Piezoresistive sensors and sensor arrays

Abstract

Highly expressive and flexibly programmable foot-operated controllers are described. Specific implementations are intended for musical applications and allow musicians an unprecedented degree of control of a wide variety of musical components and subsystems for recording and/or performance.

1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a dielectric substrate;   a plurality of conductors on a surface of the dielectric substrate;   piezoresistive fabric in contact with the surface of the dielectric substrate and the conductors, thereby forming one or more sensors; and   circuitry configured to receive one or more signals from the one or more sensors and to generate sensor data based on the one or more signals, the sensor data representing pressure on a surface of the apparatus, the circuitry also being configured to adjust a sensitivity for each of the one or more sensors.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine, for each of the one or more sensors, that the sensor is active based on a first value of the sensor data corresponding to the sensor exceeding a first programmable threshold. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine, for each of the one or more sensors, that the sensor is inactive based on a second value of the sensor data corresponding to the sensor being below a second programmable threshold, the second programmable threshold being lower than the first programmable threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of sensors, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to apply a gain uniformly to values of the sensor data for all of the sensors. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of sensors, and wherein the piezoresistive fabric comprises a plurality of pieces, each of the pieces of the piezoresistive fabric corresponding to one of the sensors. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of sensors, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to detect motion of an object relative to the surface of the apparatus based on the sensor data. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the circuitry is configured to detect the motion in one or more linear dimensions and one or more rotational dimensions. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the circuitry is configured to adjust the sensitivity of the one or more sensors independently for each of the dimensions. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of sensors, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a location of a first object relative to the surface of the apparatus based on the sensor data. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine a location of a second object relative to the surface of the apparatus based on the sensor data, contact between the second object and the surface of the apparatus being simultaneous with contact between the first object and the surface of the apparatus. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of sensors, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine that a first sensor of the plurality of sensors is active, and ignore input from other sensors of the plurality of sensors based on determining that the first sensor is active. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the other sensors include all of the plurality of sensors. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the other sensors only include sensors adjacent the first sensor. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate control information from the one or more signals, and to map the control information to a control destination representing operation of a process or device. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a plurality of sensors, and wherein the circuitry is further configured to determine that a first sensor of the plurality of sensors is active based on input from the first sensor and other sensors of the plurality of sensors adjacent the first sensor. 
     
     
         16 . A method, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of sensor signals via a plurality of conductors on a surface of a dielectric substrate, the plurality of conductors and the surface of the dielectric substrate being in contact with piezoresistive fabric, thereby forming a plurality of sensors, each of the sensor signals corresponding to one of the sensors; and   generating sensor data based on the sensor signals, the sensor data representing pressure on a surface of an apparatus that includes the sensors, wherein generating the sensor data includes:
 applying a gain uniformly to values of the sensor data for all of the sensors; and 
 adjusting a sensitivity of each sensors. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising determining that a first sensor of the plurality of sensors is active based on a first value of the sensor data corresponding to the first sensor exceeding a first programmable threshold. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising determining that the first sensor is inactive based on a second value of the sensor data corresponding to the first sensor being below a second programmable threshold, the second programmable threshold being lower than the first programmable threshold. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising detecting motion of an object or a location of the object relative to the surface of the apparatus based on the sensor data. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising determining that a first sensor of the plurality of sensors is active, and ignoring input from other sensors of the plurality of sensors based on determining that the first sensor is active.