JP5910209B2 - Robot control apparatus, robot system, robot control method, and robot control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot control device, a robot system, a robot control method, and a robot control program.

  Conventionally, various robots that communicate with users and perform operation services have been developed.

  For example, there is known a communication robot system that detects a person's line of sight and moves the line of sight according to the detected person's line of sight. This communication robot system performs control to direct a line of sight to the position of the person's eyes or to deflect the line of sight when viewed by a person.

  There is also known a dialogue support device that includes a shielding plate that opens and closes in front of the camera and controls the screen as a pseudo eyelid. This dialogue support apparatus controls the direction of the camera and the opening / closing of the shielding plate according to the operation or communication operation of the subject.

JP 2007-181888 A JP 2011-33837 A

Yasuyuki Fukui, “Psychology of Manazashi”, Somotosha, June 1984, Chapter 4, p184, etc.

  By the way, as described in the non-patent document, it is known that a person who is not ready for communication tries to avoid matching his line of sight. Therefore, when the robot works on a user who is not ready for communication, the user may feel uncomfortable if the robot looks directly at the user.

  In the above conventional technique, no consideration is given to the operation when working from the robot side on a user who is not ready for communication.

  In one aspect, an object of the present invention is to perform control so as not to give discomfort to a user who is not ready for communication.

One aspect of the present invention is a robot control apparatus that controls a robot, wherein a sensor unit for detecting a user's behavior and output information of the sensor unit are referred to and the user intends to work on the robot. A determination unit that determines whether or not there is a first case where the determination unit determines that the user has an intention to work on the robot; and the determination unit determines that the user works on the robot. in the case carried out by not the judged and the robot of the second performing alert to the user, and a control unit for controlling the drive unit of the robot in a different control mode, the robot, the pseudo The control unit controls the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eyes in different control modes in the first case and the second case, and Pseudo The control of the driving unit of the robot related to the above includes the control of the eye lid driving unit that drives the pseudo eye lid of the robot, and the control unit is configured to control the pseudo eye in the second case. In the robot control device, the lid driving unit is controlled such that the blinking frequency of the lid is higher than that in the first case .

  According to one embodiment, control can be performed so as not to give discomfort to a user who is not ready for communication.

It is an external appearance structural example of the robot 100 which the robot control apparatus 1 which concerns on one Example of this invention controls. 2 is a hardware configuration example showing a part of the robot control device 1 and the robot 100. It is an example of the flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed by the robot control apparatus 1 of a present Example. It is an example of the flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed by the robot control apparatus 1 of a present Example. It is the figure which compared the timing when an eye opening instruction | indication and an eye closing instruction | indication are made in 1st control mode and 2nd control mode. It is the figure which compared the eyelid opening degree instruct | indicated to the eyelid drive parts 103A and 103B in the 1st control mode and the 2nd control mode.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, a robot control device, a robot system, a robot control method, and a robot control program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Constitution]
FIG. 1 is an external configuration example of a robot 100 controlled by a robot control apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The robot 100 includes pseudo eyes 101A and 101B, pseudo eyelids 102A and 102B, eyelid drive units 103A and 103B, a head drive unit 105, a right hand drive unit 110, and a left hand drive unit 112. A right foot drive unit 114 and a left foot drive unit 116.

  The pseudo eyes 101 </ b> A and 101 </ b> B may be a so-called camera eye with a built-in camera, or may be a design that simulates a simple eye. Hereinafter, the pseudo eyes 101A and 101B and the pseudo eyelids 102A and 102B are simply referred to as eyes 101A and 101B and eyelids 102A and 102B.

  The eyes 101A and 101B and the eyelids 102A and 102B do not have to be mechanical mechanisms, and may be eyes or eyelids displayed on the screen. In this case, a display device or a projection device is attached to the robot 100 on the face or the eye, and the eyelid drive unit is a virtual drive unit that performs display control of the display device or the projection device.

