STABILIZATION DEVICE

Abstract

A stabilization device including a hand support configured to be supported by human operation, an actuator connected to the hand support and a mounting assembly affixed to the actuator and configured to be attached to an external device capable of being supported under human operation. The actuator provides compensating planar motion to the hand support under control of a motion detection and compensation controller when the motion detection and compensation controller detects motion associated with the hand support being supported under human operation. The actuator includes a first rotatable shaft providing a first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion, and a second rotatable shaft providing a second compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, where the second compensation motion is orthogonal to the first compensation motion.

Description

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to stabilization device for hand-held objects. Embodiments presented herein allows a user to more accurately aim or position a hand-held device to which the stabilization device may be attached, for example shoulder-mounted hand-carried firearm or a shoulder-carried cinematography camera rig.

BRIEF SUMMARY

It should be appreciated that this Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

A stabilization device is disclosed herein as including a hand support configured to be supported by human operation and an actuator connected to the hand support. The actuator may be configured to provide compensating planar motion to the hand support under control of a motion detection and compensation controller when the motion detection and compensation controller detects motion associated with the hand support being supported under human operation. The stabilizer device further includes a mounting assembly affixed to the actuator and configured to be attached to an external device capable of being supported under human operation.

The stabilization device as disclosed herein is further configured such that the actuator includes a first rotatable shaft providing a first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, and includes a second rotatable shaft providing a second compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, the second compensation motion being orthogonal to the first compensation motion.

Another configuration of a stabilization device as disclosed herein is further configured such that the actuator includes a first rotatable shaft providing a first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, the first compensation motion to the hand support being orthogonal to a linear axis of the first rotatable shaft.

The stabilization device as disclosed herein is further configured such that the actuator further includes a first linkage connected to a first end of the first rotatable shaft, the first linkage configured to provide the compensation motion to the hand support within a range of motion defined by a linear slot on the hand support, the linear slot being oriented parallel to a direction of the first compensation motion.

Another configuration of a stabilization device as disclosed herein is further configured such that the actuator includes a rotatable shaft providing a compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, the compensation motion to the hand support being orthogonal to a linear axis of the rotatable shaft.

The stabilization device as disclosed herein is further configured such that the actuator further includes a first linkage connected to a first end of the rotatable shaft, the first linkage configured to provide the compensation motion to the hand support within a range of motion defined by a rotational motion of a portion of the first linkage traveling within a linear slot on the hand support.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the stabilization device will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, which are not necessarily drawing to scale and in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a side view of a hand-held stabilizer as disclosed herein on a small caliber firearm;

FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective front view of the hand-held stabilizer on the small caliber firearm of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of another example of a hand-held stabilizer as disclosed herein on a shoulder-mounted camera rig;

FIG. 3A illustrates an exploded front perspective assembly view of another example of a hand-held stabilizer as disclosed herein showing an upper and a lower module;

FIG. 3B illustrates an exploded rear perspective assembly view of the hand-held stabilizer showing the upper and lower module of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A illustrates an exploded front perspective assembly view of the upper module of the hand-held stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B;

FIG. 4B illustrates an exploded rear perspective assembly view of the upper module of the hand-held stabilizer of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5 illustrates a partial exploded front perspective assembly view of actuator assembly of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B;

FIG. 6A illustrates a partial exploded rear perspective assembly view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B particularly illustrating the shaft assemblies, the motor assembly and the gear train;

FIG. 6B illustrates a rear sectional view (A-A) from FIG. 5 of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIG. 6A particularly illustrating the shaft assemblies, the motor assembly, the gear train and the actuator frame;

FIG. 7 illustrates a partial exploded rear perspective assembly view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B particularly illustrating the shaft assemblies, the motor assembly, the gear train and the front and rear linkage assemblies;

FIG. 8A illustrates a rear perspective partial assembly view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B particularly illustrating the shaft assemblies and the printed circuit board (PCB);

FIG. 8B illustrates a rear plan partial assembly view (B-B) of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIG. 8A particularly illustrating the shaft assemblies and the printed circuit board (PCB);

FIG. 9A illustrates a rear perspective view of the hand guard assembly of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B, particularly illustrating the end plate, the hand grip assembly and the hand guard linkage connection plates;

FIG. 9B illustrates a partial front cross-sectional view (C-C) of the hand guard assembly of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIG. 9A, particularly illustrating the end plate, the hand grip assembly, the hand guard linkage connection plates and a rear rotational motion linkage assembly;

FIG. 10A illustrates a front perspective view of the hand guard linkage connection plate;

FIG. 10B illustrates a rear perspective view of the hand guard linkage connection plate of FIG. 10A;

FIG. 11 illustrates a partial exploded front perspective assembly view of the actuator assembly and the and hand guard assembly without any rotational motion linkage assemblies;

FIG. 12A illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in a stowed position;

FIG. 12B illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in a first vertical (Y-direction) extending position;

FIG. 12C illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in a second vertical (Y-direction) position;

FIG. 12D illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in the first vertical (Y-direction) of FIG. 12B and a first horizontal (X-direction) position;

FIG. 13 illustrates a general representation the control electronics for a stabilization system of a stabilizer as disclosed herein;

FIG. 14 illustrates a general representation of a compensation algorithm as disclosed herein;

FIG. 15 illustrates an alternative representation of a compensation algorithm as disclosed herein;

FIG. 16 illustrates another alternative representation of a compensation algorithm as disclosed herein; and

FIG. 17 illustrates a general representation of a digital filter as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A hand-held stabilizer 10 described herein may be used to stabilize an object held on one end by the user's hands where the opposite end of the device may be configured to be secured to or against the user's body. The hand-held stabilizer may isolate motion from the user in a plane tangent to a line between the point of the device secured to or against the body of the user, and the corresponding point where the user's hands hold the free end of the device.

