Patent Application
20170282090
The embodiments discussed in the present disclosure are related to a construction toy with programmable connectors.
Construction toys have been available in relatively the same state for a number of years. Example construction toys may include Legos® and Lincoln Logs®. Construction toys may be used for enjoyment as well as for learning and teaching.
The subject matter claimed in the present disclosure is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described may be practiced. Furthermore, unless otherwise indicated, the materials described in the background section are not prior art to the claims in the present application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
According to an aspect of an embodiment, a construction toy may include a housing and a connector coupled to the housing. The connector may be configured to selectively couple the construction toy to a second construction toy. The connector may be adjustable between at least two connectivity states. The construction toy may also include an operating assembly configured to adjust the connector between the at least two connectivity states. The construction toy may further include a power source configured to supply power to at least the operating assembly.
The object and advantages of the implementations will be realized and achieved at least by the elements, features, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are given as examples and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
Example embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
Often, construction toys include blocks with connectors. These connectors allow multiple toy blocks to be joined structurally and/or electrically, in order to form a larger structure and sometimes to transfer electrical power and/or electronic signals. Most connectors include solid, non-movable components, which may include a protruding stud (male connector) and a recessed opening seat (female connector) for snugly holding the male connector. Some construction toys may include embedded mechanical and electrical features, such as batteries, switches, sensors, motors, lights, speakers, etc. Further, construction toys may also include programmable processors and communication chips to, for example, connect to a nearby computing device (e.g., a computer), accept commands from the computer, execute a preconfigured computer program, activate function elements (e.g., driving a motor, turning on lights, making sound, etc.), and send sensor data back to the computer. Conventional construction toys, however, may not include connectors with multiple predefined transformable states. Further, conventional construction toys may not include connectors that may be controlled or programmed to redirect a person (e.g., a “player”) using the construction toys to use a different connection, which may assist and/or add play value to the player.
Aspects of the present disclosure pertain to a construction toy with one or more controllable connectors for connecting multiple blocks structurally and/or electrically. The connectors may be controlled remotely and/or programmatically. In at least one embodiment, the one or more connectors may be controlled and/or programmed in order to provide assistance and to add play value. Further, the construction toy described may include autonomous construction modeling, assessment, and intervention system in the form of a building set of construction toys in which a remote helper, without being present, may model the construction being made from the construction toys, assess the variability of the constructions a player has made, provide assistance or add challenge to the player. The helper is not limited to a human helper and may include a computer program. In at least one embodiment, the disclosed construction toy may be used to help teach children to follow directions or avoid repetitive plays.
In one aspect, a method may include establishing, by a construction toy, a connection to a host computer device via a wireless network. The construction toy includes a sensor to detect a location characteristic and a first connector being configured to selectively couple the construction toy to a second construction toy. The first connector may be adjustable between at least two connectivity states. The method may also include sending the location characteristic to the host computer device. The method may further include receiving, by the construction toy, an instruction from the host computer device to change a connectivity state of the first connector to a first connectivity state. The instruction may be based on the location characteristic. The method may also include causing the connectivity state of the first connector to change to the first connectivity state.
The construction toy 100 may include a housing 105 of any shape or size. The housing 105 may include any number of sides or walls. The housing 105 may include a solid piece of material and may also include one or more cavities for various components, such as a sensor, operating assembly, etc., as described below. As illustrated, the housing 105 includes a cube with six external walls to form six sides. The housing 105 may include any number of sides.
The construction toy 100 may also include one or more controllable connectors 110. As illustrated, the construction toy 100 includes three connectors—a male state connector 110a, a neutral state connector 110b, and a female state connector 110c. As illustrated, the connectors 110a, 110b, 110c may include a shape with a square profile. The connectors 110a, 110b, 110c may be any shape or size. The construction toy 100 may include any number of connectors 110 and any number of connectors 110 may be positioned on a particular side on the construction toy 100.
