JP2003305670A - Robot phone - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot phone enabling people to communicate by synchronizing the forms, motion, positions, and the like of a plurality of robots placed in distant places. <P>SOLUTION: This robot phone is provided with a robot in the form of a stuffed toy used as a user interface and including a mobile part at a part of the body; a microphone 11 and a loudspeaker 12 for calls; a driving part 13 for driving the mobile part; a position information sensor 14 for acquiring position information on the mobile part; and a communication connecting part 16. The communication connecting part transmits a voice signal from the microphone to the other party through a communication line, reproduces a voice signal received from the other party in the loudspeaker, transmits a signal indicating the position of the mobile part from the position information sensor, to the other party, receives the position information corresponding to the mobile part, from the other party, and sends it to the driving part. The driving part drives the mobile part on the basis of the received position information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is one of a robot user interface (RUI) for a person to communicate by synchronizing the shapes, movements, positions, etc. of a plurality of robots placed at distant places. Is a robot phone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, human-friendly robots such as pet robots, humanoid robots, museum guide robots, and nursing robots have become popular. These robots have an overwhelming presence compared to CG characters moving around on the screen of a computer, which is considered to be one of the reasons for their popularity.

A robot can be regarded as a computer having physicality, and the physical existence of the body itself is the source of overwhelming presence, and through physical interaction using the body, the real world Can exert a great influence on.

A robotic interface has been proposed as a concept in which a robot that enables strong interaction with the real world is regarded as an interface between the real world and the information world (Y. Wakita, S. Hirai, K. Machid.
a, K. Ogimoto, T. Itoko, P. Backes and S. Peters,
Application of intelligent monitoring for superlon
g distance teleoperation, Proc., IEEE IROS'96, Osa
ka, pp.1031-1037, 1996). In particular, by using a robot as a user interface-Robotic User Interface (RUI) -it is possible to construct a real world oriented user interface environment that has both input and output for the real world. In addition, by utilizing the characteristics of the robot as a general-purpose machine, there is an advantage that it is easy to ensure a certain degree of versatility while using a physical interface.

To connect the real world with another real world
The RUI implementations are Telexistence and Object Oriented Telexistence. The object-oriented tele-gistance is a concept for "working and communicating in a remote place by sharing the shapes and movements of objects in a remote place with him".

In the conventional tele-existence / telepresence, the environment around the remote robot is taken in and reconstructed in the vicinity of the operator to convey a sense of reality, and the user feels as if he / she is there. The remote robot can be operated with. Since the telexistence is a method based on the presentation of a high degree of realism to the operator, the burden of hardware and software tends to be high in the part of measuring, transmitting, and presenting the realism. In addition, since the tele-gistance operates the remote robot from a first-person perspective, it is most effective when the slave robot has the same structure, size, and dynamic characteristics as if it were a remote robot itself. Target. However, at present, it is difficult to manufacture a robot having the same structure as a human being, and a humanoid robot can achieve dynamic characteristics equivalent to or better than those of humans, and it is possible to perform work using the robot. By then, there are many technical problems. In addition, depending on the work object or application field such as mobile robots and construction machines, the slave robot may not be the same structure and size as a human, or the viewpoint is a third person perspective (overhead perspective) rather than first person perspective. It seems that there are many cases.

Therefore, in the present application, rather than reconfiguring the remote environment around the user, the remote robot itself is reconfigured at the user's hand, thereby controlling the remote robot more easily and intuitively. Suggest to do. Whereas the conventional tele-gistance was an environment-oriented system that "how to closely and transparently connect a remote environment and an operator", the present invention "densely connects a remote robot and a device at hand" It is an object-oriented telexistence, with the main focus on "to combine".

The following documents disclose communication with a remote place through sharing of tactile sensation. (1) Brave, S., and Dahley, A. inTouch: A Medium
for Haptic Interpersonal Communication, Extended
Abstracts of CHI'97, pp.363-364, ACM Press, 1997. (2) Brave, S., Ishii, H., and Dahley, A. Tangibl
e Interface for Remote Collaboration and Communicat
ion, Proceedings of CSCW'98, pp.169-178, ACM Pres
s, 1998. (3) Fogg, BJ, Cutler, L., Arnold, P., and Eisb
ack C. HandJive: a device for interpersonal haptic
entertainment, Proceedings of CHI'98, pp.57-64, A
CM Press, 1998.

(1) relates to transmission of only rotational force by three wooden rollers, (2) indicates a chess piece object,
In the case of (3), since the information presented as the bulge of the balloon held in the hand is extremely limited, it is included in the ambient low information transmission means in communication. On the other hand, according to the present invention, by sharing a robot having a degree of freedom arranged close to that of a person, not only the tactile information having a high degree of freedom but also the gesture information can be visually transmitted.

