JP2006198017A - Robot toy - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot toy which achieves the effective expression of feelings along with the inexpensive building thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The robot toy is provided with the first light source capable of emitting light at least in two colors simultaneously or separately, five or more second light sources disposed surrounding the first light source, a memory for storing at least two kinds of feeling parameters making up the feelings and a control means for increasing or decreasing the values of the feeling parameters based on the operation inputs from outside. The control means makes the first and second light sources emit lights in the emission patterns corresponding to the combinations of the values of the individual feeling parameters. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot toy, and can be applied to a particularly inexpensive robot toy.

  In recent years, robot toys that generate user's emotions based on user's "striking" or "blowing" actions, the surrounding environment, etc., and expressing the generated emotions by the light emission patterns of the light emitting elements and music etc. Proposed and commercialized (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  For example, in Japanese Patent No. 3277500, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) having a shape and emission color corresponding to the emotion for expressing the emotion of “joy” or “anger” is arranged on the head of the robot toy. In addition, it is disclosed that this is covered with a translucent cover so that it can be seen from the outside only during light emission, and these LEDs are driven to blink according to the emotion of the robot toy.

In addition, in this patent No. 3277500, a large number of light-emitting elements are arranged in a matrix instead of LEDs having shapes and light-emitting colors corresponding to emotions of “joy” and “anger”, and these light-emitting elements are selectively used. It is also disclosed to express the emotion of a robot toy by blinking.
Japanese Patent No. 3277500

  By the way, when expressing the emotion of the robot toy with the light emission pattern of the light emitting element, as described above, there are many more than preparing LEDs having shapes and emission colors according to various emotions such as “joy” and “anger”. It is possible to express emotions with various light emission patterns by adopting a method in which the light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix and these are selectively driven to blink according to emotions.

  However, with inexpensive robot toys, it is difficult to arrange the light emitting elements in a matrix, and the emotions of the robot toys are effectively expressed by the light emitting pattern of the light emitting elements within the limited cost. A device that can be used is necessary. If the emotion of the robot toy can be effectively expressed by the light emission pattern of the light emitting element as described above, it is considered that the user's interest in the robot toy can be improved and the commercial value as a “toy” can be improved.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a robot toy that can effectively express emotions while being constructed at low cost.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a robot toy according to the present invention includes a first light source capable of emitting light of at least two colors simultaneously or individually, and five or more second light sources arranged around the first light source. , A memory for storing at least two types of emotion parameters constituting the emotion, and a control means for increasing or decreasing the value of the emotion parameter based on an external operation input. The first and / or second light source is caused to emit light with a light emission pattern corresponding to a combination of values.

  According to the present invention, various emotional expressions can be performed with a small number of light sources, and thus emotional expressions can be effectively performed while being constructed at low cost.

  Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1) Configuration of Robot Toy FIG. 1 shows a robot toy 1 according to the present embodiment. This robot toy 1 has an external shape resembling a state where an animal such as a dog is sitting as a whole. That is, the robot toy 1 has a head connected to a shaft extending in the vertical direction from the front end of the body 2 so that the ears 4A and 4B can be moved on the left and right sides of the upper end of the head 3, respectively. Is attached. In addition, rounded rod-shaped forefoot portions 5A and 5B are connected to the front end portions of the left and right side surfaces of the body portion 2 so as to be movable by hand, and the rear end portions of the left and right side surfaces of the body portion 2 are Projecting rear foot portions 6A and 6B each shorter than the front foot portion are formed integrally with the body portion 2. Further, a joystick-shaped tail switch 7 is movably attached in the vicinity of the rear end portion of the upper surface of the body portion 2.

  The body part 2 is formed in a rounded rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole, and as shown in FIG. 2, a control part 10, a motor drive part 11 and a sound amplifier for controlling the operation of the entire robot toy 1 are provided therein. A substrate 13 on which the portion 12 and the like are formed, and devices such as a microphone 14 and a speaker 15 are accommodated. In addition, an earphone jack is disposed on one rear foot portion 6B of the body portion 2.

  The head 3 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is flatter than the body portion 2 as a whole, and a motor 22 is driven by a device such as an optical sensor 20 and an LED display portion 21 having a plurality of LEDs. A drive mechanism 34 (FIG. 3), which will be described later, for driving the head 3 and the ears 4A and 4B is housed as a source. Further, a head switch 23 that is a push switch is disposed at the upper end of the head 3, and a nose switch 24 that is a push switch is disposed at the nose position of the head 3. As for the robot toy 1 as a whole, the front legs 5A and 5B are longer than the rear legs 6A and 6B, so that one surface of the head 3 faces obliquely upward with respect to the placement surface, and LED display is provided on this surface. By arranging the display surface of the unit 21, it is possible to make it easy for the user to see the display.

