JP2001300874A - Robot device and program recording medium therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an autonomous moving robot extremely effective in the management of use by making a rechargeable state by autonomous movement to an installation position of a charging device, avoiding a problem caused by battery dead, releasing a user from charging work, and using the robot without being conscious of charging. SOLUTION: In this autonomous moving robot device 1, a device main body is moved to an installation position of a battery charging device 2 by specifying a location of the battery charting device 2 installed in a different place. The robot device 1 is made in the rechargeable state by connecting charging terminals to each other after the device main body is moved to a place of the battery charging device 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autonomous mobile / autonomous driving type robot apparatus and a program recording medium therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an autonomously moving robot device, particularly an amusement robot called an animal robot or a pet robot, has an external world detecting function and a recognizing function, and constantly recognizes the current external world information and internal world information. In accordance with the recognition result, an operation pattern that has been incorporated in advance is selectively called to perform autonomous movement (walking), voice dialogue, and the like. By the way, this type of robot apparatus operates using a secondary battery as a power source, and drives a heavy-load movable section during walking movement. Therefore, the robot apparatus consumes a large amount of power and needs to be repeatedly charged.

[0003]

However, since the charging of the robot apparatus is performed manually, the burden on the user is large, and if the charging is forgotten, the battery suddenly runs out and the operation becomes impossible when necessary. It becomes a state. Furthermore, there is a possibility that useless activities may be performed for a long time, which is a problem in power saving measures. In addition, if communication with humans is not performed for a predetermined time or more, the operation is stopped,
Although it is effective for power saving measures, if the operation is stopped on the spot, it is necessary to search around where it is when using it later. Furthermore, as a robot that performs simulated behaviors of animals and pets, simply performing response actions corresponding to human communication is monotonous, it does not feel like a robot living with humans, and you will be bored immediately. There was a problem.

A first object of the present invention is to make it possible to avoid inconvenience due to running out of a battery by autonomously moving to an installation position of a charging device so as to be in a chargeable state. Another object of the present invention is to provide an autonomous mobile robot device that can be used without being aware of charging and is extremely effective in use management. Second
The problem of the invention of the present invention is that when shifting from the normal state in which it can be active to the standby state, it is possible to autonomously move to a predetermined place and wait, so that the user does not need to search around where he is Another object of the present invention is to provide an autonomous mobile robot device that is extremely effective in use management. The subject of the third invention is not only chaotic behavior,
According to a predetermined activity schedule, for example, simulated living behavior of animals and pets becomes possible, and when there is a communication request from a human, a corresponding action can be preferentially performed, An object of the present invention is to provide an autonomous driving type robot device that is rich in change and that can behave as if living with human beings.

[0005] The means of the present invention are as follows. The invention according to claim 1 (first invention) is an autonomous mobile robot device driven by a battery as a power supply, and a location of a battery charging device installed in a location different from the device main body. Position specifying means for specifying the position of the battery charger, operation control means for moving the apparatus body to the position of the battery charger specified by the position specifying means, and, when the apparatus body has finished moving to the position of the battery charger, its own Connecting means for connecting the charging terminal to the charging terminal of the battery charger so as to enable charging. Also,
An object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium on which a program code for causing a computer to execute the above-described functions is recorded. It is to be noted that a charge state detecting means for detecting that the charge amount of the battery power source has decreased is provided. When the charge state detection means detects that the charge amount has decreased, the battery charge device is moved to the position of the battery charger. The device main body may be moved to a chargeable state. Further, there is provided a completion detecting means for detecting the completion of charging during charging of the battery power supply, and a disconnection means for disconnecting the battery charging device when the completion of charging is detected by the completion detecting means. You may. Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to avoid inconvenience due to running out of the battery by autonomously moving to the installation position of the charging device and setting the battery in a chargeable state. This makes it possible to use the autonomous mobile robot apparatus which is extremely effective in terms of use management, without being aware of charging.

The invention according to claim 4 (second invention) is as follows.
An autonomous mobile robot device, which is configured to specify a standby location registered in advance when transitioning from a normal state in which it can be activated to a standby state, and to the standby location specified by the specifying unit. Operation control means for moving the main body. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium that records a program code for causing a computer to execute the above-described functions. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium that records a program code for causing a computer to execute the above-described functions. The present invention may be as follows. (1) When the apparatus main body has moved to the standby place, the drive level is lowered to a lower level and set to the standby state. (2) A time monitoring means for monitoring whether a preset standby time zone has been reached or whether communication with a human has not been performed for a predetermined time or more is provided, and the apparatus reaches the standby place according to the monitoring result by the time monitoring means. Move the body. (3) When a plurality of standby locations are registered in advance, the standby location closest to the current position of the apparatus main body is specified, and the apparatus main body is moved to the specified standby location. (4) In the standby state, when the call to itself is recognized, the standby state is released. in this case,
During the standby state, when a call to the self is recognized and the standby state is released, the called direction may be detected, and the apparatus body may be moved in that direction. Therefore, in the invention according to claim 4, when shifting from the normal state in which it can be activated to the standby state, it is possible to autonomously move to a predetermined place and wait, and where is the user located? It is not necessary to search around, and it is possible to provide an autonomous mobile robot device that is extremely effective in use management.