As an example of using a stuffed animal as a user interface, there is the following document. (4) Yukiko Hoshino, Yasushi Suzuki, Eiko Yamamoto, Noritaka Hirokawa, Masayuki Inaba, Hirochika Inoue, Development of a table-top robot for studying visual-tactile interaction behavior in daily life, 16th Annual Conference of the Robotics Society of Japan , Pp.5-6, 1998. (5) Tomoko Yonezawa, Brian Clarkson, Michiaki Yasumura, Kenji Mase, Plush toys with sensors according to contextual music expression, Interaction 2001, pp.19-20, 2
001.

Hoshino et al. Use a stuffed animal as a physical agent, and Yonezawa et al. Use a doll as an input interface for interactive operation of music.
Neither (4) nor (5) uses the doll for object-sharing communication.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot phone that allows a person to communicate by synchronizing the shapes, movements, positions, etc. of a plurality of robots placed at distant places. To aim.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a robot phone that does not cause any trouble when the communication line is temporarily cut off for some reason or is abruptly disconnected.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a robot phone capable of performing preferable control according to the communication band when the band (communication speed) of the communication line is different.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a robot phone capable of preventing oscillation of the control system due to communication delay.

[0016]

A robot phone according to the present invention is a robot that is used as a user interface and includes a movable part in a part of its body, and a drive part for driving the movable part and the movable part. A position information sensor for acquiring position information of the drive unit, a robot including a blocking unit for stopping the movement of the drive unit, and a communication connection unit, the communication connection unit including the position information sensor via a communication line. A signal indicating the position of the movable part from the other side to the other side, position information corresponding to the movable part from the other side is received, and this is sent to the drive part, and the drive part is based on the received position information. The movable section is driven, the communication connection section monitors the state of the communication line, and when an abnormality is found in the communication line, the cutoff section is operated to stop the movement of the drive section. The communication line includes a wired line such as a telephone line, and a wireless line such as a wireless LAN and Bluetooth. Alternatively, it may be a wired or wireless communication line for peer-to-peer (one-to-one) connection.

Preferably, the robot comprises a limiter for limiting the driving force of the driving unit to a predetermined value or less.

[0018] Preferably, the communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line and complements data based on communication data before and / or after detection of a communication data loss.

A robot phone according to the present invention is a robot which is used as a user interface and includes a movable part in a part of its body, and a drive part for driving the movable part,
A position information sensor for acquiring position information of the movable part, a robot including an impedance changing means for changing the impedance of the movable part, and a communication connection part, the communication connection part, via a communication line, A signal indicating the position of the movable part from the position information sensor is transmitted to the other side, the position information corresponding to the movable part is received from the other side and sent to the drive part, and the drive part receives the position information. Driving the movable part based on the position information, the communication connection part,
The state of the communication line is monitored, and a signal indicating the state is sent to the impedance varying means to change the impedance of the movable portion.

Preferably, the impedance changing means changes the impedance of the movable part by a mechanical mechanism provided in the movable part. Preferably, the impedance changing means changes the impedance of the movable part by applying a predetermined control to the driving part.

[0021] Preferably, when the band of the communication line is narrowed, the communication connection section increases the impedance by the impedance varying means to make it difficult to move the movable section.

A robot phone according to the present invention is a robot which is used as a user interface and includes a movable part in a part of its body, and a drive part which drives the movable part,
The communication connection unit includes: a robot including a position information sensor that acquires position information of the movable unit; and a communication connection unit including a filter that limits a frequency of an input signal of the robot and / or an output signal of the robot. Transmits a signal indicating the position of the movable part from the position information sensor to the other side through the communication line, receives position information corresponding to the movable part from the other side, and sends it to the drive part. , The drive unit drives the movable unit based on the received position information, the communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line,
The characteristics of the filter are adjusted according to the state.

Preferably, the communication connection section outputs the input signal of the filter as it is when the band of the communication line is wider than a predetermined band, and low-passes to the filter when the band of the communication line is narrow. It has characteristics of a filter and / or a bandpass filter. In addition,
The signal indicating the position of the movable unit and / or the position information transmitted / received by the communication connection unit may be difference information. In this case, the signal indicating the position of the movable portion and / or the position information is set to a predetermined value when the movable portion has not been moved for a predetermined time or more and / or when the power is turned on, whereby the movable portion is moved. It is desirable that the parts are set in a predetermined state. The control of each part such as the drive unit, the position information sensor, and the communication connection unit in the above invention is realized by a computer, for example. For example, in a computer, the communication connection unit is connected via a communication line,
A signal indicating the position of the movable part from the position information sensor is transmitted to the other party, and the position information corresponding to the movable part is received from the other party and controlled to be sent to the drive part,
The drive unit controls the movable unit to drive based on the received position information, the communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line, and operates the cutoff unit when an abnormality is found in the communication line. Then, the movement of the drive unit is controlled to be stopped. The present invention also includes a program for this computer. The program for executing the control of the present invention is recorded in, for example, a recording medium. Examples of media include EPROM devices, flash memory devices, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, magneto-optical disks, and CDs (CD-ROMs, Vid's).
eo-CD included, DVD (DVD-Video, D)
VD-ROM, DVD-RAM included), ROM cartridge, RAM memory cartridge with battery backup, flash memory cartridge, non-volatile R
Includes AM cartridges, etc. Further, it includes a communication medium such as a wire communication medium such as a telephone line and a wireless communication medium such as a microwave line. The Internet is also included in the communication medium here. A medium is a medium in which information (mainly digital data, programs) is recorded by some physical means, and allows a processing device such as a computer or a dedicated processor to perform a predetermined function. is there.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1 of the Invention The present invention is
He is involved in a shape sharing system as a form of object-oriented telegraphy. What is the shape sharing system?
It is a system that can synchronize the shapes of objects to share shapes with remote locations and enable interaction with remote locations. The “shape” is one of the most basic elements in identifying and recognizing an object, and is also an important key for knowing the state of the object. The shape sharing system achieves close coupling between a remote robot and a device at hand by synchronizing shapes that play an important role in object recognition.

