KR102292795B1 - Serving Robots And Control Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a serving robot and a control method thereof. The serving robot includes: an in-flight meal cart having one open side, having a storage space formed therein with a plurality of layers, and having rails formed in a corner of the one side and on the plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers are divided by a plurality of partitions; a support part connected with the one side; a robot arm located on the support part, and including at least one sensor and at least one camera; a driving part comprising an upper camera and a voice recognition sensor located in an upper part of the in-flight meal cart, and a plurality of wheels located in a lower part of the in-flight meal cart; and a control part performing a control operation so as to stop the driving part by transmitting a stop signal to the driving part when confirming an encounter of a passenger or arrival at a seat row through the upper camera, controlling a determination as to whether to select or collect an in-flight meal through a voice signal of the passenger recognized through the voice recognition sensor after the stop, controlling the support part and the robot arm such that the support part and the robot arm are moved with respect to a preset position to deliver an in-flight meal tray to the passenger or collect the same, and performing a control operation so as to confirm whether the in-flight meal tray is normally delivered or normally collected. Therefore, the present invention is capable of autonomously delivering and collecting in-flight meals without causing flight attendants to control the work.

Description

Serving Robots And Control Method Thereof

A serving robot that receives an in-flight meal order, transports and retrieves food in an aircraft, and a control method.

A robot refers to a machine that has the ability to work on its own, and is currently being applied and utilized in various fields and environments. Among them, service-providing robots that replace human tasks or improve convenience are attracting attention. For example, in areas such as restaurants, it is being applied through a serving robot that receives an order from a customer and delivers the food to the customer.

However, it is still common for flight attendants to take orders and serve in-flight meals to customers while driving in-flight carts. In addition, the in-flight meal cart usually has a considerable weight of 20 to 30 kg, so an in-flight meal serving robot for the health of crew members and prevention of accidents in the cabin is being actively developed and researched.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-1828674 (Intelligent service robot system for restaurants, Kyungnam University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, 2018.02.06) US Patent Publication No. 7996109 (Robotic ordering and delivery apparatuses, systems and methods, Aethon, Inc., 2011.08.09) US Patent Publication No. 2018-0370634 (Airliner overhead meals delivery, Marian Zdzislaw Augustyniak, 2018.12.27)

Provided are a serving robot and a control method that autonomously deliver and retrieve in-flight meals to passengers through a camera, a robot arm, and a plurality of sensors.

In one embodiment of the serving robot, one side is open, one side is open, the accommodation space for inserting the in-flight meal tray is formed in a plurality of layers, and there are rails on the edge of one side and a plurality of layers. formed, and a plurality of layers are divided through a plurality of partition plates, a support part connected to one side, a robot arm including at least one sensor and at least one camera, an upper part of the in-flight meal cart Through the upper camera and voice recognition sensor located in the in-flight cart, the driving unit and the upper camera formed with a plurality of wheels located at the bottom of the in-flight cart, when a seat row arrives or a passenger encounter is confirmed, a stop signal is transmitted to the driving unit to control it to stop, Then, through the voice signal of the passenger recognized by the voice recognition sensor, it controls the judgment on selecting or recalling the in-flight meal, and controls the support and robot arm to move based on the preset position to deliver or retrieve the in-flight meal tray to the passenger. , may include a control unit that controls to check whether the in-flight tray is normally delivered or retrieved normally.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the support part is connected to the first rail formed at the corner of one side, and can move in the vertical direction through the rail.

Also, according to an embodiment, the at least one sensor may be an arm extension sensor, the at least one camera may be a robot arm camera, and the robot arm camera may further include a first object recognition sensor.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the robot arm can rotate 360 degrees, can operate in the vertical direction, and further includes a gripper for gripping the in-flight meal tray transferred in the direction of the support through the second rail formed in a plurality of layers. may include

In addition, according to an embodiment, the upper camera may rotate 360 degrees, and may further include a 3-axis acceleration sensor and a second object recognition sensor.