The invention according to claim 10 (third invention)
Is an autonomous drive type robot device, a schedule storage means for storing an activity schedule, a determination means for determining the presence or absence of a communication request from a human, and when the determination means determines that there is no request, An operation control unit that performs a driving operation based on the schedule content at that time stored in the schedule storage unit and, when it is determined that there is a request, preferentially performs a corresponding operation according to the communication request content; It is provided with. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium that records a program code for causing a computer to execute the above-described functions. The schedule storage means stores an activity schedule in which a plurality of activity items and time zones are associated with each other, and determines a period excluding a pre-designated activity suspension time zone in a predetermined period based on the plurality of activity items. Calculation means for calculating a time zone for each activity item by allocating the data and setting means for setting the time zone for each activity item calculated by the calculation means in the schedule storage means may be provided. Therefore, claim 1
In the invention described in No. 0, not only disorderly behavior,
According to a predetermined activity schedule, for example, simulated living behavior of animals and pets becomes possible, and when there is a communication request from a human, a corresponding action can be preferentially performed, It is possible to provide an autonomous driving type robot device that is rich in change and can be operated in a manner similar to living with humans.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an indoor state for driving and using an autonomously moving robot device (entertainment robot device called an animal type robot or a pet robot) in this embodiment. In this room, in addition to the entertainment robot device 1, a battery charger 2 is installed, and signal transmitters (not shown) for transmitting and outputting position confirmation signals are arranged at four corners of the room. The entertainment robot device 1 receives a position confirmation signal from each signal transmitter to confirm the current position.

The entertainment robot apparatus 1 has a visual camera, an auditory microphone, and a tactile contact sensor as external sensory functions, and responds to human actions (gesture / talk / contact). Corresponding action (conversation /
(Action), and, other than the action corresponding action, performs an autonomous action of autonomously performing a preset setting action. The battery charger 2 is cord-connected to an AC power source and charges the battery of the entertainment robot device 1. At this time, the entertainment robot device 1 autonomously moves to the installation position of the battery charger, and its own Automatic charging is enabled by inserting and connecting the charging terminal to the charging terminal on the battery charger 2 side.

In addition, an arbitrary place in the room, for example, a safe place such as a gap in furniture is determined as a standby place of the robot, and when the entertainment robot apparatus 1 shifts from the active state to the standby state, The vehicle is autonomously moved to a predetermined location and waits. If a plurality of standby locations are determined, one of the standby locations is set to a normal reference standby location (sleep bed). ), And another waiting place is determined as a temporary waiting place. In this case, the entire room is associated with the plane coordinate system (indoor coordinate system) shown in FIG. 2, and the X-axis direction is roughly represented by “A to G”, and the Y-axis direction is roughly represented by “1 to 7”. By detecting the position coordinates of the intersections, the entertainment robot device 1 autonomously moves to the installation position of the battery charging device or autonomously moves to a predetermined standby position while confirming the current position. I am trying to do it. Here, in FIG. 1, PT1 indicates the above-mentioned standard reference standby place,
The position is set to the coordinates (A, 1) in the plane coordinate system of FIG. 2, PT2, PT3 indicate another temporary waiting place, and the temporary waiting place PT2 is the coordinate (D, 1), temporary waiting place PT3 is set at the position of coordinates (G, 7).

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the entertainment robot device 1 and the battery charger 2. The robot body 11 includes a digital camera 12, a plurality of microphones 13, a contact sensor (not shown), a pair of charging terminals 14, an induction sensor 15, a running tire 16, and the like. Further, the battery charger 2 is provided with a pair of charging terminals 21, a speaker 22, a receiving antenna 23, an induction lamp 24 and the like. When the entertainment robot apparatus 1 detects a battery shortage (low battery), the reception antenna 23 of the battery charger 2
The speaker 22 transmits a response sound (non-audible sound) to the entertainment robot device 1 when receiving the check signal. . The microphone 13 of the entertainment robot device 1 detects a response sound thereof.
The entertainment robot device 1 recognizes the direction in which the response sound is transmitted and autonomously moves in that direction.