By performing shape synchronization in real time, it is possible to convey not only the static shape of an object but also the "movement" which is the process of changing the shape. Further, the shape of the object on its own side is exactly the shape of the object on the remote side, and it also has an effect as a display. Input and output are performed by the same device, and an intuitive operation system without switching between input and output is realized. Further, since the interaction with the object is performed through an organ capable of simultaneously inputting as a hand and outputting to the outside world, the system is essentially an interactive interface.

In the present invention, a robot capable of strong interaction with the real world is used as an interface between the real world and the information world (Robot User Interface (RUI)).

The RUI has the following features.・ It is possible to interact with the physical world, and it is possible to actually move things.・ Visual information can be displayed according to the shape and movement of the robot. -It is possible to present tactile information by applying force to the person from the robot. -A person can directly touch the robot and change its shape to input instructions.・ Voice interaction such as a call to the robot and utterance of the robot itself is possible.

A robot phone has been proposed as one of the RUIs. The robot phone is an RUI for a person to communicate by synchronizing the shapes, movements, positions, etc. of a plurality of robots placed at distant places. By performing shape synchronization in real time, the robot phone can transmit not only information about the shape of an object, but also its movement. Further, unlike an electronic depression displayed on a normal display, it is also possible to actually touch a person to transmit a force or move an object to perform work. In other words, it can be said that it is a phone that can present visual, tactile, and auditory information in an integrated manner. When both users apply force to the robot at the same time, they feel the force of each other.

Generally, a robot can be divided into an autonomous type that automatically makes a decision based on information from a sensor or the like and an allomorphic type robot that is operated by a person who makes the decision. The robot phone is categorized into the latter type of robot.

An example of the robot phone will be described below. FIG. 1 shows a stuffed robot phone. 1 of FIG.
Reference characters a and 1b are robot phones housed in a teddy bear, respectively. A microphone 11 and a speaker 12 for making a call, a motor / planetary gear reducer 13 and a position detecting means provided on a skeleton joint of the teddy bear. A (potentiometer) 14, a processor 15 for controlling these, and a communication connection unit 16 for performing communication through the communication line 2 are provided. The speaker 12 is attached to the chest of the plush toy, and the microphone 11 is attached to the head. These are incorporated into the plush bear along with the skeleton. The microphone 11 and the speaker 12 are attached to the front side of the stuffed toy, and the user can face and interact with the robot phone to talk and operate. As a result, it is possible to obtain a feeling that the user is interacting with the other party.

Although not shown in the drawing, the motor / planetary gear reducer 13 and the position detecting means 14 are respectively provided at the joints of the frame. For example, it is provided inside the right arm or head of a teddy bear. The motor / planetary gear speed reducer 13 and the position detecting means 14 are actuators having two degrees of freedom and two degrees of freedom at the head, for a total of four degrees of freedom.
In order to have a degree of freedom closer to that of a human being and to enable movement with a lighter force, it is preferable that the four limbs each have two degrees of freedom and the head have three degrees of freedom, which is 11 degrees of freedom. As a result, it is possible to output a change in the stuffed animal's posture due to an external force to the outside or change the posture based on a signal from the outside. The processor 15 performs bilateral control and keeps the robot phones 1a and 1b in the same posture. Bilateral means bidirectional. Bilateral control is known as a control method for transmitting the weight or reaction force (feeling of contact) received by a manipulator as a weight to an operation lever or the like. The two robot phones 1a and 1b are connected to the communication network 2 so that they can talk with each other through the communication network 2 and change their posture by applying force to their stuffed toy to reflect it on the other party, that is, in the same posture. Can be made.

