Granted Patent B2

US 12,430,022 · App. 18/523,089 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Inventors: Clyde A Spidell (Cedar Rapids, IA); Tracy J. Barnidge (Marion, IA)

Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.

G06F3/0488G06F3/013G06F3/017G06F3/0412

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. A system, the system comprising:

one or more user interface devices including a display and a user input device, the user input device including a touchscreen interface configured to receive a user touch input from a user, the display including one or more display touch sensors configured to detect spatial-temporal touch event data associated with the user touch input received;

one or more user monitoring devices, the one or more user monitoring devices including one or more eye tracking sensors configured to detect an eye gaze of the user viewing the display, the one or more user monitoring devices including one or more body tracking sensors configured to detect body movement of the user viewing the display; and

one or more controllers communicatively coupled to the one or more user monitoring devices and the one or more user interface devices, the one or more controllers including one or more processors configured to execute a set of program instructions stored in memory, the memory including a touch event algorithm configured to detect an inadvertent touch event after the spatial-temporal touch event data is detected by the one or more display touch sensors, the set of program instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to:

receive eye gaze data of the user viewing the display from the one or more eye tracking sensors;

receive body movement data of the user viewing the display from the one or more body tracking sensors;

receive the spatial-temporal touch event data of the user viewing the display from the one or more display touch sensors of the display;

compare the spatial-temporal touch event data with touch event signature data in a touch event signature database;

determine, after the spatial-temporal touch event data is detected by the one or more display touch sensors, whether the received user touch input is the inadvertent touch event based on the compared spatial-temporal touch event data and at least one of the eye gaze data or the body movement data;

upon determining the received user touch input is the inadvertent touch event, perform a first set of one or more avionic system actions; and

upon determining the received user touch input is an intentional touch event, perform a second set of one or more avionic system actions,

wherein the second set of one or more avionic system actions are different than the first set of one or more avionic system actions.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first set of one or more avionic system actions comprise:

ignoring the user touch input by not providing the received user touch input to an avionics system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first set of one or more avionic system actions comprise:

generating one or more control signals configured to cause the display to display an on-screen pop-up, wherein the on-screen pop-up allows the user to confirm whether the user touch input is the inadvertent touch event.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second set of one or more avionic system actions comprise:

providing the received user touch input to one or more avionic systems.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors to:

adjust one or more selectable buttons on a graphical user interface of the display.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon determining the received user touch input is the inadvertent touch event, decrease a size of the one or more selectable buttons on the graphical user interface of the display.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon determining the received user touch input is an inadvertent touch event, decrease a brightness of the one or more selectable buttons on the graphical user interface of the display.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon determining the received user touch input is an inadvertent touch event, hide the one or more selectable buttons on the graphical user interface of the display.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon determining the received user touch input is an intentional touch event, increase a size of the one or more selectable buttons on the graphical user interface of the display.

10. The system of claim 5 , wherein upon determining the received user touch input is an intentional touch event, increase a brightness of the one or more selectable buttons on the graphical user interface of the display.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more eye tracking sensors includes one or more eye tracking cameras.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more body tracking sensors includes one or more body tracking cameras.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more eye tracking sensors and the one or more body tracking sensors are integrated into a common interface.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more eye tracking sensors and the one or more body tracking sensors are separated.

15. A method, the method comprising:

receiving one or more inputs from a user via a touchscreen interface of one or more user interface devices, the one or more user interface devices including a display;

detecting an eye gaze of the user viewing the display using one or more eye tracking sensors;

detecting body movement of the user viewing the display using one or more body tracking sensors;

receiving spatial-temporal touch event data of the user viewing the display from one or more display touch sensors;

comparing the spatial-temporal touch event data with touch event signature data in a touch event signature database;

determining, after the spatial-temporal touch event data is received from the one or more display touch sensors, whether the received user touch input is an inadvertent touch event based on the compared spatial-temporal touch event data and at least one of detected eye gaze data from the one or more eye tracking sensors or detected body movement data from the one or more body tracking sensors;

upon determining the received user touch input is the inadvertent touch event, performing a first set of one or more avionic system actions; and

upon determining the received user touch input is an intentional touch event, performing a second set of one or more avionic system actions, wherein the second set of one or more avionic system actions are different than the first set of one or more avionic system actions.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first set of one or more avionic system actions comprise:

ignoring the user touch input by not providing the received user touch input to an avionics system.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first set of one or more avionic system actions comprise:

generating one or more control signals configured to cause the display to display an on-screen pop-up, wherein the on-screen pop-up allows the user to confirm whether the received user touch input is the inadvertent touch event.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first set of one or more avionic system actions comprise:

providing the received user touch input to one or more avionic systems.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

adjusting one or more selectable buttons on a graphical user interface of the display.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (24)