Hand-held personal planetarium

Abstract

Method and apparatus are provided for a hand-held planetarium which displays a sky pattern comprising graphical representations of celestial objects. A sensing system comprising sensors provides information about an orientation of the device. A controller receives such information and determines an altitude angle of a pointing axis and an azimuthal angle of the pointing axis. The controller accesses a database of celestial objects and determines celestial objects for display based at least in part on a measure of proximity of the celestial objects to the pointing axis. Graphical representations of the celestial objects are displayed on a screen. Additional information for the celestial objects is displayed on the screen over a plurality of display slices. Based at least in part on sensed orientation information, the orientation of a motorized telescope is controlled so that the celestial objects displayed on the screen come within the telescope's field of view.

1 . A hand-held device for displaying a sky pattern comprising graphical representations of one or more celestial objects and additional information in respect of the celestial objects on a limited-size display screen, the device comprising:
 a controller configured to:   access a database of celestial objects comprising data corresponding to graphical representations of the celestial objects and additional information in respect of at least some of the celestial objects;   select one or more selected celestial objects from within the database for display;   a display screen for displaying graphical representations of the one or more selected celestial objects and at least some of the additional information for the one or more selected celestial objects;   wherein the controller is configured to display the at least some of the additional information on the display screen over a plurality of display slices and, in each display slice, to display at least one of: the at least some of the additional information for a corresponding subset of the one or more selected celestial objects, the corresponding subset different for each display slice; and a corresponding portion of the at least some of the additional information for the one or more selected celestial objects, the corresponding portion different for each display slice;   wherein the controller is configured to display the at least some of the additional information on the display screen over the plurality of display slices by successively displaying each of the plurality of display slices for a period of time to thereby serially display the plurality of display slices over time.   
     
     
         2 . A device according to  claim 1  comprising a sensing system comprising one or more sensors for providing information about an orientation of the device and wherein the controller is configured to:
 receive the orientation information from the sensing system and to determine therefrom an altitude angle of a pointing axis and an azimuthal angle of the pointing axis; 
 access the database and determine, from within the database, the one or more selected celestial objects for display based at least in part on a measure of proximity of the celestial objects to the pointing axis. 
 
     
     
         3 . A device according to  claim 2  wherein the controller is configured to repeat the process of receiving the orientation information, determining therefrom the altitude angle and azimuthal angle and accessing the database to determine the one or more selected celestial objects for display, to thereby update the sky pattern displayed on the display screen based on the orientation of the device. 
     
     
         4 . A device according to  claim 1  wherein the controller is configured to display, in each time slice, the at least some of the additional information for a subset of the one or more selected celestial objects and to determine inclusion of the one or more selected celestial objects in a particular subset based on one or more of: types of celestial objects; distances of celestial objects from earth; ages of celestial objects; alphabetic order of names of celestial objects; and brightness levels of celestial objects. 
     
     
         5 . A device according to  claim 3  wherein the controller is configured to repetitively cycle through the plurality of display slices based on one or more of: a display time period associated with each display slice; and receiving user toggle inputs which cause the controller to advance to a next display slice. 
     
     
         6 . A device according to  claim 5  wherein the controller is configured to pause the repetitive cycle through the plurality of display slices in response to user input. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A device according to  claim 3  wherein the controller is configured to pause the updating of the sky pattern displayed on the display screen in response to user input, so that the sky pattern displayed on the display screen remains static. 
     
     
         9 . A device according to  claim 8  the controller is configured to display a user-controllable graphical indicator on the display screen when the updating of the sky pattern displayed on the display screen is paused and to allow a user to select a particular celestial object based on the user moving the graphical indicator on the display screen to a vicinity of the graphical representation of the particular celestial object. 
     
     
         10 . A device according to  claim 9  wherein, upon selection of the particular celestial object, the controller is configured to perform at least one of: outputting information about the particular celestial object to the user; and controlling a motorized telescope to move in a manner such that the particular celestial object comes within its field of view. 
     