  The eyelid driving units 103A and 103B drive the eyelids 102A and 102B to open and close. Further, the head driving unit 105 rotates the head of the robot 100, for example, in the horizontal direction or drives it in the front-rear direction. The other driving units drive each part of the robot 100 in a desired direction. Each drive unit is, for example, a servo motor.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration example showing a part of the robot controller 1 and the robot 100. The robot control apparatus 1 includes a sensor input board 10, a communication LAN board 12, a CPU 20, a program memory 30, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 32, a drive control board 40, and an audio output board 50. The robot control device 1 may be built in the robot 100 or may be a separate device connected to the robot 100 by communication.

  The robot 100 includes a camera sensor 120, a touch sensor 122, a sound acquisition unit 124, an external interface 126, a distance sensor 128, and a speaker 130 in addition to the components shown in FIG.

  Various information is input to the sensor input board 10 from the camera sensor 120, the touch sensor 122, the sound acquisition unit 124, the external interface 126, and the distance sensor 128. The camera sensor 120 is attached to an arbitrary position of the robot 100, and detects, for example, the user's line of sight or face orientation. The touch sensor 122 is, for example, a pressure sensor or a capacitance sensor attached to the outer surface of the robot 100, and can detect that the user has touched the robot 100. The voice acquisition unit 124 collects voices spoken by the user and outputs them as voice data. The external interface 126 includes various devices that function as an interface between the user and the robot 100, for example. The distance sensor 128 is a radar device such as an ultrasonic radar or a laser radar, and measures the distance between the robot 100 and the user. The distance sensor 128 may be integrated with the camera sensor 120, and may measure the distance between the robot 100 and the user based on the principle of a stereo camera, for example.

  The communication LAN board 12 connects, for example, the robot control device 1 and a network such as the Internet, and transmits and receives various information to and from devices connected to the network.

  The CPU 20 is a processor having, for example, a program counter, an instruction decoder, various arithmetic units, an LSU (Load Store Unit), a general-purpose register, and the like, and executes a program stored in the program memory 30. The program memory 30 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, a memory card, or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory). A program executed by the CPU 20 is installed in the program memory 30 when a portable storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory is mounted on the drive device. The The program executed by the CPU 20 is not limited to this, and the communication LAN board 12 may obtain the program from the network, or may be stored in the program memory 30 in advance when the robot control apparatus 1 is shipped. The RAM 32 is used as a working memory by the CPU 20.

  The CPU 20 includes a user will determination unit 22, a control mode determination unit 24, and an operation control unit 26 as functional blocks that function by executing a program stored in the program memory 30. The “determination unit” in the claims corresponds to, for example, the user will determination unit 22, and the “control unit” corresponds to, for example, the control mode determination unit 24.

  The user will determination unit 22 determines whether or not the user is willing to work on the robot 100 based on various information input to the sensor input board.

  The control mode determination unit 24 determines the control mode of the eyelid drive units 103A and 103B and the head drive unit 105 based on the determination result of the user will determination unit 22 and the presence / absence of normal notification from the robot 100. To do.

  The operation control unit 26 controls the operation of the robot 100 other than the control mode determined by the control mode determination unit 24. For example, the robot 100 has a function of providing information or performing an operation service while communicating with a user, and the operation control unit 26 performs various controls for realizing such a function.

  The drive control board 40 controls each drive unit in accordance with instructions from the control mode determination unit 24 and the operation control unit 26.

  The audio output board 50 controls the speaker 130 so as to output the audio having the content determined by the operation control unit 26.

[flowchart]
Hereinafter, control related to the eyes 101A and 101B of the robot 100, which is executed by the robot control apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, will be described. 3 and 4 are an example of a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the robot control apparatus 1 of the present embodiment.

  First, the user will determination unit 22 determines whether or not the user is willing to work on the robot 100 (S200 to S208; see FIG. 4).

  The user will determination unit 22 refers to the output information of the camera sensor 120 and determines whether or not the user is looking at the robot (S200). Whether or not the user is looking at the robot can be determined by analyzing the captured image of the camera sensor 120 and specifying the direction of the line of sight and the face direction. Since various techniques are already known for specifying the direction of the line of sight and the face direction by image analysis, a description thereof will be omitted.

