Body gesture control system for button-less vaping

Abstract

A method of detecting a hand-to-mouth (HMG) gesture with an e-vaping device includes detecting movements of the e-vaping device; generating quaternions based on the detected movements; generating movement features based on the generated quaternions; applying the generated movement features to a classifier; and determining whether the detected movements correspond to an HMG based on an output of the classifier.

1 . An e-vaping device, comprising:
 processing circuitry configured to cause the device to,
 detect movements of the e-vaping device in at least three dimensions using at least one positional sensor; 
 generate quaternions based on the detected movements; 
 generate movement features based on the generated quaternions; 
 determine whether the detected movements correspond to a hand-to-mouth gesture (HMG) based on the generated movement features; and 
 control operation of a heater based on results of the determining. 
   
     
     
         2 . The e-vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 determine whether the e-vaping device was moved from a rest point location to a location corresponding to an adult vaper's mouth based on the generated movement features.   
     
     
         3 . The e-vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein the rest point location is a location where the e-vaping device was last stationary for a desired period of time. 
     
     
         4 . The e-vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein the generating the quaternions is based on the detected movements of the e-vaping device sampled at desired time intervals. 
     
     
         5 . The e-vaping device of  claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 transform the generated quaternions into three-dimensional (3-D) Cartesian coordinates.   
     
     
         6 . The e-vaping device of  claim 5 , wherein
 the generating the movement features includes filtering motion artifacts from the 3-D Cartesian coordinates; and   the determining determines the movement features from the filtered 3-D Cartesian coordinates.   
     
     
         7 . The e-vaping device of  claim 6 , wherein the motion artifacts are artifacts corresponding to non-HMG motions. 
     
     
         8 . The e-vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein the generating the movement features includes:
 determining a linear speed of the e-vaping device based on the generated quaternions; and   determining a distance from a rest point location to a current location of the e-vaping device based on the generated quaternions.   
     
     
         9 . The e-vaping device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one positional sensor includes at least one of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a magnetometer, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), or any combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The e-vaping device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a pre-vapor formulation compartment; and   the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to,
 authenticate a pod assembly inserted into the pre-vapor formulation compartment based on an electronic identity code stored in a memory included in the pod assembly, the pod assembly containing a pre-vapor formulation. 
   
     
     
         11 . The e-vaping device of  claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 disable the heater based on results of the authentication of the pod assembly.   
     
     
         12 . The e-vaping device of  claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 receive an expiration date of the pre-vapor formulation from the memory included in the pod assembly; and wherein   the authenticating further authenticates the pod assembly based on the received expiration date of the pre-vapor formulation.   
     
     
         13 . The e-vaping device of  claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 receive an expiration date of the heater from the memory included in the pod assembly; and   authorize the heater based on the received expiration date of the heater.   
     
     
         14 . The e-vaping device of  claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 receive operating parameters specific to the pod assembly from the memory included in the pod assembly; and wherein   the controlling further controls operation of the heater based on the received operating parameters.   
     
     
         15 . The e-vaping device of  claim 14 , wherein the operating parameters includes at least one of:
 power supply operating parameters, power duration operating parameters, air channel control operating parameters, or any combinations thereof.   
     
     
         16 . The e-vaping device of  claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 determine a remaining level of the pre-vapor formulation contained in the pod assembly; and   the controlling further controls operation of the heater based on the determined remaining level of the pre-vapor formulation and pre-vapor formulation calibration data.   
     
     
         17 . The e-vaping device of  claim 16 , wherein the pre-vapor formulation calibration data includes at least one of:
 flow rate change data corresponding to pre-vapor formulation level, volatility change data corresponding to an age of pre-vapor formulation level, or any combinations thereof.   
     
     
         18 . The e-vaping device of  claim 14 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 write the determined remaining level of the pre-vapor formulation into the memory of the pod assembly.   
     
     
         19 . The e-vaping device of  claim 14 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the device to:
 determine a vapor drawing instance count associated with the pod assembly; and   write the vapor drawing instance count into the memory of the pod assembly.   
     
     
         20 . The e-vaping device of  claim 14 , wherein the memory included in the pod assembly is a non-volatile memory.