One such device that may be used with the hand-held stabilizer 10 may be a small caliber firearm defined herein as being any conventional or future developed firearm normally fired by an individual person, including handguns, shotguns, sporting rifles, or military rifles. Small caliber firearms may also include heavier weapons such as light machineguns (e.g., the US military's M-249 squad automatic weapon or SAW) and medium machineguns (e.g., the US military's M-60).

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the hand-held stabilizer 10 on a small caliber firearm 20, and FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective front view of the hand-held stabilizer 10 on the small caliber firearm 20 of FIG. 1A.

A firearm 20 generally includes a barrel 22, a barrel handguard 24 where a user normally grips the fore-end of the firearm 20, picatinny rails 26 oriented on at least one side of the barrel handguard 24 configured to attach peripheral devices to the firearm 20, a lower receiver 28 containing the trigger group and magazine feed well, an upper receiver 30 containing the bolt carrier group, and a stock 32 that may or may not be collapsible and may be configured to contact the front shoulder surface of the user.

The hand-held stabilizer 10 may be mounted on the barrel handguard 24 where a user would normally grip or carry the fore end of the firearm 20. In various configurations, the hand-held stabilizer 10 may be mounted on a bottom side portion of the barrel handguard 24, (as depicted in FIGS. 1A-1B), whereas in other configurations, the hand-held stabilizer 10 may be mounted to the left or right side of the barrel handguard 24 via corresponding picatinny rails 26 depending on the user's preference and/or the devices mounted the picatinny rails 26 of the barrel handguard 24.

Regardless of where the hand-held stabilizer 10 may be mounted on the fore-end of the firearm 20, the hand-held stabilizer 10 may be capable of offsetting motion input by the hand(s) or supporting member of the user holding the fore end of the firearm 20 by compensating for motion in the X-Y plane as depicted by the coordinate indictors in the figures. The coordinate indicators in the figures represent (for example, in relation to the firearm 20 of FIGS. 1A and 1B): a Z-direction being co-linear with a line between the body supported aft end portion of the stock 32 and the hand-supported barrel 22 of the firearm; a X-direction being a horizontal, left-right “windage” direction of motion with respect to the barrel 22 of the firearm 20; and the Y-direction being a vertical, up-down “elevation” direction of motion with respect to the barrel 22 of the firearm 20.

The term “fore grip” as used herein means a vertical grip extending from the hand guard, a horizontal gripping surface on the hand guard, or any other gripping surface forward of the pistol grip on lower receiver 104 (e.g., a gripping surface on the front side of the magazine well).

During normal use of the firearm 20 illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1B, the upper receiver 30 and lower receiver 28 are rigidly connected by at least two pins and thus, the barrel 22 and stock 32 are rigidly connected to one another. In other words, there may be no relative pivoting or rotation between barrel 22 and stock 32 (including no relative rotation between barrel 22 and stock 32).

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of another configuration of the hand-held stabilizer 10 on a shoulder-mounted camera rig 30. The hand-held stabilizer 10 may be mounted to the hand grip(s) 36 that may be fixedly attached the frame 32 that may be connected at a rear portion of the frame 32 to shoulder pad or pads 34. In this configuration, the shoulder pad(s) 34 may be placed on top of the shoulder(s) of the user who may hold the handgrip(s) 36 with a hand or hands while the hand-held stabilizer 10 mounted between the handgrip(s) 36 and the frame 32 provides compensation in a plane of motion perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the frame 32. Thus, stabilization motion is provided by the hand-held stabilizer 10, in the plane of motion, to a corresponding camera lens assembly 38 to isolate a user's movement transmitted to the camera lens assembly 38 by the hand grip(s) 36.

FIG. 3A illustrates a front exploded perspective assembly view of an example of a hand-held stabilizer 10 as disclosed herein, showing an upper 100 and a lower module 200. FIG. 3B illustrates a rear exploded perspective assembly view of the hand-held stabilizer 10 of FIG. 3A.

The upper module 100 may be secured to the lower module 200 via module fasteners 12. The lower module 200 may be comprised of two main sub-assemblies, the actuator assembly 210 and the handguard assembly 330. Upper assembly 100, as described in FIGS. 4A-4B, includes a user interface 160, power supply 140 and locking lever 130 to attach the hand-mounted stabilizer 10 to any corresponding device. Lower assembly 200, as described in FIGS. 5-12D, includes the actuator assembly 210 configured to move the handguard assembly 330 relative to the upper assembly 100 in the X-Y plane.

FIG. 4A illustrates a front exploded perspective assembly view of the upper module 100 of the hand-held stabilizer 10 of FIGS. 3A-3B, and FIG. 4B illustrates a rear exploded perspective assembly view of the upper module 100 of FIG. 4A.