  When it is determined that the user is looking at the robot, the user will determination unit 22 determines that the user has a will to work on the robot (S202).

  When it is determined that the user is not looking at the robot, the user will determination unit 22 refers to the output information of the distance sensor 128 and determines whether or not the distance between the user and the robot 100 is equal to or less than a threshold value. (S204). When the distance between the user and the robot 100 is equal to or less than the threshold, the user will determination unit 22 determines whether the touch sensor 122 or the voice acquisition unit 124 has reacted within a certain time (S206).

  When the distance between the user and the robot 100 is equal to or smaller than the threshold value and the touch sensor 122 or the voice acquisition unit 124 reacts within a certain time, the user will determination unit 22 determines that the user has the will to work on the robot. (S202).

  On the other hand, when the distance between the user and the robot 100 exceeds the threshold value, or when the touch sensor 122 or the voice acquisition unit 124 does not react within a certain time, the user will determination unit 22 determines whether the user will work on the robot. It is determined that there is no (S208).

  When the user will determination unit 22 determines that the user is willing to work on the robot, the control mode determination unit 24 controls the head driving unit 105 so as to direct the line of sight to the user, and the eye lid driving unit 103A and 103B are controlled in the first control mode (S210). The first control mode is a control mode in which attention to the user is increased compared to a second control mode described later. Details of the control mode will be described later.

  Here, before describing the processing after S210, processing when it is determined that the user does not intend to work on the robot will be described.

  When the user will determination unit 22 determines that the user does not intend to work on the robot, the control mode determination unit 24 determines whether or not the operation control unit 26 is about to make an emergency notification to the user. (S212).

  When an emergency notification to the user is about to be performed by the operation control unit 26, the control mode determination unit 24 controls the head driving unit 105 so as to direct the line of sight to the user, and the eye lid driving units 103A and 103B. Are controlled in the first control mode (S214). Then, the operation control unit 26 controls the audio output board 50 and the speaker 130 so as to make an emergency notification (S216).

  In addition, although the head drive unit 105 is illustrated as a configuration for realizing directing or deflecting the line of sight to the user, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, a pseudo eyeball expressing black eyes and white eyes is rotationally driven. You may provide a drive part.

  When the operation control unit 26 is not about to make an emergency notification to the user, the control mode determination unit 24 determines whether or not the operation control unit 26 is about to make a normal notification to the user (S218). ). When normal notification to the user is about to be performed by the operation control unit 26, the control mode determination unit 24 refers to the output information of the distance sensor 128 and determines whether or not the distance between the user and the robot 100 is equal to or less than a threshold value. Is determined (S220). The threshold value in S220 may be the same as or different from the threshold value in S204 described above.

  When a positive determination is obtained in S218 and S220, the control mode determination unit 24 controls the head driving unit 105 so as to direct the line of sight to the user, and sets the eyelid driving units 103A and 103B to the second control mode. (S222).

  The second control mode is a control mode in which the degree of appeal to the user is weaker than that in the first control mode. FIG. 5 is a diagram comparing timings at which an eye opening instruction and an eye closing instruction are made in the first control mode and the second control mode. FIG. 5A shows the timing at which an eye opening instruction and an eye closing instruction are made in the first control mode, and FIG. 5B shows the timing at which an eye opening instruction and an eye closing instruction are made in the second control mode. As shown in the figure, in the second control mode, the eyelid drive units 103A and 103B are instructed in the order of eye opening → eye closing → eye opening (that is, blinking is instructed) as compared to the first control mode. It is high. In the second control mode, the period during which an eye-closing instruction is given (eye-closing period) is longer than that in the first control mode in one blink.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram comparing eyelid opening degrees instructed to the eyelid drive units 103A and 103B in the first control mode and the second control mode. FIG. 6A shows a change in eyelid opening degree instructed to the eyelid driving units 103A and 103B in the first control mode, and FIG. 6B shows an eyelid driving unit in the second control mode. The change of the eyelid opening degree instruct | indicated to 103A, 103B is shown. As shown in the drawing, in the second control mode, the maximum value of the eyelid opening is set to 60%, for example, and this maximum value is smaller than that in the first control mode. Further, in the second control mode, the change in the eyelid opening per hour (= the eyelid speed) is more gradual than in the first control mode.

