TOY CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM WITH ROBOTICS CONTROL UNIT

Abstract

A toy construction robotics system including a robotics control unit, the robotics control unit comprising: a housing comprising coupling elements configured for releasably interconnecting the robotics control unit with cooperating toy construction elements; a processor comprising programmed instructions; a plurality of I/O-ports connected to communicate with the processor; a plurality of separate light emitters arranged in a two-dimensional array on a front side of the housing, each of the light emitters being operable in response to instructions from the processor so as to produce at least two different indicator states; wherein the light emitters are aligned with respect to the I/O-ports such that each of the I/O-ports has an associated light emitter next to it. The light emitters may be operable, in response to instructions from the processor, to produce a machine readable code encoding data in respect of the robotics control unit. The machine readable code may comprise instructions for interaction between the robotics control unit and an external device.

Claims

1. A toy construction robotics system including a robotics control unit, wherein the robotics control unit comprises: a housing comprising coupling elements configured for releasably interconnecting the robotics control unit with cooperating toy construction elements; a processor comprising programmed instructions; a plurality of I/O-ports configured to communicate with the processor; a plurality of separate light emitters, each of the light emitters being operable, in response to instructions from the processor, to selectively produce at least two different indicator states; wherein the light emitters are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix of orthogonal columns and rows, each row extending between a first end and a second end, wherein the first ends of the rows define a first edge of the matrix and the second ends of the rows define a second edge of the matrix opposite to the first edge; wherein each of the I/O ports is positioned on a line defined by one of the rows and at one of the first and second ends of said row.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein at least a first I/O port is arranged at the first end of the row and a second I/O port is arranged at the second end of the row.

3. System according to claim 2, wherein a first group of first I/O ports is arranged along the first edge of the matrix and/or wherein a second group of second I/O ports is arranged along the second edge of the matrix.

4. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the number of rows is equal to the number of columns.

5. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters are operable, in response to instructions from the processor, to produce a machine readable code encoding data in respect of the robotics control unit.

6. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein multiple light emitters are operable in combination to produce a pattern.

7. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters are operable to produce a time sequence of indicator states.

8. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters comprise light emitters adapted to emit visible light.

9. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters comprise light emitters that are adapted for emission of infrared, preferably near infrared light, and/or UV-light.

10. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters are operable to produce a machine readable code encoding data identifying the robotics control unit, data related to an internal status of the robotics control unit, data referring to a program stored in the robotics control unit, and/or data referring to a program activated in the processor of the robotics control unit.

11. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters are operable to produce a machine readable code encoding instructions for interaction between the robotics control unit and an external device.

12. System according to claim 11, wherein the instructions for interaction include instructions for pairing, instructions for establishing a wireless link between the external device and the robotics control unit, and/or instructions for execution of programmed instructions by the external device.

13. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light emitters are operable to render a graph indicating connections between two or more I/O ports, a graph indicating connections between one or more I/O-ports and one or more cooperating peripheral devices, and/or a graph representing an input received at one or more of the I/O-ports.

14. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the I/O-ports are configured as interfaces for interacting with peripheral devices, such as sensors, motors, generators, and/or power sources.

15. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the I/O-ports comprise one or more digital interfaces.

16. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the I/O-ports are configured for wired and/or wireless communication with peripheral devices.

17. System according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising one or more toy construction elements, each toy construction element comprising one or more coupling members configured for releasably interconnecting the toy construction elements with the robotics control unit.

18. System according to any one of claims 5-17, further comprising an external device, the external device comprising: a capturing device adapted to capture the machine readable code produced by the robotics control unit; decoding means programmed to decode the machine readable code; and programmed instructions using the decoded machine readable code as an input.

19. System according to claim 18, wherein the external device is a mobile device, such as a game controller, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, or a laptop/portable computer, said mobile device comprising programmed instructions and a user interface, wherein said programmed instructions and user interface in combination are adapted for programming and/or controlling the robotics control unit.

20. System according to any one of claims 5-19, the system further comprising: a capturing device communicating with the robotics control unit, wherein the capturing device is adapted to capture a machine readable code; decoding means programmed to decode the machine readable code; and programmed instructions using the decoded machine readable code as an input.

