Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6568983
-
Patent Number
6,568,983
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, June 20, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 27, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Ackun; Jacob K.
- Francis; Faye
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 446 444
- 446 446
- 446 447
- 446 397
- 446 408
- 446 409
- 446 410
- 446 484
- 446 456
- 446 436
- 104 84
- 901 1
-
International Classifications
- A63H3000
- A63H1800
- A63H3004
- A63G1100
-
Abstract
A guided toy vehicle may be operated with an onboard video camera. The video from the video camera may be transmitted to a control station for display by the user. In some embodiments of the present invention, the video may be transmitted from the vehicle to the control station over the same track that guides the vehicle.
Description
BACKGROUND
This invention relates generally to toy vehicles, such as track-based toy cars and toy trains.
Toy vehicles may be propelled along a track that acts as a guide to cause the vehicles to traverse a desired course. In addition, the vehicles may receive power through contacts in the track. The operator, from a remote location, can control the speed of the vehicles by adjusting the power supplied to each vehicle.
While this user model has been extremely popular for generations, it has also been relatively unchanged over a large number of years. Thus, it would be desirable to enhance the capabilities of guided toy vehicles.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an enlarged, partial, perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is an enlarged, partial, cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3
is a block depiction of one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4
is a block depiction of another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6
is a partial, top plan view of still another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7
is a partial, top plan view of still another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8
a
shows a frame captured from a first vehicle after a collision with a second vehicle;
FIG. 8
b
shows a video augmented view of the scene shown in
FIG. 8
a;
FIG. 9
a
shows a frame captured by an imaging device in a first vehicle;
FIG. 9
b
shows an augmented video frame produced from the frame shown in
FIG. 9
a;
FIG. 10
a
is a video frame shot by an onboard camera in a first vehicle; and
FIG. 10
b
is the same frame after video augmentation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a toy vehicle
10
, illustrated in the form of a toy car, may progress along a track
14
. The vehicle
10
may have an onboard video camera
12
. The track
14
may include a pair of conductors
16
and
18
that respectively provide power to and receive video signals from the vehicle
10
and its camera
12
.
The toy vehicle
10
is referred to herein as a “guided vehicle” because its forward progress is guided. That is, the vehicle
10
is either guided by mechanical features on a track
14
, or is otherwise guided by another characteristic of the track, such as its color, or the signals it emits. Alternatively, the vehicle
10
may be guided by a lead vehicle. For example, the lead vehicle may have a target that the video camera
12
can track so that the following vehicle is guided by the lead vehicle, even though no mechanical restraint guides the following vehicle.
Turning next to
FIG. 2
, the vehicle
10
includes a video camera
12
coupled to a frame buffer
17
that stores the captured video frames before transmission over an electrical link
20
. The electrical link
20
may be a spring contact, in one embodiment of the present invention. The link
20
may maintain, through spring force, contact with the track
14
and particularly with the conductor
18
. Thus, video signals captured by the video camera
12
may be temporarily stored in the frame buffer
17
before transmission to the track
14
.
If the track
14
fails to maintain contact with the link
20
, the frames may be retransmitted. Alternatively, frames may only be transmitted when good contact is had between the link
20
and the track
14
. Thus, the frame buffer
17
insures that video is not lost if the link
20
leaves the track
14
or bounces with respect to the track
14
.
In one embodiment of the present invention shown in
FIG. 3
, a detector
19
included in the frame buffer
17
detects when the link
20
is no longer coupled with the track
14
. This may be accomplished, as one example, by monitoring the spring force of the link
20
. In another embodiment of the present invention, each frame may be sent repeatedly and if both frames are received, the duplicate frame is discarded.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the progress of the toy vehicle
10
on the track
14
may be controlled by signals provided through the track
14
. Thus, depending on the potentials applied through the track
14
, the speed of the vehicle
10
may be adjusted. In another embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle
10
may be controlled by radio frequency signals received through an antenna
34
.
The power source for the toy vehicle
10
may be the track
14
or an onboard battery, as two examples. In addition, a mechanical propulsion system, such as a friction accelerator, may be utilized to propel the vehicle
10
.
Referring to
FIG. 3
, in one embodiment of the present invention, the video camera
12
is coupled through the frame buffer
17
and the contact
20
to the conductor
18
. A separate electrical motor
22
may couple to a separate conductor
16
through the link
20
. The video transmitted from the video camera
12
through the frame buffer
17
and the link
20
to the conductor
18
may be received through an interface
26
.
