Granted Patent B2

US 9,052,805 · App. 13/654,944 · Granted Jun 9, 2015

Abstract

Claims (57)

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling a plurality of electromagnetic energy sources, comprising:

coupling a controller to a plurality of electromagnetic energy sources comprising laser sources, the controller configured to individually control the output of each of the laser sources independently;

using the controller to determine by summing the output powers of the laser sources and provide a total output power of the plurality of electromagnetic energy sources;

executing instructions on a processor to display on a computer-human interface display device a user interface region, the user interface region including:

a pie-graph configured to display the total output power of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources, the pie-graph including a radius that indicates the total output power and a plurality of sectors that indicate percentages of the total output power contributed by each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources;

receiving an input via the user interface region, the input being an interaction with the pie-graph that changes one of the radius or a sector of the plurality of the sectors; and

adjusting a power output of one or more of the electromagnetic energy sources based on the input; and

wherein changing the radius of the pie-graph changes the total output power of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources, and wherein changing the one of the radius or the sector of the plurality of the sectors changes a percentage of the total output power contributed by one or more of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources and adjusts the power output of at least one of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources relative to at least another of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a second input via the user interface region, the second input being an interaction with a total-power slider of the user interface region, wherein the total-power slider includes a handle that is configured to move along a predetermined path to control the total output power of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources, and wherein a position of the handle on the predetermined path indicates the total output power;

adjusting the power output of one or more of the electromagnetic energy sources based on the second input.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the user interface region further includes:

a text box indicating the total output power, wherein a number in the text box indicates the total output power as a percentage of a maximum output power of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the number in the text box and the radius of the pie-graph change in response to the moving of the handle on the total-power slider, and wherein the number in the text box and the position of the handle on the total-power slider change in response to the changing of the radius of the pie-graph.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the position of the handle or the radius of the pie-graph changes in a manner that is not proportional to changes in the total output power.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the position of the handle or the radius of the pie-graph change according to a logarithmic scale.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a second input via the user interface region, the second input being an interaction with one or more of a plurality of single-source controllers of the user interface region, wherein the single-source controller is configured to control a percentage of the total output power contributed by a particular source of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources;

adjusting the power output of one or more of the electromagnetic energy sources based on the second input.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein changing the percentage of the total output power contributed by the particular source changes a percentage of the total output power contributed by one or more of the other sources of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the single-source controller includes:

a single-source slider including a handle that is configured to move along a predetermined path to control the percentage of the total output power contributed by the particular source, wherein a position of the handle along the predetermined path indicates the percentage of the total output power contributed by the particular source.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the single-source controller includes:

a set of buttons, the set of buttons including a first button that is configured to increase the percentage of the total output power contributed by the particular source when pressed and a second button that is configured to decrease the percentage of the total output power contributed by the particular source when pressed.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the single-source controller includes:

a toggle button or toggle switch configured to turn off or turn on the particular source when pressed.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the single-source controller includes:

a text box including a number that indicates the percentage of the total output power contributed by the particular source.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein a sum of the numbers of the text boxes for the plurality of the single-source controllers is equal to 100.

14. The method of claim 7 , wherein the interaction with the one or more of the plurality of the single-source controllers causes a change of an angle of a sector of the pie-graph.

15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the interaction with the pie-graph that changes the sector of the plurality of the sectors causes a change in one or more of the plurality of the single-source controllers.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a second input via the user interface region, the second input being an interaction with a multi-source slider of the user interface region, wherein the multi-source slider includes a handle that is configured to move along a predetermined path to control the percentages of the total output power contributed by each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources, and wherein the multi-source slider controls a percentage of the total output power contributed by a particular source of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources based on an activation of a toggle button that is associated with the particular source;

adjusting the power output of one or more of the electromagnetic energy sources based on the second input.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein changing the total output power changes an output power of each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein changing the total output power by a particular percentage value causes a corresponding change in the output power of each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources by the particular percentage value.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources is configured to generate electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the different wavelengths of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources are configured to be used in performing different actions.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources are configured to perform a dental procedure, and wherein the different actions include killing bacteria, whitening teeth, cutting tissue, healing tissue, or curing a composite material.

22. A system for controlling a plurality of electromagnetic energy sources, comprising:

a controller configured to control the output of a plurality of laser sources independently;

one or more processors;

one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums containing instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform operations including:

coupling the controller to a plurality of electromagnetic energy sources comprising the laser sources, the controller determining by summing the output powers of each of the laser sources to provide a total output power of the plurality of electromagnetic energy sources;

displaying on a computer-human interface display device a user interface region, the user interface region including:

a pie-graph configured to display a total output power of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources, the pie-graph including a radius that indicates the total output power and a plurality of sectors that indicate percentages of the total output power contributed by each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources;

receiving an input via the user interface region, the input being an interaction with the pie-graph that changes one of the radius or a sector of the plurality of the sectors; and

adjusting a power output of one or more of the electromagnetic energy sources based on the input; and

wherein changing the one of the radius or the sector of the plurality of the sectors changes a percentage of the total output power contributed by one or more of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources and adjusts the power output of at least one of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources relative to at least another of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources.

23. A computer-program product for controlling a plurality of electromagnetic energy sources, tangibly embodied in a machine-readable non-transitory storage medium, including instructions configured to cause a data processing apparatus to:

couple a controller to a plurality of electromagnetic energy sources comprising laser sources, the controller configured to individually control the output of each of the laser sources independently;

use the controller to determine by summing the output powers of the laser sources to provide a total output power of the plurality of electromagnetic energy sources;

display on a computer-human interface display device a user interface region, the user interface region including:

a pie-graph configured to display the total output power of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources, the pie-graph including a radius that indicates the total output power and a plurality of sectors that indicate percentages of the total output power contributed by each of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources;

receive an input via the user interface region, the input being an interaction with the pie-graph that changes one of the radius or a sector of the plurality of the sectors; and

adjust a power output of one or more of the electromagnetic energy sources based on the input; and

wherein changing the one of the radius or the sector of the plurality of the sectors changes a percentage of the total output power contributed by one or more of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources and adjusts the power output of at least one of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources relative to at least another of the plurality of the electromagnetic energy sources.

Assignments (6)