21. A toy construction robotics kit comprising a first system according to any of the preceding claims and a second system according to any of the preceding claims.

22. Kit according to claim 21, wherein first light emitters of a first robotics control unit of the first system are operable to produce a machine readable code encoding data in respect of the first robotics control unit; and/or wherein second light emitters of a second robotics control unit of the second system are operable to produce a machine readable code encoding data in respect of said second robotics control unit;

23. Kit according to claim 22, wherein the first system further comprises a first capturing device communicating with the first robotics control unit, the first capturing device being adapted to capture the machine readable code produced by the second light emitters; decoding means programmed to decode the captured machine readable code; and programmed instructions for interacting with the first robotics control unit using the decoded machine readable code. and/or wherein the second system further comprises a second capturing device communicating with the second robotics control unit, the second capturing device being adapted to capture the machine readable code produced by the first light emitters; decoding means programmed to decode the captured machine readable code; and programmed instructions for interacting with the first robotics control unit using the decoded machine readable code.

24. Method of controlling a robotics control unit using an external device, wherein the robotics control unit is a robotics control unit of a system according to any one of claims 1-20, the method comprising the steps of: producing a machine readable digital code encoding data in respect of the robotics control unit, wherein the machine readable digital code is produced as a visual pattern; presenting the visual pattern to an optical input device of the external device; capturing the machine readable digital code by means of the optical input device of the external device to produce captured data representative of the data encoded in the machine readable digital code; based on the captured data, developing instructions for interaction between the robotics control unit and the external device; and executing the instructions to establish said interaction.

25. Method according to claim 24, wherein the instructions for interaction include instructions to initiate a further link between the external device and the robotics control unit.

26. Method according to any one of claims 24-25, further comprising the step of providing on the external device a user interface for interaction with the robotics control unit.

27. Method according to claim 26, wherein said user interface for interaction with the robotics control unit comprises: elements adapted for programming the robotics control unit; elements adapted for programming peripheral devices attached to I/O ports of the robotics control unit; elements for remotely controlling the robotics control unit; and/or elements for remotely controlling peripheral devices attached to I/O ports of the robotics control unit.

28. Method according to any one of claims 24-27, wherein the external device is a further robotics control unit of a system according to any one of claims 1-20.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0105] Preferred embodiments of the invention will in the following be described in more detail in connection with the appended drawings, which show in

[0106] FIGS. 1-3 prior art toy construction elements;

[0107] FIG. 4 a robotic control unit according to one embodiment;

[0108] FIG. 5-7 schematically, embodiments of a robotics control unit with a matrix arrangement of separate light emitters that are aligned with respect to I/O-ports arranged along edges of the matrix; and in

[0109] FIG. 8 a schematic of a robotic control system according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0110] Various aspects and embodiments of a robotics control unit as well as toy construction systems that are enhanced by including such a robotics control unit as disclosed herein, will now be described with reference to toy construction elements in the form of bricks. However, the invention may be applied to other forms of construction elements for use in toy construction sets.

[0111] FIG. 1 shows a toy construction element with coupling studs on its top surface and a cavity extending into the brick from the bottom. The cavity has a central tube, and coupling studs on another brick can be received in the cavity in a frictional engagement as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,282. FIGS. 2 and 3 show other such prior art construction elements. The construction elements shown in the remaining figures have this known type of coupling members in the form of cooperating studs and cavities. However, other types of coupling members may also be used in addition to or instead of the studs and cavities. The coupling studs are arranged in a square planar grid, i.e. defining orthogonal directions along which sequences of coupling studs are arranged. The distance between neighbouring coupling studs is uniform and equal in both directions. This or similar arrangements of coupling members at coupling locations defining a regular planar grid allow the toy construction elements to be interconnected in a discrete number of positions and orientations relative to each other, in particular at right angles with respect to each other.

