Method of Sensing the Proximity of a Human

Abstract

A toy including at least one capacitive sensor comprising a metal plate constituting one of the two plates of a capacitor, the second plate being constituted by a portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy, at least one effects generator; and a control circuit including means for causing effects to take place in response to stimulation of said capacitive sensor; the toy being characterized in that said metal plate of said at least one capacitive sensor is used as an antenna for picking up radio frequency transmission from said portion of a living being in the proximity of the toy.

1 . A method of detecting the presence of a human being proximate to a doll, the doll having a capacitive sensor including an RC circuit, the method comprising the steps of:
 charging the RC circuit;   starting a counter to measure the discharge time of the RC circuit;   storing a value of the discharge time in a memory by a processor;   repeating the steps of charging, starting, and storing until a plurality of discharge time values are stored by the processor; and   analyzing the plurality of discharge time values to determine whether a human being is proximate to the doll.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the RC circuit includes a resistor and a capacitor, and the charging the RC circuit includes charging the capacitor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the doll includes an amplifier, and the charging the RC circuit includes the amplifier charging the capacitor. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the steps of charging, starting, and storing are repeated until the plurality of discharge time values includes ten discharge time values. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the RC circuit includes a capacitor and the discharge time corresponds to the time the capacitor takes to discharge. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of discharge time values is a first plurality of discharge time values, the analyzing the plurality of discharge time values includes comparing a mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a reference value associated with no human being present. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the analyzing the plurality of discharge time values includes comparing the mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a mean value of a prior plurality of discharge time values in the event that the mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values is different from the reference value. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the analyzing the plurality of discharge time values includes comparing variations around a mean value of the plurality of discharge time values to a sinusoidal waveform. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the analyzing the plurality of discharge time values includes determining that a human being is proximate to the doll if the variations match the sinusoidal waveform. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the doll includes an effects generator that is activated if the variations match the sinusoidal waveform. 
     
     
         11 . A method of detecting the presence of a human being proximate to a doll, the doll having a capacitive sensor including an RC circuit, the method comprising the steps of:
 charging a capacitor in the RC circuit;   starting a counter to measure the discharge time of the capacitor;   storing a value of the discharge time in a memory by a processor;   repeating the steps of charging, starting, and storing until a first plurality of discharge time values are stored by the processor; and   comparing the first plurality of discharge time values to a second plurality of discharge time values to determine whether a human being is proximate to the doll.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the doll includes an amplifier, and the charging a capacitor includes the amplifier charging the capacitor. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the discharge time value corresponds to the amount of time the capacitor takes to discharge. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
 comparing the first plurality of discharge time values to a reference value.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the reference value is associated with no human being proximate to the doll. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the comparing the first plurality of discharge time values to the second plurality of discharge time values includes comparing a mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a mean value of the second plurality of discharge time values. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of:
 comparing variations in the first plurality of discharge time values around the mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a sinusoidal waveform.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the comparing variations includes determining that a human being is present if the variations match the sinusoidal waveform. 
     
     
         19 . A method of detecting the presence of a human being proximate to a doll, the doll having a capacitive sensor including an RC circuit, the method comprising the steps of:
 charging a capacitor in the RC circuit;   starting a counter to measure the discharge time of the capacitor;   storing a value of the discharge time in a memory by a processor;   repeating the steps of charging, starting, and storing until a first plurality of discharge time values are stored by the processor;   comparing a mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a reference value, the reference value being associated with no human being proximate to the doll;   comparing the mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a mean value of a second plurality of discharge time values to determine whether a human being is proximate to the doll in the event that the mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values does not match the reference value;   comparing variations in the first plurality of discharge time values around the mean value of the first plurality of discharge time values to a sinusoidal waveform; and   determining whether a human being is proximate to the doll if the variations match the sinusoidal waveform.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 activating an effects generator in the event that the variations match the sinusoidal waveform.