The housing 105 may also include one or more cavities or voids through which the one or more connectors 110 may be coupled. As illustrated, the cavities in the housing are substantially the same shape as the connectors 110 with the square profile. The male state connector 110a may extend through a first cavity and outward with respect to the housing 105. The male state connector 110a may be configured to fit within a female state connector of an adjacent construction toy (not illustrated). The female state connector 110c may be recessed in a second cavity with respect to an outer surface of the housing of the adjacent construction toy. The neutral state connector 110b may be substantially parallel with an outer surface of the housing 105 such that the neutral state connector 110b may be flush with the outer surface of the housing 105.
The construction toy 100 may be part of a set of construction toys that may be connected to and decoupled from each other. Each construction toy in the set be associated with a block identifier. Similarly, each connector on each construction toy in the set may be associated with a connector identifier. In at least one embodiment, the connector identifier may be associated with a respective construction toy. For example, a construction toy may include a block identifier “ABC123” and a first connector of the construction toy may include a first connector identifier “ABC123:001”, a second connector of the construction toy may include a second connector identifier “ABC123:002”, a third connector of the construction toy may include a third connector identifier “ABC123:003”, and so on. The connector identifiers may also be associated with a block map that identifies the location of each of the connector with respect to each other. For example, a cube-shaped construction toy 100 may have six connectors with one connector on each face. The block map may include the six faces as locations for the six connectors. The block identifiers may be integrated into the block map, such that the first connector identifier “ABC123:001” is indicative of the first connector being on a first of the six faces, the second connector identifier “ABC123:002” being indicative of the second connector being on a second of the six faces, and so on. In at least one alternative embodiment, the location of the connector with respect to the construction toy 100 is separate from the block identifier and the connector identifier. The block identifier, the block map, and the connector identifier may be stored on another device, such as on another construction toy or a host computer device.
Each construction toy in the set may include at least one location sensor capable of reading its location relative to adjacent construction toys that are near or connected to the construction toy. The location sensor may also be capable of reading a location of an adjacent construction toy relative to the construction toy. Each construction toy in the set may selectively control its respective connectors in response to predefined rules and its location relative to adjacent blocks that are near or connected to the construction toy. For example, each construction toy in the set may selectively control its respective connectors to retract a connector to prevent repetitive behavior, to guide a player to build the construction toys in a new directions, or to detect and manage repetitive patterns, as further described below.
The construction toy 205 may be part of a set of construction toys that may be coupled to and decoupled from each other. Each construction toy in the set may include at least one sensor 225 capable of reading its location relative to adjacent blocks that are near or connected to the construction toy. The at least one sensor 225 may also be capable of reading a location of an adjacent construction toy relative to the construction toy 205. Each construction toy may also include a programmable computing control element to execute computer programs and to operate the connectors.
The energy storage element 220 may supply electrical power to the one or more sensors 225 computing control element 230, operating assembly 235, and communication element 240. The energy storage element 220 may include a charging device and/or an energy conversion component that may transform power in real time. The energy storage element 220 may include a battery or other similar device configured to store energy.
The one or more sensors 225 may be configured to detect a characteristic of an adjacent construction toy. The characteristic of the adjacent construction toy may include proximity, location, motion, position, orientation, temperature, emitted or reflected light, radio frequency identification (RFID), etc. The one or more sensors 225 may include a proximity sensor, NFC sensor, sonar sensor, infrared sensor, temperature sensor, light sensor, motion sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, orientation sensor, etc. to detect the characteristic of the adjacent construction toy. The one or more sensors 225 may be operatively connected to the computing control element 230 and the one or more sensors 225 may send data to the computing control element 230. For example, a sensor 225 may detect that the construction toy 100 has been operatively coupled to an adjacent construction toy. The sensor 225 may send data indicative of the coupling—including a block identifier of the construction toy 205, a connector identifier of the construction toy 205 that was coupled to the adjacent construction toy, a block identifier of the adjacent construction toy, a connector identifier of the adjacent construction toy, etc. Alternatively, each construction toy may gather and report data for itself and not for other construction toys. For example, the sensor 225 may send data indicative of the coupling—including a block identifier of the construction toy 205, a connector identifier of the construction toy 205 that was coupled to the adjacent construction toy, etc. The adjacent construction toy may send a respective a block identifier of the adjacent construction toy, a connector identifier of the adjacent construction toy, etc. The sensor data may be sent to the computer control element 230, to the communication element 240 and/or to the host computer device 210. Using these and other techniques, data pertaining to the coupling of construction toys may be collected and sent to the host computer device 210.
