Patent Description:
Modular toy or educational construction sets provide a way for young children, adolescents and adults alike to play and experiment by exploring and utilising the ways in which the modules may be put together.

More and more of such construction sets have building blocks comprising electronic parts, which may electronically connect with each other and comprise building blocks, which are also sensors, batteries, actuators, light modules, etc. A challenge for modular construction sets comprising electronic parts is size and durability. The electronic parts often need to have a small form factor, and the modules are required to withstand being assembled and dissembled numerous times.

To facilitate play and learning the different modules should be able to fit together in multiple ways and, where needed, to exchange digital information quickly such that the play or learning experience is smooth and uninterrupted. For some electronic modules the digital communication between them or to/from an app may with some advantages be made using a wireless communication protocol, which has the disadvantage of being slower than a wired connection. A construction which is capable of communicating information to and from the user, for example via an app, or via sensory outputs from one or more building blocks, such as e.g. vibration, sound or light, requires a significant amount of digital information to be transmitted.

There is thus a need for modules for modular toy or educational construction sets to be able to communicate information to each other quickly, and for modules, which can connect with each other in a variety of ways.

Document <CIT> discloses 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.

It is an object of some embodiments to solve or mitigate, alleviate, or eliminate at least some of the above or other challenges.

In a first aspect is provided a light matrix building block for a modular toy or educational construction set, in a second aspect is provided a modular toy or educational construction set comprising a light matrix building block according to the first aspect and a building block device, and in a third aspect is provided a method of communication between a light matrix building block and a building block device. In the different aspects, the features having the same name have a similar function and therefore the descriptions and explanations of features in any aspect apply to those features in any another aspect. According to the first aspect is provided a light matrix building block for a modular toy or educational construction set. The light matrix building block comprises a plurality of separate light emitting elements and is configured to:.

wherein the digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of a light emitting element in the plurality of light emitting elements is encoded in a single byte of information.

A building block for a modular construction set has one or more attachment parts designed to allow the building block to interlock with one or more other building blocks. The attachment parts of different building blocks may be similar or may be different, but designed so as to allow the building blocks to adhere to or grip each other. The light matrix building block may, for example, interlock with one or more simple non-electronic building blocks, one or more other light matrix building block and/or other building blocks comprising electronic parts.

The plurality of light emitting elements may be arranged on a 2D grid such as a grid defining, for example, a rectangle, a square, a circle, etc. If the grid is in a rectangular or square shape, the light matrix may be a square matrix, i.e. have the same number of lights in its rows and columns, e.g. a 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, etc. The separate light emitting elements may be LEDs, and they may be of the same type and/or model, or different.

As the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements is controlled individually, some or all of the light emitting elements may be on or off at a given time.

The light matrix building block can receive digital information and has processing power to decode the digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements, for example as requested directly by a user or by a software program. By regulate is meant that the colour and intensity is set appropriately, i.e. the colour may be changed, the intensity may be increased or decreased, or the light turned off (intensity = zero).

The digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of each individual light emitting element is encoded in a single byte of information, which allows the light matrix building block to quickly and, at least to the human eye, simultaneously regulate the colour and intensity of all of the plurality of light emitting elements in response to the information encoded in the single byte, i.e. <NUM> bits, of information. To increase the number of colours available and reduce the bits needed to provide the coded information to regulate intensity and colour, the intensity and colour coded information may be provided as an indexed intensity and indexed colour, respectively. For example, the intensity coded information and colour coded information may each be encoded in <NUM> bits.

The light matrix building block may be configured to receive the digital information wirelessly or via a wired connection. A wired connection may be formed as part of the one or more attachment parts, which allow the light matrix building block to interlock with other building blocks, or it may be, for example, an electric cable with a connector at the end for electronically connecting to another entity. The light matrix building block may connect with a building block device, i.e. a building block comprising electronic parts and having a technical function, such as e.g. a battery, a sensor, etc. When the light matrix building block is connected to a building block device, it may act and respond in a suitable manner. To this end, the light matrix building block may be further configured to determine whether an electronically connected building block device can provide power to a connected building block, and whether the connected building block device is configured for digital communication. For example, the light matrix building block may regulate the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements according to a status of a connected building block device such as: power level of a battery, polarity of power supplied, sensor value, whether device is on/off, transmitting, recording, updating, etc..