As shown in FIG. 1, by configuring the robot phone in a shape similar to a human or animal, it is possible to realize a robot phone that enables communication using gestures. FIG. 2 shows an example of a call and an operation performed using the robot phones 1a and 1b according to the embodiment of the present invention. Two users are robot phones 1a and 1b, respectively.
Face to face with each other to talk and operate. Many users have experience playing with dolls and can easily operate the doll-type interface. For example, waving the hand of one robot phone and waving the other robot phone, or YES /
No gesture can be performed. Further, when both users shake the hands of the doll at the same time, it is possible to shake hands while feeling the force of the other party through the hands of the doll. Since the robot phone operates one object at the same time, depending on the state, it sometimes acts as its own alter ego and sometimes as the opponent's alter ego.

FIG. 3 shows another example of a snake-type robot phone. The main body has seven nodes 17-1 to 17-7
Composed of. The joints 17-1 to 17-7 are connected to each other by a rotatable joint, and can bend the body like a snake as a whole. Each node is provided with a module including a motor / planetary gear mechanism 13 and a potentiometer 14. Six servomotors are used as actuators in the snake-type robot phone of FIG.

Although the snake-shaped robot phone has a restriction that the operable area is within a two-dimensional plane, the shape can be expressed by the body itself. The shape can be freely configured by touching with hands.

In the above example, the control of the servo motor is realized by software on the one-board microcomputer, for example. PWM control is used to drive the motor. As a bilateral servo control method, a symmetrical type as shown in FIG. 4 is adopted, and control is performed so that the positional deviation of the paired servo motors is always minimized. In FIG. 4, 20
Is a subtracter for obtaining the position deviation, and 21a and 21b are position command units for respectively driving the servo motors forming a pair of the robots 1a and 1b based on the position deviation. The angle signal output from the robots 1a and 1b is obtained by the potentiometer 14. The force applied to the robots 1a and 1b acts on the joints of the skeleton of the robot and changes the position, that is, the posture of the joints. In this specification, a robot is any of the shapes, structures, and functions of living things,
Or, it is a machine that uses everything as a standard.

In the control system of FIG. 4, when the user applies a force to the robot 1a or 1b to change its posture, the change is output as an angle signal. Robot 1
The posture of a and the posture of the robot 1b are compared by the subtractor 20. When the postures are different, that is, when the positions of some or all of the joints do not match, the position command units 21a and 21b issue commands to the servo motors of the robots 1a and 1b so that the positions of the joints match. By the servo motors responding to this, the postures of the robots 1a and 1b become the same. For example, if the arm of the robot 1a is raised, the position command unit 21b commands the robot 1b to raise the arm. On the other hand, the position command unit 21a commands the robot 1a to lower its arm, so that the manipulator feels a reaction force. Symmetrical bilateral control
It is possible to simply construct the controller without the need for force sensors.

According to the control system of FIG. 4, when the master device is operated, the slave device follows this operation without delay, so that the operator of the master device can freely control the shape of the slave device.

In this example, since the operation method for matching the shape of the hand and the shape of the operation target is adopted,
It is possible to create shapes while interacting with the device in real time, which is a very intuitive operation method. That is, the device existing at the operator's hand also functions as a display device that continuously presents the remote shape. Furthermore, since the bilateral control is completely symmetrical, it is possible to operate each other without distinguishing which device is the master or the slave. In addition, not only the position but also the transmission of force is performed. For example, if you restrain the joint of one device with your hand so that you do not move it, you feel that the other device is restrained by the other device. be able to.

By the way, the robot phones operate each other's robot phones through the communication line, but it is expected that the communication line may be temporarily cut off or abruptly disconnected for some reason. It is desirable that the system be designed so that there is no problem even in such a case. This system is all the more important because it is assumed that it will be used not only by a specific operator but also by a wide range of users, unlike conventional robots for extreme work.

A system which meets such a request is shown in FIGS. In FIG. 5, the communication state monitoring unit 40a,
40b monitors the state of the line, for example, whether the line has been disconnected or whether a part of the received data is missing, and sends a control signal corresponding to the line status to the position command units 21a, 2
1b and / or output to the robots 10a and 10b. The data complementing units 41a and 41b complement the missing data from the preceding and following communication data when a missing part is found in the received data. The position command units 21a and 21b drive the servomotors of the robot bodies 10a and 10b based on the position deviations described above, and the control thereof is controlled by the communication state monitoring units 40a and 40b.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the robots 10a and 10b shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the circuit breaker 101 is the motor 1 based on the output of the communication state monitor 40.
Turn off the power of 3a. When the communication is abnormal, the power of the motor 13a is cut off. The torque limiter 102 is
For example, the torque generated by the motor 13a is limited by suppressing the magnitude of the supplied current to a certain value or less. The torque limiter 102 may be mechanical. The torque detector 103 detects the magnitude of the torque generated by the motor 13a and sends it to the torque limiter 102. The torque detector 103 measures the current value of the motor 13a to indirectly detect the torque, or the torque of the shaft of the motor 13a, the shaft of the planetary gear reducer 13b and / or the arm, leg, etc. of the doll. To detect directly.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the outline of the processing. The communication status monitoring unit 40 monitors the communication status (S
1) When communication is abnormal (YES in S2), a command is issued to the breaker 101 to cut off the motor drive current (S).
3).