In this case, the guide lamp 24 provided on the battery charger 2 blinks when a check signal is received, and the guide sensor 15 provided on the entertainment robot device 1 side is provided with a guide lamp. This is a sensor that detects the blinking of 24. Inside this induction lamp 24,
A pair of charging terminals 21 are arranged, and the inductive sensor 15
Inside, a pair of charging terminals 14 are arranged, and each charging terminal 14 on the entertainment robot apparatus 1 side is automatically connected to each charging terminal 21 on the battery charging apparatus 2 side by being guided by the blinking of the induction lamp 24. It is supposed to be. The charging terminals 14 on the entertainment robot device 1 and the charging terminals 21 on the battery charging device 2 are mounted so that their heights are equal. Each charging terminal 14 on the entertainment robot device 1 is usually covered with a shutter (not shown) so that the shutter is opened only when charging. The charging terminal 1 on the entertainment robot device 1 side
When the battery 4 is automatically connected to the charging terminal 21 of the battery charger 2, the induction lamp 24 and the induction sensor 15 are arranged on both sides of the charging terminal, respectively, in order to ensure the positioning thereof.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the entire configuration of the entertainment robot apparatus 1. The CPU 101 includes the storage unit 10
2 is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the entertainment robot device 1 according to the operating system and various application software. Storage unit 102
Has a recording medium composed of a magnetic, optical, semiconductor memory or the like, and a drive system therefor. This recording medium is a fixed medium such as a hard disk or a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a RAM
It is a portable medium such as a card or a magnetic card. Also, C
The PU 101 can also take in some or all of the data stored in the recording medium from another device side and newly register or additionally register the recording medium.

On the other hand, the entertainment robot device 1 has an audio input unit 103 of an auditory system, an image input unit 104 of a visual system, and a contact detection unit 105 of a tactile system as external sense functions.
They are connected to the CPU 101 as input peripheral devices. The voice input unit 103 is composed of an A / D converter, a microphone, and an echo canceller circuit. The voice input unit 103 inputs an external voice and performs A / D conversion on the voice waveform, and detects a human action (talking) as external information. Configure the auditory sensory functions to perform. The input voice from the voice input unit 103 is taken into the CPU 101 and subjected to voice analysis.
Here, as a result of the voice analysis, the CPU 101 recognizes the content of the spoken language.

The image input unit 104 is constituted by a digital still camera, and continuously captures the surroundings of the robot at predetermined timings, and converts the captured image into a digital image, and uses human actions (gesture) as external information. Configure the visual sensory functions to be detected. The digital image automatically captured by the image input unit 104 is a CP
The image is taken in U101 and analyzed. In this case, C
The PU 101 recognizes a human action (gesture) according to the analysis result. The contact detection unit 105 includes a pressure-sensitive sensor, a human body capacitance detection type sensor, and the like disposed in a predetermined area of the robot main body, and constitutes a tactile sensation function for detecting a human action (contact) as external information. Then, a sensor output that senses human contact is provided to the CPU 101 as a digital signal. Where C
The PU 101 recognizes a contact position indicating which position has been touched according to the detection result.

The CPU 101 has a voice response unit 10.
6, movable operation unit 107, drive mechanism unit 108, signal transmission /
In addition to the receiving unit 109, the charging terminal 14, the battery 110, and the induction sensor 15 are connected. The voice response unit 106
When a conversation response is made to a human action, a voice is output from the speaker, and the CPU 10
1 is a voice response unit 10 for generating voice information for a conversation response.
6 is output. The movable operation unit 107 is a mechanism that operates the movable unit of the robot main body, and includes a drive mechanism 108.
Has a motor, a power supply, and a driving mechanism, and has a movable operation unit 107.
It is a driving source for. The signal transmission / reception unit 109 transmits a check signal to the battery charger 2 when the entertainment robot device 1 detects a battery shortage (low battery), and the entertainment robot device 1 confirms the current position. For this purpose, a position confirmation signal is received from the above-described signal transmitter disposed indoors.

A program for controlling the entire operation of the entertainment robot device 1 is stored in the storage unit 102. That is, a system program, a language recognition program, an image recognition program, a contact recognition program, and various operation programs are stored. The system program is a basic program for controlling the entire operation of the entertainment robot apparatus 1, the language recognition program is a program for analyzing the input voice in response to a speech from a human to recognize the language, and the image recognition program is a human. The contact recognition program is a program for analyzing a captured image of the gesture of the user and recognizing the gesture, and is a program for recognizing a contact state in which a contact sensor arranged at a predetermined position of the apparatus main body is touched.