According to the second aspect, a modular toy or educational construction set comprising a light matrix building block according to the first aspect and a building block device is provided. The light matrix building block and the building block device are each configured to be electronically connected with each other.

In an embodiment, the building block device is a building block hub device, which is configured to encode digital information intended for the light matrix building block. A hub device can connect, wirelessly or cabled, to a plurality of other devices and transfer data between the devices connected to it. If the light matrix building block is not capable of wireless communication, it may be connected via a cable to a hub device that is configured for wireless communication, which can then transfer data it has received wirelessly to the light matrix building block. Thus, in an embodiment, the building block device is a hub device, which is configured to wirelessly receive digital information intended for the light matrix building block. Advantageously, the wireless communication, which the hub device is configured for, could be Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as this considerably reduces power consumption partially because of the small packets transmitted compared to classic Bluetooth, while maintaining a similar communication range to that of classic Bluetooth. In the Bluetooth <NUM> Low Energy packet structure, the maximum payload in a single message is <NUM> bytes. In the Bluetooth <NUM> and <NUM> Low Energy packet structure, the maximum payload, i.e. maximum number of bytes used for message content, in a single message is <NUM> bytes when using so-called Data Length Extension (DLE). Using DLE will, however, lead to longer airtime, which increases the chance of a transmission failing and packets needing to be retransmitted. The longer a Bluetooth message is, the more time it will take to transmit, and therefore, for fast and reliable transmission it is advantageous to reduce the size of the BLE message. Thus, in an embodiment, the building block hub device is further configured to receive the digital information intended for the light matrix building block as a single Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) message. This synergizes well with the colour and intensity of a light emitting element being encoded in a single byte of information.

In another embodiment, the building block device is a building block battery device, i.e. is a building block and therefore has attachment parts, which allow it to interlock with other building blocks having suitable attachment parts, and it is a battery device. A battery device stores energy and is able to supply power to building block devices connected to it. Some building block battery devices will further be configured for digital communication and will then be referred to as a smart battery device. The light matrix building block may be further configured to detect that it is connected to a battery device. In some embodiments, the light matrix building block is further configured to detect whether a device it is connected to is configured for digital communication. In some embodiments, the light matrix building block is further configured to detect the polarity of a connected battery device.

According to the third aspect, a method of communication between a light matrix building block and a building block device is provided. The light matrix building block comprises a plurality of separate light emitting elements, and is configured to control the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements individually. The method comprises:.

In an embodiment, the intensity and colour coded information is provided as an indexed intensity and indexed colour, respectively.

In another embodiment, the intensity coded information and colour coded information are each encoded in <NUM> bits.

Additional features and advantages will be made apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following, exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:.

The description disclosed herein can, however, be realized in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The skilled person will understand that the accompanying drawings are schematic and simplified for clarity and therefore merely show details which are essential to the understanding of the invention, while other details have been left out. Like elements will therefore not necessarily be described in detail with respect to each figure.

<FIG> shows a drawing of a light matrix building block <NUM> according to an embodiment. The light matrix building block <NUM> has a 3x3 matrix <NUM> of separate LEDs totalling nine light emitting elements <NUM>. The light matrix building block has various attachment parts <NUM> allowing it to interlock with other building blocks having suitable attachment parts. A connection cable <NUM> with a connector <NUM> at the end enables the light matrix building block <NUM> to electronically connect with another device and allows for power to be supplied to the light matrix building block <NUM> as well as digital communication between connected devices, if supported.

The colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements <NUM> can be controlled individually by a controller within the light matrix building element <NUM>. The light emitting elements <NUM> can produce a plurality of colours at a plurality of intensities, where both colour and intensity are controlled separately for each light emitting element <NUM>. The digital information containing the instructions on the colour and intensity setting for each light emitting element <NUM> is provided to the light matrix building block <NUM> via the connection cable <NUM> or via a wireless connection. To enable the light matrix <NUM> to update quickly even where the digital information encoding for colour and intensity of each light emitting element <NUM> is transmitted using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol, either directly to the light matrix building block <NUM> or to a device connected to the light matrix building block via the connection cable <NUM>, the digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of a light emitting element is encoded in a single byte. After receiving the digital information, the light matrix building block <NUM> decodes the nine bytes of data required to update the colour and intensity setting of the nine LEDSs in the light matrix <NUM>.

<FIG> shows schematic drawings of a light matrix building block <NUM> and a building block device <NUM> according to some embodiments. In connection with each figure will be described a way in which a light matrix building block <NUM> via its light emitting elements can be used to provide a desired visual output. The visual output may be perceived by a person or received by a device, e.g. a camera, or a sensor.

<FIG> show schematic drawings of a light matrix building block <NUM> and a building block device <NUM> connected through a wired connection <NUM>. As in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the light matrix building block <NUM> has a 3x3 matrix <NUM> of separate LEDs <NUM> totalling nine light emitting elements <NUM>. The building block device <NUM> is an electronic device that is also a building block, i.e. it has attachment parts (not shown), which allow it to interlock with other building blocks having suitable attachment parts.

The building block device <NUM> in <FIG> and <FIG> is a building block hub device <NUM>, which can communicate with, and facilitate communication between, the light matrix building block <NUM> and other devices such as e.g. other building block devices, tablets, computers, mobile phones etc. A building block hub device <NUM> can generally be configured for either wired or wireless communication, or both. Thus, it is able to receive digital information intended for the light matrix building block <NUM>.

In the embodiment in <FIG> the building block hub device <NUM> is connected to a tablet <NUM> via a wireless connection <NUM> using the BLE protocol through which it receives instructions intended for the light matrix building block <NUM>. The hub device <NUM> transmits the digital information it received from the tablet <NUM> to the light matrix building block <NUM> via the connection cable <NUM>, the light matrix building block <NUM> decodes the information and regulates the colour and intensity of each light emitting element <NUM> accordingly.

The information from the tablet <NUM> is transmitted using the BLE protocol, and the tablet <NUM> could instead be e.g. a computer, or other building block device capable of communicating wirelessly using the BLE protocol. By encoding the information for each light emitting element <NUM> in a single byte, it is possible to update all nine light emitting elements <NUM> of the light matrix <NUM> using a single BLE message, which allows for a quick update.

Below the schematic of the hardware in <FIG> is illustrated the light matrix <NUM> with the LEDs <NUM> all having different colours and different intensities, which is possible because all the light emitting elements <NUM> are controlled individually. The colours could be e.g. light blue, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, teal, pink, white, etc., which is illustrated as different shades of grey. The setup shown in <FIG> allows for a fast and reliable high level of control of the light matrix <NUM>.

As an example, the colour and intensity of each light emitting element <NUM> may be provided in the encoding as an indexed intensity and indexed colour, respectively, where four bits could provide the index for the colour and four bits provide the index for the intensity:.

Each of the values of the colour index corresponds to a particular distinct colour. The intensity index, however, could be provided as a gamma-level table with the four bits providing the index for the level, such as (for an index with <NUM> standard intensity levels):.

To calculate the final RGB-value, the intensity factor is divided by its max and multiplied with each RGB-value, i.e. in the example above the intensity is calculated as factor/<NUM> and then multiplied with each RGB value. For example, if the colour selected has RGB = (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and the intensity index is <NUM> then the final RGB-value is (<NUM>, <NUM>/<NUM>*<NUM>, <NUM>/<NUM>*<NUM>) = (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).