  The microphone 14 of the body unit 2 collects ambient sounds and sends the obtained audio signal S1 to the control unit 10. The optical sensor 20 of the head 3 detects ambient brightness and sends the detection result to the control unit 10 as a brightness detection signal S2. Furthermore, the tail switch 7, the head switch 23, and the nose switch 24 detect physical actions such as “depress” or “push” given by the user, and the detection results are sent to the control unit 10 as operation detection signals S3A to S3C. Send it out. Note that the control unit 10 is also given an audio signal S4 supplied from an external acoustic device via the earphone jack 16.

  The control unit 10 has a microcomputer configuration including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10A, a memory 10B, an analog / digital conversion circuit 10C, etc., and an audio signal S1 from the microphone 14 and a brightness detection signal S2 from the optical sensor 20. Then, based on the operation detection signals S3A to S3C from the tail switch 7, the head switch 23, and the nose switch 24, the surrounding situation and presence / absence of an action from the user are recognized.

  Then, the control unit 10 sends the motor drive signal S4 to the motor drive unit 11 to drive the motor 22 based on the recognition result and the program stored in the memory 10B in advance, thereby driving the head of the robot toy 1. 3 is tilted, and the operation of opening and closing the ears 4A and 4B is developed. Further, the control unit 10 outputs a sound or music based on the audio signal S5 from the speaker 15 by giving a predetermined audio signal S5 to the speaker 15 via the sound amplifier unit 12 as necessary, or the LED display unit 21. Is supplied with a predetermined drive signal S6, thereby causing the LED of the LED display unit 21 to blink in a predetermined light emission pattern.

  A specific configuration of the head 3 is shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 3, the head 3 of the robot toy 1 includes a first housing half 30 that forms an appearance shape on the back side of the head 3, and a front side of the head 3. The inside of a housing composed of a second housing half 31 that forms an external shape and U-shaped first and second housing side members 32 that form the left and right side surfaces of the head 3, respectively. The drive mechanism 34, the cover 35 of the drive mechanism 34, the LED display 21, the light leakage prevention member 36, and the filter cover 37 are housed so as to be sequentially stacked in the front direction indicated by the arrow a. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the drive mechanism 34, a worm gear (not shown) is attached to the output shaft of the motor 22, and this worm gear is geared via a gear 40 and a gear 41 that is coaxially and integrally formed with the gear 40. 42 is engaged. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a movable member 45 having a weight 44 attached to one end is rotatably attached to the shaft body 43 to which the gear 42 is attached, and the other end of the movable member 45 is attached. A pendulum gear 46 that is rotatably attached to the side meshes with a gear 47 that is coaxial with and integrally formed with the gear 42. Further, on both the left and right sides of the pendulum gear 46, first or second coupling gears 48 and 49 are arranged so that the movable member 45 can mesh with the pendulum gear 46 when rotated around the shaft body 43, respectively. Has been.

  Thereby, in the drive mechanism 34, when the motor 22 is driven forward, the rotational force is transmitted to the gear 47 via the gear train from the worm gear attached to the output shaft of the motor 22 to the gear 42. Based on the rotational force, the gear 47 integrally rotates with the pendulum gear 46 to rotate the movable member 45 in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4 so that the pendulum gear 46 can be engaged with the first connecting gear 48. When the motor 22 is driven in reverse, the gear 47 rotates the movable member 45 in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. 4 based on the rotational force, thereby engaging the pendulum gear 46 with the second connecting gear 49. It is made to be able to.

  In this case, the first connecting gear 48 meshes with the first cam gear 50, and a cam 50A having a predetermined shape is formed on the lower surface side of the first cam gear 50 as shown in FIG. Yes. The cam 50A is fitted in the engagement hole 51A of the elevating member 51 as shown in FIG. 7, which is movably arranged up and down as indicated by the arrow b in FIG. 4, thus rotating the first cam gear 50. By doing so, the elevating member 51 can be moved up and down by the cam 50A.

  Further, as is clear from FIG. 7, the upper end portion of the elevating / lowering member 51 is located at a symmetrical position with respect to the shaft body 52 (FIG. 4) implanted in the first housing half 30. The first and second shaft bodies 53A and 53B are implanted, and as shown in FIG. 4, the ear driving member 54 is attached to the first and second shaft bodies 53A and 53B.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the ear drive member 54 connects the base portions of the tweezers-shaped first and second spring portions 60 </ b> A and 60 </ b> B made of an elastic material integrally and flexibly through the cylindrical portion 61. It is formed by doing. The ear driving member 54 has the holes 62AX and 62BX of the first and second engaging portions 62A and 62B respectively disposed in the vicinity of the root portions of the first and second spring portions 60A and 60B. The lift member 51 is attached to the lift member 51 so as to be fitted to the corresponding first or second shaft body 53A, 53B and the cylindrical portion 61 to be fitted to the shaft body 52.

  As a result, in the drive mechanism section 34, when the elevating member 51 is driven to move up and down, the first and second shaft bodies 53A and 53B of the elevating member 51 move in the vertical direction with respect to the shaft body 52. The first and second spring portions 60A and 60B can be driven to open and close integrally with the first and second engaging portions 62A and 62B of the ear driving member 54.