The storage area 102 has a learning area S
T, an indoor coordinate table SP, a position management table PM, an activity schedule table AS, and the like are provided. The learning area ST is a storage area for storing and holding the learning content in order to grow the robot in accordance with the learning content according to the action (talking / gesturing / contact) from a human. It is a table for managing the planar coordinate system (indoor coordinate system) of FIG. 2 described above. The position management table PT stores and manages the position information registered in advance corresponding to the plurality of standby locations described above, that is, the normal reference standby location and the temporary standby location, and also determines the installation location of the battery charger 2. 4 is a table for storing and managing the current position information of the robot, which is constantly changing; In this case, the position information indicating the plurality of standby locations and the installation location of the battery charger 2 is information that has been arbitrarily set and registered in advance by the user.
The activity schedule table AS is a table that stores and manages a time period during which the robot is inactive, that is, a standby time period (sleep time zone) for waiting the robot and an activity start time (wake-up time) as an activity schedule. The user has previously arbitrarily set and registered.

Next, the operation of the entertainment robot apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, a program for realizing each function described in these flowcharts is:
The program is stored in a recording medium in the form of a readable program code, and the CPU 101 sequentially executes operations according to the program code. This is the same in other embodiments described later. FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing the entire operation of the entertainment robot apparatus 1 started to be executed when the power is turned on, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the battery charger 2.

First, when the power is turned on, the entertainment robot apparatus 1 starts an operation by autonomous driving, and when there is a communication request from a human, performs an operation corresponding to the request (step A1). In this state, the CPU 1
01 checks the charge amount of the battery 110 and determines whether the battery is in a low battery state (steps A2 and A3). In this case, the near-end state is detected before the power is turned off, for example, before the drive can be performed for only about 30 minutes in the normal drive. If it is determined that the battery is in the low battery state, a check signal is transmitted to the battery charger 2 (step A4). Here, the battery charger 2
Always monitors the presence or absence of a check signal from the robot device 1 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 (step B1). When the presence of the check signal is detected, a non-audible response specific sound is transmitted and output ( (Step B2), the pair of induction lamps 24 are driven to blink (Step B)
3).

When the robot device 1 detects the response specific sound from the battery charger 2 (step A5), it checks the strength of the received sound, specifies the direction of transmission of the response specific sound, and travels in that direction. (Step A6).
Then, whether the robot apparatus 1 has arrived at the installation location of the battery charger 2, that is, compares the robot current location information in the location management table PT with the location information indicating the installation location of the battery charger 2, It is determined whether or not 1 has approached the installation location of the battery charger 2 (step A7), and the process returns to step A5 until it approaches. Step A6).

Here, when the robot apparatus 1 approaches the place where the battery charger 2 is installed, a shutter (not shown) for the charging terminal provided on the robot apparatus side is opened (step A8). Then, while detecting the blinking of the guidance lamp 24 by the guidance sensor 15, the direction and position of the robot device are finely adjusted and moved (step A9).
Accordingly, it is determined whether the charging terminal 14 of the robot device 1 is inserted into the charging terminal 21 of the battery charging device 2 and is automatically connected (step A10), and fine adjustment movement is performed until the connection is automatically performed. In this case, since the induction lamp 24 and the induction sensor 15 are respectively arranged on both sides of the corresponding charging terminals, the charging terminals are reliably positioned, and
These connections can be made smoothly. here,
When the charging terminals are connected to each other, the battery charging device 2
This is detected in step B4 of FIG. 7, and a charging current is supplied to the robot device 1 (step B5).

Then, the robot device 1 performs battery charging according to the charging current (step A1).
1) During this charging, the state of charge is continuously monitored, and it is detected whether or not it is fully charged (step A12). Now, when full charge is detected, the robot apparatus 1 is moved by a predetermined amount to a position until the connection between the charging terminals is released (step A13), and then returns to the autonomous driving state (step A1). ). Thereby, when the battery charger 2 detects disconnection of the charging terminal (step B6 in FIG. 7), it stops supplying the charging current, returns to step B1, and waits for the above-described check signal.

On the other hand, if the charge amount is sufficient and no row is detected in step A3, step A14 in FIG.
To determine whether it is an inactive sleep time zone based on the current system time and the standby time zone in the activity schedule table AS.
Referring to T, a waiting place is designated (step A15).
In this case, among a plurality of standby places registered in advance,
The reference waiting place PT1 is designated, the position information is called, and the position and the moving amount are determined by comparing the position information with the current position information in the position management table PT. The robot is moved by the moving amount in the determined direction. The vehicle is moved (step A16). As a result, the robot is placed in the reference waiting place PT1. Then, the mode is switched from the active mode to the power saving standby mode (step A17). Here, the power saving standby mode is an operation mode in which power supply to a heavy load is prohibited and a necessary minimum power supply is performed in contrast to a normal operation mode (active mode).

