Patent Grant
12161943
This application is a § 371 national phase application of PCT/IT2020/050281 filed Nov. 12, 2020 entitled “SYSTEM FOR REDUCING THE CONSUMPTION OF AN ELECTRONIC DIE,” which claims the benefit of and priority to Italian Patent Application No. 102019000015938 filed Nov. 14, 2019, the contents of which being incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.
The finding and object of the present invention relates to the field of so-called electronic dice, i.e., to those devices which, in practice, are used for board games and parlour games characterized by the support of electronic components. More precisely, the invention relates to an optimized energy management system of the hardware of said devices and for the efficient coordination with remote terminals such as, for example, a PC, a tablet, a smartphone or a gaming console.
The proposed system can conveniently be used to significantly reduce the power consumption of said electronic dice and increase the operating autonomy thereof. In addition, the proposed system can allow, with the same operating duration required, the use of lower-capacity batteries which notoriously lead to smaller dimensions and an effective miniaturization of the devices. Finally, the system obtained allows to reduce the power consumption of various types of dice regardless of the type, shape, results and functions thereof.
Dice have been used in the world of games since Roman times, but their use has changed over time and today the use of these playful elements is very widespread in applications and games in which an element of chance is to be introduced. Over time, in addition to the traditional cube-shaped dice, dice with different numbers of faces have been created, generally consisting of regular polyhedra or at least isohedra, progressively invented and introduced on the market, particularly but not exclusively, in the context of so-called board games and so-called role games.
In even more recent times, and with the increasing diffusion of electronic devices, some board games and parlour games, which use physical dice for managing probabilities, have begun to accompany new dice in addition to the traditional dice, commercially known as “electronic dice” which, having the feature of a traditional die, further integrate an automatic orientation detection system and a radio communication system suitably powered by internal batteries, which allow to communicate the result of a roll of the dice towards suitably connected electronic devices such as PCs, smartphones, tablets, consoles, etc.
Entering further into the constructive details of the electronic dice available on the market, it is noted that the predominant architecture for this type of device provides for a radio communication system, typically Bluetooth (or equivalent in low frequency), said radio system being combined with a gyroscope and/or an accelerometer to detect the orientation of the die.
Also from a patent perspective, with the advent and rapid diffusion of technologies related to mobile telephony and essentially the use of accelerometers and gyroscopes in mobile phones, solutions based on this type of hardware have been proposed, such as in the patent EP2522408 (Gik Sp. Z o.o. Sp. k). According to said solution, an electronic board is inserted inside a game die, said electronic board provided with at least one accelerometer, preferably with three axes, and a wireless communication module, preferably Bluetooth, and said components allow tracking and transmitting the result of a die with N faces.
The resolution outline employed in this patent, as well as the one currently prevalent in the field of commercial electronic dice, consists in remotely transmitting the vector which identifies the orientation of the gravity acceleration (more simply called “gravity vector”) Vg(x,y,z), detected at the end of the roll of the die, when the object has reached a stable position, leaning on one of the faces and, consequently, showing the user a result, on the opposite face. According to said outline, the receiving device interprets the data received from the electronic die, and in particular said gravity vector Vg(x,y,z), verifying the orientation thereof by means of a look-up type table which defines a priori the unique correspondence between the N faces of the die and the gravity vector transmitted, according to the possible result combinations of the roll. Although this resolution outline is reflected in the majority of commercial electronic dice, it still has many open problems and offers ample room for significant improvements, especially in terms of energy. In fact, the system referred to in the aforementioned patent is characterized, like the majority of the electronic dice currently on the market, for remotely transmitting all the data obtained from the inertial platform (accelerometer and/or gyroscope) in a “raw” manner, delegating to the receiving system the interpretation of the same data, which involves a high use of the radio communication protocol, resulting in energy expenditure which, from a constructive point of view, forces the use of batteries of high, oversized dimensions.