  Further, the first and second spring portions 60A and 60B of the ear drive member 54 are fitted with the lower ends of the corresponding ear portions 4A and 4B, respectively, and the ear portions 4A and 4B are respectively located near the lower ends. The first housing half 30 is pivotally supported on both the left and right sides of the upper end, thus opening and closing the ears 4A and 4B in conjunction with the opening and closing operations of the first and second spring parts 60A and 60B of the ear driving member 54. It can be driven.

  Thus, in the drive mechanism 34, when the motor 22 is driven to rotate forward, the pendulum gear 46 (FIG. 5) meshes with the first connecting gear 48, and the rotation output of the motor 22 is output to the first cam gear 50. The cam 50A of the first cam gear 50 raises and lowers the elevating member 51 based on this rotational output, and opens and closes the first and second spring portions 60A and 60B of the ear driving member 54, thereby The parts 4A and 4B can be operated to open and close.

  On the other hand, the second connecting gear 49 meshes with the second cam gear 63, and a cam having a predetermined shape is formed on the lower surface side of the second cam gear 63 as shown in FIG. 63A is formed. Further, two parallel arm portions 65 </ b> A and 65 </ b> B of a bifurcated member 65 that is further fixed to the shaft body 64 that is fixed to the body portion 2 extend below the second cam gear 63. The cam 63A of the second cam gear 63 is fitted between the two arm portions 65A and 65B of the bifurcated member 65.

  As a result, in the drive mechanism 34, when the motor 22 is driven in reverse, the pendulum gear 46 (FIG. 5) meshes with the second connecting gear 49, and the rotation output of the motor 22 is transferred to the second cam gear 63. The cam 63A of the second cam gear 63 pushes the arm portions 65A and 65B of the bifurcated member 65 based on this rotational output, as shown in FIGS. Can be operated so as to swing in the left-right direction around the shaft body 64. The forward rotation and reverse rotation of the motor 22 may be rotations in the reverse direction with respect to a certain rotation direction. The forward rotation and the reverse rotation are limited to clockwise rotation or counterclockwise rotation, respectively. It is not a thing.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the LED display unit 21 is configured by arranging seven LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> G on a substrate 66 in a predetermined positional relationship. The positional relationship between the seven LEDs 21A to 21G and the respective emission colors will be described later.

  The light leakage prevention member 36 is formed using, for example, a black resin material or rubber material that does not transmit light, and is attached so as to be in close contact with the substrate 66 of the LED display unit 21. The pressing portion 24A and the contact portion 24B of the nose switch 24 are fixed to the lower end portion of the light leakage prevention member 36.

  The light leakage prevention member 36 is provided with a total of seven holes 36A to 36G corresponding to the respective LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display portion 21, and thus the light leakage prevention member 36 is provided with the LED display portion 21. When attached to the substrate 66, the corresponding LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display section 21 can be exposed to the filter cover 37 side through the holes 36A to 36G, respectively.

  Further, the thickness of the light leakage prevention member 36 is set to the same size as the gap from the substrate 66 of the LED display unit 21 to the filter cover 37, so that each of the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> G of the LED display unit 21 is fired. The light can be emitted in the direction of the filter cover 37 without being mixed with the light emitted from the other LEDs 21A to 21G.

  Further, the filter cover 37 is formed using a translucent resin material, and the second housing half 31 is formed using a transparent resin article, whereby the LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 are formed. When the LEDs are turned off, the LEDs 21A to 21G are not recognized from the outside (not visible), and when the LEDs 21A to 21G are turned on, the LEDs 21A to 21G can be recognized from the outside as shown in FIG. The light emitted from 21G can be seen). Further, by providing the filter cover 37 in this way, when the LEDs 21A to 21G are lit, only the portions of the lit LEDs 21A to 21G are not pinpointed brightly, and correspondingly provided on the light leakage prevention member 36. Light can be diffused so that the entire shape of the holes 36A to 36G has uniform brightness.

  In this case, the filter cover 37 is formed in white so that the light emitted from the LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 visible from the outside through the filter cover 37 is not blurred by the filter cover 37. It is designed so that it can be slightly raised.

(2) Emotional expression of robot toy (2-1) Emotional expression of robot toy Next, the emotional expression of the robot toy 1 will be described. In this robot toy 1, the control unit 10 (FIG. 2) generates the emotion of the robot toy 1 at that time based on the content of the user's action and the presence / absence of the action, and according to the type and degree of the emotion An emotion expression function for expressing the emotion of the robot toy 1 at that time is mounted by blinking the LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 with the light emission pattern.

  FIG. 11 shows the arrangement relationship of the LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 used for expressing the emotion of the robot toy 1 as described above. As is clear from FIG. 11, in the LED display unit 21, one LED 21A is arranged at a predetermined position on the center line in the width direction of the head 3, and the LED 21A is concentrically centered on the LED 21A. The remaining six LEDs 21 </ b> B to 21 </ b> G are arranged at equal distances and at equal intervals. That is, the surrounding six LEDs 21B to 21G are arranged in a positional relationship such that they are located at the respective vertex positions of a regular hexagon centering on the central LED 21A.

