Abstract:
A real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device includes at least one controller, one controlled device, and one bridge. The bridge can be set in an independent hardware. A basic remote controlled set is established by connecting at least one controller and at least one controlled device together via the bridge, so as to proceed the group gaming or single practice. By means of the group gaming or single practice, the player can accumulate the credits, and then achieve the conditions of promotion and/or upgrading. The upgrading includes virtual parameters and real parameter. By credit accumulation and item upgrading, the players can enjoy the fun of raising their own electronic pets, and also they can experience the exciting of variable audio and visual effect from game to game, so as to not only sublimate the essence of traditional remote-controlled toys, but also improve the “virtual-only” problem of nowadays&#39; on-line games.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a gaming device and, more particularly, to a real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Generally, the remote-controlled toys, such as tanks, airplanes, boats or robots, make use of the theory of radio, infrared or sound-controlled device to control the toys to move forward and backward, rotate, accelerate, decelerate, or move up and down, so as to achieve the enjoyment in the physical interaction between the user and the toy. However, most of the toys only allow a single user to play the game, but not providing any element that enables the user to upgrade after accumulating the number of playing games for a certain times. As a result, the toy may no longer be new to the user and the user may not play the toy anymore. 
         [0005]    Furthermore, for the on-line game, users make use the keyboard, push buttons, mouse, joystick or touch screen to have virtual interaction with the on-line game so as to achieve the game-playing effect. Because the on-line game allows multiple users to play the game at the same time, in comparison with the conventional toy that generates a certain result in response to one command for driving one action, the uncertainty caused by multiple users playing the game at the same time further allows the users to gain more enjoyment therefrom. However, the on-line game only simulates various gaming situation, and thus users are unable to experience the reality and interactive enjoyment in manipulating the physical toys. 
         [0006]    Therefore, it is desired to provide an improved real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device for tucking the concept of multiple users playing a game at the same time into a physical toy with a remote-control function, so that multiple users can play combat game at the same time when the users are manipulating physical toys thereby increasing the playable character of the gaming devices, so as to not only maintain the reality of manipulating physical toys but also introduce the sound-and-light effect and upgradable architecture well-known in the on-line game and thus combine the real toy and virtual pet, thereby increasing the value of the gaming device. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In view of the prior art that the physical remote-controlled toy allows only one user to play and the on-line game only simulates the gaming situation, the present invention is provided to add the feature of allowing multiple users to play a game at the same time into the physical remote-controlled toy. In comparison with the conventional remote-controlled toy, the real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device of the present invention allows multiple users to play a group combat game in which each user is able to control a physical gaming device thereby increasing the uncertainty of playing game and increasing the sense of reality of playing game. Furthermore, because of introducing the feature of upgrading and the new sound-and-light effect exhibited after upgrading, the playable character of playing game can be significantly increased. In addition, the gaming device can also be manipulated by a single user for the purpose of practicing, so as to facilitate the combating capability in a group combat played by multiple users after upgrading. 
         [0008]    To achieve the object, the real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device of the present invention includes: at least a controller, at least a controlled device, a bridge and a target, wherein each controller includes a control unit, a controlling network unit, a memory unit, an indication unit, a display unit and a sound receiving and playing unit, and the control unit is electrically connected to the controlling network unit, the memory unit, the indication unit, the display unit and the sound receiving and playing unit. 
         [0009]    Each controlled device is controlled by a corresponding controller, and each controlled device includes a control module, a controlled network module, a memory module, an infrared receiver module, an image capturing module, a sound receiving and playing module, an infrared transmitter module and a light emitting module. The control module is electrically connected to the controlled network module, the memory module, the infrared receiver module, the image capturing module, the sound receiving and playing module, the infrared transmitter module, and the light emitting module; and 
         [0010]    The bridge is electrically connected to the at least a controller and the at least a controlled device, so as to establish basic control set for a specific gaming group or a single-user practice. The memory unit of each controller is stored with a combat parameter value capable of changing performance of the corresponding controlled device. 
         [0011]    In addition, the bridge of the present invention is disposed on a target for implementing the function of the bridge on the target. Alternatively, the bridge of the present invention can be disposed on a controller or a controlled device for implementing the function of the bridge on the controller or the controlled device. 