[0112] FIG. 4 shows a robotics control unit 100 according to one embodiment. The robotics control unit 100 has a housing 110 in which a processor 120 is arranged. The processor 120 comprises programmed instructions, which may be activated and executed in response to an input from a user, e.g. via user operable control elements on the robotics control unit, or from a device communicating with the robotics control unit, e.g. through a wired or wireless connection. A two-dimensional matrix 130 of orthogonal rows and columns of light emitters 131 is arranged on a front side of the housing 110, wherein the light emitters 131 are connected to communicate with the processor 120. The matrix 130 has a plurality of separate light emitters 131 that are arranged regularly spaced in a two-dimensional array. The light emitters 131 are arranged in a rectangular matrix of rows and columns. The separate light emitters 131 are individually controllable light emitters, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). The light emitters 131 are operable in response to instructions from the processor 120.

[0113] The robotics control unit 100 further comprises a plurality of I/O-ports 140a-f that are connected to communicate with the processor 120. The I/O-ports 140a-f are arranged along opposite edges of the matrix 130, with a first group of I/O-ports 140a-c arranged along a first edge of the matrix 130, and with a second group of I/O ports 140d-f arranged along a second edge of the matrix 130 opposite to the first edge. Here, the number of I/O-ports 140a-c of the first group is equal to the number of I/O-ports 140d-f of the second group. The I/O-ports 140a-f include sockets that are arranged along edges of the front side of the housing 110, wherein the sockets are accessible for the insertion of cooperating plugs (not shown) from the side of the housing 110. The I/O-ports 140a-f define interfaces for the connection of peripheral devices. The interfaces may include digital signal channels, analogue signal channels, and/or a power supply output for powering the peripheral devices. Each of the I/O-ports 140a-f has an associated port width along the edge of the matrix, which in the embodiment of FIG. 4 is marked up next to the matrix 130 along the respective edge, on the front side of the housing 110. The I/O-ports are dimensioned for use with a manual building operation in the context of a toy construction system as described herein, and should in particular be suited for the use by children or by unexperienced users in such manual building operations.

[0114] The light emitters 131 are aligned with respect to the I/O-ports 140a-f such that each of the I/O-ports 140a-f has a respective, uniquely associated light emitter 131a-f next to it. In particular, the rows of the matrix of light emitters 131, the first group of I/O-ports 140a-c and the second group of I/O-ports 140d-f are aligned with respect to each other such that each of the first group I/O-ports 140a-c is arranged in line with a corresponding second group I/O-port 140d-f via a row of light emitters 131. The light emitters are dimensioned to correspond in scale to the dimensions of I/O ports to allow for easy association, typical dimensions being of several millimetres up to a few centimetres.

[0115] In between the rows comprising the light emitters 131a-f, further light emitters 131 are arranged in an equally spaced grid, thereby increasing the amount and diversity of information that can be presented as a visual pattern by the robotics control unit without compromising the unique association between the I/O-ports 140a-f and the associated light emitters 131a-f.

[0116] The housing 110 also has one or more coupling members 111 configured for releasably interconnecting the robotic control unit with cooperating toy construction elements having corresponding/cooperating coupling members. These coupling members 111 allow for mechanically attaching the robotic control unit 100 to toy construction elements and thus integrating the robotics control unit 100 in a toy construction model, e.g. in connection with peripheral devices also comprising such coupling members, such as motors and sensors. Thereby, the toy construction model can be brought to life to enhance the user's interactive play and learning experience.

[0117] Advantageously, the robotics control unit 100 also comprises a power source adapted to supply at least the robotics control unit 100 and further advantageously can provide power to attached peripheral devices, e.g. through an I/O-port interface. Peripheral devices may include, but are not limited to motors, or sensors. Any suitable power source may be conceived. An autonomous power supply integrated in the robotics control unit is, however, preferred. Non-limiting examples for such autonomous power supplies are: a battery pack, such as a rechargeable battery pack; energy harvesting devices, such as photovoltaic elements; or electrochemical power converters, such as fuel cells with an adequate fuel supply/reservoir. This has the advantage that the robotics control unit 100 can easily be integrated in a toy construction model in a flexible manner, and toy construction models comprising one or more such autonomous robotics control units 100 can move around in an autonomous manner, thereby enhancing the user's interactive play and learning experience when building such a toy construction model and subsequently interacting with the completed build.

[0118] Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, three different embodiments of the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 are discussed. The different embodiments relate to different configurations facilitating different modes of interaction of the robotics control unit 200, 300 400 with its surroundings by means of the light emitters 231, 331, 431.