In order to at least partially limit the use of said radio communication protocol, patent EP2522408A1 includes three operating modes, namely: an active mode, a transmission mode and a so-called “idle” mode, i.e., energy saving mode, which consists of an automatic shutdown system of the transmission components, after a predefined time from the acquisition and transmission of the roll result. The resumption from said energy-saving mode, i.e., the reactivation of the device, takes place when the only component left active—accelerometer or gyroscope—detects a significant change in movement.
In this regard, it is included that the accelerometer is calibrated so as to activate the data acquisition and transmission chip (Bluetooth chip) upon the detection of a predefined and unique movement threshold (i.e., identical both during the game and during inactive steps, such as resting on a shelf or transport of the object); in order to guarantee a “natural” operation of the die, i.e., which does not force the user to perform specific and unnatural movements, this threshold must necessarily be reduced, i.e., set to detect and consider, for the purpose of activating the energy-consuming components of the die, even very reduced movements and stresses in terms of intensity.
Therefore, this solution is effective in partially limiting energy consumption, since the expenditure is effectively reduced when the die is at rest or unused (on the table or in the box), but the presence of an activation threshold which includes a reduced stress intensity can lead to involuntary and accidental activations, which significantly impact consumption. The system of EP2522408A1 is therefore unable to distinguish between actual game interactions and random stresses, let alone control and consider the presence of receiving devices ready to receive the transmitted data.
Therefore, the transmission mechanism described above can generate a significant unnecessary energy consumption because the die, with each external stress and regardless of the actual use in the game, activates, waits for a stable result and, if this is achieved, transmits it (typically repeating the transmission N times to be sure that the receiving devices correctly acquire the result itself) and then returns to Idle mode.
To further limit energy consumption, patent EP2522408A1 lastly includes a predetermined, fixed time of the active step, i.e., the step of acquiring the result of the die, said step being moderately energetic. At the end of the envisaged time, even if a stable position has not been reached, the electronics still returns to Idle mode.
The aforementioned measures, although aimed at reducing energy consumption, have numerous drawbacks since the logic of suspending the components according to a predetermined timeout and without the possibility of receiving feedback from players or third party devices, necessarily creates difficulties of use, rather than coordination problems with said remote devices.
On the other hand, to circumvent the problem of excessive energy consumption, some solutions have implemented, within the die, rechargeable batteries provided with a charging system (through exposed electrical contacts or through wireless charging systems), but this type of solution entails a significant increase in the production cost and complexity of the object.
Additional solutions are also known which involve the use of communication systems not based on “active” type electronics (BLE chips or the like), but on passive type RFID systems: some include that a different TAG is associated with each face of the die, while other solutions integrate a TAG capable of feeding and reading the data of an accelerometer, and then transmitting them through the same RFID communication protocol. However, these solutions greatly limit the field of use of the devices since in order to function properly, the objects must necessarily be used in a dedicated roll area, covered by the signal of an RFID antenna; moreover the first type of solutions has high levels of inaccuracy deriving from the possibility that more than one TAG is read when the die has reached a stable position, making it difficult to understand the correct result of the roll; on the other hand, the second type of solutions has limits related to the difficulty of operating the system in certain positions and conditions, due to the fact that the RFID antennas are not omnidirectional.
Finally, some electronic dice are known which, to reduce consumption during periods of non-use of the apparatus, integrate a switch to turn the device off and on only if it is used. Regardless of the careful use of this switch (moreover not deterministic since it is left to the user's discretion), the proposed system is not only uncomfortable for the player, but also difficult to modulate and adapt: in fact, dice with different characteristics exist, which vary for the number of faces as well as for the size of the polyhedra used, for which the use of a switch, although theoretically applicable to different geometries, requires expensive calibrations and specific balances for each shape, obliging to create a dedicated electronic board for each type of die.
The proposed invention relates to a system for the energy efficiency of the components installed in electronic radio frequency dice, such as for example the die of the aforementioned EP2522408A1. Said devices typically comprise an accelerometer and a microcontroller including CPU, memory and radio frequency transmitter—said transmitter preferably but not necessarily of the Bluetooth type. This management system, exploiting the aforementioned hardware and coordinating appropriately with connected remote devices, will have to activate the aforementioned components dynamically, depending on the gaming situations and only in the times and in the ways strictly necessary, minimizing the contribution thereof in terms of energy consumption.