During the sleep standby, it is determined whether or not a voice action is requested (step A18). If there is no such request, the wake-up time is determined based on the current system time and the activity start time in the activity schedule table AS. (Step A19), and if it is not the wake-up time,
It returns to step A18. When the wake-up time has been reached, the process proceeds to step A20, switches from the power saving standby mode to the active mode, and returns to step A1 in FIG.
If there is a voice action request while waiting for sleep,
The above-described language recognition program is activated, the language content of the input voice is analyzed (step A21), and it is determined whether the input is a request for the user, that is, a voice input of a predetermined language (step A22). If it is a call, after switching from the power saving standby mode to the active mode (step A23), the direction in which the voice was input is recognized, and the robot is moved in the direction of the request source (step A24). Then, a human action is recognized, and a corresponding response operation is performed (step A25). Such an action response operation can be executed until the end is instructed (step A26), and the process moves to step A14 according to the end instruction, and if it is a sleep time zone, the robot is again moved to the reference standby place PT1 to sleep. A standby state is set (steps A15 to A17).

If it is determined in the step that the time is not the sleep time, the process proceeds to a step A27, and it is determined whether or not the communication with the human has been continued for a predetermined time. In this case, each time a corresponding action (conversation / action) corresponding to an action (gesture / talk / contact) from a human is executed, a timer (not shown) is cleared and started. It is determined whether there has been no communication for a certain period of time. In this case, if there is the next action before the time is up, the process returns to step A1 in FIG. 5 to return to the normal state. , And compares the current position information with the position information of each standby location, designates the standby location closest to the current location (step A28), and moves the robot to that location (step A1).
6). Also in this case, the moving direction and the moving amount are determined, and the robot is moved by the moving amount in the determined direction, so that the robot is set in the standby place and then set to the power saving standby mode (step A1
7).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the location of the battery charging device 2 installed at a location different from the autonomous mobile robot device 1 is specified, and the battery charging device 2 is specified. When the apparatus main body is moved to the location of the battery charger 2 and the charging terminals are connected to each other to make it possible to charge the battery when the apparatus main body is moved to the location of the battery charger 2, the inconvenience due to running out of the battery is avoided. It can be avoided, and the user is freed from charging work, can use without being conscious of charging, and is extremely effective in use management. In this case, charging can be performed by automatically detecting a low battery state in which the charge amount of the battery power is low, and when charging is completed, the connection with the battery charger 2 is automatically released to return to a normal state. Can be done.

Further, when shifting from the normal state to the standby state, a standby place set and registered in advance is specified, and the apparatus body is moved to the standby place. There is no need to search around, and there is no obstruction, and the operation of clearing the robot after use becomes unnecessary. In this case, the transition from the normal state to the standby state is performed when a preset standby time zone (sleep time zone) has been reached or when there has been no communication with a human for a predetermined time or more. By setting to, useless power consumption can be prevented. At this time, if a plurality of standby locations are registered, the standby location closest to the current position is specified, and the apparatus body is moved to that location, so that the moving distance to the standby location is shortened. be able to. Also, during the standby state, it is possible to cancel the standby state by recognizing the call to itself, and when the standby state is released, detect the called direction and move the apparatus body in that direction. The transition from the standby state to the normal activity state can be smoothly performed, and continuous use can be performed simply by calling.

(Second Embodiment) Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The second embodiment enables not only disorderly behavior but also simulated living behavior of animals and pets in accordance with a predetermined activity schedule. Is designed to give priority to the corresponding operation. The same components as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals, and the following description will focus on the features of the second embodiment. FIG.
(A) is a diagram showing the contents of an activity schedule table AS in the second embodiment.

The activity schedule table AS is 2 per day.
It is an activity schedule table that stores and manages a four-hour activity schedule, and associates a plurality of activity items with time zones. Here, activity items such as “wake up”, “gym exercise”,
"Meal (charging)", "irregular exercise", "nap (pause)", "communication", "walk", "sleep"
, And a “time zone” for each of Monday to Friday, a “time zone” for each of Saturday and Sunday, and a “specific gravity” can be set. In addition, “gymnastic” indicates an action style in which a predetermined gymnastic exercise is performed together with a shout, and “walk” is an action style in which the user walks and moves on a predetermined route. Exercise "
It shows a disorderly behavior style that does not define an action route. In this embodiment, of the 24 hours a day, the remaining time excluding the pre-designated activity rest periods “nap” and “sleep” is divided based on a plurality of activity items. However, the ratio in which the remaining time is allocated is determined by the value in the setting column of the “specific gravity”, in this example, the set value “1” corresponding to the activity item “gym exercise” and the value corresponding to the “irregular exercise”. According to the set value “6” and the set value “3” corresponding to “walk”, the division is performed at a ratio of 1: 6: 3.