The upper module 100 includes a main housing 110 that supports a clamping base 120, a rail locking lever assembly 130, a power supply or battery case 140, an interconnect printed circuit board (PCB) 150, a user interface 160 and a user interface PCB 170.

The main housing 110 includes a battery compartment receiver 112 oriented in the Z-axis direction while configured to hold the battery case 140 therein and provide an electrical connection within the main housing 110 to both the interconnect PCB 150 and the user interface PCB 170. The main housing 110 also includes side mounted UI receiver 114 portion configured to hold both the user interface PCB 170 within the enclosure of the main housing 110 and provide for fixed attachment position of the user interface 160. The main housing 110 further includes a clamp receiver 116 portion that mates to a top-mounted clamping base 120 and protects the interconnect PCB 150 thereunder while configured to provide a weather-proof connection to the lower module 200 of the stabilizer device 10.

The clamping base 120 may be affixed to the clamp receiver 116 with fasteners (not shown, fastener assembly lines are alternately illustrated), where the clamping base 120 includes a set of rail claws 122 on a distal side of the clamping base 120 and a lever post 124 on a side opposite the distal side for receiving a rail locking lever assembly 130. The rail claws 122 are configured to engage either the left or right side of the picatinny rails on the firearm 20 depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B, or an Arca-Swiss style mounting receiver attached to the base of the camera and lens assembly 38 of FIG. 2.

A corresponding lever 132 of the rail locking lever assembly 130 may be configured to engage an opposite side of, for example, the picatinny rails or the Arca-Swiss receiver, by means of a rotating clamp 134 protruding from the lever 132 configured to be rotated upon the level post 124 by a user. The rail locking lever assembly further includes a clamp bushing 136 and a fastener 138 connected to the lever post 124 of the clamping base 120 to secure the rail locking lever assembly 130 in a rotating configuration about the lever post 124.

The power supply case 140 includes an end cap 142 to provide a weather-proof enclosure for a power supply, for example, a disposable or rechargeable battery or batteries.

The interconnect PCB 150 includes an upper electrical connection 152 configured to provide a point of electrical connection for conductors connected to a corresponding user interface PCB 170 electrical and/or communication connection 174. Opposite the upper electrical connection 152 and on an opposite side of the interconnect PCB 150 may be a lower electrical connection 154 configured to provide an electrical connection to the lower module 200, particularly, for example, the upper module electrical connection 302 on the lower module PCB 300 as shown in FIG. 5.

The user interface (UI) 160 may include a toggle or momentary switch 162, a mode selector switch 164 and a lighted visual indicator 166 configured to indicate a power level, an operational state and/or a selected mode corresponding to the mode selection switch 164, or equivalent components. The UI switch 162 may be activated by the user's thumb or finger of the hand that holds the stabilizer device 10 after the user has aligned the device with a particular reference point (as with the camera and lens assembly 138), or an object, (as with a target aligned with iron sights or an optical aiming system of the firearm 20).

When the stabilizer device 10 may be activated by the switch 162, the stabilization system may be activated in a mode that may be selected by the mode selector switch 164. For example, a first position “I” may activate a mode when the user may be in an environment when there may be little induced movement on the object being stabilized, for example, when a fore end of a firearm may be being supported on the ground by a bi pod. A second position “II” may activate another mode where the user may be walking in an environment of moderate induced movement. A third position, “III” may activate another mode where the user may be riding on a vehicle at moderate or high speeds and the object may be in an environment of large amounts of induced movement subject to various movement frequencies. In summary, the mode selector switch 164 on the UI 160 may provide for different operating or processing modes that the stabilization device 10 operates in accordance with to supply compensating motion to the lower module 200.

The UI PCB 170 may be mounted to the internal side of the UI 160 or other suitable location and includes a surface mounted PCB switch 172 in mechanical connection with the UI switch 162 and a PCB electrical/communication connection 174 in communication with the upper electrical connection 152 of the upper module interconnect PCB 150. Additionally, UI PCB fasteners 176 may connect the UI PCB 170 to the interior side of the UI 160, and an oppositely disposed set of UI PCB fasteners 176 may connect the UI 160 the main housing 110 via the perimeter of the UI receiver 114.

FIG. 5 illustrates a partial front exploded perspective assembly view of the actuator assembly 210 of lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIGS. 3A-3B. For clarity purposes, the gear train assembly 260, (shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B), and motion linkage assemblies 280, (shown in FIG. 7), of the actuator assembly 210 are not shown in FIG. 5.

The actuator assembly 210 includes an actuator frame 220, a horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, a vertical motion shaft 240, a motor assembly 250, a gear train assembly 260, (as further described in FIGS. 6A and 6B), rotational motion linkage assemblies 280, (as further described in FIG. 7), printed circuit board (PCB) 300, and actuator motion shaft bearing plates 320.

Actuator frame 220 includes an upper module interface aperture 222 that receives the upper module interconnect PCB 150 of the upper module 100. The upper module interface aperture 222 may be sealed in a weather-proof manner by the corresponding surface of the clamp receiver 116 of the main housing 110 of the upper module 100. Actuator frame 220 further includes a front opening 224 and a rear opening 226 relative to the Z-axis.