As the drive mechanism of the system / apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a motor 13a having a relatively strong torque and a planetary gear reducer 13b having a small reduction ratio are adopted. Therefore, when the servo power of the robot 10 is off, each axis has back drivability and can be moved relatively freely by an external force. During the operation of the system, it is confirmed that the robot phones 1a and 1b always communicate with each other normally.
In the unlikely event that an abnormality is found in the communication (for example, the communication line is cut off, no data is received for a certain period of time, a command is sent to the other party but the reply (ACK) has not been received for a certain period of time, or noise is abnormal) Very large, the signal-to-noise ratio (S / N) is significantly deteriorated, the carrier cannot be detected when the signal is modulated, and there are abnormally many data errors.
Obviously abnormal data (data indicating unnatural posture, data indicating arm / foot movements that exceed the possible movement speed, data indicating movements of the arm / legs that exceed the normally conceivable limits, etc.) The circuit breaker 101 immediately cuts off the servo power supply of the robot 10. As mentioned above, the planetary gear reducer 1
Since the reduction ratio of 3b is relatively small, each axis can be freely moved by the force of the user even if the servo power supply of the robot 10 is cut off. For example, even if the user's finger is sandwiched between the arm and body of the robot phone 1 and the servo power is cut off in this state, the user can move the arm and remove the finger. Although the circuit breaker 101 is provided in the input unit of the robot 10 in FIG. 6, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the breaker 101 may be provided on the output side or the input side of the position command unit 21. Also, the circuit breaker 10
Instead of 1, a switch or bias means for making the input signal neutral (a voltage that does not rotate the motor in either direction, for example, ground potential), or a clutch for interrupting the transmission of the driving force of the motor 13a may be used.

Further, since the torque limiter 102 is provided at the final stage of the controller for each axis, it is possible to prevent the robot 10 from generating an excessive torque above the set value in any situation.

It is also possible that the quality of the communication line 2 deteriorates. In the case of a communication data loss for a very short time that is not considered to be a communication abnormality such as a communication packet loss that occurs in this case, the data complementing unit 41 complements the missing data from the preceding and following communication data to recover the communication data loss to some extent. can do. For complementing the missing data in the data complementing unit 41, the previous value hold or the straight line complement, depending on the implementation,
A method such as a Kalman filter is appropriately used. Note that complementation is effective if there is intermittent data loss for a relatively short period of time, but it is conceivable that supplementation will not be completed if the loss period becomes long or continuous burst errors occur. In such a case, it is desirable to cut off the servo power supply as described above. In order to perform this processing, the data complementation unit 41 sends a signal indicating that the complementation is impossible to the communication status monitoring unit 40, and in response to this, the communication status monitoring unit 40 outputs a servo power cutoff command. Good.

According to the system / apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, even when a failure occurs in the communication line between the robot phones, the user is not hindered.

Modification of First Embodiment of the Invention. In FIG. 5, the data complementing unit 41 receives data from the communication network 2 and sends the complemented data to the adder / subtractor 20. The present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a data complementation unit 41 may be provided in the position command unit 21 to complement the difference data. Even in this case, the same operational effect is obtained.

Embodiment 2 of the Invention The system / apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is for coping with the failure of the communication line between the robot phones. Even if it cannot be said that the communication line is faulty, the communication speed may temporarily decrease. Alternatively, the communication speed (communication band) may vary greatly depending on the performance and quality of the other party's communication line. For example, 28.8 when using a modem over an ordinary telephone line.
64 kbps even in the case of kbps and ISDN,
In the case of ADSL, communication of about 8 Mbps may be possible (communication speed changes depending on the distance between the user and the central office, so even with the same ADSL, the communication speed may differ for each user). . When using a robot phone to communicate with the other party, the communication band varies depending on the type and state of the communication line, so it is preferable to employ a control method that matches this. Furthermore, a control system that can inform the user of the type and status of the communication line is desirable. The system / method according to the second embodiment of the present invention meets such a demand.

FIG. 9 shows a system according to the second embodiment of the invention.
And shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the communication state monitoring unit 40
a and 40b monitor the state of the line, that is, the communication band. For example, it is determined whether the communication line of the other party is a normal telephone line, ADSL, CATV or the like based on the information at the time of connection, and the communication band is determined according to the result of this determination. Alternatively, an actually communicable speed (band) is determined according to information such as an error rate during communication and a signal-to-noise ratio (S / N). In the protocol, the communication speed may be determined when the communication is established. Then, it outputs a control signal (a signal related to the communication bandwidth) according to the communication band to the position command units 21a and 21b and / or the robots 10a and 10b. The position command units 21a and 21b drive the servomotors of the robot bodies 10a and 10b based on the above-mentioned position deviation,
The control is controlled by the communication status monitoring units 40a and 40b.