  Among these, as the central LED 21A, one that can emit three colors of green, red, and blue simultaneously or separately is used. In addition, as the other surrounding LEDs 21B to 12G, those capable of emitting two colors of green and red simultaneously or separately are used. Accordingly, the surrounding LEDs 21B to 12G can be made to emit orange light by simultaneously lighting two colors of green and red.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the emotion of the robot toy 1 is defined by two parameters (hereinafter referred to as emotion parameters) respectively representing “excitement level” and “love level”. These two emotion parameters are held in the memory 10B and take values in the range of “−8” to “8”, respectively.

  The emotion parameters “excitement level” and “love level” are both 0 or positive and the emotions “joy” and “love” are associated with each other, and the emotion parameter value of “love level” is 0. Alternatively, the emotions “normal” and “calmness” are associated with the range in which the emotion parameter value of “excitement level” is negative and negative.

  In addition, emotional values of “loneliness” and “depression” are associated with negative ranges of the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level”, and the emotion parameter value of “excitement level” is 0 or positive. Thus, emotions of “anger” and “dislike” are associated with a negative range of emotion parameter values of “love level”.

  Furthermore, the degree of emotion (emotion intensity) such as “joy” is expressed by the magnitude of the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level”. The larger the value, the greater the degree of emotion.

  Therefore, for example, when the values of the emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level” at a certain time are both “8”, the values of these emotion parameters are both positive. The emotional value of “joy” and “love” is held, and the values of these emotion parameters are both maximum values, indicating that the degree of emotion of “joy” and “love” is the maximum. It will be.

  Then, based on the operation detection signals S3A to S3C given from the tail switch 7, the head switch 23, and the nose switch 24, the control unit 10 “falls” the tail switch 7, the head switch 23, and the nose switch 24 from the user, or “ When the action “press” is given or when this action is not performed for a certain period of time, the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are increased or decreased within the range of “−8” to “8”. It is designed to change emotions.

  In this case, how to increase / decrease the emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level” in accordance with the user's action is predetermined. For example, when the nose switch 24 is pressed. When the emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level” are each increased by 1 and the head switch is pressed, the emotion parameter value of “excitement level” is decreased by 1 and “love” The value of the “level” emotion parameter is increased by one.

  Therefore, the user moves the emotion of the robot toy 1 to the emotions of “joy” and “love” by pressing the nose switch 24 of the robot toy 1, or the emotions of “joy” and “love”. The degree can be increased, and by pressing the head switch 23, the emotion of the robot toy 1 is shifted to the emotion of “normal” or “calm”, or the emotion of “normal” or “calm” The degree of can be increased.

  Further, when the tail switch 7 is swung, the control unit 10 increases the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” by 1 and increases the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” from “−8” to “−”. Reciprocate while increasing or decreasing by 1 within the range of 8 ”. Accordingly, the user swings the tail switch 7 of the robot toy 1 to change the emotion of the robot toy 1 into the feelings of “anger” and “dislike” and the feelings of “depression” and “loneliness”. It is possible to shift to either or increase the degree of emotion.

  Further, when the user is not given an action to “depress” or “push” the tail switch 7, the head switch 23 and the nose switch 24 for a certain period (for example, 30 seconds), the control unit 10 The value of each emotion parameter of the “love level” is decreased by one. Accordingly, at this time, the robot toy 1 shifts its own emotions to the emotions of “depression” and “loneliness”, and increases the degree of the emotions.

  When the control unit 10 changes the emotion parameter values of the emotion “excitement level” and “love level” in this way, the robot toy at that time determined by the two emotion parameter values after the change. In accordance with one emotion and its degree, each LED 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 is caused to blink with a light emission pattern corresponding to the emotion and the degree.

  In practice, when the control unit 10 changes the emotion parameter values of the “excitement level” and “love level” of the emotion as described above, the emotion parameters of the “excitement level” and “love level” at that time are changed. Is read from the memory 10B, and the two emotion parameter values thus read out are discriminated, so that the emotion of the robot toy 1 at that time is emotions of “joy” and “love” (“excitement level” and “love”). Level emotion parameters are both 0 or positive range) and emotions of “normal” and “calm” (“love level” emotion parameter value is 0 or positive, “excitement level” emotion parameter Is negative), feelings of "depression" and "lonely" (values of emotion parameters of "excitement level" and "love level" are both negative), "anger" and " (If the value is 0 or a positive emotion parameter of the "excitement level", the value of the emotion parameter of the "affection level" is negative) emotion that I "to determine whether corresponds to which of the and the.