         [0012]    Moreover, each controlled device of the present invention further includes a power module. 
         [0013]    Moreover, the memory module of each controlled device of the present invention is stored with a controlled performance data representative of operation of the image capturing module, the sound receiving and playing module, the infrared transmitter module, the light emitting module and the power module for driving the modules and gaming sound-effect data of each controlled device. 
         [0014]    Moreover, the memory unit of each controller of the present invention is stored with a controlling performance data representative of operation of the indication unit, the display unit and the sound receiving and playing unit for driving the units, gaming sound-effect data and gaming figure file data of each controller. 
         [0015]    Moreover, the target of the present invention includes a control element, a memory element, an infrared receiver element and a sound playing element, and the control element is electrically connected to the controlled network element, the memory element, the infrared receiver element, the sound playing element and the bridge. 
         [0016]    Moreover, the memory element of the target of the present invention is stored with the combat parameter value stored by the memory unit of each controller. 
         [0017]    Moreover, each controlled device of the present invention further includes a rotatable gun turret capable of adjusting a horizontal viewing angle of the image capturing module, and the infrared receiver module is circularly arranged on a periphery of the rotatable gun turret. 
         [0018]    Moreover, each controlled device of the present invention further includes a gun tube capable of adjusting a vertical viewing angle of the image capturing module, and the infrared transmitted module is embedded in the gun tube and the light emitting module is installed on top of the gun tube. 
         [0019]    In addition, the memory module of each controlled device of the present invention is stored with the combat parameter value. 
         [0020]    The basic control set for specific gaming group or single-user practice includes multiple communication functions as follows: 
         [0021]    (1) Video communication: The image photographed by the image capturing module of the controlled device is compressed with image compression technique to reduce the data amount. The compressed data is transferred to the controlling network unit of the controller via the controlled network module, and the controller uses image decompression technique to decompress the data, which is then displayed on the display unit of the controller. Therefore, the player is able to view the real-time image observed by the controlled device, and thus feel like a driver sitting in the navigation bridge of the controlled device. In addition, the viewing angle of the image capturing module of the controlled device is orientated toward a direction same as the infrared transmitter module. 
         [0022]    (2) Audio communication: Both the controller and the controlled device have a sound receiving and playing member. Therefore, the player can generate sound at the side of the controller, which is compressed with audio compression technique and then transmitted the controlled network module of the controlled device via the controlling network unit, and the compressed data is decompressed with audio decompression technique at the side of the controlled device for playing sound. On the contrary, the controlled device can receive sound, which is compressed with audio compression technique and then transmitted the controlling network unit of the controller via the controlled network module, and the compressed data is decompressed with audio decompression technique at the side of the controller for playing sound. In addition, a pre-recorded sound file can be stored in the memory module of the controlled device, and the following control communication is employed to indicate the controlled device to play an assigned pre-recorded sound file. 
         [0023]    (3) Control communication: The control communication is an operation performed by the player on the indication unit, which is transmitted to the controlled network module of the controlled device via the controlling network unit, so as to give related operation commands to the controlled device, including, but not limited to, the power module of the controlled device being driven to move forward and backward, turn, accelerate, decelerate, rotate the gun turret, and move the gun tube up and down, infrared transmitting designated data, playing designated sound file, exciting the light emitting module, etc. 
         [0024]    (4) Sensing communication: The sensing communication refers to the infrared data received by the controlled device or the sensed state being transmitted to the controlling network unit of the controller via the controlled network module, wherein the sensed state includes, but not limited to, infrared receiving data, battery capacity of the controlled device, the angles of the gun turret and gun tube of the controlled device, etc. After receiving these data and state, the controller displays them on the display unit in a suitable displaying manner for being viewed by the player. 