The aforementioned objects arise from the experimental observation of the different weight of the hardware components on the overall energy consumption of an electronic die. In particular, it has been observed that for a microcontroller, the order of magnitude of the consumption of the radio systems during transmission operations is about 10 mA, the order of magnitude of only the active CPU is about 1 mA, while the consumption in rest mode is less than 1 μA. It is also known that the energy consumption of an accelerometer varies according to the use thereof and particularly the activation state thereof and also the sampling frequency, i.e., the frequency with which said sensor detects the movement data and calculates the stresses and, consequently, the orientation of the gravity vector. In particular, the consumption of said component can be about 50 μA if the sampling frequency has the order of hundreds of Hz, or about 4 μA at a few tens of Hz, up to about 1 μA at a frequency of a few Hz.
It follows that the overall consumption of the electronic die, depending on the activation of the different constituent components, can vary by some orders of magnitude passing from a minimum threshold of a few μW (if the radio is off, the CPU is at rest and the accelerometer is set at a sampling frequency of a few Hz), up to a maximum value of a few tens of mW (if the radio is transmitting, the CPU is active and the accelerometer works at a high sampling frequency), this obviously passing through intermediate thresholds if a part of these components is not used or is made to work at different frequencies.
Starting from the aforementioned observations, the proposed invention aims to minimize the activation times and steps of the individual energy-consuming hardware components of an ordinary electronic die, in order to reduce the overall energy consumption thereof. In practice, it has in fact been observed that electronic RF dice limit the use of transmission systems for energy purposes through a typically time-out logic for which the device, once the result of a roll is detected, activates the transmission systems for a certain predetermined time (cautiously oversized), during which the data of the inertial platform is transmitted. This transmission is one-sided, i.e., it consists of a number of attempts to broadcast the result of the roll. The number N of attempts (for example 5 or 10, in a time interval of a few seconds, which can vary from apparatus to apparatus) is set according to a conservative logic, to ensure reliability of reception by connected third party devices and at the same time limit excessive consumption of the energy resource. At the end of the last of N attempts, the electronic die deactivates the transmission components in order to save energy.
Furthermore, it should be noted that in the most widespread implementations, the transmission is one-way (broadcast in TX only), this choice also being dictated by energy-saving logic.
However, although apparently focused on saving energy, in reality the aforementioned implementation choices limit the ability to exploit the hardware platform in an energy-efficient manner. In particular, the choice of transmission only mode limits the independence of the die and the possibility of coordinating with third party devices: since there is no feedback on the presence of connected terminals or indications of receipt of the roll result, it is necessary to perform a large number of broadcast transmissions (the N attempts mentioned above), even if the transmission is correct already at the first attempt. It follows that a consumption reduction mechanism such as the use of a single transmission mode results, on the contrary, in a statistically excessive, unjustified and in any case not optimizable use of highly energetic devices and functionalities.
To overcome the aforementioned limits and for obvious reasons of cost, uniformity and convenience of use compared to the commercially known solutions, the proposed solution includes an intelligent and adaptive control of the hardware of an electronic die, and especially of the energy-consuming components, able to significantly reduce consumption in the most varied conditions of use.
This system, combined with a multi-level architecture, allows to remotely provide, with minimum energy expenditure, the result of the roll already calculated and ready, only if necessary and based on the rules and situations of specific use which arise from time to time during the game.
For obvious reasons of uniformity and ductility with respect to the commercial electronic dice, it is also desired that said energy management system be applicable to any hardware platform for the radio frequency tracking and transmission of the result of rolling a die, i.e., which is adaptable and usable for various types of die regardless of the shape, functions and method of use thereof. It is also desired that this structure, contrary to the commercial electronic dice currently available, is not limited to transmitting all the data obtained from the inertial platform (accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.) to the remote system, but is equipped with its own intelligence and operates in a functionally and energetically more efficient manner, directly transmitting the result of the roll, depending on the type of die in which it is housed and on the different results (numbers, symbols, characters, commands, etc.) which said die includes.