The received video may be buffered and provided to a controller
28
at a control station
24
. The controller
28
may be a microcontroller or other processor-based device. The video is then rendered and displayed on a video display device
30
. The video display device
30
may be a liquid crystal display, or a computer monitor, as two examples.
In some embodiments of the present invention, power may be supplied through a power source
27
to the conductor
16
. That power may also be provided to the video camera
12
. A single conductor
16
or
18
may also provide power to the vehicle
10
and receive the video from the vehicle
10
.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, instead of providing the video signals over a physical link
20
, an electrical link
20
in the form of an airwave signal may be utilized to transmit the video information. In one embodiment, shown in
FIG. 4
, the video information is transmitted from an interface
32
and its antenna
34
to the track
14
. Namely, the track
14
may include a receiving antenna in the form of a wire embedded in the track. Thus, the transmitter on the toy vehicle
10
need not be very powerful in some embodiments. In such case, the toy motor
22
may be supplied with power from an onboard source (not shown), such as a battery source, as one example.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, the toy vehicle
10
may include an antenna
34
that interacts with an antenna
16
a
and the track
14
a
as shown in FIG.
5
. The antenna
16
a
may be embedded in the track
14
a
. The vehicle
10
then may follow a course along the antenna
16
a
, but is not strictly controlled thereby. The vehicle
10
may include the camera
12
as described above. A variety of structures
36
may be included on the track
14
a
, including simulated buildings, people, and other vehicles. The structures
36
may be imaged by the video camera
12
to give a realistic effect.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the track
14
a
may be a flat rollout mat. A flexible antenna
16
a
, stitched within the mat, picks up the broadcasted video from the toy vehicle
12
. The throttle of the car and the steering of the car may be remotely controlled. The user may then create his or her own race track, complete with obstacles and jumps. Alternatively, the user may design several city blocks and the toy vehicle
10
may be made to maneuver around those obstacles. Buildings may provide more visual realism interest when seen through the video camera
12
in a relatively small toy vehicle
10
.
Referring next to
FIG. 6
, the toy vehicle
10
may follow another toy vehicle
40
. In one embodiment, the toy vehicle
40
may include a visual target
42
. The target
42
may have a particular graphical design or may be of a particular color. The video camera
12
in the toy vehicle
10
attempts to follow that target
42
. In other words, forward progress of the vehicle
10
may be controlled from the controller
28
based on the presence of the target image in the video received from the toy vehicle
10
. In one embodiment of the present invention, both the vehicles
40
and
10
may be controlled by airwave signals through antennas
34
and
44
. The vehicles
10
and
40
may progress over a track
14
b.
Thus, the user may control the lead vehicle
40
and the trailing vehicle
10
, equipped with the video camera
12
, may follow the lead vehicle
40
. Direction control signals may be provided through the antenna
44
to the lead vehicle
40
.
As yet another example, the vehicle
10
may be equipped with the video camera
12
and may follow a pattern
14
c
formed on a mat or other surface
14
b
as shown in FIG.
7
. In one embodiment of the present invention, the pattern
14
c
may be a specific color that is recognized by the camera
12
or a coupled processor-based system. The camera
12
may then cause the vehicle
10
to continue to progress in a direction of the color pattern
14
c
. The control of the vehicle
10
may be implemented by the user, physically or automatically, using software operating on the control station
24
.
For example, as long as the screen is filled with the particular color represented by the pattern
14
b
, the vehicle
10
progresses straightforwardly. The vehicle
10
turns in one direction or the other to keep the pattern
14
b
in full view. Alternatively, a user watching the display
30
may provide the same control.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the video generated by the vehicle
10
may be utilized to control a characteristic of the vehicle such as its direction or speed of travel. The video may also be utilized to change the orientation of the imaging device
12
as still another example. The video information may also be analyzed to locate areas of higher or lower ambient luminance, relative motion to the vehicle, such as motion towards or away from the particular vehicle, periodicity such as a blinking light, the vehicle's spatial location with the respect to another object, or texture or pattern. Detection of such characteristics may be used to control the vehicle
10
. For example, a pattern such as a barcode or an image object may have a particular aspect ratio which may be analyzed to detect the orientation of that object with respect to the vehicle
10
.