The computing control element 230 may include a processor to execute instructions and operate the operating assembly 235. The computing control element 230 may include processing logic to control the operating assembly 235 to change state of one or more connectors. The computing control element 230 may include a programmable computer element. The computing control element 230 may receive instructions from the host computer device 210 pertaining to the control of the one or more connectors. The instructions may relate to changing a state of one or more connectors to encourage or discourage certain behavior of the player of the construction toy 205, as further described below.
The operating assembly 235 may include a connector and a mechanism to change the state of the connector. An example operating assembly 235 may include an actuator and a shaft coupled to the connector to actuate the connector to different connectivity states, as further described in conjunction with
The communication element 240 may be attached to the computing control element 230 to communicate with a paired host computer device 210. The communication element 240 may connect to any other device, such as the host computer device 210, using any form of wireless communication capability. In some embodiments, the communication element 240 may include a radio frequency (RF) antenna. By way of example and not limitation, the communication element 240 may be configured to provide, via wireless mechanisms, LAN connectivity, Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi connectivity, NFC connectivity, M2M connectivity, D2D connectivity, GSM connectivity, 3G connectivity, 4G connectivity, LTE connectivity, any other suitable communication capability, or any suitable combination thereof. The construction toy 205 may include any number of communication elements 240. The construction toy 205 may connect to any network, such as wide area networks (WANs) and/or local area networks (LANs). For example, secured and/or encrypted data may be exchanged between the construction toy 205 and the host computer device 210. In some embodiments, the network includes the Internet, including a global internetwork formed by logical and physical connections between multiple WANs and/or LANs. Alternately or additionally, the network may include one or more cellular RF networks and/or one or more wired and/or wireless networks such as, but not limited to, 802.xx networks, Bluetooth access points, wireless access points, IP-based networks, meshed devices, or the like. The network may also include one or more servers that enable one type of network to interface with another type of network.
The host computer device 210 may include one or more client or server computing devices, (such as a personal computer (PC), game console, set top box, laptop, mobile phone, smart phone, tablet computer, netbook computer, e-reader, personal digital assistant (PDA), or cellular phone, wearable device, electronic wristwatch, arm band, chest strap, head band, bracelet, wristband, rackmount server, a router computer, a server computer, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a laptop computer, a web server, a proxy server, a desktop computer, etc.), data stores (e.g., hard disks, memories, databases), networks, software components, and/or hardware components. The host computer device 210 may include a play assistance manager 245.
The play assistance manager 245 may generate instructions to control various the connectivity state of connectors in a set of construction toys, including the construction toy 205. The play assistance manager 245 may receive data from the one or more sensors 225 via the communication element 240. The play assistance manager 245 may use the received data to determine when to change a state of one or more connectors. The play assistance manager 245 may include a set of predetermined rules that indicate when to change a state of one or more connectors. The predetermined rules may include one or more conditions for a change of state of a connector. When the play assistance manager 245 determines (based on sensor data) that a player is engaging in repetitive behavior when playing with the construction toys, for example, the play assistance manager 245 may generate an instruction to change the connectivity state of one or more connectors to encourage the player to engage in different techniques to play with the construction toys. In some embodiments, the play assistance manager 245 may include a stand-alone application (“app”) that may be downloadable either directly from a host or from an application store.