Also, according to an embodiment, the driving unit may further include a power transmission device.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the control unit may transmit a motion signal to the support unit and the robot arm, and transmit power from the power transmission device to the support unit and the robot arm, thereby controlling vertical movement of the support unit and the robot arm.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the controller may control the robot arm to extend by transmitting an extension signal in consideration of the position of the passenger and the in-flight meal tray to the arm extension sensor.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the control unit may further include a power unit GPU and a computing GPU for controlling autonomous driving and stopping of the driving unit through object recognition from the upper camera.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the control unit may further include a voice extraction GPU and a voice processing GPU for controlling the voice recognition sensor to receive an order.

One embodiment of the control method for controlling the serving robot to autonomously deliver the in-flight meal tray to the passenger is when the serving robot arrives at the seat or checks the passenger encounter through the top camera while moving, from the power unit GPU of the control unit and the computing GPU to the driving unit. Transmitting a stop signal to control to stop, transmitting the passenger's voice signal recognized by the voice recognition sensor to the voice extraction GPU and voice processing GPU of the control unit, and processing the voice signal as the name of the in-flight meal ordered by the passenger Controlling the sorting, controlling the first rail formed at the edge of one side of the in-flight meal cart to move up and down in order to take the selected in-flight meal out of the in-flight meal cart, and the support connected to the first rail is located on the floor where the meal is located When reaching , the second rail formed in the plurality of layers is operated to control the transport of the in-flight tray to the support side, the gripper of the robot arm grips the in-flight tray, and an extension signal in consideration of the position of the passenger is sent to the arm extension sensor The robot arm is extended by sending it to the passenger, and when the transfer is completed to the passenger, the robot arm camera and the first object recognition sensor control to check whether normal delivery is carried out. Comparing the number of in-flight meal trays may include the step of controlling to check whether there is an error.

An embodiment of the control method for controlling the serving robot to autonomously retrieve the in-flight meal tray of the passenger after the meal is completed is the power unit GPU and computing GPU of the control unit when the serving robot arrives at the seat or checks the passenger encounter through the upper camera while moving. Transmitting a stop signal to the driving unit to control to stop, transmitting the passenger's voice signal recognized by the voice recognition sensor to the voice extraction GPU and voice processing GPU of the control unit, and processing the voice signal as the end of the meal The step of controlling the decision on recall, when the passenger's meal is finished, transmits an extension signal considering the passenger's position to the arm extension sensor to extend the robot arm, and to grip the passenger's meal tray through the gripper of the robot arm Controlling, when the in-flight meal tray is gripped, the first rail formed at the edge of one side of the in-flight meal cart is controlled to move up and down, and when the support connected to the first rail reaches the insertable layer, the robot arm Controlling the in-flight meal tray to be inserted into the in-flight meal cart and, upon completion of the insertion of the in-flight meal tray, may include controlling to check whether the in-flight meal tray is normally inserted through the robot arm camera and the first object recognition sensor.

By building a delivery and retrieval algorithm, it is possible to provide a serving robot and a control method that autonomously drive an in-flight meal cart and autonomously deliver and retrieve in-flight meals for each passenger without the control of a crew member.

1 is a structural diagram of a serving robot according to an embodiment.
2 is a perspective view of a serving robot according to an embodiment.
3 is a perspective view of a serving robot according to another embodiment.
4 is a front view of an in-flight meal cart according to an embodiment.
5 is a front view of an in-flight meal cart according to another embodiment.
6 is an operation view illustrating that the support connected to the first rail moves in the vertical direction according to an embodiment.
7 is an operation view illustrating an extension of a robot arm arm according to an embodiment.
8 is a view showing a pre-built in-flight meal database for each seat according to an embodiment.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which a serving robot delivers an in-flight meal to a passenger according to an exemplary embodiment.
10 is an operation diagram illustrating a process in which a serving robot delivers an in-flight meal to a passenger according to an embodiment.
11 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which a serving robot retrieves in-flight meals from a passenger according to an exemplary embodiment.
12 is an operational diagram illustrating a process in which the serving robot collects in-flight meals from passengers according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the contents described in the accompanying drawings. In addition, a serving robot and a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the contents described in the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers or reference numerals presented in each drawing indicate parts or components that perform substantially the same functions.

