from the sensing region using a plurality of surface sharpnesses.

Click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to the characteristics of the present invention for achieving the above object,

(1) obtaining an image and surface sharpness of a finger from the detection area,

(2) detecting the vertical movement of the finger using the obtained at least one surface sharpness,

(3) deriving the horizontal movement amount of the finger using the obtained at least one image of the finger, and

(4) generating a click signal based on the sensed vertical movement and the derived horizontal movement amount.

Preferably, the step (2) is,

Detecting contact of the detection area by a finger using the obtained at least one surface sharpness, and

And detecting deviation of a finger from the sensing area by using at least one or more surface sharpness obtained after sensing the contact.

More preferably, the step of detecting the touch of the sensing area by the finger, when the value defined as the following equation is equal to or more than the first predetermined reference value, it is possible to detect that the finger touched the sensing area. have.

≪ Equation &

C = SQ (i) / SQ_ave (i)

Here, SQ (i) denotes the surface sharpness at time i, SQ_ave (i) denotes the average value of the surface sharpness at time i-1 to iN, and N denotes the number of surface sharpness obtained before time i, respectively. Indicates.

More preferably, the step of detecting the detachment of the finger in the sensing region, after the touch of the sensing region by the finger is detected, within a predetermined time, a second predetermined value defined by the following equation When the reference value is less than or equal to the reference value, it may be detected that the finger is out of the detection area.

≪ Equation &

D = SQ (i) / SQ_ave_to

Here, SQ (i) denotes the surface sharpness at time i, SQ_ave_to denotes the average value of the surface sharpness at time k + 1 to k + N, respectively, and k denotes the time when the touch of the sensing area by the finger is detected. , N each represent the number of surface clarities obtained after time k.

More preferably, the step of detecting the detachment of the finger in the sensing area, after detecting the contact of the sensing area by the finger, may detect the detachment of the finger in the sensing area after a predetermined time. have.

More preferably, after the touch of the sensing area by the finger is detected, if the deviation of the finger in the sensing area is not detected within a predetermined time, the step of repeating the step (1) Can be.

More preferably, after detecting the touch of the sensing region by the finger, if the departure of the finger in the sensing region is not detected within a predetermined time, the method may further include performing a predetermined operation.

Preferably, step (3),

The horizontal movement displacement of the finger is calculated by comparing the images of the fingers acquired at predetermined time unit intervals with respect to all or a portion of the time interval between the touch and departure of the finger detected in the detection area, and the absolute value of the movement displacement is calculated. The amount of horizontal movement of the finger can be derived.

Preferably, in the step (4), after detecting the vertical movement of the finger, the click signal may be generated when the derived horizontal movement amount is less than or equal to a predetermined third reference value.

Optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to another feature of the present invention for achieving the above object,

(1) a sensing unit providing a sensing area for sensing finger movements,

(2) a light source unit for supplying light toward the finger on the sensing unit;

(3) an image sensor unit for receiving light reflected by the finger through the sensing unit to generate at least one or more surface sharpness and images corresponding to the finger; and

(4) a control unit for detecting a vertical movement of a finger using the at least one surface sharpness and analyzing a horizontal movement amount of the finger through an image of the at least one finger;

The controller is characterized in that it generates a click signal when the horizontal movement amount of the finger is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value.

Preferably, the control unit may generate the click signal only when detecting the touch of the sensing region by the finger and the detachment of the finger from the sensing region within a predetermined time after the contact.

Preferably, the controller compares a finger image obtained at predetermined time unit intervals with a previous finger image to calculate a horizontal movement displacement of the finger, and derives the horizontal movement amount of the finger using the absolute value of the movement displacement. Can be.