FIG. 10 shows the robots 10a and 10b of FIG.
3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of FIG. In FIG.
The brake 104 receives a signal from the communication state monitoring unit 40 and applies braking to the output shaft of the planetary gear reducer 13b (coupled to the doll's arm, foot, etc.) and / or the rotation shaft of the motor 13a. Is. When the brake 104 is activated, resistance when the arm, leg, etc. of the doll is moved by an external force increases. The magnitude of this resistance is adjustable and is controlled, for example, by a signal in the communication bandwidth.

When the communication band fluctuates, the input frequency (speed of operation) that the bilateral control system can handle changes depending on the communication band width. Therefore, the communication state monitoring unit 40 and the brake 104 are used to limit the frequency (speed of operation) that can be input to the system according to the communication band. That is, the impedance (ease of movement) of each axis is dynamically changed by the local control of the robot 10.
For example, when the bandwidth can be secured (when the communication bandwidth is wide like ADSL), it can be moved smoothly, and conversely, when the bandwidth cannot be secured (when a normal modem is used), the impedance is increased to quickly. Disables movement input. Such processing enables control according to the type and state of the communication line. From the user's point of view, the ease of operation (whether the arms and legs of the doll can be moved lightly, or cannot be moved without force, etc.) will change depending on the communication partner and communication status. So to speak, the user can feel the weight of the line through the robot phone.

Modification of Second Embodiment of the Invention. In FIG. 10, the brake 104 is used as a means for increasing the impedance of the arms and legs of the doll. The present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, when a doll's arm, leg, etc. are moved by an external force, this may be determined from the signal of the potentiometer 14 and the motor 13a may be driven to generate a reverse torque. . The impedance generator 105 determines the magnitude of this torque based on the communication bandwidth. For example, the torque is set to zero or a small value in the case of ADSL, and the torque is set to a large value in the case of an ordinary telephone line. Even in this case, the same operational effect is obtained.

As a method of changing the impedance, it is also possible to change the impedance by a motor control method such as impedance control, instead of using a mechanical mechanism. For example, an electric brake by short-circuiting the terminals of the motor 13b may be used (impedance can be changed by the resistance value connected between the terminals), and a motor for impedance generation that generates reverse torque can be used. It may be provided.

More generally, the well-known impedance control in teleagistance can be applied. Impedance control is control related to dynamic interaction between a robot and an environment, and dynamic characteristics of a moving part and the environment are described by a model of mechanical impedance. When the robot contacts the environment, this control method generally considers the dynamic interaction between the robot and the environment as a change in impedance, and integrates the robot and the environment to control them. Changing the impedance in the embodiment of the invention corresponds to changing the impedance parameter described for the entire robot or robot phone.

Third Embodiment of the Invention By the way, if the normal bilateral control is performed via a line having a communication delay, there is a problem that oscillation of the control system is likely to occur. This is because it is difficult to create a control system that is difficult to oscillate because feedback that is delayed in time always comes back from the other side due to communication delay.

In the past, symmetrical bilateral control was simple but rarely used. This is because the weight of the device / part on the other side to be controlled returns to the operator side as it is. Therefore, more sophisticated force feedback type control methods are more frequently used. No proposal has been made to solve the problem of communication delay in simple symmetric bilateral control.

In order to solve the problem of the communication delay, the method of limiting the input frequency corresponding to the fluctuation of the communication band described in the embodiment of the invention can be used. A method for preventing oscillation due to delay used in the third embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 12, the communication status monitoring unit 40a,
40b monitors the state of the line, that is, the communication band, and outputs a control signal (a signal related to the communication band width) corresponding to the communication band to the filters 42a and 42b. The filters 42a and 42b extract a signal in a predetermined band from the angle signal output by the robot 10 and output it. Which band of the signal to extract (parameter of the filter such as time constant) is controlled by the output signal of the communication status monitoring unit 40. The position command units 21a and 21b drive the servomotors of the robot bodies 10a and 10b based on the above-mentioned position deviation.

In the third embodiment of the present invention, when an operator on one side starts operating the robot 10, the result is output as an angle signal. This signal is fed back to the other party. By limiting the band of the signal to be fed back according to the communication band of the communication network 2, oscillation of the control system can be suppressed.

For example, between the robot phones designed and adjusted to operate optimally when the communication band has a predetermined width, when the communication band is wider than the predetermined width, the filter 42 outputs the input signal as it is. When the communication band is narrower than the specified width, even if the input signal is output as it is, the other party cannot follow it, causing an unnatural movement of the robot phone, which causes the user to repeat the operation many times It is also expected to stop the operation on the way. Therefore, only the signal within the bandwidth that can be used by the filter 42 is extracted and fed back to the other party.