  Then, the control unit 10 further determines the emotion level of the robot toy 1 by further discriminating the emotion parameter values of the “excitement level” and “love level”, and based on these determination results. By controlling the LED display unit 21, the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> G of the LED display unit 21 are blinked with a light emission pattern associated with the degree of emotion of the robot toy 1 at that time.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 12 </ b> G of the LED display unit 21 blink in any light emission pattern with respect to the combination of emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level”. It is determined in advance for all these light emission patterns, and at what timing the LEDs 21A to 21G are blinked in order to drive the LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 to blink according to the light emission patterns. The stored program (hereinafter referred to as the LED driving program) is stored in advance in the memory 10B.

  Then, after determining the emotion and the degree of the robot toy 1 as described above, the control unit 10 determines the LEDs 21A to 21G of the LED display unit 21 according to the LED driving program, Flashes in a light emission pattern according to the degree.

  As is apparent from FIG. 13, the light emission patterns of the LEDs 21A to 21G in the LED display unit 21 as shown in FIG. 14 are such that only the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G are rotated clockwise with respect to the central LED 21A. The LED 21B to 21G is based on a light emission pattern in which the LEDs 21B to 21G are sequentially turned on and off sequentially so as to blink one by one in the direction. Hereinafter, this light emission pattern is referred to as a basic light emission pattern.

  This basic light emission pattern is used as a light emission pattern expressing emotions other than “depressed” and “lonely”, and values of emotion parameters of “joy” and “love” (“excitement level” and “love level”). When the emotions are both positive, the corresponding LEDs 21B to 21G are driven to emit orange light, the emotion parameters of “normal” and “calm” (“excitement level”) are negative, and the emotion parameter of “love level” is 0. The corresponding LEDs 21B to 21G are driven to emit green light when the emotion is “or positive”, the emotion parameters of “anger” and “dislike” (“excited level”) are 0 or positive, and the emotion parameter of “love level” is When the value is negative, the corresponding LEDs 21B to 21G are driven to emit green light. When the emotion of the robot toy is “depressed” and “lonely” (values of emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level” are both negative), the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G do not emit light, and the central LED 21A Only driven to flash blue.

  Further, the light emission patterns of the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 1 </ b> G in the LED display unit 21 are “joy” and “love” emotions, “normal” and “calm” emotions, and “anger” and “dislike” emotions. In the case of feelings of “depression” and “loneliness”, the greater the degree of the emotion, the faster the light rotates, that is, the blinking cycle of the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G becomes faster. It is specified that the blinking cycle of the central LED 21A is faster as the degree of emotion is larger.

  Thus, in this robot toy 1, the emotion of the robot toy at that time can be visually recognized from the outside based on the emission colors of the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> G in the LED display unit 21, and the blinking speed of the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> D at this time Based on this, the degree of emotion can be visually recognized from the outside.

(2-2) Emotion Generation Expression Processing Procedure Here, the control unit 10 performs the above-described emotion generation processing of the robot toy 1 and the generated emotion expression processing (control processing of the LED display unit 21) as described above. Based on the drive program, it is executed according to the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 shown in FIG.

  That is, when the power of the robot toy 1 is turned on, the control unit 10 starts this emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 in step SP0, and in subsequent step SP1, the “love level” and “excitement” representing the emotion of the robot toy 1 The value of each emotion parameter of “level” is set to “0” which is an initial value.

  The control unit 10 then proceeds to step SP3, and has any of the head switch 23 (FIG. 2), the nose switch 24 (FIG. 2), and the tail switch 7 (FIG. 2) been pressed or swung. Judge whether or not. If the control unit 10 obtains a negative result in step SP3, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP4 to read a count value of an internal timer (not shown), and in step SP5, based on the count value read in step SP4, step SP2 The initial values are set for the emotion parameters of “love level” and “excitement level”, or any one of the head switch 23, nose switch 24 and tail switch 7 is pressed or swung first. It is determined whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) has elapsed.

  If the control unit 10 obtains a negative result in step SP5, it returns to step SP3, and thereafter repeats the loop of step SP3-SP4-SP5-SP3 until it obtains a positive result in step SP3 or step SP5.

  Then, when the user eventually obtains a positive result in step SP3 by pressing the head switch 23 of the robot toy 1, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP6 and performs the first emotion parameter change processing procedure RT2 shown in FIG. Accordingly, the value of each emotion parameter of the “love level” and “excitement level” of the emotion is changed.

  That is, when proceeding to step SP6, the control unit 10 starts the first emotion parameter change processing procedure RT2 at step SP20, and at step SP21, the control unit 10 sets the emotion parameter for each of the “love level” and “excitement level”. It is determined whether or not the value is the maximum value (“8” in this embodiment).

  If the control unit 10 obtains a negative result in step SP21, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP22 and increases the value of each emotion parameter of “love level” and “excitement level” by one. Then, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP25 to end the second emotion parameter change processing procedure RT2, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 (FIG. 15).