The play assistance manager 245 may also generate and/or manage a construction model that may include a set of instructions for building a particular object. The construction model may also include a set of guided instructions to encourage learning and/or a particular behavior. The construction model may also include a digital (e.g., graphical) representation of a current configuration of the set of construction toys. For example, when the player builds a house out of the set of construction toys, the construction model may be a digital representation of the house. The construction model may also guide the player on how to build a particular object. The construction model may include the current configuration of the set of construction toys and one or more locations for where to place the next construction toy to build the particular object. A helper may observe the digital representation of the set of construction toys and may define an instruction to be sent to the construction toy 205. For example, when the helper identifies a particular undesired behavior of the player, the helper may define an instruction to discourage or prevent the particular undesired behavior of the player. The instruction may include an instruction to disable connections between some or all of construction toys.
The operating assembly 300 may also include a sensor 320 near the connector, which may be used to detect coupling to an adjacent connector. The sensor 320 may be the same as or similar to the sensor 225 of
The operating assembly 600 may also include a sensor 620 near the electromagnetic connector 610, which may be used to detect coupling to an adjacent electromagnetic connector. The sensor 620 may be the same as or similar to the sensor 225 of
The operating assembly 600 may also include a polarity indicator 625. The polarity indicator 625 may indicate a current state of the electromagnetic connector 610 (north or south, positive or negative). The actuator 615 may flip the polarity of electromagnetic connector 610, such as in response to receiving a polarity instruction from a host computer. To flip the polarity of the electromagnetic connector 610, the actuator 615 may alternate a direction of electric current. In at least one embodiment, the polarity indicator 625 includes a light (e.g., LED light) that may be adjacent to the electromagnetic connector 610. In at least one embodiment, the polarity indicator 625 includes a light that is attached to the electromagnetic connector 610. In at least one embodiment, a first state of the polarity is indicated by a first wavelength (or range) or color of light and a second state of the polarity is indicated by a second wavelength (or range) or color of light. In at least one alternative embodiment, a first state of the polarity is indicated by a first blinking pattern of the light and a second state of the polarity is indicated by a second blinking pattern of the light.
Once a communication has been established with the host computer device, the processing logic may send sensor data to the host computer device at block 715, execute instructions (such as instructions received from the host computer device) at block 720, and manage connections with alien connectors at block 725, as further described in conjunction with
At block 910, the processing logic may determine whether the received block ID matches a local block ID that is associated with the construction toy. The local block ID may be stored in a local data storage. The processing logic may compare the received block ID with the local block ID. When the received block ID and the local block ID match (“YES” at block 910), the processing logic may determine whether the received connector ID is valid. When a match is not found (“NO” at block 910), the processing logic may ignore the instructions and loop to block 905.
In at least one embodiment, to check whether the received connector ID is valid at block 915, the processing logic may determine whether the construction toy includes a local connector that corresponds to the received connector ID. For example, a local connector ID may be stored in a local data storage. The processing logic may check the received connector ID against any local connector IDs store in the local data storage. When a match is found (“YES” at block 915), the processing logic may determine that the construction toy includes a connector to be driven. When a match is not found (“NO” at block 915), the processing logic may ignore the instructions and loop to block 905.
At block 920, the processing logic may drive the connector to a state designated by the instructions. The state may be one of multiple potential states. For example, for the mechanical connector and actuator as illustrated in
At block 1005, the processing logic may sense a proximity of an alien connector. The proximity of the alien connector may be detecting via a sensor, such as the one or more sensors 225 of
When the alien connector is disconnected from the construction toy (“YES” at block 1010), the processing logic may determine whether a transformation of a local connector is allowed. The processing logic may access instructions received from a host computer device (e.g., host computer device 210) that may indicate whether the transformation of the local connector is allowed. Alternatively, the processing logic may query the host computer device to determine whether the transformation of the local connector is allowed.
When the transformation of the local connector is allowed (“YES” at block 1015), the processing logic may determine whether the local connector is compatible with the alien connector at block 1020. When the transformation of the local connector is not allowed (“NO” at block 1015), the processing logic may continue to block 1030.