The filter 42 may have a filter function unrelated to the control by the communication band. For example, it has a function of removing a signal having a frequency higher than the proper response speed of the system. When the user moves the arm, foot, etc. of the doll of the robot 10 at a speed higher than the speed at which the motor 13a can be driven, it is possible to prevent such operation feedback. Alternatively, it may be provided with a function of removing the DC component (the absolute value of the angle) of the angle signal of the robot 10. In this case, only the angle that the arm / leg moves (difference)
Since the other party's arms, legs, etc. move, the postures (positions of the arms, legs, etc.) of the two robot phones communicating with each other can be made different,
In this state (positions different from each other), it is possible to perform an operation of swinging the arms, legs, etc. back and forth and left and right. Alternatively, it may have a function of removing a predetermined low frequency component. The drift of the output of the potentiometer 14 can be eliminated, and when the postures of the two robot phones do not match (for example, when two users try to put the same arm in different states), the motor 13a keeps moving forever. You can avoid overloading.

Modification of Embodiment 3 of the Invention. In FIG. 12, the filter 42 is provided at the output of the robot 10,
The filter 42 may be provided at the input of the position command unit 21. This example is shown in FIG. In this example, the band of the signal fed back from the other party is limited.

For example, between robot phones designed and adjusted to operate optimally when the communication band has a predetermined width, when the communication band is wider than the predetermined width, the filter 42 outputs the input signal as it is. When the communication band is narrower than the predetermined width, only the signal within the bandwidth available for the filter 42 is extracted.

Similarly, the filter 42 may have a filter function unrelated to the control by the communication band.

By the way, in the embodiment of the invention described above, the well-known bilateral control is adopted as the control of the robot phone. In the known bilateral control, position information (absolute value) was sent. However, unlike general bilateral control, it is not necessary to match the positions of both arms and legs in a robot phone. Therefore,
Instead of sending the absolute value of the position information, the difference (change amount) can be sent. In this case, as a result, the postures of the arms and legs do not match between the robot phones, but there is no problem in causing the other person to perform a motion of shaking the head or a motion of moving the arms or legs.

When the difference is sent as the position information, it is conceivable that the absolute position errors of the arms, legs, etc. are accumulated between the communicating robot phones, and eventually the postures of the two become completely different. Therefore, reset processing is performed at an appropriate time, and the positions of arms, legs, etc. are initialized (default).
It is desirable to return to. There are the following reset methods.・ Returns to the default position when left for a predetermined time.・ Reset at power on.

In the above description, the robot phone has been described as an interface (for example, a telephone) for bidirectional communication using the same device. The robot phone is not limited to this and may be connected to different types of devices. For example, the other party may be a computer. More generally, the robotic phone can be used as a doll-shaped force feedback device. For example, the robot phone can be used as an input / output interface of a game computer with a size that can be operated by hand. During play, the robot phone moves and its posture changes due to the movement of the character in the game and the influence of the environment. As a result, the movement of the character in the game is fed back to the player. Robotphone is a doll
Since it is an animal type, it can be used universally. For example, by letting the robot phone take a posture as if holding a steering wheel of an automobile and operating the arm in this state, the steering wheel operation information is given to the game computer, and conversely the arm is operated by the game computer. Can express the force and movement applied to the steering wheel.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention. It goes without saying that this is what is done.

Further, in the present specification, the means (unit) does not necessarily mean a physical means, but also includes the case where the function of each means is realized by software. Further, the function of one means may be realized by two or more physical means, or the functions of two or more means may be realized by one physical means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a robot phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a usage pattern of the robot phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the robot phone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a control system of the robot phone according to the embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the robot according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the control system according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the control system according to the first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a robot according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing another example of the robot according to the second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of the control system according to the third embodiment of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Robot Phone 2 Communication Line (Communication Network) 10 Robot 11 Microphone 12 Speaker 13 Drive Mechanism Including Servo Motor and Planetary Gear Reducer 14 Position Detector (Potentiometer) 15 Processor 16 Communication Connection (Modem) 17 Snake-type Robot Phone 20 adder / subtractor 21 position command section 40 communication state monitoring section 41 data complementing section 42 filter 101 circuit breaker 102 torque limiter 103 torque detector 104 brake 105 impedance generating section

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Ichiro Kawabuchi             3-1-9 Shin Kamata Green, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Corp 203 (72) Inventor Naoki Kawakami             No. 9 Carpenter's Town, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture (72) Inventor ▲ Tachi ▼ ▲ Adv. ▼             2-31-14 Umezono, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture F-term (reference) 2C150 BB01 CA02 DA23 DF03 DK01                       EB01 EC20 ED43 EF29 EF36                 3C007 AS36 BS09 BS17 JS07 JT05                       KS13 KS16 KS27 KS33 KS38                       KS39 KS40 LV02 MS00 MT14                       MT15 WA04 WC06 WC15                 5K101 KK11 KK19 LL00 NN07 NN12                       NN36 NN37

