Method and system for interactive toys

Abstract

Toy design methods break down the desired behavior of an electro-mechanical toy into unique states represented with electronics and/or mechanical modeling. The toy will exist in such rest state until some external event acts to trigger a state change in one or more of the parts. Any event can be defined at an appropriate user, environmental, or sensory input to can act as a trigger for the toy to react with some predefined behavior. Each of several physical toy states can be uniquely represented with an electronic circuit register. A multi-bit register status at any one particular instant directly represents the entire state the toy is in, and is quick and simple to inspect and act on. State changes triggered by input stimuli cause a change in the register bits reflecting the changing conditions of the toy.

1 . An interactive toy, comprising:
 a toy with user inputs and environmental inputs, and having output devices for lights, speech, sounds, and limb movements;   processor disposed in the toy and providing for changes in its existing physical state by producing motion, light, speech, or sound output on receiving predefined user and environmental inputs; and   a modular control system that integrates input sensors embedded in different parts of the body of the toy with the processor and output devices on a single flex circuit, detecting the inputs received by the sensors and making the toy interact with the user based on the nature of received inputs.   
     
     
         2 . The interactive toy of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a sensory register with bits that correspond to said user inputs and environmental inputs, and machine readable by the processor.   
     
     
         3 . The interactive toy of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an event register with bits that correspond to said output devices, and machine accessible by the processor.   
     
     
         4 . The interactive toy of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a sensory register with bits that correspond to said user inputs and environmental inputs, and machine readable by the processor;   an event register with bits that correspond to said output devices, and machine accessible by the processor; and   a set of algorithms included in executable memory accessible by the processor and providing for a scripted translation of sensory register bit states to event register bit states.   
     
     
         5 . A wrestling doll, comprising:
 a doll body; and   a modular control system disposed within the doll body and including input sensors, a processor, an executable program, and output devices for interacting with a user, and all disposed on a single flexible circuit substrate with limb elongations;   wherein said input sensors are disposed in different locations of the doll body and which can be activated by said user when a corresponding part of the doll body is grabbed, touched, or spoken to;   wherein, said output devices are able to make sounds and move the doll body to imitate wrestling moves dependent on signals received from said input sensors.   
     
     
         6 . The wrestling doll of  claim 5 , wherein:
 said executable program recognizes wrestling moves that include pile driver, sleeper, helicopter, back-flip, and body slam holds and take-downs applied by a user to the doll body.   
     
     
         7 . The wrestling doll of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a software program when compiled into said executable program allows a designer to define how readings from said input sensors are to be combined and interpreted to produce scripted responses of the doll through the output devices.   
     
     
         8 . The wrestling doll of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a set of touch sensors disposed in the arms and legs of the doll.   
     
     
         9 . The wrestling doll of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 at least one accelerometer disposed in the head and chest of the doll to measure orientations, movements, impacts, and spins applied to the doll.   
     
     
         10 . A modular control system, comprising:
 a plurality of sensory functions and power sources on a single flex substrate for installation inside building blocks, action figures, cars, trucks, and other toys, and providing for user interaction according to a sequence of automated computer commands embedded in a program that directs execution of a specific procedure coded by a script.   
     
     
         11 . The modular control system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 user input sensors to detect touch and/or pressure.   
     
     
         12 . The modular control system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 environmental input sensors to detect ambient light and/or acceleration.   
     
     
         13 . The modular control system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 algorithms that affect said sequence of automated computer commands embedded in said program to direct the execution of procedures that appear to impart a personality to said building blocks, action figures, cars, trucks, and other toys.   
     
     
         14 . The modular control system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 electronic, software, and mechanical descriptors for modeling particular sensory functions and modules.   
     
     
         15 . A method for constructing an interactive behavior for an electro-mechanical toy with its user, comprises:
 scrutinizing and partitioning an intended interactive behavior of a toy into a sequence of states inter-connected by transitions;   wherein, signals generated by user and environmental input devices included within the toy trigger said transitions between said states according to scripts.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein:
 said scripts are themselves comprised of a sequence of states.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 collecting and interpreting input data obtained from said user and environmental input devices with electronic devices disposed within said toy.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 parsing each state in said sequence of states, and any events leading to them, into a software language using a computer programming syntax, wherein a complete interactive behavior of said toy is semantically constructed in a software language to ultimately produce program code executable by a microcontroller physically disposed within said toy.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 parsing each state in said sequence of states, and any events leading to them, into a software language using a computer programming syntax, wherein a complete interactive behavior of said toy is modeled electronically or mechanically.