JPH0492691A - Steering operating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To really realize reaction from the surface of a road by rotating or oscillating a steering wheel with force corresponding to the reaction from the surface of the road by a motor corresponding to a driving direction and a driving amount calculated by a driving control circuit. CONSTITUTION:A steering wheel 14 is provided to change the direction of advancing the object of a steering operation, the motor is provided to rotate or oscillate the handle 14, an encoder 13 is provided to detect the amount of rotating or oscillating the wheel 14, and a driving control circuit 8 is provided to calculate the driving direction and driving amount of the motor corresponding to the detected result of the encoder 13. Thus, since the motor rotates or oscillates the wheel 14 with the force corresponding to the reaction from the surface of the road corresponding to the driving direction and the driving amount calculates by the driving control circuit 8, the reaction from the surface of the road can be really realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a steering operating device, and particularly to a steering operating device that is optimal for driving game machines.

[Prior Art] Among conventional steering operating devices of this type, one is known that simulates a state in which reaction from the road surface is returned to the steering operating device.

For example, a motor shaft and an eccentric arm are combined to generate vibrations when the motor rotates (Utility Model Application No. 63-71088), and a brake is attached to the steering shaft to place a load on the steering operation. (Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-165090) is known.

In addition, there are models that apply shock using a solenoid (Report No. 18279-1980), methods that use an eccentric weight to return to the center position (Report No. 32507-1980), and those that use a motor to apply an eccentric weight. There is also known a device (Utility Model Application Publication No. 160891/1989) which generates vibrations by rotating.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] These conventional steering operating devices have the disadvantage of lacking a sense of realism because the reaction from the road surface is replaced by simple movements such as vibrations and shocks.

In particular, when simulating the steering device of a car running on a dirt course, there was no steering device that could reproduce the magnitude of the kickback (reaction from the road surface) caused by the size of the unevenness of the road surface.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to realistically reproduce the reaction from the road surface.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the steering operation device of the present invention includes a handle that changes the direction of movement of an object to be steered, a motor that rotates or swings the handle, It is configured to include an encoder that detects the amount of rotation or swing of the handle, and a drive control circuit that calculates the drive direction and amount of drive of the motor according to the detection results of the encoder.

[Function] In the steering operation device configured as described above, the motor rotates or swings the steering wheel with a force corresponding to the reaction from the road surface in accordance with the drive direction and drive amount calculated by the drive control circuit, so that Realistically reproduce the recoil from the

[Example] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a steering operating device according to the present invention. Moreover, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a driving game machine using the steering operation device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image signal corresponding to the progress of a driving game is supplied from a main circuit 2 to a monitor 1 (see FIG. 2). The main circuit 2 includes a coin insertion device 3, a shift lever 4, and an accelerator pedal 5 shown in FIG.
, the brake pedal 6, etc., and controls the entire driving game.

From the main circuit 2, a cumulative distance signal accumulated according to the operation status of the shift lever 4, accelerator pedal 5, and brake pedal 6 and a position signal with a competitor (or enemy) (X coordinate in Fig. 4) are output. is supplied to the CPU circuit 8. C
The PU circuit 8 operates according to a program stored in the ROM 9 as described later to generate a motor drive signal.

The motor drive signal generated by the CPU circuit 8 is converted into a drive signal by a motor drive circuit 11 and supplied to the DC servo motor 12 .

A rotary encoder 1 is attached to the rotation shaft 12a of the DC servo motor 12 at the rear end of the DC servo motor 12.
3 is attached, and the amount of rotation of the rotating shaft 12a is encoded and fed back to the motor drive circuit 11. The motor drive circuit 11 uses the output of the rotary encoder 13 as a servo signal, and also as a signal (X coordinate in FIG. 4) representing the current position of the vehicle being driven (player car 30 in FIG. 4). CPU circuit 8
supply to.

A coaxially arranged DC servo motor 12 and rotary encoder 13 drive and are driven by the handle 14 as shown in FIG.

The handle 14 is attached to the handle shaft 1 by a bolt 18 together with a handle block 15 and a boss cover 16.
7, the installation is fixed. The handle shaft 17 is
Dash board panel 7 and control panel 19
The rotating part of the bearing 200 is inserted through the through holes 7a and 19a provided in the bearing 200 and fixed thereto. This fixation is performed by screwing the nut 22 onto the threaded portion 17a of the handle shaft 17 with the spacer 21 in between.

Furthermore, a keyway 17b is carved in the tip of the handle shaft 17, and by engaging the key 23 with this keyway 17b and the keyway 24b of the pulley 24, the pulley 24
is fixed to the handle shaft 17. In addition, pulley 2
4 is restrained from moving in the axial direction by a C ring 25.

The bearing 20 described above is screwed onto a base bracket 28, and the DC servo motor 12 and rotary encoder 13 are also fixedly attached to this base bracket 28. Rotating shaft 12a of DC servo motor 12
A pulley 27 is attached to the pulley 27, and a belt 26 is passed between the pulley 27 and the pulley 24. Via this belt 26, the DC servo motor 12 and the rotary encoder 13 drive the handle 14 and are driven by the handle 14.

