Systems and methods for use with a mobile electronic device comprising a housing having articulated structures on one or more of the housing side walls, the articulated structures including at least two segments forming an engagement which enables pivotal motion upon the application of a force on the housing thus enabling the housing to flex responsively.

Examples are disclosed that relate to methods and computing devices for determining a distance of an input device from a surface of a computing device. In one example, a method comprises receiving a plurality of input device signals via the input device. A portion of the input device signals are used to determine an effective voltage of the input device. Adjusted input device signals are generated by adjusting another portion of input device signals using the effective voltage of the input device. The method further comprises providing the adjusted input device signals as an input to a distance model, and receiving and outputting the distance of the input device from the surface of the computing device.

A mobile device including various components in communication with one another, the mobile device comprising a flexible housing, flexible display device mounted in the housing, a deformation sensor mounted in the housing and a device controller configured to operate the mobile device responsive to receipt of data input from the flexible display device, wherein the device controller automatically deactivates the processing of at least a portion of data input received of the plurality of data input received from the display device responsive to receiving communication from the deformation sensor detecting a threshold level of deformation of the housing.

A touch sensor detector system and method incorporating an interpolated sensor array is disclosed. The system and method utilize a touch sensor array (TSA) configured to detect proximity/contact/pressure (PCP) via a variable impedance array (VIA) electrically coupling interlinked impedance columns (IIC) coupled to an array column driver (ACD), and interlinked impedance rows (IIR) coupled to an array row sensor (ARS). The ACD is configured to select the IIC based on a column switching register (CSR) and electrically drive the IIC using a column driving source (CDS). The VIA conveys current from the driven IIC to the IIC sensed by the ARS. The ARS selects the IIR within the TSA and electrically senses the IIR state based on a row switching register (RSR). Interpolation of ARS sensed current/voltage allows accurate detection of TSA PCP and/or spatial location.

A force sensor including a first surface and a second surface facing each other in a first direction; a first protrusion protruded from the first surface toward the second surface; a first electrode on the first protrusion; a first force sensing layer on the first electrode; a second protrusion protruded from the second surface toward the first surface; and a second electrode on the second protrusion; wherein the first protrusion and the second protrusion are not overlapped with each other or are partially overlapped with each other.

A touchpad and its force-sensing data correction method are provided. The touchpad has a force-sensing layer and a touch-sensing layer. The force-sensing layer has multiple force-sensing points. The touch-sensing layer has multiple touch-sensing points. One force-sensing point corresponds to n touch-sensing points. The force-sensing information received by the force-sensing layer is adjusted by using the touch-sensing information received by the touch-sensing layer, so that the resolution of the adjusted force-sensing information is higher than the resolution of the original received force-sensing information. In this way, the purpose of calibrating the force-sensing information is achieved, so as to improve the accuracy of determining the force applied by the object during the operation of the touchpad.

A pressure sensor includes: a first substrate; a second substrate having an inner surface and a touch surface that is opposite to the inner surface, wherein the inner surface faces the first substrate with a resistance sensing space therebetween; a first electrode and a second electrode, which are arranged spaced apart from each other in the resistance sensing space; and a piezoresistive pattern arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode and disposed in the resistance sensing space, wherein the piezoresistive pattern includes a porous elastic support and a plurality of conductive carbon structures dispersed in the porous elastic support.

In some aspects, the disclosure is directed to methods and systems for a hybrid position and rate control input device comprising: a housing comprising an upper portion and a lower portion; a force-detecting sensor configured to detect a translation or rotation of the upper portion relative to the lower portion; a motion-detecting sensor within one of the upper portion and the lower portion of the housing, configured to detect motion of the housing relative to a surface; a communication interface positioned within the housing; and a processor positioned within the housing configured to select between a first translation signal from the motion-detecting sensor and a second translation signal from the force-detecting sensor; and transmit, via the communication interface to a computing device, the selected translation signal.

A method comprises accessing a three-dimensional (3D) model of an object with a visualization tool, including a touchscreen; displaying, via the touchscreen, an image of the 3D model; detecting a first pressure based input at a first location on the touchscreen; selecting a first component of the 3D model as a result of the first pressure based input at the first location; detecting movement of the first pressure based input from the first location on the touchscreen to a second location on the touchscreen; selecting an adjustable display parameter as a result of the first pressure based input at the second location; detecting a second pressure based input at the touchscreen; and while the first component is selected, changing the display parameter of the first component of the 3D model as a result of the second pressure based input.

A processing system includes sensor circuitry and processing circuitry. The sensor circuitry is configured to, using the sensor electrodes, obtain capacitive measurements of a sensing region, and obtain a resistance measurement of the sensing region. The processing circuitry is coupled to the sensor circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to determine a location of an input object using the capacitive measurements of the sensing region and determine a force value based on the resistance measurement and the location of the input object. Determining the force value mitigates a temperature variation of the sensing region affecting the resistance measurement. The processing circuitry is further configured to report the force value.