In particular, it is desired that said roll tracking apparatus employs transmission systems (RF) and those for determining the result of the roll (microcontroller and accelerometer/gyroscope), which are notoriously responsible for the greater energy expenditure, only in useful cases and only for the time strictly necessary, i.e., only with the actual use of the dice by the player and willingness to receive the result by the connected remote game terminal.
Finally, the use of a switch is to be avoided (whose energy saving performance is not guaranteed because entrusted to prudent and imponderable use by players), replacing said switch with an autonomous and intelligent system which allows the device not only to activate itself following the players interactions, as some dice already do, but in particular, to distinguish and discriminate voluntary interactions for the purpose of the game from trivial unwanted stresses, for example of an environmental or fortuitous nature, which have nothing to do with the conduct of the game; this in order to avoid the expenditure of energy for the detection and transmission of unnecessary data.
The proposed solution exploits the standard hardware implemented on the electronic board of electronic RF die, allowing to significantly improve the energy performance thereof and, consequently, increasing the life of the attached battery, through a management system of the energizing components of said hardware and, in particular, of the microcontroller and accelerometer installed on the board of the electronic die.
The system of the invention allows to autonomously and automatically diversify, based on the game and environmental context, the four different operating modes of the die, namely:
It should also be noted that the aforementioned four activation modes and the consumption thereof, and in particular the transitions therebetween, are integrated and completed by an automatic handshake-based method for detecting the presence of any game terminals ready to receive the possible result of a roll; this method consists in sending a “Ready” command with response control by said devices. This check is carried out every time there are preparations to move from a low consumption step to the active step of detecting the roll and subsequently transmitting the result; sending the “Ready” command, performed at the time of activation, allows to check beforehand that a game session is actually underway, i.e., that there are remote terminals listening. If the check has negative results (NULL), i.e., in the absence of confirmation to the transmission of the “Ready” command, the die immediately returns to minimum consumption mode, without waiting for a stable position and, consequently, without proceeding with the transmission of the roll result, with a significant reduction in energy consumption even with the accidental activation of the device, during transport or when it is not used for game purposes.
Further features and advantages of the proposed technical solution will appear more evident in the following description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment shown by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying 7 drawings, in which:
With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to
To achieve these purposes, the aforementioned board (102) is equipped with an accelerometer (103) and a microcontroller (104). The accelerometer provides the instantaneous value of the amplitude of movement M(t) in real time and processes an instantaneous gravity vector, in the three components thereof [Gx, Gy, Gz]. The microcontroller typically comprises a CPU (105), a memory (107), and an RF radio frequency transmission apparatus (106). Said transmission apparatus will typically be two-way and, by way of example but not limitation, may be of the Bluetooth type, or characterized by other commercial and/or proprietary transmission protocols. The CPU 105 and memory 107 are used to implement:
With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to
Furthermore, according to this embodiment, there may be a mediator device (300), which acts as a gateway to the connected remote electronic device (200) and is conveniently used to manage and possibly process data relating to rolling one or more dice (100). Said mediator (300) may be necessary, for example, to enable energy management mechanisms to be implemented if game terminals without an RF communication interface compatible with the die's radio systems are used (e.g., with PCs without Bluetooth interface or if using less widespread radio communication technologies and/or protocols, within the die's electronics).
Moreover, thanks to the use of specific communication protocols, the mediator device (300) can allow data to be acquired from a large number of dice (circumventing the limits imposed for example by the Bluetooth protocol) and can be suitably used to perform a preliminary processing of the results of the rolls related to a plurality of dice (100) used, combining them depending on the type of game or application scope in which said dice are used. Moreover, the same mediator device (300) can undertake an analysis of the data transmitted by the dice, regardless of whether the rolls have failed or succeeded, applying analysis algorithms useful to understand if environmental disturbance conditions (e.g., rolling, vibrations, tilt of the game table, etc.) are present and, if they are, communicating to the dice the need to use a different setup for the roll detection parameters and/or for the thresholds for detecting the energy saving modes.