[0119] In all three figures, FIG. 5-7, a robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 is shown schematically in a top view with a matrix 230, 330, 430 having separate light emitters 231, 331, 431 arranged in a two-dimensional arrangement covering a portion of a front side of the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400. A first group of I/O-ports 240a-c , 340a-c, 440a-c is distributed along a left edge of the matrix 230, 330, 430, and a second group of I/O-ports 240d-f, 340d-f, 440d-f is distributed along a right edge of the matrix 230, 330, 430. By way of example, there are three first group I/O-ports 240a-c, 340a-c, 440a-c and three second group I/O-ports 240d-f, 340d-f, 440d-f. The first group of I/O-ports 240a-c, 340a-c, 440a-c, the second group of I/O-ports 240d-f, 340d-f, 440d-f, and the light emitters 231, 331, 431 are aligned with respect to each other such that each of the first group I/O-ports 240a-c, 340a-c, 440a-c is arranged in line with a corresponding second group I/O-port 240d-f, 340d-f, 440d-f, through a row of separate light emitters 231, 331, 431. Each of the I/O ports 240a-f, 340a-f, 440a-f has a uniquely associated light emitter 231a-f, 331a-f, 431a-f immediately next to it. A first group I/O-port 240a, 340a, 440a is thus visually associated with a corresponding second group I/O-port 240d, 340d, 440d via the row of light emitters 231, 331, 431 extending from light emitter 231a, 331a, 431a to light emitter 231d, 331d, 431d. In the same manner the first group I/O ports labelled b are visually connected to the I/O ports labelled e via the row comprising the associated light emitters labelled b and e, respectively; and accordingly for the I/O-ports labelled d and f with associated light emitters labelled d and f.

[0120] By way of example, each of the matrix arrangements 230, 330, 430 shown in FIGS. 5-7 have 25 separate light emitters 231, 331, 431, that are distributed in an evenly spaced rectangular matrix of five rows by five columns: three rows of light emitters 231, 331, 431 comprising the associated light emitters 231a-f, 331a-f, 431a-f are aligned with the I/O ports 240a-f, 340a-f, 440a-f as described above; and two interstitial rows, wherein an interstitial row is placed each time midways between the aligned rows. Each row is formed by five light emitters 231, 331, 431.

[0121] The light emitters 231, 331, 431 can be individually addressed and controlled in response to instructions from the processor. The light emitters 231, 331, 431 have at least an ON-state, where the light emitter is switched on to emit light, and an OFF-state, where the light emitter is switched off and essentially does not emit light. The ON and OFF states may e.g. be characterized by threshold values of minimum intensity of light emission for the ON-state and of maximum intensity of light emission for the OFF state. Intermediate states with intermediate intensities of light emission between an ON state and an OFF state are conceivable and allow for increasing the information depth of the pattern produced by the ensemble of light emitters 231, 331, 431. Thereby, a variety of patterns can be produced representing different data and/or information relating to the robotic control unit 200, 300, 400 and its interaction and/or interconnection with its environment. Due to the spatial alignment, the data and/or information can selectively and/or collectively be associated with one or more specific ones of the I/O-ports 240a-f, 340a-f, 440a-f of the robotic control unit 200, 300, 400. This allows for providing a particularly intuitive understanding of the state of the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400, thereby involving and enabling the user in an interactive play and learning experience.

[0122] The data and/or information is presented according to instructions executed and issued by the processor as prompted by suitable input to the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400. For example, the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 may be prompted to execute programmed instructions stored in the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 itself or to execute instructions received from a connected unit or remote control/programming device via a suitable link, such as a wired or a wireless connection. The execution may also be prompted by instructions received as a direct input from a user via a user operable control element on the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400. By way of example, the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 may present information related to a state of: the robotic unit itself; a peripheral device connected to one of the I/O-ports 240a-f, 340a-f, 440a-f of the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400; a toy construction robotics system of which the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 is a part of; a toy construction model of which the robotics control unit 200, 300, 400 is a part of; an I/O-port connection made or to be made according to a step of a building plan; an I/O port connection for a specified/identified peripheral device; or a verification of established connections.