         [0025]    Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  shows a real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  shows the architecture of a controlled device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  shows the architecture of a controller in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  shows the architecture of a target in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of multi-user combat in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of single-user practice in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0032]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the gaming device includes a bridge  390 , a plurality of controllers  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c , and a plurality of controlled devices  200 ,  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  corresponding to the controllers  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c , respectively. In this embodiment, the bridge  390  is electrically connected to the plurality of controllers  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c  and the corresponding controlled devices  200 ,  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c . In this embodiment, the bridge  390  is arranged on a target  300 . Alternatively, the bridge  390  can also be arranged on a specific controller or a specific controlled device for connecting to other controllers and controlled devices. The controllers  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c  are, for example, portable electronic devices, such as smart phones or tablet computers, which are employed to remotely control corresponding remote-controlled tanks or other toys that are used as the controlled devices  200 ,  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c , so as to proceed with a multi-user combat. In addition, a single controller  100  can be connected to a single controlled device via the bridge  390  to proceed with a single-user practice. 
         [0033]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , there is shown the architecture of the controlled device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The controlled device  200  is controlled by the corresponding controller  100 . In addition, the controlled device  200  includes a control module  202 , a controlled network module  204 , a memory module  206 , an infrared receiver module  208 , an image capturing module  210 , a sound receiving and playing module  212 , an infrared transmitter module  214 , a light emitting module  216  and a power module  218 . 
         [0034]    The control module  202  is electrically connected to the controlled network module  204 , the memory module  206 , the infrared receiver module  208 , the image capturing module  210 , the sound receiving and playing module  212 , the infrared transmitter module  214 , the light emitting module  216  and the power module  218 . The communication between the control module  202  and the controller  100  is achieved by using the controlled network module  204  to electrically connect to the controller  100  via the bridge  390 . 
         [0035]    The memory module  206  of each controlled device  200  is stored with a controlled performance data representative of the operation performance of the image capturing module  210 , the sound receiving and playing module  212 , the infrared transmitter module  214 , the light emitting module  216  and the power module  218 , such as data for driving the aforementioned modules and game sound-effect data, so that the control module  202  is able to drive the controlled device  200  according to the parameter of the controlled performance data. 
         [0036]    The image capturing module  210  is provided to observe information of surrounding environment, and transmit the observed information to the corresponding controller  100  for allowing the controller to be aware of the information of surrounding environment. The sound receiving and playing module  212  is provided to play the sound transmitted from the corresponding controller  100  or to play the game sound-effect data stored in the memory module  206 . The sound receiving and playing module  212  is also able to transmit the sound of surrounding environment back to the corresponding controller  100 . In this embodiment, the image capturing module is a video camera which faces to a direction same as the gun tube  209  of the tank and is moved together with the gun tube  209  of the tank, wherein the gun tube  209  is capable of adjusting the vertical viewing angle of the image capturing module  210 . The sound receiving and playing module  212  is provided with the functions of microphone for receiving sound and speaker for playing sound. 
         [0037]    The infrared transmitter module  214  is provided to transmit an infrared signal, which is used to attack the other controlled devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c . The direction of attack is determined by using the power module  218  to adjust the position of the controlled device  200  and rotate the gun turret  207 , or to adjust the gun tube  209  to move up and down, wherein the rotatable gun turret  207  is capable of adjusting the horizontal viewing angle of the image capturing module  210 . 
         [0038]    The light emitting module  216  is operated in cooperation with the infrared transmitted module  214  for exhibiting the firing operation of the controlled device  200 . The infrared receiver module  208  is provided for receiving the infrared signal transmitted from the other controlled device  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  and, if there is infrared signal received, it indicates that the controlled device  200  is under attack. In this embodiment, the infrared receiver module  208  is a ring-shaped structure having a plurality of infrared receivers circularly arranged on the periphery of the rotatable gun turret  207 . 
         [0039]    Therefore, by using the control module  202  to determine which infrared receiver receives signal, it is able to be aware of the angles of the other controlled devices  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c  with respect to the controlled device  200 . Such information is transmitted to the controller  100  for enabling the display unit  110  of the controller  100  to exhibit more realistic 3D combat animation effect. In this embodiment, the infrared transmitted module  214  is embedded in the gun tube  209  and the light emitting module  216  is installed on top of the gun tube  209 . The power module  218  is of a power motor transmission structure. 
         [0040]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , there is shown the architecture of the controller in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The controller  100  includes a control unit  102 , a controlling network unit  104 , a memory unit  106 , an indication unit  108 , a display unit  110  and a sound receiving and playing unit  112 . 