  In addition, in the second control mode, the control mode determination unit 24 sets the head driving unit 105 so that the period in which the user looks at the user is an intermittent period, for example, and is shorter than that in the first control mode. You may control.

  With these control settings, in the second control mode, the user can be watched to such an extent that the user does not feel the discomfort that the user is watching too much. As a result, attention can be directed to the robot 100 without causing discomfort to a user who is not ready for communication.

  In addition, in the second control mode, the control mode determination unit 24 makes the drive speeds of not only the eyelid drive units 103A and 103B but also the other drive units 105 to 116 gentler than the first control mode. Also good. In addition, the control mode determination unit 24 does not change the control of the eyelid driving units 103A and 103B and the head driving unit 105 in the second control mode, but simply performs an operation such as waving a hand to call attention. May be performed.

  When the control mode determination unit 24 is set to control the eyelid drive units 103A and 103B in the second control mode, the control mode determination unit 24 sets the notification flag to ON (S224). The notification flag is a flag stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 32, for example. Here, the operation control unit 26 waits without performing normal notification.

  If it is determined in the next routine of the flowchart that the user is willing to work on the robot 100, it is determined whether or not the notification flag is set to ON after the processing of S210 (S226). When the notification flag is set to ON, the operation control unit 26 performs normal notification to the user.

  As a result, when normal notification to the user is about to be performed by the operation control unit 26, the user is first alerted in the second control mode, and then the user looks at the robot 100 or the like. Later, the normal notification is actually performed. In other words, when the user works from the robot 100 side, the control is performed such that after the user is alerted to the extent that the user does not feel uncomfortable, the actual work is performed. Thereby, the discomfort that the robot 100 can give to the user is suppressed, and the robot 100 that is easy for the user to provide can be provided.

  In addition, when negative determination is obtained in either S218 or S220, the control mode determination unit 24 controls the head driving unit 105 so as to shift the line of sight from the user (S230).

[Summary]
The robot control apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment described above can control the robot 100 so as not to cause discomfort to a user who is not ready for communication.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. And substitutions can be added.

Regarding the above description, the following items are further disclosed.
(Appendix 1)
A robot control device for controlling a robot,
A sensor unit for detecting user behavior;
A determination unit that refers to output information of the sensor unit and determines whether or not a user has an intention to work on the robot;
In the first case where the determination unit determines that the user is willing to work on the robot, the determination unit determines that the user is not working on the robot, and the robot A control unit that controls the driving unit of the robot in a different control mode in the second case of alerting the user;
A robot control device comprising:
(Appendix 2)
The robot has pseudo eyes;
The control unit controls the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eyes in different control modes in the first case and the second case.
The robot control apparatus according to appendix 1.
(Appendix 3)
Control of the drive unit of the robot related to the pseudo eye includes control of an eye lid drive unit that drives a pseudo eye lid of the robot,
The robot control device according to attachment 2.
(Appendix 4)
The control unit controls the eye lid drive unit in the second case so that the blink frequency of the pseudo eye lid is higher than that in the first case.
The robot control device according to attachment 3.
(Appendix 5)
The control unit controls the eye lid driving unit in the second case so that a period during which the pseudo eye lid is closed is longer than that in the first case.
The robot controller according to appendix 3 or 4.
(Appendix 6)
The control unit controls the eye lid driving unit in the second case so that the maximum opening of the pseudo eye lid is smaller than that in the first case.
The robot control device according to any one of appendices 3 to 5.
(Appendix 7)
In the second case, the control unit controls the driving unit of the robot so that a period in which the pseudo eyes are directed toward the user is shorter than that in the first case. Do,
The robot control device according to any one of appendices 1 to 6.
(Appendix 8)
The robot control device according to any one of appendices 1 to 7,
The robot controlled by the robot controller;
A robot system comprising:
(Appendix 9)
The robot controller that controls the robot
Refer to the output information of the sensor unit for detecting the user's behavior, determine whether the user is willing to work on the robot,
In the first case where it is determined that the user is willing to work on the robot by the determining process, the robot is determined not to work on the robot by the determining process, and the robot In the second case of alerting the user, the drive unit of the robot is controlled in a different control mode.
Robot control method.
(Appendix 10)
In a robot control device that controls a robot with pseudo eyes,
Refer to the output information of the sensor unit for detecting the user's behavior, to determine whether the user has the will to work on the robot,
In the first case where it is determined that the user is willing to work on the robot by the determining process, the robot is determined not to work on the robot by the determining process, and the robot In the second case of alerting the user, the control of the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eyes is performed in a different control mode.
Robot control program.