The mediator device (300) involves a communication hardware which uses the same radio protocol as the RF communication device (106) integrated in the control board (102) of the die (100), thus being able to acquire all the results of the different rolls and to retransmit them, individually or in combination with each other, according to the rules of the game and/or the scenario of use, to the remote electronic device. The connection between the mediator device (300) and the remote game terminal (200) may be wired, as shown in
With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to
In detail, the four operating modes are as follows:
The sampling intervals Dt.L, Dt.M and Dt.H with which the accelerometer (103) is set in the four aforementioned states are connected by the following inequality:
Dt.L>Dt.M>Dt.H
The criterion underlying this inequality is to use lower sampling frequencies, that is to say, to reduce the energy consumption of the accelerometer (103), in those situations which do not require accuracy or very short response times. Following this logic, a very low frequency is therefore set at the Low Mode minimum consumption mode, since in this context a minimum accuracy of the device will be sufficient, as long as it is sufficient to detect a first and only stress of significant intensity and duration Ssup, useful to activate the device starting from the state of maximum energy savings and Low Mode minimum consumption. This setting, combined with a high activation threshold in terms of movement intensity Dm.L and duration Tm.L, significantly reduces the involuntary activations of the die (100) connected to random and uncontrolled events, guaranteeing an extremely low consumption for almost all the time between two game sessions.
Similarly, in Mid Mode reduced consumption mode, a reduced frequency, i.e., energy efficient, but of slightly higher intensity, will be applied in order to trace more accurately and, above all, more quickly detect the rolls of the die (100) and, more precisely, the initial step of said rolls. In fact, this mode is activated during the game sessions, between two successive rolls, allowing to significantly reduce consumption in the non-use steps of the device, but guarantees, due to the higher sampling frequency and the lower activation threshold Sinf, for stress intensity and duration, to quickly switch to the active mode as soon as even a reduced stress is detected, corresponding to the picking up of the dice from the game board by the user.
In High Mode active mode, on the other hand, the sampling frequency of the accelerometer (103) must be high, to the detriment of more significant consumption, in order to accurately trace the dynamics of the gravity vector of said accelerometer during the evolutions of the roll of the die (100); this dense sampling will continue until the asymptotic stability of the gravity vector is reached, a situation which indicates that the die has reached a stable position, which will correspond to the correct identification of the result (or a “zero” result, if the assumed stable position is inclined due to the influence of objects present on the playing area or by other disturbance factors).
Finally, during the TX-RX Mode transmission state it is not necessary to track the movement, so the accelerometer is conveniently switched off to avoid unnecessary consumption.
Always referring to the aforementioned
Dm.L>Dm.M and Tm.L>Tm.M
The two thresholds Sinf and Ssup are also used for the purpose of optimizing energy consumption and have the dual purpose of voluntarily limiting the sensitivity of the accelerometer in order not to unnecessarily activate the highly energy-consuming components, if the die (100) was subject to stresses not connected to actual use, and at the same time, to ensure the transition between the aforementioned operating and consumption modes if the die (100) is also actually used. Contrary to traditional dice, the presence of a double threshold allows, therefore, to discriminate negligible stresses from those which are significant in the different steps of use.
When the die (100) is in the Low Mode minimum consumption step, typically in cases of non-use, the accelerometer (103) is set with an activation threshold Ssup characterized by high intensity Dm.L and duration Tm.L values and, thanks to this precaution, becomes insensitive to accidental activations which would cause unnecessary consumption. This is the typical case of unwanted stresses (vibrations, accidental collisions, jolts during transport, etc.). In addition to acting as a filter for accidental and unwanted stresses which occur during the Low Mode minimum consumption mode, the upper threshold Ssup of the accelerometer (103) allows to discern voluntary interactions of the player aimed at reactivating the dice (100). In fact, if the player shakes the die (100) with a significant intensity and for a certain period of time, surpassing both parameters of said upper threshold Ssup, the accelerometer would communicate said stimulus to the microcontroller (104), determining the transition to the included subsequent TX-RX Mode or High Mode operating modes.