[0123] The robotics control unit 200 shown in FIG. 5 is configured to activate/deactivate, according to instructions from the processor 220, one or more of the associated light emitters 231a-f arranged next to the respective I/O-ports 240a-f. Such a scheme of activating/deactivating the associated light emitters 231a-f may be useful for indicating a status of a connection established at the respective I/O-ports 240a-f, such as successful connection, or input/output activity at that connection. The activation/deactivation scheme of the robotics control unit 200 shown in FIG. 5 may also be used for visualizing a status related to a peripheral device connected to a given I/O-port 240a-f, by means of the associated light emitter 231a-f. The status related to the peripheral device may e.g. be a working/non-working status. The activation/deactivation scheme may further visually represent a value of input or output data exchanged with the peripheral device, such as a value of a quantity measured by a sensor, or a value of power output to a motor. The measured quantities may advantageously relate to physical quantities that are useful for robotics applications, such as motion, touch, proximity, pressure, temperature, current/voltage, light intensity, colour, pattern recognition, magnetic fields, gyroscopic orientation, location, positioning, or similar. Using the spatial correlation of the associated light emitters with the respective I/O-ports, the activation/deactivation scheme of the embodiment 200 of FIG. 5 particularly emphasizes the association between the specific I/O port receiving the relevant input from the peripheral device and the visualized quantity. The intuitive link created by the activation/deactivation scheme between the visualized value, the I/O-port and the peripheral device attached thereto thus provides a particularly instructive play and learning experience for a user of the robotics control unit 200. A further, particularly useful application of this embodiment 200 is for enhancing the interactive play and learning experience when the activation/deactivation scheme of FIG. 5 is prompted according to the steps of a building plan for building a robotics toy construction model including the robotics control unit 200. Visualisations according to this activation/deactivation scheme may include checking for required connections, indicating specific connections to be made in a particular step of the building plan, identifying a specific I/O-port in response to communicating the identity of a specific peripheral device to the robotics control unit, and/or verifying the validity of established connections.

[0124] The visualizations may be implemented using a simple activation/deactivation scheme switching the respective light emitters ON and OFF according to instructions from the processor receiving the relevant input. The visualizations may involve controlling parameters of the light emission such as colour, intensity, and duration, and may even include controlling the light emission in a pulsed or otherwise time-dependent sequence. The activation/deactivation scheme of the robotics unit 200 of FIG. 5 may further involve light emitters 231 adjacent to the associated light emitters 231a-f of the relevant I/O-ports 240a-f. For example, the adjacent light emitters may be included in the activation/deactivation scheme to symbolize a value by the length of a line of light emitters 231 starting from and including the associated light emitter 231a-f. It is further conceivable to emphasize a particular visualization by time-dependent/sequence effects such as blinking or a chase light effect.

[0125] The robotics control unit 300 shown in FIG. 6 is configured to activate/deactivate, according to instructions from the processor 320, at least two of the associated light emitters 331a-f arranged next to the respective I/O-ports 340a-f, and further activate/deactivate light emitters connecting the two associated light emitters 331a-f. Such a scheme of activating/deactivating the light emitters 331 may be useful for indicating a connection established between the respective I/O-ports 340a-f appertaining to the involved associated light emitters 331a-f.

[0126] As above, the visualizations may be implemented using a simple activation/deactivation scheme switching the relevant light emitters ON and OFF according to instructions from the processor 320 receiving relevant input. The visualizations may involve controlling parameters of the light emission such as colour, intensity, and duration, and may further include controlling the light emission in a pulsed or otherwise time-dependent sequence.

[0127] The robotics control unit 400 shown in FIG. 7 also makes use of a two-dimensional matrix 430 having separate light emitters 431 that are arranged regularly spaced in a well-defined rectangular grid of rows and columns. The grid of light emitters 431 is aligned with respect to the I/O-ports 440a-f as already described above. The robotics control unit 400 is configured to activate/deactivate, according to instructions from the processor 420, the ensemble of light emitters 431 so as to form a machine-readable two-dimensional visual pattern. The two-dimensional visual pattern represents a digital code that encodes data pertaining to the robotics control unit 400, such as data identifying the robotics control unit 400, data related to an internal status of the robotics control unit 400, data referring to programs stored in the robotics control unit 400, and data referring to a program activated in the processor of the robotic control unit 400. The visual pattern is adapted for optical recognition by an external device, such as a camera of a mobile device. This is particularly useful for communicating with an external device in an intuitive and straightforward manner as further detailed below with respect to FIG. 8.