"Fixed (1 hour)" described in the setting column of "specific gravity" indicates that the activity time of the item is fixed at 1 hour. In other words, the activity time of the item is fixed to the set time regardless of the contents of the schedule set by the user, but the time can be arbitrarily changed. In the activity schedule table AS, “time zones” for Monday to Friday and “time zones” for Saturday and Sunday corresponding to each item are automatically set according to the user-set time shown in FIG. It is calculated and set. That is, the user can arbitrarily set “time zones” for Monday to Friday and “time zones” for Saturday and Sunday corresponding to the items “wake up”, “sleep”, “nap ■”, and “nap ■”. , The time zone to be set in the activity schedule table AS is automatically calculated and set based on the input content.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation in the case of automatically setting the time zone for each day of the week in the activity schedule table AS according to the time set by the user. First, when "wake-up time" for each day of the week is input and "sleep time zone" and "nap time zone" are input and designated (step C).
1) The CPU 101 calculates the day-to-day activity total time (step C2) and calculates the free total time excluding the fixed time (step C3). For example, in the case where the user-specified time specified by the user is as shown in FIG. 8B, the total activity time for each Monday to Friday is 23 (sleep time) −7 (wake up time) = 16 hours, 16− (Total nap time 18-9) = 7 hours. Then, the free total time is 7-2 (total fixed time of meal and communication) = 5 hours.

This total free time is divided according to the activity "specific gravity" (step C4). In this example, the activity item “gym exercise” is divided into “1”, “irregular exercise” is divided into “6”, and “walk” is divided into “3”. "Regular exercise" is "3 hours", "walk"
Is “90 minutes”. Then, based on this, each day of the week is assigned to each activity item (step C5).
As a result, the time period of the “gym exercise” item for Monday to Friday is 30 minutes of “7:00 to 7:30”, and the time period of “meal” is 1 hour of “7:30 to 8:30” Similarly, the time zone of each item is the activity schedule table A
It is calculated and set in S.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the entire operation of the entertainment robot apparatus 1 which is started to be executed when the power is turned on. In the activity schedule table AS, FIG.
It is assumed that an activity schedule as shown in FIG. First, the current system date and time are obtained, and the activity schedule table AS is searched based on the system date and time to specify an activity item corresponding to the current time zone (step D1). And this particular item is
It is determined whether or not the activity has been suspended ("sleep" or "nap") (step D2). If the item is not an activity suspension item, an activity program corresponding to the item is activated and an action according to the item is executed (step D3). For example, in the case of "wake-up", a greeting is uttered together with the wake-up pose, and "gymastic"
If so, perform gymnastic exercises with a shout.

Here, if there is an action request (gesture / talk / contact) from a human (step D4), the action according to the activity schedule is suspended, and the activity item at that time is saved (step D6). ), And shifts to execution of a corresponding operation (conversation / action) according to the action request (step D7). Such an action response operation can be executed until the end is instructed (step D8). When the end is instructed, the process proceeds to step D9, and the activity schedule table AS is updated based on the current system date and time. The search is performed, and the obtained activity item in the current time zone is compared with the activity item saved at the time of interruption to check whether both are the same (step D10). Here, if they are the same item, after restarting the operation from the item at the time of interruption (step D11), the action according to the activity program of the item is executed (step D3).

In the response operation corresponding to the communication, if it is shifted to the next item schedule time, it is determined that there is no match in step D10. In this case, the process returns to step D1, and the next schedule item is specified. If there is no action request from a human (step D4), it is determined whether or not the scheduled time of the next item has been reached (step D5). If it is the next scheduled time, the process proceeds to step D1 to specify the item. However, if it is within the same schedule time, the process moves to step D3 and the same operation is continuously executed.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the item has become the sleep stop item or the sleep stop item such as "nap" (step D2),
As in the first embodiment described above, a check signal is transmitted to the battery charger (step D12). Upon receiving the check signal, the battery charger transmits and outputs a non-audible sound response specific sound and a pair of signals. The induction lamp is driven to blink. Then, when the response specific sound from the battery charger is detected (step D13), the transmission direction of the response specific sound is specified, the vehicle is moved in that direction (step D14), and the robot device is moved to the installation location of the battery charger. It is determined whether or not the vehicle has arrived (step D15). If it has arrived, the vehicle is caused to take a standby posture at the installation location, and is switched from the active mode to the power saving standby mode (step D15).
16). In this state, it is checked whether the “wake-up time” set in the activity schedule table AS has come (step D17), and the standby state is continued until the “wake-up time” is reached.