When the die (100) is in the Mid Mode reduced consumption step, typically in cases of use for multiple and consecutive rolls, the accelerometer (103) is instead conveniently set with an activation threshold Sinf characterized by lower intensity Dm.M and duration Tm.M values and, thanks to this precaution, becomes more sensitive to external stresses and particularly in the order of magnitude of the forces typically impressed by a player when preparing to roll a die (100), thus allowing, therefore, to filter the small accidental stimuli attributable to external causes and not connected to the game dynamics. This is the typical case of unwanted stresses occurring between successive rolls (vibrations, small accidental movements, etc.). In addition to acting as a filter for accidental and unwanted stresses which occur during the Mid Mode reduced consumption mode, the upper threshold Sinf of the accelerometer (103) also allows to discern voluntary interactions of the player during the ordinary game steps. If the player shakes the die (100) with a moderate intensity and for a relatively short time (for example, simply lifting and shaking it briefly in the hand), the accelerometer would instantly communicate this stimulus to the microcontroller (104), determining the transition in the subsequent and included TX-RX Mode, High Mode operating modes.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to
In particular, it can be seen that, thanks to the threshold Dm.M, when the die is in Mid Mode reduced consumption mode, many lower intensity stresses are filtered, while thanks to the threshold Tm.M, the peak movement corresponding to T1, being very short (T1<Tm.M), is not taken into account, while all subsequent stress peaks (of durations respectively equal to T2, T3 and T4, being longer in duration than Tm.M), are considered by the accelerometer as sufficient to determine the surpassing of Sinf, consequently decreeing the transition to the active mode of the die.
If the die is in the Low Mode minimum consumption mode, in the presence of the same conditions, the threshold Dm.L would allow, already alone, not to consider most of the stresses undergone, but the use of this intensity threshold in combination with the duration threshold Tm.L, also allows to ignore sudden peaks of movement (for example determined by a shock), such as that in T5 (with T5<Tm.L), detecting as valid stimulus for activating the device only that corresponding to a stress of intensity greater than the threshold, prolonged for a high amount of time (T6>Tm.L).
With reference to the accompanying drawings, and in particular to
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
Said graph comprising the steps of:
It should also be noted that the development and time duration of the steps shown in
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
In particular, said
It should be further noted that the development and time duration of the steps shown in
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
In particular, the aforementioned
Said graph comprising the steps of:
Also in this context, the development and time duration of the steps shown in
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
In this context, the system, starting from a Mid Mode reduced consumption state and being randomly activated or voluntarily activated, but without the remote terminal (200) or mediator (300) being in conditions to receive the roll result, does not waste energy to enter the active state and determine the roll result, but also switches to Low Mode minimum energy consumption mode, waiting for any voluntary interaction that will return it to a state of predisposition to the game.
Said graph of
Thanks to this sequence, the die (100), in case of unwanted stresses or in case of desired stresses but with the receiving devices not ready, reasonably arranges for maximum energy savings, that is, enters the Low Mode minimum consumption mode, having received no response to the READY signal thereof.
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
In particular, the aforementioned
Said graph comprising the steps of:
With this sequence, the highly unlikely possibility is also supported that the receiving apparatus will interrupt the operation thereof during a roll and, conveniently, the die will attempt to transmit the roll result for N number of attempts (to ensure the effectiveness of the transmission even in case of any interference or disturbance situations or errors), after which, not receiving confirmation, instead of returning to reduced consumption mode (Mid Mode) it will automatically put itself into minimum consumption mode, reducing energy expenditure and limiting (thanks to the adoption of the upper activation threshold) the possibilities of involuntary or accidental activation, contributing to further limit consumption.