The horizontal motion shaft assembly 230 includes a left horizontal motion shaft 232 and a right horizontal motion shaft 234 mounted in a co-planar configuration within the X-Z plane. A sensor magnet 236, (more visibly illustrated in FIG. 6A), may be secured to a collar surrounding the right horizontal motion shaft 234 and configured to interact with a corresponding sensor 314 mounted on PCB 300, (as illustrated in FIG. 8B). Sensor 314 may include, but not be limited to, a Hall-effect type sensor or a magneto resistive sensor, both utilizing the sensor magnet 236 of the right horizontal motion shaft 234 and the corresponding sensor magnet 242 on the vertical motion shaft 240. Alternatively, a rotary encoding type sensor may be used without any magnets to directly encode position data from any of the horizontal or vertical motion shafts.

The vertical motion shaft 240 may be positioned below and directly between the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230. The vertical motion shaft 240 includes a sensor magnet 242 secured to a collar surrounding the vertical motion shaft 240 and configured to interact with a corresponding Hall-effect sensor 314 mounted on the PCB 300, (as illustrated in FIG. 8B).

The horizontal motion shaft assembly 230 may be driven by the horizontal motion servomotor 252 of motor assembly 250 via the gear train assembly 260. The vertical motion shaft 240 may be correspondingly driven by the vertical motion servomotor 254 of the motor assembly 250 via the gear train assembly 260. (The gear train assembly 260 is further described in more detail below in the description of FIGS. 6A and 6B).

PCB 300 includes an upper module electrical connection 302 configured to communicate with the lower electrical connection 154 of the upper module interconnect PCB 150. PCB 300, (further described in more detail below in the description of FIGS. 8A and 8B), includes a capacitor 308, a horizontal motion signal output 310, a vertical motion signal output 312, horizontal motion shaft recesses 316 and a vertical motion shaft aperture 318.

Actuator motion shaft bearing plates 320 are connected to the front opening 224 and rear opening 226 of the actuator frame 220 by bearing plate fasteners as illustrated in FIG. 5. Each actuator motion shaft bearing plate 320 further includes two horizontal motion shaft bearing apertures 322 surrounded by corresponding horizontal motion shaft bearing bushings 324, and a vertical motion shaft bearing aperture 326 surrounded by a vertical motion shaft bearing bushing 328. The rear actuator motion shaft bearing plate 320, (left side of FIG. 5), further includes gear train spindles 329 for supporting corresponding individual gears of the gear train assembly 260.

FIG. 6A illustrates a rear partial exploded perspective assembly view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B particularly illustrating the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, the vertical motion shaft 240, the motor assembly 250 and the gear train assembly 260. FIG. 6B illustrates a corresponding rear sectional view (A-A) from FIG. 5 of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIG. 6A particularly illustrating the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, the vertical motion shaft 240, the gear train assembly 260 and the actuator frame 220.

The gear train assembly 260 will be described in detail below demonstrating how each motors of the motor assembly 250 respectively, control the rotational motion of the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230 and the vertical motion shaft 240.

Horizontal motion servomotor 252 drives a first horizontal motion reduction gear 262, that drives a second reduction gear 264, the drive a third reduction gear 266 to finally rotationally drive a horizontal motion transfer gear 268 mounted on the distal end of the left horizontal motion shaft 232. The horizontal motion transfer gear 268 directly drives a horizontal motion coupling gear 270 mounted on the distal end of the right horizontal motion shaft 234, such that any rotation of the left horizontal motion shaft 232 driven by the horizontal motion servo-motor 252 corresponds to an equal and opposite rotational motion of the right horizontal motion shaft 234.

Likewise, the vertical motion servo-motor 254 drives a first vertical motion reduction gear 272, that drives a second vertical motion reduction gear 274, that drives a third vertical motion reduction gear 276, that directly drives a vertical motion coupling gear 278 mounted on the distal end of the vertical motion shaft 240 to control its rotation.

FIG. 7 illustrates a partial exploded rear perspective assembly view of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIGS. 3A-3B particularly illustrating the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, vertical motion shaft 240, motor assembly 250, gear train assembly 260, and rotational motion linkage assemblies 280.

The rotational motion linkage assemblies 280 include a front linkage assembly 282 mounted on the front distal ends of the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230 and the vertical motion shaft 240. Likewise, a rear linkage assembly 284 may be mounted on the rear distal ends of the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230 and the vertical motion shaft 240. The front linkage assembly 282 and rear linkage assembly 284 are identical in their features and function but only differ in their disposition within the actuator assembly 210.

For clarity purposes, the rear linkage assembly 284 will now be described, although the front linkage assembly 282 may be similarly configured. The distal rear end of the left horizontal motion shaft 232 may be affixed to a left horizontal motion cam link and pin 286 rotationally connected to an upper portion of a left horizontal motion link 288. Likewise, the distal rear end of the right horizontal motion shaft 234 may be affixed to the right horizontal motion cam link and pin 290 rotationally connected to an upper portion of a right horizontal motion link 292.

Thus, when the horizontal motion servo-motor 252 transmits a rotational motion through the gear train 260 to the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, both the left and right horizontal motion cam link and pins 286 and 290 move their corresponding horizontal motion links 288 and 292 in similar upward or downward motion relative to the Y-axis.

The distal rear end of the vertical motion shaft 240 may be a fixed to a vertical motion cam link 294 and pin 296. Likewise, when the vertical motion servomotor 254 transmits a rotational motion through the gear train 260 to the vertical motion shaft 240, the vertical motion cam link 294 translates the pin 296 in a component direction of motion relative to the X-axis.