In accordance with still another embodiment of the present invention, the video information obtained from the vehicle
10
, as shown in
FIG. 8
a
, may be augmented to enhance the user's play, as shown in
FIG. 8
b
. For example, in the situation where the toy vehicle
10
collides into another vehicle
48
, the video taken by the vehicle
10
of the collision (
FIG. 8
a
) may be enhanced at a processor-based control station
24
to show on the display
30
, added visual effects such as smoke or flames
50
as shown in
FIG. 8
b
. Those augmented visual effects may be incorporated over the video of the second vehicle
48
taken by the vehicle
10
.
As another example of video augmentation, for example in connection with the embodiment shown in
FIG. 5
, the various structures
36
may include an indicia
52
which may recognized by a controller
28
as indicated in
FIG. 9
a
. The controller
28
may then automatically insert more realistic images
54
, as shown in
FIG. 9
b
, for the relatively simple images of the structures
36
for viewing on the display
30
.
As still another example, the video from the vehicle
10
, shown in
FIG. 10
a
, of another vehicle
56
may be enhanced. When the video is viewed on the display
30
the vehicle
10
appears to have fired a rocket
58
at the vehicle
56
as indicated in
FIG. 10
b
. In fact, the vehicle
10
may do nothing, as indicated in
FIG. 10
a
, but the video obtained from the vehicle
10
may be augmented to include an image
58
of a rocket fired by the vehicle
10
. An image may also be generated of the explosive effects, of the type shown in
FIG. 8
b
, when the rocket image
58
impacts a pattern recognized object such as the vehicle
56
. In some cases, the video enhancement effects may be improved by having an additional video camera, separate and apart from a vehicle
10
, for imaging the play surface.
In a number of instances, the controller
28
may be utilized to enhance the control of the toy vehicle
10
. The vehicle
10
may be controlled using a joystick or steering wheel (not shown) coupled to the controller
28
. In addition, the vehicle
10
may be controlled in a point and click fashion. The user may click on an area of the video display
30
to cause the vehicle
10
to move to that location. A route may be provided to the controller
28
and the vehicle
10
may be caused to automatically follow that route under processor-based system control. A racetrack (not shown) may be set up for example by real cones. The vehicle
10
may then automatically go around the cones in response to processor-based system control which recognizes the cones and their locations. Games may be implemented wherein various track-based vehicles may be directed towards various track positions in order to “run over” or “consume” virtual images that appear to be positioned by the processor-based system on the image of the tracks when viewed on a display.
While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention.
Claims
- 1. A method comprising:receiving video from a toy vehicle; automatically identifying an image element in said video; and using said image element to automatically control the vehicle.
- 2. The method of claim 1 including detecting a characteristic of a surface over which said vehicle moves.
- 3. The method of claim 2 including detecting a color.
- 4. The method of claim 3 including detecting a pattern on said surface.
- 5. The method of claim 1 including detecting a visual feature on a second toy vehicle.
- 6. The method of claim 5 including detecting a target on the second toy vehicle.
- 7. The method of claim 6 including detecting a color of said target.
- 8. The method of claim 1 including:guiding a toy vehicle to more over a surface; providing an electrical link between the vehicle and the surface; capturing video from the vehicle; and transmitting said video from the vehicle to the electrical link.
- 9. The method of claim 8 wherein guiding the toy vehicle includes enabling the toy vehicle to move along the track.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein enabling the vehicle to move along the track includes guiding the vehicle using the track.
- 11. The method of claim 10 wherein providing the electrical link includes proving an electrical connection between the vehicle and the track and between the track and the control device and transmitting the video from the vehicle to the track to the control device.
- 12. The method of claim 9 including providing a pair of conductors in said track including a first conductor to provide power and a second conductor to receive video.
- 13. The method of claim 8 wherein providing electrical link includes providing an electrical contact.
- 14. The method of claim 8 wherein providing the electrical link includes providing an airwave connection.
- 15. The method of claim 8 wherein guiding the toy vehicle to move over the surface includes providing an airwave link between an antenna in said surface and an antenna on said vehicle.
- 16. The method of claim 8 wherein guiding the toy vehicle to move over the surface includes guiding the vehicle by causing the vehicle to follow another vehicle.
- 17. The method of claim 8 wherein guiding the vehicle includes causing the vehicle to follow an indicia on said surface and capturing video of said indicia to guide said vehicle.
US Referenced Citations (15)