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
Said graph of
Thanks to this sequence, the die (100), in the event of unwanted stresses or accidental activation, automatically returns to the condition of maximum energy saving, having not received a response to its READY signal.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to
The energy saving performance of the die (100), according to the proposed patent, strongly depends on the ability of the electronic board to discern stimuli not connected to the actual game, in order to exploit the energy components only if necessary and only for the time strictly useful for the correct acquisition and transmission of the result of a roll. It follows that the adequacy of the transition thresholds between states and the correct identification of the stable result in an adequate and minimum time are crucial to achieve significant energy saving. Unfortunately, these performances can be affected (in terms of saving or even worse in terms of reliability) depending on adverse environmental conditions (irregularities of the game plane, environments subject to vibrations such as trains, ships, planes, etc.). These stimuli and external elements cannot be managed dynamically and in real time, unless they are accompanied by devices of absolutely unrealistic complexity, size and cost.
To this end, the patent further involves loading in the memory (107) a look-up table (600) which provides the parameters for setting the control board (102) with the varying of Z possible environmental situations selectable by the player, allowing the apparatus to always operate in an optimal or almost optimal condition.
Said parameters include those related to the accelerometer (103), i.e., three sampling intervals [Dt.L, Dt.M, Dt.H] and the parameters defining the upper Ssup [Dm.L, Tm.L] and lower Sinf [Dm.M, Tm.M] activation thresholds, which may be suitably modified to ensure the effectiveness of the consumption reduction mechanism under different conditions of use. Consider, for example, the use of the die during a trip in a vehicle or in the presence of environmental vibrations produced by machinery or other factors. In this situation the standard threshold Sinf may not be adequate because, in the presence of overly low thresholds, vibrations could result in frequent accidental activations of the apparatus, resulting in increased consumption; the setting of different thresholds (higher than normal) allows to effectively filter environmental disturbances, to the detriment of a minimum reduction in the reactivity of the apparatus.
Similarly, in anticipation of a long transport of the equipment with vehicles strongly subject to vibration, it may be desirable to modify the values of the upper threshold Ssup, to avoid even accidental activations, ensuring a lower consumption of the batteries.
Further parameter variations could be defined, for example, to “customize” the responsiveness of the dice during the game, based on how each player usually picks up and shakes the dice, before a roll, etc.
Said table (600) further includes two parameters dm.x and DV.x which, with the varying of Z possible environmental situations, allow respectively to fix tolerances on the detection of the gravity vector and on the achievement of a stable position of the die.
In detail, the parameter dm.x, which can be set a priori, is a parameter to compensate for geometric irregularities which, with the varying of Z scopes of use, can affect the correct acquisition of the gravity vector of the accelerometer (103) at the end of a roll. In particular, the parameter dm.x of spatial stability of the die (100) is used to interpret and possibly compensate for small inconsistencies between the gravity vector Vg(x,y,z) measured by the accelerometer (103) at the end of the rolls of the die (100) with respect to the theoretical values expected for the recognition of the roll result. Such inconsistencies may be attributable, for example, to irregularities in the game plane on which the dice are rolled or to the inclination of the medium on which the die is located or of the game board. To this end, it will thus be necessary to discern, during the rolls, whether the deviation between the actual gravity vector measured by the accelerometer (103) during the roll and the theoretical value of the expected gravity vector is tolerable or not. This is to discern if there are small deviations attributable to surface defects or actual interferences from the game environment, or if an unreliable or invalid roll has actually occurred (die incorrectly positioned, for example on an edge, or inclined due to the presence of obstructions and interfering objects, etc.).
The parameter dm.x will therefore allow to set the limit within which said deviations of the gravity vector are acceptable by the microcontroller (104) of the die (100), allowing the optimization of the detection process of the roll result with the varying of Z environmental situations preloaded in the memory (107) and predefined a priori, particularly depending on the different features such as the type or regularity of the rolling surface and further according to the shape and number of faces of the die (100) used, which reasonably influence the stability tolerance of the gravity vector from the geometric point of view.