         [0041]    The control unit  102  is electrically connected to the controlling network unit  104 , the memory unit  106 , the indication unit  108 , the display unit  110  and the sound receiving and playing unit  112 . The communication between the control unit  102  and the controlled device  200  is achieved by using the controlling network unit  104  to electrically connect to the controlled device  200  via the bridge  390 . 
         [0042]    The memory unit  106  of each controller  100  is stored with a controlling performance data representative of the operation performance of the indication unit  108 , the display unit  110  and the sound receiving and playing unit  112 , such as data for driving the aforementioned units, game sound-effect data and game figure file data. In addition, the memory unit  106  is also stored with a combat parameter value capable of setting the controlled performance data, such as level experience value, armed forces skill upgrading state, life force, etc., based on which group combat or single-user practice game is performed. Furthermore, a backup copy of the combat parameter value is stored into the memory module  206  of the controlled device  200 . Therefore, the combat parameter value does not disappear when the game is over. Alternatively, the combat parameter value can be backed up to a personal computer or a cloud server for storage. 
         [0043]    The indication unit  108  is provided to generate control commands representative of movement, attack, etc. for controlling the action of the corresponding controlled device  200 . The display unit  110  is provided to display the information of surrounding environment transmitted from the controlled device  200 , the virtual animation effect in attacking or under attack, the usable state of virtual supplies/reinforcements item, electricity capacity state of the controlled device  200 , and the state of friendly army and enemy. In this embodiment, the indication unit  108  and the display unit  110  are the touch screen of a smart phone. Alternatively, the indication unit  108  is physically operable keypad, and the display unit  110  can be a non-touchable liquid crystal display screen. 
         [0044]    The sound receiving and playing unit  112  is able to transmit the sound, applied to the controller  100  from a player, to the sound receiving and playing module  212  of the controlled device  200  or the sound receiving and playing units of the other controller  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c , or to play the sound of surrounding environment received by the controlled device  200  or the sound applied to the controller  100  from the other controllers  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c , which is similar to the sound received by a microphone being transmitted over a network to another site for being played by a speaker. 
         [0045]    Next, with reference to  FIG. 4 , there is shown the architecture of the target in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the target  300  includes a control element  302 , a memory element  306 , an infrared receiver element  308 , a sound playing element  312  and a knock-down and position-reset element  316 . The control element  302  is electrically connected to the bridge  390 , the memory element  306 , the infrared receiver element  308 , the sound playing element  312  and the knock-down and position-reset element  316 . In this embodiment, the bridge  309  can be arranged on the target  300  and is electrically connected to the control element  302 , so that the target  300  becomes a communication center in a combat executed by multiple users. Such a communication architecture has the advantage that the game will not be terminated due to the personal factor of a game operator, for example, the operator having to leave because of personal affair or a gaming device being out of power. 
         [0046]    The following description gives the flowchart design of multi-user combat. Please refer to  FIGS. 1-5 .  FIG. 5  is a flowchart of multi-user combat in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the gaming device has four controllers  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c  which respectively correspond to four controlled devices  200 ,  200   a ,  200   b ,  200   c , so as to proceed with 2-to-2 multi-user combats. At first, each player electrically couples his/her controlled device ( 200   x ) and controller ( 100   x ) to the bridge  390  so as to form a local area network with the target  300  (step S 500 ). Each player operates the controller for connecting to the controlled device associated with the player, so that the player is able to control his/her controlled device (step S 501 ). Next, a player is taken as a battle establisher who selects and establishes a battle in his/her controller, for example controller  100 , and configures related battle parameters, such as battle name, battle time, war-participating password, number of persons participated in war and number of teams participated in war, and then the other players can join this battle (step S 502 ). When the other players select to participate in the battle on their controllers, they can search and find this established battle and thus join the battle. Then, the memory element  306  of the target  300  is provided to store the combat parameter value of each controller  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c  in this battle (step S 503 ). When related players have joined into the battle, the battle establisher presses to start the battle (step S 504 ). At this moment, the control element  302  records various parameters of the players and computes the damage value of a player under attack for being broadcasted to each of the controllers  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c , so as to arbitrate the winners and losers in the gaming battle (step S 505 ). During the gaming battle, the player operates the controller to control controlled device for attacking the enemy. When a team defeats all controlled devices that are not belonged to the team or when the battling time is over and the averaged remaining life power of each team is compared with each other, the winner and loser of the game can be determined (step S 506 ). Then, the control element  302  gives a combat experience value to the corresponding controller  100 ,  100   a ,  100   b ,  100   c  based on the behavior of the player in the battle, and the memory unit thereof stores and accumulates this combat experience value for use as a condition to upgrade the armed forces skill and determine whether the player satisfies the condition of upgrading. When the upgrading condition is achieved, with the display unit of the controller, the player can operate the indication unit to upgrade items of armed forces skill and so on, so as to increase the player level and configure a better combat parameter value, for example increased life power (step S 507 ). 