Next, the operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show the progress displayed on the monitor 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2) when the player's car 30, which is the driving target, hits a rock 31 which is an obstacle. That is, when the player car 30 moves in the traveling direction (X direction) from the state shown in FIG. 4(a), the fourth
Assume that the front right wheel of the player's car 30 hits a rock 31 as shown in FIG. 3(b). The position (coordinates) and size of the rock 31 at this time are stored in the ROM 9 in advance in the same manner as the program.

The advancing position (X coordinate) of the player car 30 is based on the cumulative distance signal accumulated according to the operation status of the shift lever 4, accelerator pedal 5, and brake pedal 6, and the position signal with respect to competitors (or enemies). , main circuit 2 to C
It is supplied to the PU circuit 8. Further, as a signal representing the position (Y coordinate) of the player car 30 with respect to the road surface, that is, the current position of the player car 30, the output of the rotary encoder 13 supplied to the CPU circuit 8 is used. By reading the height of the rock 31 stored in the ROM 9 at the address corresponding to the coordinates (X, Y) at this time from the ROM 9, the height difference between the left and right front wheels can be calculated.

In FIG. 4(b), the front right wheel of the player car 30 is a rock 31.
As a result, the right front wheel of the player's car 30 becomes higher than the left front wheel. The CPU circuit 8 calculates this and generates a motor drive signal that causes the left and right front wheels to rotate largely in the clockwise direction when the height difference between the left and right front wheels is large. This is Shiva
The handle 14 is largely driven clockwise by the DC servo motor 12. This drive allows the game player to enjoy the sensation of the handle 14 being returned clockwise.

FIG. 5(a) shows a case where a competitor (or enemy) is colliding with you from the left. At this time, the DC servo motor 12 drives the handle 14 clockwise depending on the magnitude of the impact. The magnitude of the impact caused by the collision corresponds to the height of the rock 31 in FIG. Moreover, FIG. 5(b) shows a case where a competitor (or enemy) collides head-on.

At this time, the DC servo motor 12 vibrates the handle 14 from side to side.

FIG. 6 summarizes the above-mentioned operations in a flowchart of the CPU circuit 8. That is, when the game starts in FIG. 6, it is determined whether the vehicle has hit an obstacle (step 33) or an enemy force (step 34), and the drive direction and drive amount of the handle 14 are determined based on the height difference between the left and right front wheels. (Step 36) to determine the amount of recoil, and calculate from which direction and with what impact the enemy forces collided (Step 37). The calculated result is supplied to the motor drive circuit 11 (step 39).

In addition,! In Figure @6, in addition to the above-mentioned steps, it is also determined whether the road is rough or not (step 35), and the driving direction and driving amount (reaction amount) of the handle 14 are calculated by determining whether the rough road is a river or a muddy swamp. I try to do that.

Although the present invention has been described above using examples, various modifications are possible according to the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the explanation was given for driving a car, but it is also possible to simulate a steering operation device for a motor boat or an airplane. The driving direction and driving amount (reaction amount) of the handle 14 at this time are calculated based on the motor photo, the speed of the airplane, the viscous resistance of water and air, and the like.

Moreover, the handle 14 can also be a bar handle like that of a motorcycle or a bicycle. In this case, the DC servo motor 12 will swing the bar handle by rotation.

Furthermore, although the case has been described in which the DC servo motor 12 and the rotary encoder 13 are arranged coaxially, they can also be separated. For example, only the rotary encoder 13 can be placed near the handle 14.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the steering operation device of the present invention includes a steering wheel for changing the direction of movement of an object to be steered, a motor for rotating or rocking the steering wheel, and a rotation amount or amount of rotation of the steering wheel. The configuration includes an encoder that detects the amount of rocking and a drive control circuit that calculates the drive direction and drive amount of the motor according to the detection results of the encoder. The motor rotates or swings the handle with a force equivalent to the reaction from the road surface, making it possible to realistically reproduce the reaction from the road surface.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the steering operation device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a driving game machine using the steering operation device according to the present invention, and FIG. , an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the steering operation device according to the invention, FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the operation of an embodiment of the steering operation device according to the invention, and FIG. 5 is a steering operation according to the invention. A conceptual diagram explaining the operation of one embodiment of the device. FIG. 6 is a flowchart explaining the operation of one embodiment of the steering operation device according to the present invention. 11 ...Motor drive circuit 12 ...DC servo motor 13 ...Rotary encoder 14 ...
Handle 24...Pulley 26...Belt 27...Pulley

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A handle for changing the direction of movement of an object to be steered; a motor for rotating or rocking the handle; an encoder for detecting the amount of rotation or rocking of the handle; and detection of the encoder. A steering operation device including a drive control circuit that calculates a drive direction and a drive amount of the motor according to the results.