Similarly, the parameter DV.x defines, when the varying of Z environmental situations, the tolerance margins on the achievement of asymptotic stability of the die, once rolled. Therefore, the parameter DV.x establishes the minimum acceptable stress intensity so that the die can be considered reliably “stopped” and therefore, the process of analysing the orientation of the gravity vector aimed at determining the outcome of the roll can be started. In fact, in some game situations the support surface may not be completely stationary but, on the contrary, it may be constantly subject to vibrations generated by external factors, such as the aforementioned vibrations of the vehicle in which the game is in progress or caused by the presence of machinery or other devices in the vicinity; the parameter DV.x will therefore allow to define the tolerance level of the die stability verification procedure, conveniently allowing to provide correct results even in conditions of precarious stability or presence of external disturbance factors and above all, reducing, in these particular conditions, the detection times of the stable position, allowing the transmission of the result to begin more quickly and, consequently, the activation of the energy saving mode.
According to a further and possible implementation, the parameters of said table (600) may, if necessary, be modified by remote configuration by the connected game device (200) or the mediator (300), for example to update its values or to create presets useful for customizing the user experience and making it more suitable for different games or different types of users. In addition, learning and data mining procedures may be provided to dynamically optimize these parameters based on previous use.
With reference to the accompanying drawings and particularly to
In particular, the algorithm (700) provides the following variables/parameters:
Also with reference to the same
Algorithm 700 of
The proposed system can conveniently be used to significantly reduce the power consumption of said electronic RF dice and increase the operating autonomy thereof. In addition, the proposed system can allow, with the same operating duration required, the use of lower-capacity batteries which notoriously lead to smaller dimensions and an effective miniaturization of the devices. Finally, the system obtained allows to reduce the power consumption of various types of dice regardless of the type, shape, results and functions thereof.
The invention can be obtained with technical equivalents, with supplementary materials or solutions suitable for the purpose and the application scope. Conformation and dimensions of the constituent parts may vary in a suitable, but consistent way with the proposed solution. By way of example and not of limitation, it is noted that the geometric shapes of the involved parts may be varied while maintaining the above-mentioned functionalities. In addition, the technology implemented for the wireless transmission between the die and the receiving electronic device and especially the type of protocol used may be changed, without however leaving the scope of the peculiar features and functions of the system proposed and claimed below, as may be used for the detection of stresses and movements of the die, device and components alternative or complementary to the accelerometer, such as gyroscope or other types of sensors in degrees of detection of displacements, angular vibrations, movements or mechanical stresses. By varying these implementations, it will be necessary to change the conditioning, acquisition and communication circuits between elements, without, however, departing from the purpose and scope of application of the proposed solution.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102019000015938 | Nov 2019 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IT2020/050281 | 11/12/2020 | WO |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2021/095079 | 5/20/2021 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4034988 | Goldner | Jul 1977 | A |
| 7017905 | Lindsey | Mar 2006 | B2 |
| 7334791 | Lindsey | Feb 2008 | B2 |
| 10463952 | Read | Nov 2019 | B2 |
| 10527685 | Garofalo | Jan 2020 | B2 |
| 11123632 | Garofalo | Sep 2021 | B2 |
| 20040036213 | Lindsey | Feb 2004 | A1 |
| 20040160000 | Lindsey | Aug 2004 | A1 |
| 20090210101 | Hawkins | Aug 2009 | A1 |
| 20120223477 | Zylkin | Sep 2012 | A1 |
| 20130178275 | Hawkins | Jul 2013 | A1 |
| 20140309016 | Hawkins | Oct 2014 | A1 |
| 20180333638 | Read | Nov 2018 | A1 |
| 20200222793 | Garofalo | Jul 2020 | A1 |
| 20220379194 | Garofalo | Dec 2022 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 102013106005 | Dec 2013 | DE |
| 102013216784 | Feb 2015 | DE |
| 2522408 | Nov 2012 | EP |
| 2759919 | Aug 1998 | FR |
| 2019035151 | Feb 2019 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report for International Application No. PCT/IT2020/050187 mailed May 20, 2021. |
| Written Opinion for International Application No. PCT/IT2020/050187 mailed May 20, 2021. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220379194 A1 | Dec 2022 | US |