         [0047]    The following description gives the flowchart design of single-user practice. Please refer to  FIGS. 1-4  and  6 .  FIG. 6  is a flowchart of single-user practice in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the single-user practice, the player electrically couples his/her controlled device  200  and controller  100  to the bridge  390  and the target  300  so as to form a local area network (step S 600 ). The player operates the controller  100  for connecting to the controlled device associated with the player, so that the player is able to control his/her controlled device  200  (step S 601 ). Then, the player selects to proceed with single-user target practice on the controller  100  (step S 602 ). At this moment, the control element  302  is responsible for recording various parameters of the player and calculating the damage value of the side under attack for being broadcasted to the controller  100 , so as to arbitrate the winner and loser of the game (step S 603 ). On the target  300 , there is no element with the function of infrared transmitter that can transmit attack data to the controlled device  200 . Therefore, when the target  300  is attacked by the controlled device  200 , the control unit  102  will capture the gaming figure file data stored in the memory unit  106  after a period of time for simulating the counterattacking of the target  300 , so as to realize the purpose of combating. The sound playing element  312  on the target  300  is able to play predetermined sound-effect when it is under attack or attacking. In addition, the knock-down and position-reset element  316  will automatically fall down when the target  300  is attacked to a predefined extent, such as the state value of the target  300  lowering to zero, and can resume to the original position manually or automatically for proceeding with a next single-user practice, in which the state value of the target  300  is also resumed. When the target  300  falls down or the player is defected due to the counterattacking of the target  300 , the winner and loser of the game can be determined (step S 604 ). Then, the control element  302  gives a combat experience value to the controller  100  based on the behavior of the player in the practice. The memory unit  106  stores and accumulates this combat experience value, which is used as a condition for upgrading the armed forces skill, etc., and determining whether the player can rise in rank. When the upgrading condition is achieved, the player is able to use the display unit of the controller  100  to operate the indication unit  108  to upgrade the items of armed forces skill, etc., so as to raise the rank of the player and configure a better combat parameter value, such as increased life power (step S 605 ). 
         [0048]    On the next practice/multi-user combat, the upgraded items implemented for the player can present an updated sound-and-light effect on the display unit  110  and sound receiving and playing unit  112  of the player&#39;s controller  100 , and the sound receiving and playing module  212 , light emitting module  216  and power module  218  of the corresponding controlled device  200 . For example, if a player upgrades an attacking weapon, the player can observe different firing effect on the display unit  110  of the controller  100 , and the change of damage value to the enemy on the next practice/battle, and hear different firing sound-effect of weapon from the sound receiving and playing unit  112  of the controller  100  and the sound receiving and playing module  212  of the controlled device  200 . Furthermore, if a player upgrades the engine of combat carrier, the power module  218  of the controlled device  200  is able to promote its movement speed afterwards. 
         [0049]    In view of the foregoing, it is known that the real-time remote-controlled combat gaming device of the present invention is provided to add the on-line game element of multiple users playing a game into a physical toy, so as to not only increasing the playable character of the physical remote-controlled toy but also improve the reality of the on-line game. Furthermore, in the gaming device of the present invention, a target for single-user practice is further provided so that a single player can also proceed with combat practice to bring up the actual combat strength against other players. 
         [0050]    Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.