When the "wake-up time" has been reached, the state of charge of the battery is checked (step D18), and if it is at or above an allowable level (eg, a charge level at which normal driving can be performed for about 10 hours), the procedure proceeds to step D1. Returning to the above, if it is less than the allowable level, similarly to the above-described first embodiment, finely adjust the direction and position of the robot device while detecting the blinking of the induction lamp by the induction sensor, and change the charging terminal of the robot device 1 side. It is inserted into the charging terminal of the battery charger to make automatic connection (steps D19 and D20). Then, charging is started (Step D21), and when it is fully charged (Step D22), the robot apparatus 1 is moved by a predetermined amount to a position until the connection of the charging terminals is released (Step D23).

As described above, in the second embodiment, when there is no communication request from a human, the driving operation based on the schedule contents set in the activity schedule table AS is performed, and the communication operation is performed. When there is a request, the action corresponding to the request is given priority, so not only disorderly action but also animal and pet simulation according to a predetermined activity schedule Life-like behaviors, and when there is a communication request from humans, priority can be given to responding to them, and the tiredness of living like living with humans is possible. It is possible to provide an autonomously driven robot device that does not come down.

In this case, the activity schedule table AS
Stores an activity schedule in which a plurality of activity items and time zones are associated with each other, and divides a time excluding a pre-designated activity suspension time zone out of 24 hours a day based on the plurality of activity items. The time slot for each activity item is calculated based on the "specific gravity" set in advance, and is automatically set in the activity schedule table AS, so that optimal allocation is possible and the setting is easily performed. Can be.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the response specific sound from the battery charger 2 is detected, the transmission direction of the response specific sound is specified, and the vehicle travels in that direction. When the installation location of the device 2 is specified, the surrounding environment may be measured by a sensory function of the visual system to create an environment map, and the installation location may be specified on this map. In addition, when the charging terminal of the robot device is inserted and connected to the charging terminal of the battery charger, the alignment is performed by detecting the blinking of the induction lamp by the induction sensor. The alignment may be performed by a suitable means. Also, when transitioning from the normal state to the standby state, specify a standby place that is set and registered in advance, and when moving the apparatus body to the standby place, measure the surrounding environment with the visual and auditory sensory functions, The standby place may be specified.
Further, the battery charging device and the standby place are not limited to the room where the robot device is currently used, but may be installed in another room. In this case, a sound wave or wireless communication may be used as the communication means.

In the second embodiment, a schedule of 24 hours a day is set as the activity schedule. However, the schedule may be a schedule only in the afternoon or a schedule for one week. Type and behavioral style) are arbitrary. For example, in the case of a humanoid robot, an action corresponding to each activity item such as “wake up”, “toothpaste”, “breakfast”, “school”, “study”, etc. May be controlled according to a set schedule. In addition, by setting activity schedules related to each other to a plurality of robot devices and driving them at the same time, it is possible to collect a plurality of robot devices at a “meal time”. Each robot device can be separated from the state, and various actions can be performed according to what schedule is set.

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to avoid inconvenience due to running out of the battery by autonomously moving to the installation position of the charging device so as to be in a chargeable state. It is opened and can be used without being conscious of charging, and it is possible to provide an autonomous mobile robot device that is extremely effective in use management. According to the second aspect, when shifting from the active normal state to the standby state, the user can autonomously move to a predetermined location and wait, and the user needs to search around where he is. This makes it possible to provide an autonomous mobile robot device that is extremely effective in use management. According to the third aspect, not only disorderly behavior but also pseudo living behavior of animals and pets, for example, can be performed according to a predetermined activity schedule, and when there is a communication request from a human, In addition, it is possible to provide an autonomous driving type robot device that can perform a corresponding action with priority and can perform the action of living with a human being and that is rich in changes without being tired.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an indoor state for driving and using an autonomously moving entertainment robot apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an indoor coordinate system (indoor coordinate table SP).

FIG. 3 shows an entertainment robot device 1 and a battery charging device 2
FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an entire configuration of the entertainment robot device 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an entire operation of the entertainment robot device 1 started to be executed when the power is turned on.