In the embodiment in <FIG> is illustrated at the bottom six examples, where all the light emitting elements are the same colour and have the same intensity. The possible colours could be e.g. light blue, red, yellow, green, blue, purple, teal, pink, white, etc., which is illustrated in <FIG> as different shades of grey. All the light emitting elements <NUM> having the same colour and intensity is useful when the hub device <NUM> receives a signal from a connected building block device, for example a building block sensor <NUM>, which outputs a discrete value to be visualized by the light matrix <NUM>. The discrete single value is then visualized using the colour index as described above with all the light emitting elements <NUM> having the same colour.

The connected device, e.g. sensor <NUM>, may send a signal formatted to conform with the encoding wherein the information to regulate the colour and intensity of each light emitting element <NUM> is encoded in a single byte of information. Alternatively, the connected device <NUM> sends it's discrete value to the hub device <NUM> via the connection <NUM>, and the hub device <NUM> then encodes the information for the light matrix building block <NUM>. As a further alternative, or additionally, the light matrix building block <NUM> may be further configured to receive and decode the discrete value signal directly from the building block sensor <NUM> via the hub device <NUM> to produce the described visualization of the discrete value.

In the embodiment in <FIG>, the building block device <NUM> is a simple building block battery device <NUM> that does not have the capability for digital communication. The light matrix building block <NUM> is configured to detect via the cable <NUM> that it is connected to a battery device that can supply it with power and further that the battery device is not configured for digital communication. When connected with this type of simple building block battery device <NUM>, the light matrix building block <NUM> will detect the polarity of the battery and visualize it, for example by having all the light emitting elements <NUM> be a green colour for a positive polarity and a red colour for a negative polarity. At the bottom of <FIG> is illustrated three instances of the light matrix <NUM> with the light emitting elements <NUM> all having the same colour and intensity. To the far left the light matrix <NUM> is turned off before it is connected to the simple battery device <NUM>, whereas the other two light matrices <NUM> represents the light matrix building block <NUM> detecting and visualizing either a positive or negative polarity by use of two different colours, illustrated as different shades of grey.

<FIG> shows an embodiment in which the light matrix building block <NUM> is connected to a building block device <NUM>, which outputs a relative value that can be visualized as a value in a minus <NUM> to plus <NUM> range.

For example, the building block device <NUM> may be a smart battery device <NUM>, i.e. a battery device that is capable of digital communication, or it may be a hub device <NUM>. As described above in relation to <FIG>, the light matrix building block <NUM> can detect if it is connected to a battery device <NUM> and detect the polarity of the battery device. The smart battery device <NUM> provides the digital information needed for the light matrix building block <NUM> to visualize the power level of the battery. For a positive polarity the colour may be green and to visualize the power level the intensity of the green colour could increase with increasing power level, for example as shown by the intensity increasing in each vertical line until reaching a maximum value. Similarly, a negative polarity may be shown using a red colour and increasing intensity to show increasing battery level. In this way a red or green bar graph for the power level is produced. In <FIG> the different colours and intensities are illustrated as different shades of grey.

<FIG> shows a flow diagram of a method of communication between a light matrix building block <NUM> and a building block device <NUM> according to some embodiments. The light matrix building block <NUM> has a plurality of separate light emitting elements <NUM> and is configured to control the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements <NUM> individually.

In step S10, the building block device <NUM> provides digital information to the light matrix building block <NUM>, where the digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of a light emitting element <NUM> in the plurality of light emitting elements is encoded in a single byte of information. The building block device <NUM> could be e.g. a building block hub device <NUM> or a building block smart battery device <NUM> as described in connection with <FIG>, <FIG> and <FIG>. In step S20, the light matrix building block <NUM> receives and decodes the digital information and in step S30, the light matrix building block <NUM> regulates the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements <NUM> according to the digital information received.

Claim 1:
A light matrix building block (<NUM>) for a modular toy or educational construction set, the light matrix building block (<NUM>) comprising a plurality of separate light emitting elements, the light matrix building block (<NUM>) being configured to:
- control the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements (<NUM>) individually, and
- receive and decode digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of each of the light emitting elements,
characterised in that
the digital information to regulate the colour and intensity of a light emitting element (<NUM>) in the plurality of light emitting elements is encoded in a single byte of information.