1 is a structural diagram showing the overall structure of a serving robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, the serving robot 1 includes an in-flight meal cart 10, a support 20 connected to one side of the in-flight meal cart 10, and located on the support, at least one sensor and at least one camera A robot arm 30, an upper camera 40 and a voice recognition sensor 50 located at the top of the in-flight meal cart 10, and a driving unit 60 formed of a plurality of wheels 63 located at the lower end of the in-flight meal cart 10 ) and the upper camera to transmit a stop signal to the driving unit when a seat row arrival or passenger encounter is confirmed and control to stop. A control unit 70 that controls the movement of the support unit and the robot arm based on a preset position to deliver or retrieve the in-flight tray to the passenger, and control to check whether the in-flight tray is normally delivered or retrieved. can

In addition, at least one sensor included in the robot arm 30 may be an arm extension sensor 37 , the at least one camera may be a robot arm camera 33 , and the robot arm camera 33 may be a first object. A recognition sensor 35 may be further included.

In addition, the robot arm camera 33 may further include a barcode sensor and a QR code sensor. Additional in-flight meals can be selected through barcode sensors and QR code sensors.

In addition, the robot arm 30 may rotate 360 degrees and operate in the vertical direction, and may further include a gripper 31 for gripping the in-flight meal tray.

In addition, the upper camera 40 may rotate 360 degrees and further include a 3-axis acceleration sensor 41 and a second object recognition sensor 43 .

In addition, the driving unit 60 may further include a power transmission device 61 .

In addition, the control unit 70 may further include a power unit GPU and computing GPU 71 for controlling autonomous driving and stopping of the driving unit 60 through object recognition from the upper camera 40 .

Also, the control unit 70 may further include a voice extraction GPU and a voice processing GPU 73 for controlling the voice recognition sensor 50 to receive an order.

2 is a perspective view of a serving robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, FIG. 2 is only a series of examples for explaining the present invention, and is not limited thereto, and may be derived in different forms.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the serving robot 1 may include an in-flight meal cart 10 , a support unit 20 , a robot arm 30 , an upper camera 40 , a driving unit 60 , and a control unit 70 . Each sensor, device, or GPU included in the robot arm 30, the upper camera 40, the driving unit 60, and the control unit 70 is not disclosed on the drawing, but has been described with reference to FIG. 1 above, so it will be omitted. do.

3 is a perspective view of the serving robot 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and shows examples of the different types mentioned above.

Referring to FIG. 3 , another embodiment of the serving robot 1 may be configured by connecting the in-flight meal cart 10 to both sides based on the support 20 .

4 is a front view of the in-flight meal cart 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , one side of the in-flight meal cart 10 is open, and an accommodation space composed of a plurality of layers may be formed therein.

In addition, the plurality of layers may be divided through a plurality of partition plates.

In addition, the first rail 11 may be formed on the edge of one side, and the second rail 13 may be formed on the plurality of layers.

Also, the plurality of partition plates may be connected to the second rail 13 , and the partition plate and the second rail 13 may be replaced by a conveyor belt.

5 is a front view of the in-flight meal cart 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the plurality of layers of the in-flight meal cart 10 may be divided by forming grooves of a predetermined length on both sides of the in-flight meal cart 10 , rather than being divided by a plurality of partition plates.

6 is an operation view illustrating that the support part 20 connected to the first rail 11 moves in the vertical direction according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the support unit 20 is connected to the first rail 11 formed at the corner of one side of the in-flight meal cart 10 , and can move in the vertical direction through the first rail 11 .