6 is a flowchart showing the entire operation of the entertainment robot device 1 following FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the battery charger 2;

FIG. 8A is a diagram showing the contents of an activity schedule table AS in the second embodiment, and FIG. 8B is a diagram showing a user-set time arbitrarily input by a user.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when automatically setting a day-specific time zone in the activity schedule table AS in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the entire operation of the entertainment robot apparatus 1 started to be executed when the power is turned on in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Entertainment robot apparatus 2 Battery charger 14, 21 Charging terminal 15 Induction sensor 22 Speaker 23 Receiving antenna 24 Induction lamp 109 Signal transmission / reception part 110 Battery 101 CPU 102 Storage part SP Indoor coordinate table PM Position management table PT1, PT2, PT3 Waiting place AS activity schedule table

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G05D 1/02 G05D 1/02 HF term (Reference) 3F059 AA00 BB06 BC07 CA05 CA06 DA02 DA05 DA09 DB02 DB09 DC01 DC04 DC08 DD01 DD06 DD11 DD18 FA03 FA05 FA10 FB01 FB05 FB12 FB15 FC02 FC07 FC13 FC14 3F060 AA00 CA14 CA26 GA05 GA13 GB06 GB21 GD12 GD14 GD15 HA02 HA35 5H301 AA02 AA10 BB14 BB15 CC03 CC05 DD01 DD05 DD15 Q04 GG06 GG06 GG06 GG06 GG06GG

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An autonomous mobile robot device driven by a battery as a power source, comprising: a position specifying means for specifying a location of a battery charger installed at a location different from the device main body; Operation control means for moving the apparatus main body to the position of the battery charger specified by the specifying means; and, when the apparatus main body has finished moving to the position of the battery charger, sets its own charging terminal to a charging terminal on the battery charger side. And a connection means for connecting the device to a battery and setting the device in a chargeable state. 2. The battery charging device according to claim 1, further comprising a charge state detecting means for detecting that the charge amount of the battery power supply has decreased, and when the charge state detection means detects that the charge amount has decreased. 2. The robot apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus main body is moved to a position to allow charging. 3. A completion detecting means for detecting the completion of charging during charging of the battery power supply, and when the completion of the charging is detected by the completion detecting means,
2. The robot apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a disconnection unit that disconnects the connection with the battery charger. 4. An autonomous mobile robot apparatus, comprising: a specifying means for specifying a standby place registered in advance when transitioning from an active normal state to a standby state; and A robot device comprising: operation control means for moving the device main body to the standby place. 5. The robot apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the apparatus body moves to the standby place, the drive level is lowered to a lower level and the robot apparatus is set in the standby state. 6. A time monitoring means for monitoring whether a preset standby time zone has been reached or communication with a human has not been performed for a predetermined time or more, wherein the standby location is determined according to the monitoring result by the time monitoring means. The robot apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus main body is moved up to the position. 7. When a plurality of standby locations are registered in advance, a standby location closest to the current position of the apparatus body is specified.
The robot apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus main body is moved to the specified standby place. 8. The robot apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said standby state is released when a call to itself is recognized in said standby state. 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in the standby state, when the call to the self is recognized and the standby state is released, the called direction is detected, and the apparatus main body is moved in that direction. The robot device according to claim 8. 10. An autonomous driving type robot apparatus, wherein a schedule storage means for storing an activity schedule, a determination means for determining the presence or absence of a communication request from a human, and when the determination means determines that there is no request. In
An operation control unit that performs a driving operation based on the schedule content at that time stored in the schedule storage unit and, when it is determined that there is a request, preferentially performs a corresponding operation according to the communication request content; A robot device comprising: 11. The schedule storage means stores an activity schedule in which a plurality of activity items and time zones are associated with each other. Calculating means for calculating a time zone for each activity item by allocating based on the item; and setting means for setting the time zone for each activity item calculated by the calculating means in the schedule storage means. The robot device according to claim 10, wherein 12. A recording medium having a computer readable program code, comprising: a computer readable program code for specifying a location of a battery charger installed at a location different from the apparatus main body. The computer-readable program code for moving the main body to the specified position of the battery charger, and when the main body has finished moving to the position of the battery charger, its own charging terminal is connected to the battery charger side. A computer-readable program code to be connected to the charging terminal. 13. A computer-readable recording medium having a program code readable by a computer, the program being readable by a computer for specifying a pre-registered standby place when transitioning from an active normal state to a standby state. A recording medium having a code and a computer-readable program code for moving the apparatus body to the specified standby location. 14. A recording medium having a computer readable program code, wherein the computer readable program code for determining the presence / absence of a communication request from a human is provided. ,
A driving operation is performed based on the content of the activity schedule stored at that time in advance, and when it is determined that there is a communication request, a computer-readable program code that prioritizes a corresponding operation in accordance with the request content is provided. Having a recording medium.