The optical pointing device using the click recognition method using the plurality of surface sharpnesses of the present invention can detect a click without pressing a button, and repeatedly touches the sensing area of the optical pointing device to move a pointer or a cursor. It is possible to distinguish the vertical movement of the finger for more efficient. In addition, by using a plurality of surface sharpness, the touch of the detection area of the finger and the finger deviation in the detection area can be detected, thereby accurately recognizing the click.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of a terminal equipped with an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 illustrates an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention It is sectional drawing for doing. 1 and 2, the optical pointing device 100 is mounted around a keypad of the terminal 10, and may be used for moving a pointer or a cursor displayed on a display window instead of a so-called navigation key. The terminal 10 includes a main body 20 and a folder 30 hinged to an upper portion of the main body 20, and a sensing area 124 on the cover glass of the optical pointing device 100 above the main body 20. Is exposed. The user may place a finger on the sensing area 124 and move the finger tip up, down, left, or right, and move the pointer or cursor or move a menu selection in a desired direction by changing the horizontal direction of the finger. In the present embodiment, a terminal corresponding to a mobile phone is described as an example, but according to another embodiment of the present invention, the optical pointing device can be widely used in a multimedia player, a navigation device, a notebook computer, a computer peripheral device or other devices. Referring to FIG. 2, the optical pointing device 100 includes a light source unit 110, a detection unit 120, an image sensor unit 140, and a controller 150. The sensing unit 120 provides a sensing area 124, and a user may place a finger on the cover glass 122, that is, the sensing area 124, and move a finger or other body part in a desired direction. For reference, in the present specification, the "finger" may be understood as another part of the body in addition to the general finger, and may be another replaceable object that can make a movement on the sensing area even without the body. The light source unit 110 includes a light source 112 such as a light emitting diode (LED) and a light source guide 114. The light source guide 114 may transmit light emitted from the light source 112 to the cover glass 122 as a waveguide. The light source guide 114 is formed of a light-transmissive material to use total reflection, but in some cases, a general mirror or reflector may be used. In addition, the light source unit may not include a light source guide, and may direct light directly to the cover glass without refraction. The sensing unit 120 includes a cover glass 122 and provides a sensing area 124 for sensing a movement of a finger using the cover glass 122. The sensing region 124 may be provided on the flat cover glass 122, but in some cases, the sensing area 124 may be provided on the lens-shaped glass, and directly exposes a portion of the waveguide 130 to be described later without the cover glass. A sensing area can be provided. In the present embodiment, when light is supplied from the light source unit 110 to the cover glass 122, the light is reflected by the finger, and the reflected light is transmitted to the image sensor unit 140 through the waveguide 130. The waveguide 130 may function to transfer the light reflected from the finger to the image sensor, may collect the light to assist the image capturing, and remove the intermediate noise light to form an image on the image sensor unit 140. The sharpness of the image can be increased. The image sensor unit 140 may provide various reference values in addition to the image information according to the manufacturer's design. For example, the shutter value, the shutter speed, the surface sharpness, the directionality, and the like correspond to this. In particular, the surface quality is a value related to the sharpness of the image detected by the image sensor, and the sharpness may be determined by comparing contrast of the image. The sharpness of the surface may be increased when the ridges are sharply obtained in response to the lowering of the finger, and the sharpness of the surface may be reduced when the finger fingerprint is unclearly acquired by out focusing in response to the finger raising. . Therefore, the digitized surface sharpness can be output from the image sensor unit, and through this value, it is possible to indirectly expect the finger to be lowered or raised. For reference, for the ADNS-3040 (model name) image sensor provided by Avago Technologies, Surface Quality (SQUAL) has a minimum value of 0 to a maximum value of 167.In a typical indoor environment, the finger is usually used for image detection. A value greater than or equal to 30 is displayed in the area and less than or equal to 15 when the finger is removed from the image detection area. The controller 150 generates a click signal by detecting a vertical movement and a horizontal movement amount of a finger using the digitized surface sharpness and image information provided by the image sensor 140.

3 is a flowchart of a click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the click recognition method of the optical pointing device using the plurality of surface sharpnesses according to an embodiment of the present invention may include obtaining an image and surface sharpness of a finger from the sensing area (S100). Detecting a vertical movement of the finger using at least one or more surface sharpness (S200), deriving a horizontal movement amount of the finger using the obtained at least one finger image (S300), and And generating a click signal based on the detected vertical movement and the derived horizontal movement amount (S400).

Step S100 obtains the image and the surface sharpness of the finger from the sensing area. The digitized surface sharpness may be acquired at predetermined time intervals, and used as basic information for detecting contact of the sensing region by a finger and finger deviation from the sensing region. In addition, the image of the finger may be acquired at predetermined time intervals and used as basic information for deriving the horizontal movement amount of the finger in the sensing area.

Step S200 detects the vertical movement of the finger using at least one or more surface sharpness obtained in step S100. The vertical movement of the finger consists of contact of the sensing area by the finger and withdrawal of the finger from the sensing area after the contact. In order to detect the contact of the sensing region by the finger, the following equation 1 may be used.