FIG. 8A illustrates a rear perspective partial assembly view of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIGS. 3A-3B particularly illustrating the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, the vertical motion shaft 240 and the PCB 300. FIG. 8B illustrates a rear plan partial assembly view of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIG. 8A.

The PCB 300 includes the upper module electrical connection 302, a central processing unit (CPU) 304, at least one inertial measurement unit (INU) 306, a capacitor 308, a horizontal motion signal output 310 and vertical motion signal output 312, at least two Hall-effect sensors 314, horizontal motion shaft recesses 316 and a vertical motion shaft aperture 318.

The right horizontal motion shaft 234 includes the sensor magnet 236 mounted proximate to the upper PCB 300 mounted Hall-effect sensor 314 immediately adjacent the horizontal motion shaft recess 316 on the PCB 300. This upper PCB 300 mounted Hall-effect sensor 314 may be configured to determine the relative position and rotational speed of the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230 based on the interaction of the sensor magnet 236 with upper PCB 300 mounted Hall-effect sensor 314.

Likewise, the vertical motion shaft 240 includes the sensor magnet 242 mounted proximate to a lower PCB 300 mounted Hall-effect sensor 314 immediately adjacent the vertical motion shaft aperture 318 on the PCB 300. This lower PCB 300 mounted Hall-effect sensor 314 may be configured to determine the relative position and rotational speed of the vertical motion shaft assembly 240 based on the interaction of the sensor magnet 242 with the lower PCB 300 mounted Hall-effect sensor 314. Both Hall-effect sensors 314 communicate their signals directly to the CPU 304 via electrical connections via the PCB 300.

IMU 306 may include a plurality of accelerometers to detect linear acceleration and gyroscopes to detect a rotational rate of motion in each of the X, Y and Z axes, respectively.

Horizontal motion signal output 310 communicates a horizontal motion signal to the horizontal motion servomotor 252, and likewise, the vertical motion signal output 312 communicates a vertical motion signal to the vertical motion servomotor 254.

FIG. 9A illustrates a rear perspective view of the hand guard assembly 330 of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIGS. 3A-3B, particularly illustrating the end plates 340, the hand grip assembly 350 and the hand guard linkage connection plates 360. FIG. 9B illustrates a front partial cross-sectional view (C-C) of the hand guard assembly 330 of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIG. 9A, particularly illustrating the end plate 340, the hand grip assembly 350, the hand guard linkage connection plates 360 and the rear rotational motion linkage assembly 284.

End plates 340 are mounted with end plate fasteners 342 on the front and rear ends of the hand grip assembly 350. The hand grip assembly 350 includes an outer guard 352 and an inner frame 354 that contains locking slots 356 near distal end portions of the inner frame 354. The locking the slots 356 are configured to engage with hand grip mounting tabs 372 of the hand guard linkage connection plates from 360 to secure the hand guard linkage connection plates 360 to the hand grip assembly 330.

The hand guard linkage connection plates 360 further provide the mechanical connection between the rotational motion linkage assemblies 280 of the actuator assembly 210 and the hand guard assembly 330.

FIG. 10A illustrates a front perspective view of the hand guard linkage connection plate, and FIG. 10B illustrates a rear perspective view of the hand guard linkage connection plate of FIG. 10A.

The hand guard linkage connection plate 360 includes an interior facing horizontal motion control linear channel 362 configured to receive the vertical motion cam pin 296 of the vertical motion cam 294. Thus, when the horizontal motion cam 294 rotates about the horizontal motion shaft 240, the horizontal motion cam pin 296 imparts a horizontal motion component via the horizontal motion control linear channel 362 and moves the lower module 200 in a direction of the X-axis.

The hand guard linkage connection plate 360 further includes an interior support wall 364 providing vertical motion control pin apertures 366 configured to receive vertical motion control pins 368, (as seen in FIG. 9A), about which the lower ends of the left horizontal motion link 288 and right horizontal motion link 292 are rotatably connected. Thus, when the vertical motion cam and link pins 286 and 290 rotate about their respective vertical motion shafts, 232 and 234, the connected horizontal motion links 288 and 292 move the lower module 200 in a direction of the Y-axis.

The hand guard linkage connection plates 360 further include end plate fastener apertures 370 configured to receive end plate fasteners 342 (as illustrated in FIG. 9A), and hand grip mounting tabs 372 configured to be received within locking slots 356 of hand grip assembly 350.

FIG. 11 illustrates a front perspective partial exploded assembly view of the actuator assembly 210 and the hand guard assembly 330 (without the rotational motion linkage assemblies 280 and gear train assembly 260). The actuator assembly 210 may be configured to be disposed inside the hand grip assembly 350 between the hand guard linkage connection plates 360 to which the rotational motion linkage assemblies 280 are configured to be connected to.

FIG. 12A illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module 200 of the hand stabilizer 10 of FIGS. 3A-3B in a stowed position, where the rotational motion linkage assemblies 280, (both front linkage assembly 282 and rear linkage assembly 284), are rotated in such a manner to a draw the hand guard assembly 330 upward into a stowed position where the actuator assembly 210 may be in contact with or in close proximity to the inner frame 354 of the hand grip assembly 350. For reference purposes between FIGS. 12A-12D, this stowed position corresponds to a stowed vertical position illustrated as the horizontal line Y₀, and a stowed horizontal position illustrated as the vertical line X₀.