  On the other hand, when the control unit 10 determines in step SP21 that the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” is the maximum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP23 and sets only the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” to 1. increase. The control unit 10 then proceeds to step SP25 to end the first emotion parameter change processing procedure RT2, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  If the control unit 10 determines in step SP21 that the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is the maximum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP24 and increments only the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” by one. The control unit 10 then proceeds to step SP25 to end the first emotion parameter change processing procedure RT2, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  On the other hand, when the user presses the nose switch 24 of the robot toy 1 and obtains an affirmative result in step SP3 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP7 and proceeds to step SP7 shown in FIG. In accordance with the emotion parameter change processing procedure RT3, the emotion parameter values of the emotion “love level” and “excitement level” are changed.

  That is, when proceeding to step SP7, the control unit 10 starts the second emotion parameter change processing procedure RT3 in step SP30, and in subsequent step SP31, whether or not the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” is the maximum value. And whether the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is the minimum value (“−8” in this embodiment) or not.

  If the control unit 10 obtains a negative result in step SP31, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP32 and increases the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” by 1 and decreases the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” by 1. The control unit 10 then proceeds to step SP35 to end the second emotion parameter change processing procedure RT3, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 (FIG. 15).

  In contrast, if the control unit 10 determines in step SP31 that the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” is the maximum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP33 and sets only the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” to 1. Decrease. Then, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP35 to end the second emotion parameter change processing procedure RT3, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  If the control unit 10 determines in step SP31 that the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is the minimum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP34 and increments only the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” by one. Then, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP35 to end the second emotion parameter change processing procedure RT3, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  On the other hand, when the user obtains a positive result in step SP3 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 by swinging the tail switch 7 of the robot toy 1, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP8 and is shown in FIG. In accordance with the third emotion parameter change processing procedure RT4, the value of each emotion parameter of the “love level” and “excitement level” of the emotion is changed.

  That is, when proceeding to step SP8, the control unit 10 starts the third emotion parameter change processing procedure RT4 at step SP40, and at the subsequent step SP41, the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” is the minimum value (this implementation In the form, it is determined whether or not it is “−8”) and whether or not the emotion parameter value of “excitement level” is the maximum value.

  If the control unit 10 obtains a negative result in step SP41, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP42 and decreases the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” by 1 and increases the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” by 1. The control unit 10 then proceeds to step SP45 to end the third emotion parameter change processing procedure RT4, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 (FIG. 15).

  In contrast, if the control unit 10 determines in step SP41 that the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” is the minimum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP43 and sets only the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” to 1. increase. Then, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP45 to end the third emotion parameter change processing procedure RT4, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  If the control unit 10 determines in step SP41 that the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is the maximum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP44 and decreases the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” by one. Then, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP45 to end the third emotion parameter change processing procedure RT4, and then proceeds to step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  On the other hand, the control unit 10 sets the values of the emotion parameters of “love level” and “excitement level” to initial values, or any one of the head switch 23, the nose switch 24, and the tail switch 7 first. When an affirmative result is obtained in step SP5 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the pressing or swinging operation, the process proceeds to step SP9, and each of the “love level” and “excitement level” is obtained. Then, it is determined whether or not the value of the emotion parameter is the minimum value.

  If the control unit 10 obtains a negative result in step SP9, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP10, increases the value of each emotion parameter of “love level” and “excitement level” by 1, and then proceeds to step SP13.

  On the other hand, if the control unit 10 determines in step SP9 that the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” is the minimum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP11 and sets only the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” to 1. After that, proceed to step SP13.

  If the control unit 10 determines in step SP9 that the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is the minimum value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP12 and decreases the value of the emotion parameter of “love level” by 1. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step SP13.

  And the control part 10 is based on the value of each emotion parameter of "excitement level" and "love level" updated according to the presence or absence of the action from a user in step SP3-step SP12 as mentioned above, and the content. Then, in step SP13 to step SP19, the emotion and the degree of the robot toy 1 at that time are expressed by the light emission patterns of the LEDs 21A to 21G on the LED display unit 21.

  That is, when proceeding to step SP13, the control unit 10 reads out the values of the emotion parameters of “excited level” and “love level” after the change from the memory 10B (FIG. 2), and determines the values of these emotion parameters. When the emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level” are both 0 or a positive value, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP14 and follows the first emotion expression processing procedure RT5 shown in FIG. The emotion (“joy” and “love”) and the degree of the robot toy 1 at that time are expressed as light emission patterns of the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> G in the LED display unit 21.

  In practice, when proceeding to step SP14, the control unit 10 starts the first emotion expression processing procedure RT5 at step SP50, and at the subsequent step SP51, values of emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level”. Determine. Then, when the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are in the range from 0 to 4, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP52 and the orange light makes one round in one second. As described above, when the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G in the LED display unit 21 are sequentially blinked orange, and the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are other than this, the process proceeds to step SP53. The surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G in the LED display unit 21 are sequentially blinked orange so that the orange light makes one round in 0.5 seconds.