At block 1020, the processing logic may determine whether the local connector connectivity state is compatible with the alien connector. The processing logic may identify a local connector connectivity state, which may include male, female, neutral, on, off, or another state. The processing logic may detect the connector connectivity state for the alien connector, such as via a sensor. For example, the alien connector may broadcast its connectivity state and the sensor may detect the same from the broadcast. The processing logic may compare the connectivity state of the local connector with the connectivity state of the alien connector. For example, the processing logic may identify the local connector as being in a “male” connectivity state and the alien connector as being in a “female” state. Because these two connectivity states are able to couple with each other, these states may be referred to as compatible connectivity states. The same may hold for electromagnetic connectors with opposite polarities, among others. When the two connector types are incompatible (“NO” at block 1020), the processing logic may transform the local connector to a connectivity state that is compatible with the alien connector at block 1025. Transforming the connectivity state of the local connector may include driving an actuator to reverse polarity, to change a physical position of the connector from a “male” position to a “female” position, to change a physical position of the connector from a “female” position to a “male” position, among others.
When the two connector types are compatible (“YES” at block 1020), the processing logic may detect whether the local connector and the alien connector have coupled at block 1030. When the local connector and the alien connector have coupled (“YES” at block 1030), the processing logic may send a host computer device (e.g., host computer device 210 of
At block 1205, the processing logic may read sensor data, which may be generated by one or more sensors, such as the one or more sensors 225 of
At block 1210, the processing logic may update the construction model based on the sensor data. In reading the sensor data, the processing logic may monitor how the player interacts with the set of construction toys and may record every connection made between construction toys. The processing logic may group structurally similar constructions. The processing logic may also measure behavioral variability and the variability and complexity of the constructions. For example, as a player builds a house, the processing logic uses the sensor data from block 1205 to determine the player's progress on building the house. As the player adds construction toys, the processing logic may update the digital representation of the house to reflect the physical progress of the house. In at least one embodiment, the processing logic may model the player's behavior according the techniques described in U.S. application Ser. No. 15/075,125, which is incorporated by reference.
At block 1215, the processing logic may generate an assistive instruction based on the updated construction model. The assistive instruction may instruct the player on where to connect another construction toy. The assistive instruction may also include an instruction to a construction toy to change a connectivity state of a connector. The processing logic may, for example, analyze the construction model to identify a behavior of the player (e.g., a repetitive pattern) and the processing logic may generate the assistive instruction to encourage or alter the identified behavior. For example, when the construction model indicates that the player has connected a series of construction toys in an identical manner, the assistive instruction may include an instruction to connect the construction toys in a different manner. In another example, the assistive instruction may include an instruction to the construction toy to disable any connectors that would allow the player to continue to connect more construction toys in the identical manner. At block 1220, the processing logic may send the assistive instruction to the player and/or to one or more construction toys. In at least one embodiment, the processing logic may generate an assistive instruction according the techniques described in U.S. application Ser. No. 15/076,602, which is incorporated by reference.
The example computing device 1300 includes a processing device (e.g., a processor) 1302, a main memory 1304 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)), a static memory 1306 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM)) and a data storage device 1316, which communicate with each other via a bus 1308.
Processing device 1302 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, the processing device 1302 may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or a processor implementing other instruction sets or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. The processing device 1302 may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor, or the like. The processing device 1302 is configured to execute instructions 1326 for performing the operations and steps discussed herein.
The computing device 1300 may further include a network interface device 1322 which may communicate with a network 1318. The computing device 1300 also may include a display device 1310 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device 1312 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 1314 (e.g., a mouse) and a signal generation device 1320 (e.g., a speaker). In one implementation, the display device 1310, the alphanumeric input device 1312, and the cursor control device 1314 may be combined into a single component or device (e.g., an LCD touch screen).