C = SQ (i) / SQ_ave (i)

Here, SQ (i) denotes the surface sharpness at time i, SQ_ave (i) denotes the average value of the surface sharpness at time i-1 to iN, and N denotes the number of surface sharpness obtained before time i, respectively. Indicates.

In order to accurately detect the touch of the sensing area by the finger, the surface sharpness at time i and the N surface sharpness before i can be used, since each of the N surface sharpness values before i is not constant and shows a deviation. The average value of N surface sharpnesses before and i may be used, where N is preferably 4. When the finger touches the sensing area at time i, it has a surface sharpness that is greater than the average value of the N surface sharpnesses obtained before time i, so that the first reference value is predetermined, and at time i defined by When the ratio of the surface sharpness and the average value of the N surface sharpnesses before the time i becomes equal to or greater than the first reference value, the finger may be detected to have contacted the sensing area.

After detecting the touch of the detection area by the finger, the detection of the finger deviation from the detection area may be detected after a predetermined time, which is caused by an error that may occur during the predetermined time. To prevent this.

In addition, after detecting the contact of the sensing region by the finger, the following Equation 2 may be used to detect the detachment of the finger from the sensing region.

D = SQ (i) / SQ_ave_to

Here, SQ (i) denotes the surface sharpness at time i, SQ_ave_to denotes the average value of the surface sharpness at time k + 1 to k + N, respectively, and k denotes the time when the touch of the sensing area by the finger is detected. , N each represent the number of surface clarities obtained after time k.

In order to accurately detect the deviation of the finger from the detection area, defining the time when the touch of the detection area by the finger is detected as k, the surface sharpness at time i and N surface sharpness after k can be used. Since each of the following N surface sharpness values is not constant and shows a deviation, an average value of N surface sharpnesses after k may be used, where N is preferably 4. If the finger is displaced from the sensing region at time i (i> k), since it has a surface sharpness smaller than the average value of the N surface sharpness obtained after time k, the second reference value is predetermined, and the math is performed within the predetermined time. When the ratio of the surface sharpness at time i defined by Equation 2 and the average value of the N surface sharpnesses before time k becomes less than or equal to the second reference value, the finger may be sensed to be out of the sensing area.

As described above, the detachment of the finger from the detection area may be detected using Equation 2, but the equation 1 is used to detect the contact of the detection area by the finger. The detected surface i and the N surface sharpness prior to i may be used to detect the deviation of the finger from the sensing area.

In addition, when the finger detachment from the sensing region is not detected within a predetermined time, it may be determined that there is no contact of the sensing region by the finger, and the step S100 may be performed again.

In addition, when a finger detachment from the sensing region is not detected within a predetermined time, the predetermined operation may be performed (for example, a power is turned off or a specific program is executed).

Step S300 derives the horizontal movement amount of the finger in the detection area by using the acquired image of the finger. To this end, the horizontal movement displacement of the finger is calculated by comparing the images of the fingers acquired at predetermined time unit intervals with respect to all or a portion of the time interval between the contact and departure of the finger detected in the detection area, Using the absolute value, as shown in Equation 3 below, the horizontal movement amount of the finger in the sensing area may be derived.

M = ∑ {| X | + | Y |}

Here, X and Y refer to the X-axis and Y-axis movement displacements generated during the vertical movement of the finger.

Step S400 detects the movement of the finger in the vertical direction, and then generates a click signal based on the derived position change amount. By comparing the derived horizontal movement amount with the third predetermined reference value, when the derived horizontal movement amount is less than or equal to the predetermined third reference value, the horizontal movement amount may be determined to be small and the click signal may be generated. When the movement amount is greater than the third reference value, the horizontal movement amount may be determined to be large and the click signal may not be generated as the movement of the pointer.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a click recognition method of an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpnesses according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 4, the click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention, after obtaining the image and the surface sharpness from the detection area (S100), Equation 1 Compute (S210). If Equation 1 becomes smaller than the first predetermined reference value, S100 is repeated. If Equation 1 becomes equal to or greater than the first predetermined reference value, the finger is not detected in the detection area for a predetermined time TimeIn. Do not (S220). Then, it is checked whether a predetermined time TimeOut has elapsed from the time when the touch of the sensing region is detected by the finger (S230). If TimeOut has elapsed, S100 is repeatedly performed. Compute (S240). If Equation 2 becomes larger than the second predetermined reference value, S230 is repeated, and when Equation 2 becomes less than or equal to the second predetermined reference value, a horizontal movement amount of the finger in the sensing region is derived ( S300). When the derived horizontal shift amount is compared with a predetermined third reference value (S410), if the derived position change amount is larger than the predetermined third reference value, S100 is repeatedly performed, and the derived position change amount is determined by the third reference. If it is less than the value, a click signal is generated (S420). Although not shown, when TimeOut has elapsed in step S230, a predetermined operation may be performed.