  In addition, when the processing of step SP52 or step SP53 is completed, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP54, ends the first emotion expression processing procedure RT5, and then returns to step SP3 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  On the other hand, when the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is 0 or positive and the emotion parameter of “love level” is negative in the determination in step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1, the control unit 10 performs step SP15. Then, according to the second emotion expression processing procedure RT6 shown in FIG. 20, the emotion (“anger” and “dislike”) of the robot toy 1 at that time is expressed as the light emission patterns of the LEDs 21A to 21G on the LED display unit 21. .

  That is, when proceeding to step SP15, the control unit 10 starts the second emotion expression processing procedure RT6 at step SP60, and at the subsequent step SP61, determines the value of each emotion parameter of “excitement level” and “love level”. To do. Then, when the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are in the range from 0 to 4, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP62 and the orange light makes one round in one second. In the case where the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G in the LED display unit 21 are sequentially blinked in orange so that the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are other than this, the process proceeds to step SP63, The surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G in the LED display unit 21 are sequentially blinked orange so that the orange light makes one round in 0.5 seconds.

  Further, when the process of step SP62 or step SP63 is completed, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP64, ends the second emotion expression processing procedure RT6, and then returns to step SP3 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  On the other hand, when the value of the emotion parameter of “excitement level” is negative and the emotion parameter of “love level” is 0 or positive in the determination in step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1, the control unit 10 performs step Proceeding to SP16, according to the third emotion expression processing procedure RT7 shown in FIG. 21, the emotions of the robot toy 1 at that time (“normal” and “calm”) are expressed as the light emission patterns of the LEDs 21A to 21G on the LED display unit 21. To do.

  That is, when proceeding to step SP16, the control unit 10 starts the third emotion expression processing procedure RT3 at step SP70, and at the subsequent step SP71, determines the value of each emotion parameter of “excitement level” and “love level”. To do. When the emotion parameter value of “loving level” is in the range from −1 to −4 and the emotion parameter value of “excitement level” is in the range from 1 to 4. The process proceeds to step SP72, and the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G in the LED display unit 21 are sequentially blinked green so that the green light makes one round in one second, and the emotions of “excitement level” and “love level” When the value of the parameter is other than this, the process proceeds to step SP73, and the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G in the LED display unit 21 are sequentially blinked green so that the green light makes one round in 0.5 seconds.

  In addition, when the process of step SP72 or step SP73 is completed, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP74, ends the third emotion expression processing procedure RT7, and then returns to step SP3 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1.

  On the other hand, when the value of each emotion parameter of “excitement level” and “love level” is negative in the determination in step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP17, The value of each emotion parameter of “level” and “love level” is determined.

  When the values of the emotion parameters of “excitement level” and “love level” are both in the range from −1 to −4, the control unit 10 proceeds to step SP18 and proceeds to the center of the LED display unit 21. LED 21A only blinks once per second, and if the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are other than this, the process proceeds to step SP19, where the center of LED display unit 21 Only the LED 21A is blinked once every 0.5 seconds. Moreover, the control part 10 will return to step SP3, if the process of step SP18 or step SP19 is complete | finished.

  Thus, the control part 10 blinks LED21A-21G of the LED display part 21 with the light emission pattern according to the emotion of the robot toy 1 at that time, and its degree.

(3) Summary As described above, the robot toy 1 according to the present embodiment has the emotions of “joy” and “love”, “normal” and “calm”, “anger” and “dislike”. When expressing the feeling of “depressed” and “lonely” by flashing only the surrounding LEDs 21B to 21G among the LEDs 21A to 21G in the LED display unit 21 one by one in the clockwise direction. Only the LED 21A blinks in blue.

  According to such an expression method, for example, it is possible to express the emotion of the robot toy 1 with various light emission patterns as compared with the case where the LED having a predetermined shape is simply blinked. Since the LED display unit 21 can be constructed with a smaller number of LEDs than when arranged in a matrix, it is possible to express emotions effectively while constructing the robot toy 1 at a low cost.

(4) Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, the LED 21A (first light source) at the center of the LED display unit 21 that can emit three colors of green, red, and blue simultaneously or separately is used. LED 21B to 12G (second light source) around the LED, which can emit two colors of green and red at the same time or separately, the type and number of emission colors of the central LED 21A, and others Other than this, the types and the number of emission colors of the LEDs 21B to 12G around the LED may be different.

