Systems and methods for multi-rate control of haptic effects with sensor fusion

Abstract

Systems and methods for multi-rate control of haptic effects with sensor fusion are disclosed. One illustrative system includes, a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect, a first sensor configured to sense the output of the haptic output device and generate a first sensor signal, a processor in communication with the first sensor. The processor is configured to: sample the first sensor signal from the first sensor at a first rate, receive a reference signal, determine an error between the first sensor signal and the reference signal, generate a haptic signal based at least in part on the reference signal and the error, transmit the haptic signal to a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect based on the haptic signal, and sample the first sensor signal at a second rate, wherein the second rate is lower than the first rate.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 sampling a first sensor signal from a first sensor at a first rate, the first sensor configured to sense the output of a haptic output device;   receiving a reference signal;   determining an error between the first sensor signal and the reference signal;   generating a haptic signal based at least in part on the reference signal and the error; and   transmitting the haptic signal to a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect based on the haptic signal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first rate comprises approximately 50 microseconds and a second rate comprises approximately 1 millisecond. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sampling a second sensor signal from a second sensor the second sensor configured to sense the output of the haptic output device; and   fusing the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal to create a fused sensor signal; and   wherein determining the error comprises determining the error between the reference signal and the fused sensor signal.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are homogenous. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are heterogeneous. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising modifying the second sensor signal based on a property of the first sensor signal or the reference signal. 
     
     
         7 . A system comprising:
 a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect;   a first sensor configured to sense the output of the haptic output device and generate a first sensor signal;   a processor in communication with the first sensor, the processor configured to:
 sample the first sensor signal from the first sensor at a first rate; 
 receive a reference signal; 
 determine an error between the first sensor signal and the reference signal; 
 generate a haptic signal based at least in part on the reference signal and the error; and 
 transmit the haptic signal to a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect based on the haptic signal. 
   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the first rate comprises approximately 50 microseconds and a second rate comprises approximately 1 millisecond. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 sample a second sensor signal from a second sensor the second sensor configured to sense the output of the haptic output device; and   fuse the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal to create a fused sensor signal; and   wherein determine the error by determining the error between the reference signal and the fused sensor signal.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are homogenous. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are heterogeneous. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the second sensor signal based on a property of the first sensor signal or the reference signal. 
     
     
         13 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program code, which when executed by a processor is configured to cause the processor to:
 sample a first sensor signal from a first sensor at a first rate, the first sensor configured to sense the output of a haptic output device;   receive a reference signal;   determine an error between the first sensor signal and the reference signal;   generate a haptic signal based at least in part on the reference signal and the error; and   transmit the haptic signal to a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect based on the haptic signal.   
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the first rate comprises approximately 50 microseconds and a second rate comprises approximately 1 millisecond. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 13 , further comprising program code, which when executed by the processor is configured to cause the processor to:
 sample a second sensor signal from a second sensor the second sensor configured to sense the output of the haptic output device; and   fuse the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal to create a fused sensor signal; and   wherein determining the error comprises determining the error between the reference signal and the fused sensor signal.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are homogenous. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are heterogeneous. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising program code, which when executed by the processor is configured to cause the processor to: modify the second sensor signal based on a property of the first sensor signal or the reference signal.