     
         11 .- 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . A device according to  claim 8  wherein, when the updating of the sky pattern is paused, the controller is configured to at least one of:
 effect panning of the sky pattern displayed on the display screen in response to user input; and 
 effect zooming in or zooming out of the sky pattern displayed on the display screen in response to user input. 
 
     
     
         14 . A method for displaying a sky pattern comprising graphical representations of one or more celestial objects and additional information in respect of the celestial objects on a limited-size display screen of a hand-held device, the method comprising:
 providing a database of celestial objects comprising data corresponding to graphical representations of the celestial objects and additional information in respect of at least some of the celestial objects;   displaying graphical representations of one or more selected celestial objects on the display screen;   displaying at least some of the additional information on the display screen for the one or more selected celestial objects;   wherein displaying the at least some of the additional information on the display screen for the one or more selected celestial objects comprises displaying the at least some of the additional information on the display screen over a plurality of display slices and, in each display slice, displaying at least one of: the at least some of the additional information for a corresponding subset of the one or more selected celestial objects, the corresponding subset different for each display slice; and a corresponding portion of the at least some of the additional information for the one or more selected celestial objects, the corresponding portion different for each display slice;   wherein displaying the at least some of the additional information on the display screen over the plurality of display slices comprises successively displaying each of the plurality of display slices for a period of time to thereby serially display the plurality of display slices over time.   
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 14  comprising:
 providing the device with one or more sensors for sensing information about an orientation of the device; 
 determining an altitude angle of a pointing axis of the device and an azimuthal angle of the pointing axis based at least in part on the sensed orientation information; 
 accessing the database and determining, from within the database, the one or more selected celestial objects for display based at least in part on a measure of proximity of the celestial objects to the pointing axis. 
 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 15  comprising repeating determining the altitude angle and the azimuth angle of the pointing axis, accessing the database to determine one or more selected celestial objects for display and displaying graphical representations of the one or more selected celestial objects, such that the sky pattern displayed on the display screen is updated based on the orientation of the device. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 14  wherein displaying the at least some of the additional information on the display screen over a plurality of display slices comprises displaying, in each time slice, the at least some of the additional information for a subset of the one or more selected celestial objects and the method comprises determining inclusion of the one or more selected celestial objects in a particular subset based on one or more of: types of celestial objects; distances of celestial objects from earth; ages of celestial objects; alphabetic order of names of celestial objects; and brightness levels of celestial objects. 
     
     
         18 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method according to  claim 16  comprising pausing the updating of the sky pattern displayed on the display screen in response to user input, so that the sky pattern displayed on the display screen remains static. 
     
     
         22 . A method according to  claim 21  comprising displaying a user-controllable graphical indicator on the display screen when the updating of the sky pattern displayed on the display screen is paused and allowing a user to select a particular celestial object based on the user moving the graphical indicator on the display screen to a vicinity of the graphical representation of the particular celestial object. 
     
     
         23 . A method according to  claim 22  comprising, upon selection of the particular celestial object, performing at least one of: outputting information about the particular celestial object to the user; and controlling a motorized telescope to move in a manner such that the particular celestial object comes within its field of view. 
     
     
         24 .- 26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . A telescope system comprising:
 a hand-held control device comprising:
 one or more sensors for sensing information about an orientation of the hand-held control device; 
 a device controller, the device controller configured to: receive the orientation information from the one or more sensors and to determine therefrom a pointing axis of the hand-held device; and access a database of celestial objects and determine, from within the database, one or more selected celestial objects for display based at least in part on a measure of proximity of the selected celestial objects to the pointing axis; and 
 a display screen for displaying a sky pattern comprising graphical representations of the one or more selected celestial objects; and 
   a motorized telescope communicatively coupled to the hand-held control device, comprising:
 a motorized mount; and 
 a telescope mount controller configured to receive control information from the hand-held control device and to use the control information to control movement of the mount to adjust a field of view of the motorized telescope; 
   
       the control information based at least in part on an attitude of the pointing axis. 
     