  In the above embodiment, the remaining six LEDs 21B to 21G are arranged so as to be equidistant from the central LED 21A and at equal intervals. However, as the arrangement of the LEDs 21A to 21G, other arrangements are possible. Can be applied. For example, as shown in FIGS. 22 (A-1) and (A-2), three LEDs 70B to 70D may be arranged around the central LED 70, or in FIGS. 22 (B-1) and (B-2). As shown in FIG. 22 (C-1) and (C-2), four LEDs 71B to 71E are arranged around the central LED 71A, and five LEDs 72B to 72F are arranged around the central LED 72A. You may do it. Even when six LEDs 73B to 73G are arranged around the central LED 73A as shown in FIG. 22D, they may be arranged as shown in this figure. Further, as shown in FIG. 22E, eight LEDs 73B to 73I may be arranged around the central LED 73A, or more LEDs may be arranged. Even if it does in this way, the effect similar to the said embodiment can be acquired.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the emotion parameters are two types of “excitement level” and “love level”, but the number and types of emotion parameters may be other than this. For example, the same number of types of emotions as the light emission colors of the LEDs 21A to 21G may be prepared, and the LEDs 21A to 21G may blink with a light emission pattern in which the emotions are associated with the light emission colors of the LEDs 21A to 21G.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, only LED21A of the center of the LED display part 21 is blinked, or each LED21A-21G is made into the light emission pattern which blinks only surrounding LED21B-21G clockwise one by one with respect to center LED21A. Although it is made to blink, the light emission pattern may be other light emission patterns. For example, only the peripheral LEDs 21B to 21G blink one by one in the counterclockwise direction with respect to the central LED 21A, or only the peripheral LEDs 21B to 21G have a plurality of clockwise or counterclockwise directions with respect to the central LED 21A. You may make it control surrounding LED21B-21G so that it may light on and off sequentially with respect to adjacent LED21B-21G so that it may blink individually.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the emotion parameter values of “excitement level” and “love level” are changed in the range of −8 to 8 for easy understanding, but this range is limited to this. Instead, various ranges can be applied. Along with this, the contents of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 can be changed as appropriate. For example, in actual computer processing, since the number in the range of -8 to 8 is processed as the number in the range of 0 to 15 (0 to F in hexadecimal notation), for example, step SP13 of the emotion generation expression processing procedure RT1 The determination as to whether the emotion parameter is positive or negative is not performed, and the value of the emotion parameter is 0-3, 4-7, 8- in combination with step SP14 (or step SP15-step SP17). It may be determined in which range of B and C to F, and the LEDs 21A to 21G may be caused to emit light with a color and a light emission pattern associated with the range. In short, as long as the LEDs 21 </ b> A to 21 </ b> G emit light with a light emission pattern corresponding to a combination of emotion parameter values, various methods can be applied.

  The present invention can be widely applied to various robot toys.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance structure of the robot toy by this Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the robot toy by this Embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the specific structure of a head. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a drive mechanism part. It is a perspective view with which it uses for description of a pendulum gear. It is a rough-line top view with which it uses for description of the cam of a 1st cam gear. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a raising / lowering member. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of an ear | edge drive member. It is a basic diagram with description of the motion of a head. It is a perspective view which shows the light emission state of LED visible from the outside. It is a top view which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship of each LED in an LED display part. It is a conceptual diagram with which it uses for description of the emotion of a robot toy. It is a conceptual diagram with which it uses for description of the emotion of a robot toy. It is a conceptual diagram with which it uses for description of a basic light emission pattern. It is a flowchart which shows an emotion production | generation expression processing procedure. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st emotion parameter change process sequence. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd emotion parameter change process sequence. It is a flowchart which shows the 3rd emotion parameter change process sequence. It is a flowchart which shows a 1st emotion expression processing procedure. It is a flowchart which shows the 2nd emotion expression processing procedure. It is a flowchart which shows the 3rd emotion expression processing procedure. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Robot toy, 3 ... Head, 7 ... Tail switch, 10 ... Control part, 21 ... LED display part, 21A-21G, 70A-70D, 71A-71E, 72A-72F, 73A-73G ... LED, 23 ... head switch, 24 ... nose switch.

Claims (8)

A first light source capable of emitting at least two colors of light simultaneously or individually;
Five or more second light sources disposed around the first light source;
A memory for storing at least two types of emotion parameters that define emotions;
Control means for increasing or decreasing the value of the emotion parameter based on an operation input from the outside,
The control means includes
The robot toy characterized in that the first and / or the second light source emit light with a light emission pattern corresponding to a combination of values of the emotion parameters. The control means includes
The first and / or second light source is caused to blink at a faster cycle as the degree increases according to the degree of the emotion determined by the value of at least one of the emotion parameters. The robot toy described. The control means includes
2. The robot toy according to claim 1, wherein the first and / or the second light source blinks in a color corresponding to the type of emotion determined by a combination of values of the emotion parameters. Each of the second light sources is
Arranged at regular intervals around the first light source;
The robot toy according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the controller is controlled to sequentially turn on and off the adjacent second light sources. 2. The robot toy according to claim 1, wherein the first light source can emit more colors than the number of colors that the second light source can emit separately. The control means includes
When the emotion type determined by the combination of the emotion parameter values corresponds to a predetermined type, the first light source emits light in a predetermined color that the second light source cannot emit. The robot toy according to claim 1 or 5, wherein the robot toy is characterized. The robot toy according to claim 1, further comprising a translucent cover arranged to cover the first and second light sources. The robot toy has two or more operation input switches,
The control means includes
The value of the emotion parameter is increased corresponding to each operation input of the operation input switch, and the value of the emotion parameter is decreased when there is no operation input for a predetermined time. The robot toy described in 1.

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