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. Used as a user interface,
A robot including a movable part in a part of a body, comprising a drive part for driving the movable part, a position information sensor for acquiring position information of the movable part, and a blocking part for stopping the movement of the drive part. A robot including, and a communication connection part, wherein the communication connection part transmits a signal indicating the position of the movable part from the position information sensor to the other side via a communication line, and the other side transmits the movable part. And sends it to the drive unit, the drive unit drives the movable unit based on the received position information, the communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line, and A robot phone, wherein when an abnormality is found in the above, the shutoff unit is operated to stop the movement of the drive unit. 2. The communication connection unit, the communication line is disconnected, no data is received within a predetermined time, a command is sent to the other party but a reply has not been received within a certain time, and noise is abnormal. A large state, a signal-to-noise ratio is significantly deteriorated, the carrier cannot be detected when the signal is modulated, an abnormally large number of data errors are detected, and obviously abnormal data is detected. The robot phone according to claim 1, wherein the communication line is determined to be abnormal when any of the above is met. 3. The robot phone according to claim 1, wherein the robot includes a limiter that limits the driving force of the driving unit to a predetermined value or less. 4. The communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line, and when a loss of communication data is found, complements the data based on communication data before and / or after.
The robot phone according to claim 1, wherein: 5. Used as a user interface,
A robot including a movable part in a part of a body, a drive part for driving the movable part, a position information sensor for acquiring position information of the movable part, and an impedance varying means for changing impedance of the movable part. And a communication connection part, wherein the communication connection part transmits a signal indicating the position of the movable part from the position information sensor to a partner side via a communication line, and the partner side moves the movable part. Receiving position information corresponding to the unit to send it to the drive unit, the drive unit drives the movable unit based on the received position information, the communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line, A signal indicating that state is sent to the impedance varying means,
A robot phone, wherein the impedance of the movable part is changed. 6. The communication connection unit enables the movable unit to move smoothly when the band of the communication line can be secured, and conversely, when the band cannot be secured, the impedance of the movable unit is increased to allow quick movement. The robot phone according to claim 5, wherein the robot phone is controlled so that it cannot be input. 7. The communication connection unit determines the type of the communication line of the other party based on the information at the time of connection, determines the communication band according to the result of the determination, and determines the communication band of the movable unit according to the communication band. The robot phone according to claim 6, wherein the impedance is changed. 8. The communication connection unit determines a communicable band by monitoring an error rate and / or a signal-to-noise ratio during communication, and changes the impedance of the movable unit according to the band. The robot phone according to claim 6, wherein: 9. The robot phone according to claim 5, wherein the impedance varying means changes the impedance of the movable portion by a mechanical mechanism provided in the movable portion. 10. The robot phone according to claim 5, wherein the impedance changing unit changes the impedance of the movable unit by applying a predetermined control to the driving unit. 11. The robot according to claim 5, wherein when the band of the communication line is narrowed, the communication connection unit increases the impedance by the impedance changing unit to make it difficult to move the movable unit. phone. 12. A robot, which is used as a user interface and includes a movable part in a part of its body, including a drive part for driving the movable part, and a position information sensor for acquiring position information of the movable part. A robot, and a communication connection unit including a filter that limits a frequency of an input signal of the robot and / or an output signal of the robot, the communication connection unit including the filter from the position information sensor via a communication line. A signal indicating the position of the movable part is transmitted to the other side, position information corresponding to the movable part is received from the other side, and this is sent to the drive part, and the drive part is based on the received position information. The robot phone according to claim 1, wherein the communication connection unit monitors the state of the communication line and adjusts the characteristics of the filter according to the state. 13. The communication connecting section outputs the input signal of the filter as it is when the band of the communication line is wider than a predetermined band, and when the band of the communication line is narrow, the filter is a low-pass filter. 13. The robot phone according to claim 12, wherein the robot phone has a characteristic of a bandpass filter. 14. A filter for removing a signal having a frequency higher than a proper response speed of a system, wherein when the movable part is operated at a speed exceeding an allowable limit of the drive part,
13. The robot phone according to claim 12, wherein the operation is not fed back. 15. The robot phone according to claim 12, further comprising a filter for removing a DC component of the position information, so that the posture of the robot on its own side and the posture of the robot on the other side can be set to different states. 16. The robot phone according to claim 12, further comprising a filter for removing a predetermined low frequency component. 17. The signal indicating the position of the movable portion and / or the position information transmitted / received by the communication connection unit,
It is difference information, Claim 1 thru | or Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
6. The robot phone according to any one of 6 above. 18. The signal indicating the position of the movable part and / or the position information is set to a predetermined value when the movable part has not been moved for a predetermined time or more and / or when the power is turned on. The robot phone according to claim 17, wherein the movable part is set in a predetermined state.