     
         28 . A system according to  claim 27  wherein the device controller is configured to display a user-controllable graphical indicator on the display screen to allow a user to select a particular celestial object based on the user moving the graphical indicator on the display screen to a vicinity of the graphical representation of the particular celestial object; and
 wherein the telescope mount controller is configured to control the movement of the mount such that the particular celestial object comes within the field of view of the telescope. 
 
     
     
         29 . A system according to  claim 27  wherein the device controller is configured to display a menu comprising the selected celestial objects on the display screen and to allow a user to select a particular celestial object from among the selected celestial objects using the menu and the telescope mount controller is configured to control the movement of the mount such that the particular celestial object comes within the field of view of the telescope. 
     
     
         30 . A method for controlling an orientation of a motorized telescope using a hand-held control device, the method comprising:
 providing the hand-held control device with one or more sensors and sensing information about an orientation of the hand-held control device using the one or more sensors;   determining a pointing axis of the hand-held device based at least in part on the sensed orientation information;   accessing a database of celestial objects and determining, from within the database, one or more selected celestial objects for display based at least in part on a measure of proximity of the celestial objects to the pointing axis;   displaying graphical representations of the one or more selected celestial objects on a display screen of the hand-held control device;   communicatively linking the hand-held control device with the motorized telescope; and   controlling movement of a mount of the motorized telescope to adjust a field of view of the motorized telescope based on control information received from the hand-held control device;   the control information based at least in part on an attitude of the pointing axis.   
     
     
         31 . A method according to  claim 30  comprising:
 displaying a user-controllable graphical indicator on the display screen; 
 allowing a user to select a particular celestial object based on the user moving the graphical indicator on the display screen to a vicinity of the graphical representation of the particular celestial object; and 
 controlling the movement of the mount such that the particular celestial object comes within the field of view of the motorized telescope. 
 
     
     
         32 . A method according to  claim 30  comprising displaying a menu comprising the selected celestial objects on the display screen and allowing a user to select a particular celestial object from among the selected celestial objects using the menu; and controlling the movement of the mount such that the particular celestial object comes within the field of view of the motorized telescope. 
     
     
         33 . A hand-held control device for controlling an orientation of a motorized telescope, the hand-held control device comprising:
 a sensing system comprising one or more sensors for providing information about an orientation of the device; and   a device controller, the device controller configured to: receive the orientation information from the one or more sensors and to determine therefrom a pointing axis of the hand-held device; access a database of celestial objects and determine, from within the database, one or more selected celestial objects for display based at least in part on a measure of proximity of the celestial objects to the pointing axis; and transmit control information to the motorized telescope for controlling the movement of a mount of the motorized telescope to adjust a field of view of the motorized telescope;   a display screen for displaying a sky pattern comprising graphical representations of the one or more selected celestial objects;   the control information based at least in part on an attitude of the pointing axis.   
     
     
         34 . A device according to  claim 33  wherein the device controller is configured to: display a user-controllable graphical indicator on the display screen to allow a user to select a particular celestial object based on the user moving the graphical indicator on the display screen to a vicinity of the graphical representation of the particular celestial object; and determine the control information based on particular celestial object, for controlling the movement of the mount of the motorized telescope to adjust the field of view of the telescope so that the particular celestial object is in the field of view of the motorized telescope. 
     
     
         35 . A device according to  claim 33  wherein the device controller is configured to: display a menu comprising the selected celestial objects on the display screen and to allow a user to select a particular celestial object from among the selected celestial object using the menu; and determine the control information based on particular celestial object, for controlling the movement of the mount of the motorized telescope to adjust the field of view of the telescope so that the particular celestial object is in the field of view of the motorized telescope.