1 Robot control device 10 Sensor input board 12 Communication LAN board 20 CPU
22 user will determination unit 24 control mode determination unit 26 operation control unit 30 program memory 32 RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 40 Drive control board 50 Audio | voice output board 100 Robot 101A, 101B Pseudo eyes 102A, 102B Pseudo eyes 103A, 103B Eye cover drive part 105 Head drive part

Claims (7)

A robot control device for controlling a robot,
A sensor unit for detecting user behavior;
A determination unit that refers to output information of the sensor unit and determines whether or not a user has an intention to work on the robot;
In the first case where the determination unit determines that the user is willing to work on the robot, the determination unit determines that the user is not working on the robot, and the robot A control unit that controls the driving unit of the robot in a different control mode in the second case of alerting the user;
Equipped with a,
The robot has pseudo eyes;
The control unit controls the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eye in different control modes in the first case and the second case,
The control of the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eye includes control of an eye lid driving unit that drives a pseudo eye lid of the robot,
The control unit controls the eye lid drive unit in the second case so that the blink frequency of the pseudo eye lid is higher than that in the first case.
Robot control device. The control unit controls the eye lid driving unit in the second case so that a period during which the pseudo eye lid is closed is longer than that in the first case.
The robot control apparatus according to claim 1 . The control unit controls the eye lid driving unit in the second case so that the maximum opening of the pseudo eye lid is smaller than that in the first case.
The robot control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 . In the second case, the control unit controls the driving unit of the robot so that a period in which the pseudo eyes are directed toward the user is shorter than that in the first case. Do,
The robot control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . The robot control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The robot controlled by the robot controller;
A robot system comprising: The robot controller that controls the robot
Refer to the output information of the sensor unit for detecting the user's behavior, determine whether the user is willing to work on the robot,
In the first case where it is determined that the user is willing to work on the robot by the determining process, the robot is determined not to work on the robot by the determining process, and the robot There in the case of the second performing alert to the user, with different control modes, have row control of the driving unit of the robot,
The robot has pseudo eyes;
The process of performing the control performs control of the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eyes in different control modes in the first case and the second case,
The control of the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eye includes control of an eye lid driving unit that drives a pseudo eye lid of the robot,
In the second case, the process of performing the control controls the eye lid driving unit so that the blinking frequency of the pseudo eye lid is higher than that in the first case.
Robot control method. To the robot controller that controls the robot,
Refer to the output information of the sensor unit for detecting the user's behavior, to determine whether the user has the will to work on the robot,
In the first case where it is determined that the user is willing to work on the robot by the determining process, the robot is determined not to work on the robot by the determining process, and the robot In the second case of alerting the user, the control of the driving unit of the robot is performed in a different control mode ,
The robot has pseudo eyes;
The process for performing the control causes the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eye to be controlled in different control modes in the first case and the second case,
The control of the driving unit of the robot related to the pseudo eye includes control of an eye lid driving unit that drives a pseudo eye lid of the robot,
In the second case, the process of performing the control causes the eyelid driving unit to be controlled so that the blinking frequency of the pseudo eyelid is higher than that in the first case.
Robot control program.

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