Flying user interface
This invention describes a special type of drone called “Flying User Interface” device comprised of a robotic projector-camera system, an onboard digital computer connected with Internet, sensors, and a hardware interface to stick to any surface such as wall, ceilings, etc. Computer further consists of other subsystems, devices, and sensors such as accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, flashlight, etc. Drone flies from one places to another, detects a surface, and sticks to it. After successful sticking mechanism, device stops all its rotators and projects or augments images, information, and user interfaces on the near by surfaces. User interface may contain applications, information about object being augmented and information from Internet. User can interact with user-interface using command and gestures such as hand, body, feet, voice, etc.
1. A flying apparatus comprising:
a flight system configured with a flight controller, sensors, at least one rotor, and an electronic speed controller to fly from a first location to a second location;
a sticking system having a grip controller and one or more of a vacuum gripper, a magnetic gripper, a hook and an electro-adhesive gripper each configured to attach the device to a surface at the second location;
a user interface system having a projector and at least one camera, is configured to augment and project images and information from the second location onto a nearby surface based on user input detected by the at least one camera and a user interface sensor; and
a computer system configured to control the flight system, the one or more grippers and the user interface system to execute human-computer interaction applications.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of sensors or a hardware controller connected to the computer system.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user interface system is attached to a robotic arm having up to six degrees of freedom.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user interface further includes a pointing device configured to augment the information displayed in the projected image, based on user input.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user interface device is configured to augment the information displayed in the projected image based on at least one of body gestures, hand gestures, face gestures and feet gestures, the gestures detected by the at least one camera or user interface sensor.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user interface system is configured to detect gestures from a plurality of users.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus slides from the second location to a third location.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flight system is configured to dynamically control position and orientation of the body by controlling rotor speed and direction using control algorithms.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is configured to autonomously recharge a power source by attaching to charging plate.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is configured to find and identify the system's owner and to stick to the back of the owner.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is configured to link, communicate and synchronize with other devices of the same design and type and to cooperate to form a large display, a virtual window or a user interface.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is configured to generate a map using simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the computer system further includes an application programming interface (API).
14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensors configured to detect freefall, the one or more sensors comprising an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a barometer and a laser sensor; the computer system configured to autonomously fly and land the apparatus at another safe location in response to detection of freefall during a failure of the sticking system, the grip controller or at least one of the one or more grippers.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of flight control or navigation is controlled in response to gestures detected by the at least one camera or sensors.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sticking mechanism changes the type of gripper deployed for attachment based on the nature of the surface at the second location.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the projection surface is a floor or the projection surface is a wall adjacent to the attachment surface.
18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of mirrors or a lens are configured to change a projection direction of the projector.
19. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the projector is a laser or holographic projector.
20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the flight system, grip controller, user interface system and computer system are implemented on a single integrated circuit (IC) powered by a single power source.