[0128] As above, the visualizations may involve controlling parameters of the light emission such as colour, intensity, and duration, and may further include controlling the light emission in a pulsed or otherwise time-dependent sequence. Advantageously in this embodiment, the visualizations are implemented using a simple activation/deactivation scheme switching the relevant light emitters ON and OFF according to instructions from the processor 420, so as to form a machine-readable two-dimensional digital code that can be captured by a simple optical scanning device, such as a camera of a mobile device.

[0129] The different embodiments of FIG. 5-FIG. 7 may be implemented as different activation/deactivation schemes within the same robotics control unit and selected/triggered depending on input, or automatically according to an interactive building plan running on an external device. The external device may be paired and may communicate with a robotics control unit, e.g. in a robotics control system 500 as further detailed in the following with reference to FIG. 8.

[0130] FIG. 8 shows a robotics control system 500 comprising a robotics control unit 501 and an external device 502 adapted to interact with the robotics control unit 501. The robotics control unit 501 has a processor 520 and a matrix 530 connected to the processor 520. The matrix 530 has separate light emitters 531 that individually can be addressed and activated/deactivated in response to instructions from the processor 520 so as to present a machine-readable visual pattern on a front side of the robotics control unit 501. The robotics control unit 501 further comprises I/O-ports 540 for communicating with peripheral devices 90, such as motors M or sensors S. The I/O-ports are aligned with the light emitters 531 of the matrix 530 as already described elsewhere herein.

[0131] The control unit 501 is adapted to transmit encoded data related to the control unit 501 by presenting on the matrix 530 of separate light emitters 531 a machine readable visual pattern encoding such data. By way of example, this is achieved by a control scheme according to the embodiment of the robotics control unit 400 as described above with respect to FIG. 7.

[0132] The external device 502 is adapted to receive the encoded data related to the control unit by means of a capturing device 550 configured to capture the visual pattern produced by the control unit 501. The external device 502 further comprises programmed instructions for interacting with the robotics control unit 501 using the received encoded data.

[0133] The visual pattern presented on matrix 530 is adapted for optical recognition by an external device 502. The external device comprises an optical input device 550, such as an optical imaging sensor, a camera, a machine vision system, or an optical scanning device; and a processor with an associated software module for processing optical input received by the optical input device 550 for optical recognition thereof. The data in respect of the control unit may comprise instructions for interaction between the external device 502 and the robotics control unit 501.

[0134] Such instructions for interaction may, for example, include instructions for pairing of the robotics control unit 501 with the external device 502 for communication through a wireless link. Such instructions for interaction may also include instructions for establishing such a wireless link between the external device 502 and the robotics control unit 501, and/or instructions for execution of programmed instructions stored on or downloaded to the external device 502.

[0135] The machine-readable link, which at the same time is visible to the user, is particularly useful for communicating with an external device in an intuitive and straightforward, yet highly flexible manner. The user is typically involved in initiating and/or controlling the link between the two machines (i.e. between the robotics control unit 501 and the external device 502). At the same time, the working of this machine-link is visualized to the user: the user can see the interaction between the robotics control unit 501 and the external device 502 being established and happening right in front of her. Building, establishing, and following the communication process in this manner is therefore very instructiveagain enhancing the interactive play and learning experience.

[0136] As already discussed above, the visual patterns for encoding the data may involve controlling parameters of the light emission of the light emitters 531, such as colour, intensity, and duration, and may further include controlling the light emission in a pulsed or otherwise time-dependent sequence. Advantageously in this embodiment, the visualizations are implemented using a simple activation/deactivation scheme switching the relevant light emitters ON and OFF according to instructions from the processor 420, so as to form a machine-readable two-dimensional digital code that can be captured by a simple optical scanning device, such as a camera of a mobile device. The encoded data may further be represented as a time-sequence of different visual patterns which is detectable in a time-resolved manner by the external device using time-resolved capturing and pattern processing.