In addition, by transmitting a motion signal from the control unit 70 to the first rail 11 , and transmitting power from the power transmission device 61 to the first rail 11 , the vertical movement of the support unit 20 can be controlled. have.

7 is an operation view showing the extension of the robot arm arm according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the robot arm is in the form of an antenna, and the length can be adjusted.

In addition, the control unit 70 may extend the robot arm arm by transmitting an extension signal in consideration of the positions of the passenger and the in-flight meal tray to the arm extension sensor 37 .

In addition, the control unit 70 may transmit a motion signal to the robot arm 30 and transmit power from the power transmission device 61 to the robot arm 30 to control the vertical movement of the robot arm 30 .

In addition, the shape of the gripper 31 is only a series of examples for explaining the present invention, and is not limited thereto, and may be derived in a different shape.

8 is a view showing a pre-built in-flight meal database for each seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8 , when a passenger makes a reservation for an in-flight meal before boarding, the name of the passenger's in-flight meal corresponding to the corresponding seat may be input and stored on the seat map of the cabin. Based on this database, the serving robot 1 can deliver the A1 in-flight meal to the A1 seat, the B in-flight meal to the C3 seat, and the C in-flight meal to the D6 seat.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the serving robot 1 delivers in-flight meals to passengers according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the control method for controlling the serving robot 1 to autonomously deliver an in-flight meal tray to a passenger is a step in which the serving robot 1 stops when a seat row arrives or encounters a passenger during movement (S100), the passenger Steps of receiving the order of and selecting the ordered in-flight meals (S200), transferring the tray containing the in-flight meals to the support unit 20 side (S300), delivering them to the passenger through the robot arm 30, and checking whether normal delivery (S400) and comparing the database and the number of meals actually delivered may include a step (S500) of checking whether there is an error.

In addition, the step (S100) of the serving robot 1 stopping when a seat row arrives or a passenger encounters an object including a seat row and a passenger through the three-axis acceleration sensor 41 and the second object recognition sensor 43 during movement (S100) can be recognized, and may include controlling to stop by transmitting a stop signal from the power unit GPU and computing GPU 71 of the control unit 70 to the driving unit 60 .

In addition, the step (S200) of receiving the passenger's order and selecting the ordered in-flight meal transmits the passenger's voice signal recognized by the voice recognition sensor 50 to the voice extraction GPU and the voice processing GPU 73 of the control unit, and transmits the voice signal It may include the step of processing the order as an in-flight meal name.

In addition, in the step (S300) of transferring the tray containing the in-flight meal to the support unit 20 side, the first rail 11 formed at the edge of one side of the in-flight meal cart moves in the vertical direction to take the selected in-flight meal out of the in-flight meal cart. and controlling, when the support 20 connected to the first rail 11 reaches the floor where the in-flight meal is located, controlling the second rail 13 formed on the floor to operate. .

In addition, in the step (S400) of delivering to the passenger through the robot arm 30 and checking whether normal delivery is performed, the gripper 31 of the robot arm 30 grips the in-flight tray, and an extension signal considering the position of the passenger is applied. It may include the step of extending the robot arm 30 by transmitting it to the arm extension sensor 37, and checking whether the transfer to the passenger is completed normally through the robot arm camera 33 and the first object recognition sensor 35. have.

10 is an operation diagram illustrating a process in which a serving robot delivers an in-flight meal to a passenger according to an embodiment of the present invention. The delivery process for FIG. 10 will be omitted since the process of autonomously delivering the in-flight meal by the serving robot 1 has been described with reference to FIG. 9 above.

11 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the serving robot collects in-flight meals from passengers according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11 , the step of stopping the serving robot 1 when a seat row arrives or encounters a passenger during movement (S100), a step of determining whether the passenger's meal is finished and whether the in-flight meal tray is retrieved (S600), the robot arm (30) It may include a step of gripping the in-flight meal tray through (S700), a step of recovering the in-flight meal tray and inserting it into the in-flight meal cart 10 (S800), and a step of checking whether the in-flight meal tray is normally inserted (S900).