FIG. 12B illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in a first vertical (Y-direction) extended position, or a neutral position, where the rotational motion linkage assemblies 280, are rotated in such a manner to extend the hand guard assembly 330 into a neutral position, where the actuator assembly 210 may be moved away from the inner frame 354 of the hand grip assembly 350. This neutral position, for example, may represent the position the stabilization device 10 initially moves to when a user first activates the switch 162 on the user interface 160. This neutral position corresponds to a neutral vertical position illustrated as the horizontal line Y₁, and a neutral horizontal position illustrated as the vertical line X₀ where there is yet no horizontal imparted motion and the hand guard assembly 330 may be centered about a longitudinal axis in the Z direction of actuator assembly 210.

FIG. 12C illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in a second vertical (Y-direction) maximum extended position, where the rotational motion linkage assemblies 280, are rotated in such a manner to extend the hand guard assembly 330 toward a maximum position, where the actuator assembly 210 is moved further away from the inner frame 354 of the hand grip assembly 350. A maximum vertical position, for example, demonstrates a maximum position of vertical travel offered by the stabilization device 10. This maximum vertical position may corresponds to a maximum vertical position illustrated as the horizontal line Y₂, and a neutral horizontal position illustrated as the vertical line X₀ where there may be yet no horizontal imparted motion and the hand guard assembly 330 centered about the longitudinal axis in the Z direction of actuator assembly 210.

FIG. 12D illustrates a rear perspective view of the lower module of the hand stabilizer of FIGS. 3A-3B in the first vertical (Y-direction) of FIG. 12B, and a first horizontal (X-direction) position. In this example, the shafts of the horizontal motion shaft assembly 230, are rotated in such a manner to extend the hand guard assembly 330 to the neutral position of FIG. 12B, and the vertical motion shaft 240 may be rotated in such a manner to translate the hand guard assembly 330 in the X-axis by translating the vertical motion cam pin 296 within the interior facing horizontal motion control linear channel 362. This corresponding position of the hand guard assembly 330 corresponds to the neutral vertical position illustrated as the horizontal line Y₁, and a horizontal position illustrated as the vertical line Xi where the hand guard assembly 330 may be translated in a right-ward direction along the X-axis.

FIG. 13 illustrates control and power supply electronics diagram on the PCB 300 for the stabilization device 10. Control of the stabilization device 10 may be accomplished by any conventional or future developed control system which senses movement and directs the actuator assembly 220 to counter such movement, thus stabilizing any device to which the stabilization unit 10 may be connected to. FIG. 13 illustrates one example of a control system utilizing an IMU 306. In one configuration, the IMU 306 contains three accelerometers and three gyroscopes where the accelerometers measure inertial acceleration and the gyroscopes measure rotational position. The IMU 306 may sense movement in both the right/left direction (windage) and the up/down direction (elevation) of the X-Y plane. The IMU 306 may be mounted on circuit board 300 together with other control components such as CPU 304, power supply 34 (from power source stored in the power supply case 140), and memory 35. CPU 304 will receive position change data from the IMU 306, calculate correction information, and command the servo motors, (horizontal servomotor 252 and vertical servomotor 254), to make the necessary corrective motion. As one nonlimiting example, CPU 304 may be a dsPIC33FJ processor available from Microchip Technology Inc. of Chandler, Ariz., the IMU 306 may be a MPU-6000s available from InvenSense, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., the power supply may be a MCP1825 power regulator and the memory chip may be a 25LC512, both available from Microchip Technology Inc.

FIG. 14 illustrates one configuration of a compensation control algorithm 1400 as a proportional-derivative control algorithm. The IMU 306 may provide the angular rate 1402 of change of the actuator assembly 210 in which the circuit board 300 may be mounted. A band pass filter 1404 may operate to eliminate frequencies outside of a human walking frequency range typically associated with involuntary muscle movement occurring while a user may be attempting to hold the device with the stabilization unit, for example, maintaining sites on a target. A typical frequency range for this first band pass filter may be about 0.1 to about 10 Hz, or more preferably, about 0.5 to about 5 Hz. The signal may be used to generate a proportional gain term 1406 and a derivative gain term 1408 with a corresponding gain term 1410. These two terms are summed 1412 and the resultant value used as command signals 1420 to the horizontal and vertical servomotors. The band pass filter range given above may be merely one example and ranges outside 0.1 to 10 Hz or narrower than 0.5 to 5 Hz may be employed depending on the requirements of the system utilizing the stabilization device.

FIG. 15 illustrates an alternative compensation algorithm 1500, and particularly, for example, the band pass filter 1404 of FIG. 14, but with more adaptive filtering on the input data 1502 from the gyros and/or accelerometers of the IMU 306. The compensation algorithm 1500 may employ a single, but more preferably, a plurality of digital band-pass filters (1510, 1520, 1530) to isolate certain frequency ranges and apply a specific gain (1540, 1550, 1560) to each frequency range where after each gain may be summed 1570 and generates command signals 1580 to control the corresponding horizontal and vertical servo-motors.