The data storage device 1316 may include a computer-readable storage medium 1324 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 1326 embodying any one or more of the methods or functions described herein. The instructions 1326 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 1304 and/or within the processing device 1302 during execution thereof by the computing device 1300, the main memory 1304 and the processing device 1302 also constituting computer-readable media. The instructions may further be transmitted or received over a network 1318 via the network interface device 1322.
While the computer-readable storage medium 1326 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable storage medium” may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable storage medium” may also include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methods of the present disclosure. The term “computer-readable storage medium” may accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical media and magnetic media.
Terms used herein and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” may be interpreted as “including, but not limited to,” the term “having” may be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” may be interpreted as “includes, but is not limited to,” etc.).
Additionally, if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases may not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to embodiments containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” may be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations.
In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation may be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Further, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” or “one or more of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended to include A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B, and C together, etc. For example, the use of the term “and/or” is intended to be construed in this manner.
Further, any disjunctive word or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, may be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” may be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
Embodiments described herein may be implemented using computer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable media may be any available media that may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readable storage media including Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory devices (e.g., solid state memory devices), or any other storage medium which may be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which may be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. Combinations of the above may also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
Computer-executable instructions may include, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing device (e.g., one or more processors) to perform a certain function or group of functions. Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
As used herein, the terms “module” or “component” may refer to specific hardware implementations configured to perform the operations of the module or component and/or software objects or software routines that may be stored on and/or executed by general purpose hardware (e.g., computer-readable media, processing devices, etc.) of the computing system. In some embodiments, the different components, modules, engines, and services described herein may be implemented as objects or processes that execute on the computing system (e.g., as separate threads). While some of the system and methods described herein are generally described as being implemented in software (stored on and/or executed by general purpose hardware), specific hardware implementations or a combination of software and specific hardware implementations are also possible and contemplated. In this description, a “computing entity” may be any computing system as previously defined herein, or any module or combination of modulates running on a computing system.
All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail, it may be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations may be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
The term “substantially” means within 5% or 10% of the value referred to or within manufacturing tolerances.
Various embodiments are disclosed. The various embodiments may be partially or completely combined to produce other embodiments.
Numerous specific details are set forth herein to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, apparatuses, or systems that would be known by one of ordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not to obscure claimed subject matter.
Some portions are presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on data bits or binary digital signals stored within a computing system memory, such as a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions or representations are examples of techniques used by those of ordinary skill in the data processing art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar processing leading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involves physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, it is appreciated that throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” and “identifying” or the like refer to actions or processes of a computing device, such as one or more computers or a similar electronic computing device or devices, that manipulate or transform data represented as physical, electronic, or magnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other information storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the computing platform.
The system or systems discussed herein are not limited to any particular hardware architecture or configuration. A computing device can include any suitable arrangement of components that provides a result conditioned on one or more inputs. Suitable computing devices include multipurpose microprocessor-based computer systems accessing stored software that programs or configures the computing system from a general-purpose computing apparatus to a specialized computing apparatus implementing one or more embodiments of the present subject matter. Any suitable programming, scripting, or other type of language or combinations of languages may be used to implement the teachings contained herein in software to be used in programming or configuring a computing device.
Embodiments of the methods disclosed herein may be performed in the operation of such computing devices. The order of the blocks presented in the examples above can be varied—for example, blocks can be re-ordered, combined, and/or broken into sub-blocks. Certain blocks or processes can be performed in parallel.
The use of “adapted to” or “configured to” herein is meant as open and inclusive language that does not foreclose devices adapted to or configured to perform additional tasks or steps. Additionally, the use of “based on” is meant to be open and inclusive, in that a process, step, calculation, or other action “based on” one or more recited conditions or values may, in practice, be based on additional conditions or values beyond those recited. Headings, lists, and numbering included herein are for ease of explanation only and are not meant to be limiting.
While the present subject matter has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily produce alterations to, variations of, and equivalents to such embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that the present disclosure has been presented for-purposes of example rather than limitation, and does not preclude inclusion of such modifications, variations, and/or additions to the present subject matter as would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