The present invention described above may be variously modified or applied by those skilled in the art, and the scope of the technical idea according to the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

1 is a perspective view of a terminal equipped with an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart of a click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a flow chart of the click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

10: terminal 20: main body

30: folder 100: optical pointing device

110: light source unit 120: detection unit

130: waveguide 140: image sensor unit

150: control unit

Claims (12)

As a click recognition method of an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness, (1) obtaining an image and surface sharpness of a finger from the sensing area; (2) detecting a vertical movement of a finger using the obtained at least one surface sharpness; (3) deriving a horizontal movement amount of the finger using the obtained at least one image of the finger; And (4) generating a click signal based on the sensed vertical movement and the derived horizontal movement amount, In step (4) above, And detecting a movement of the finger in the vertical direction, and generating a click signal when the derived horizontal movement amount is equal to or less than a third predetermined reference value. The method of claim 1, wherein step (2) comprises: Detecting contact of the detection area by a finger using the obtained at least one surface sharpness; And And detecting deviation of a finger from the sensing area by using at least one surface sharpness obtained after detecting the contact. The method of claim 2, wherein the detecting of the touch of the sensing area by the finger comprises: detecting that the finger has touched the sensing area when a value defined by the following equation becomes equal to or greater than a first predetermined reference value. Click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness, characterized in that. &Lt; Equation & C = SQ (i) / SQ_ave (i) Here, SQ (i) denotes the surface sharpness at time i, SQ_ave (i) denotes the average value of the surface sharpness at time i-1 to iN, and N denotes the number of surface sharpness obtained before time i, respectively. Indicates. The method of claim 2, wherein the detecting of the detachment of the finger from the sensing area comprises: a predetermined value defined by the following equation within a predetermined time after the touch of the sensing area by the finger is detected. When the reference value is less than 2, the click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness, characterized in that the detection of the finger is out of the detection area. &Lt; Equation & D = SQ (i) / SQ_ave_to Here, SQ (i) denotes the surface sharpness at time i, SQ_ave_to denotes the average value of the surface sharpness at time k + 1 to k + N, respectively, and k denotes the time when the touch of the sensing area by the finger is detected. , N each represent the number of surface clarities obtained after time k. The method of claim 2, wherein the detecting of the detachment of the finger from the sensing area comprises: detecting the detachment of the finger from the sensing area after a predetermined time after the contact of the sensing area by the finger is detected. Click recognition method of the optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, And after the touch of the sensing region by the finger is sensed, if the detachment of the finger in the sensing region is not detected within a predetermined time, repeating the step (1). Click Recognition Method of Optical Pointing Device Using Two Surface Sharpness. The method of claim 2, And after detecting a touch of the sensing region by a finger, if the detachment of the finger in the sensing region is not detected within a predetermined time, performing a predetermined operation. Click recognition method of the optical pointing device using. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein step (3) comprises The horizontal movement displacement of the finger is calculated by comparing the images of the fingers acquired at predetermined time unit intervals with respect to all or a portion of the time interval between the touch and departure of the finger detected in the detection area, and the absolute value of the movement displacement is calculated. A method of clicking on an optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness, wherein the amount of horizontal movement of the finger is derived. delete An optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness, (1) a sensing unit providing a sensing area for sensing a finger movement; (2) a light source unit for supplying light toward the finger on the sensing unit; (3) an image sensor unit for receiving light reflected by the finger through the sensing unit to generate at least one surface sharpness and an image corresponding to the finger; And (4) a control unit for detecting a vertical movement of a finger using the at least one surface sharpness and analyzing a horizontal movement amount of the finger through an image of the at least one finger; And the control unit generates a click signal when the horizontal movement amount of the finger is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value. The method of claim 10, The control unit generates the click signal only when detecting a touch of the sensing region by the finger and a detachment of the finger from the sensing region within a predetermined time after the contact. Optical pointing device. The method of claim 10, The controller compares a finger image obtained at predetermined time unit intervals with a previous finger image to calculate a horizontal displacement of the finger, and derives the horizontal movement amount of the finger using the absolute value of the displacement. Optical pointing device using a plurality of surface sharpness.

Images