This approach allows greater flexibility in dealing with the interaction of the human hand-eye feedback loop and the mechanical compensation loop. This approach allows the stabilization system to lessen input within a frequency range that may be controllable by the human, e.g., intentional aiming of a rifle, while increasing input in the human-uncontrollable frequency ranges, e.g., unintentional shaking when attempting to hold the aim steady. In the range where the human may be capable of controlling motion, this approach still helps to further dampen vibration, but the input or control authority may be necessarily less than in the human-uncontrollable frequency ranges in order to avoid confusing the hand-eye neural feedback loop.

FIG. 15 suggests how movement data in the most common human-uncontrollable frequency range (f(x)1 to f(x)2) would be subject to a first (highest) gain, movement data in a more ambiguous frequency range (f(x)2 to f(x)3 which may or may not represent unintentional movement) subject to a second (medium) gain, while movement data in frequency ranges likely to be intentional aiming movement (f(x)n to f(x)n+1) may be subject to lower gains. The common human-uncontrollable frequency range (f(x)1 to f(x)2) may be about 0.1 to 5 Hertz, and more preferably, about 0.5 and 3 Hertz. The intentional aiming movement frequency range (f(x)n to f(x)n+1) may be about 0 to 0.5 Hertz. However, these movement frequency parameters may vary considerable from individual to individual or based upon the physical/emotional stress factors of any given user's environment. Likewise, it may not always be the case that a higher gain may be applied to perceived uncontrollable movement as opposed to perceived intentional aiming movement. Such a technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,784,529, issued on Oct. 10, 2017.

FIG. 15 indicates that the appropriately filtered and amplified signals are summed to form the command signal(s). The servomotors 252 and 254 expect a position command from the CPU 304. The servomotors 252 and 254 may have an internal controller that attempts to minimize response time and maximize position accuracy. Therefore, the CPU 304 takes an angular rate from the IMU 306 and outputs a scaled command to cancel the angular rate on that axis. To do this with a servo-motor that has its own internal control loop, the angular rate produced by the control system of FIG. 13 may be multiplied by the inverse of the control loop frequency (the time between commands) and added to the previous position command to create a new position command and effectively control the velocity of the servo. Different servos have different internal control loop parameters, which will necessitate different control gains in the compensator control loop. In a dedicated implementation, without off-the-shelf components, the two control loops would be combined into one, and the servomotor would be commanded with a velocity command. A position loop around the actuator would keep it in the center of its range despite external biases.

In certain configurations, the command signals may be run through a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller with separate gains on each component. In other words, where the PID controller may be represented by:

$u\left(t\right)=\mathrm{MV}\left(t\right)=K_{p}e\left(t\right)+K_i{\int }_0^{t}e\left(\tau \right)d\tau +K_d\frac{\mathrm{de}\left(t\right)}{\mathrm{dt}}$

separate gains may be applied to the separate components of the proportional gain (Kp), the integral gain (Ki), and the derivative gain (Kd).

Alternatively or in addition, FIG. 16 illustrates a control diagram 1600 with an alternative controller 1602, substituted for the band pass filter 1404 of FIGS. 14 and 15, that may implement more precise techniques to used, including but not limited to the use of one or more neural networks, FPGA-based processing systems, ASIC-based processing systems, modeling techniques, adaptive controllers or any other suitable system or technique, to separate intentional from unintentional motion.

FIG. 17 illustrates a representative digital filter 1700, as suggested in FIG. 15 by the band pass filter 1404, may be an Infinite-Impulse Response filter, meaning that the filter may be recursive. More specifically, these filters may be modeled according to the digital filter 1700 illustrated in FIG. 17 which suggests outputs 1708 being composed of original input Xn 1702 and previous inputs 1704 as well as previous outputs 1710. Several previous inputs and outputs are considered to the order of the filter. Filter orders (“m”) are most often less than ten. Gains on each previous input or output are determined to create specific gain patterns in frequency space. Common methods of determining the coefficients “A” and “B” include Butterworth, Chebyshev, and Elliptical filters.

No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that may be different from the ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, may be intended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in the relevant art. For example, an embodiment comprising a singular element does not disclaim plural embodiments; i.e., the indefinite articles “a” and “an” carry either a singular or plural meaning and a later reference to the same element reflects the same potential plurality. A structural element that may be embodied by a single component or unitary structure may be composed of multiple components.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific arrangements and configurations. However, the illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit embodiments of the disclosed subject matter to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the disclosure provided herein. The embodiments and arrangements were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and their practical applications. Various modifications may be used without departing from the scope or content of the disclosure and claims presented herein.

Claims

1. A stabilization device comprising: a hand support;an actuator connected to the hand support, the actuator configured to provide compensating planar motion to the hand support under control of a motion detection and compensation controller when the motion detection and compensation controller detects motion associated with the hand support; anda mounting assembly affixed to the actuator and configured to be attached to an external device;wherein the actuator includes a first rotatable shaft providing a first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller,wherein the actuator further includes a second rotatable shaft providing a second compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, the second compensation motion being orthogonal to the first compensation motion.

2. The stabilization device according to claim 1, where the actuator further includes a third rotatable shaft that provides the first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller.

3. The stabilization device according to claim 2, where the third rotatable shaft is rotatably coupled to the first rotatable shaft to provide the first compensation motion to the hand support.

4. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein the first rotatable shaft provides the first compensation motion to the hand support orthogonal to a linear axis of the first rotatable shaft.

5. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein the second rotatable shaft provides the second compensation motion to the hand support orthogonal to a linear axis of the second rotatable shaft.

6. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein a linear axis of the first rotatable shaft is parallel with a linear axis of the second rotatable shaft.

7. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein the actuator further comprises a first linkage connected to at least one end of the first rotatable shaft, the first linkage configured to provide the first compensation motion to the hand support within a first range of motion defined by a linear slot on the hand support.

8. The stabilization device according to claim 7, wherein the actuator further comprises a second linkage connected to at least one end of the second rotatable shaft, the second linkage configured to provide the second compensation motion to the hand support within a second range of motion defined by a rotational motion of a portion of the second linkage traveling within the linear slot on the hand support.

9. The stabilization device according to claim 7, wherein the linear slot is oriented parallel with a direction of the first compensation motion.

10. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein the motion detection and compensation controller further includes: an internal measurement unit (IMU) configured to detect linear and rotational acceleration of the stabilization device;a sensor configured to detect a rotational position of at least one of the first rotatable shaft and the second rotatable shaft; anda servo-motor output configured to control motion of at least one of the first rotatable shaft and the second rotatable shaft.

11. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein the motion detection and compensation controller further comprises: a first sensor configured to detect a rotational position of the first rotatable shaft via a first magnet on the first rotatable shaft proximate a circuit board upon which the first sensor is located; anda second sensor configured to detect a rotational position of the second rotatable shaft via a second magnet on the second rotatable shaft proximate the circuit board upon which the second sensor is located.

12. The stabilization device according to claim 1, wherein the first rotatable shaft includes a first rotatable linkage assembly on each distal end of the first rotatable shaft, the first rotatable linkage assemblies provide the first compensation motion to the hand support within a first range of motion defined by linear slots on opposite ends of the hand support, and wherein the second rotatable shaft includes a second rotatable linkage assembly on each distal end of the second rotatable shaft, the second rotatable linkage assemblies provide the second compensation motion to the hand support within a second range of motion defined by a rotational motion of a portion of the second rotatable linkage assemblies traveling within the linear slots on opposite ends of the hand support.

13. A stabilization device comprising: a hand support;an actuator connected to the hand support, the actuator configured to provide compensating planar motion to the hand support under control of a motion detection and compensation controller when the motion detection and compensation controller detects motion associated with the hand support; anda mounting assembly affixed to the actuator and configured to be attached to an external device;wherein the actuator includes a first rotatable shaft providing a first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, the first compensation motion to the hand support being orthogonal to a linear axis of the first rotatable shaft,wherein the actuator further comprises a first linkage connected to a first end of the first rotatable shaft, the first linkage configured to provide the compensation motion to the hand support within a range of motion oriented parallel to a direction of the first compensation motion.

14. The stabilization device according to claim 13, wherein the actuator further includes a co-linear second rotatable shaft providing the first compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller.

15. The stabilization device according to claim 14, wherein the first rotatable shaft further includes a second linkage connected to an opposite second end of the first rotatable shaft, and wherein the second rotatable shaft further includes a third linkage connected to a first end of the second rotatable shaft and fourth linkage connected to an opposite second end of the second rotatable shaft.

16. The stabilization device according to claim 15, wherein the first and second linkages are rotatably connected to the hand support to provide the first compensation motion to the hand support.

17. The stabilization device according to claim 14, wherein the actuator further includes at least one servo-motor in communication with the motion detection and compensation controller, the at least one servo-motor is in mechanical connection with a gear train and is in mechanical connection to the first rotatable shaft, the at least one servo-motor receiving a control signal from the motion detection and compensation controller configured to provide rotational motion to the first rotatable shaft thereby providing the first compensation motion.

18. The stabilization device according to claim 14, wherein at least one of the first and second rotatable shafts includes a magnet disposed thereon and configured be sensed by a corresponding sensor in the actuator to calculate a rotational position of the at least one of the first and second rotatable shafts.

19. A stabilization device comprising: a hand support;an actuator connected to the hand support, the actuator configured to provide compensating planar motion to the hand support under control of a motion detection and compensation controller when the motion detection and compensation controller detects motion associated with the hand support; anda mounting assembly affixed to the actuator and configured to be attached to an external device capable of being supported under human operation;wherein the actuator includes a rotatable shaft providing a compensation motion to the hand support within the planar motion under control of the motion detection and compensation controller, the compensation motion to the hand support being orthogonal to a linear axis of the rotatable shaft,wherein the actuator further comprises a first linkage connected to a first end of the rotatable shaft, the first linkage configured to provide the compensation motion to the hand support within a range of motion defined by a rotational motion of a portion of the first linkage traveling within a linear slot on the hand support.

20. The stabilization device according to claim 19, wherein the actuator further comprises a second linkage connected to an opposite second end of the rotatable shaft, the second linkage configured to provide the compensation motion to the hand support.

21. The stabilization device according to claim 19, wherein the rotatable shaft includes a magnet disposed thereon and configured be sensed by a corresponding sensor in the actuator to calculate a rotational position of the rotatable shaft.

22. The stabilization device according to claim 19, further comprising a user interface module including an activation switch configured to activate the compensation motion, and a mode select switch configured to control different processing modes of the motion detection and compensation controller.