In addition, the step (S100) of the serving robot 1 stopping when a seat row arrives or a passenger encounters an object including a seat row and a passenger through the three-axis acceleration sensor 41 and the second object recognition sensor 43 during movement (S100) can be recognized, and may include controlling to stop by transmitting a stop signal from the power unit GPU and computing GPU 71 of the control unit 70 to the driving unit 60 .

In addition, in the step (S600) of determining whether the passenger's meal is finished and whether the in-flight meal tray is retrieved, the passenger's voice signal recognized by the voice recognition sensor 50 is transmitted to the voice extraction GPU of the control unit 70 and the voice processing GPU 73 . and processing the voice signal as the end of the meal.

In addition, in the step of gripping the in-flight meal tray through the robot arm 30 (S700), when the passenger's meal is finished, an extension signal in consideration of the passenger's position is transmitted to the arm extension sensor 37 to extend the robot arm 30 and controlling the gripper 31 of the robot arm 30 to grip the passenger's in-flight meal tray.

In addition, the step (S800) of recovering the in-flight meal tray and inserting it into the in-flight meal cart 10 is when the gripper 31 grips the in-flight meal tray, the first rail 11 formed at the edge of one side of the in-flight meal cart 10 This is controlled to move in the vertical direction, and when the support part 20 connected to the first rail 11 reaches the insertable layer, the robot arm 30 controls the in-flight meal tray to be inserted into the in-flight meal cart 10 . may include steps.

In addition, the step of checking whether the in-flight meal tray is normally inserted (S900) is a step of controlling to check whether the in-flight meal tray is normally inserted through the robot arm camera 33 and the first object recognition sensor 35 when the insertion of the in-flight tray is completed. may include

12 is an operational diagram illustrating a process in which the serving robot collects in-flight meals from passengers according to an embodiment of the present invention. The recovery process of FIG. 12 will be omitted since the process of autonomously recovering in-flight meals by the serving robot 1 has been described with reference to FIG. 11 above.

1: Serving Robot
10: In-flight meal cart
11: first rail
13: second rail
20: support
30: robot arm
31: gripper
33: robot arm camera
35: first object recognition sensor
37: arm extension sensor
40: top camera
41: 3-axis acceleration sensor
43: second object recognition sensor
50: voice recognition sensor
60: drive unit
61: power train
63: wheel
70: control unit
71: Power unit GPU and compute GPU
73: speech extraction GPU and speech processing GPU

Claims (12)

delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete A control method for controlling a serving robot to autonomously deliver an in-flight tray to a passenger, the control method comprising:
controlling the serving robot to stop by transmitting a stop signal from the power unit GPU and the computing GPU of the control unit to the driving unit when a seat row arrival or passenger encounter is confirmed through the upper camera while the serving robot is moving;
transmitting the passenger's voice signal recognized by the voice recognition sensor to the voice extraction GPU and voice processing GPU of the control unit, and controlling the selection of the in-flight meal ordered by the passenger by processing the voice signal as an ordered in-flight meal name;
In order to take out the selected in-flight meal from the in-flight meal cart, the first rail formed at the edge of one side of the in-flight meal cart is controlled to move in the vertical direction, and the support connected to the first rail reaches the floor where the in-flight meal is located. When the second rail formed in the plurality of layers is operated, controlling the in-flight meal tray to be transferred to the support side;
A gripper of the robot arm grips the in-flight tray, an extension signal considering the position of the passenger is transmitted to the arm extension sensor to extend the robot arm, and when the transfer to the passenger is completed, the robot arm camera and the first object recognition sensor Controlling to check whether normal delivery through; and
Controlling to check whether there is an error by comparing the database and the number of in-flight meal trays actually delivered based on a previously built in-flight meal database for each seat;
Including, a control method. delete

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