JP2002154084A - Head of robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head of a robot improved so as to prevent a generation of an image distortion accompanied with a movement of a visual line. SOLUTION: In the head 2 of the robot 1, a first support base 8 which is rotatable around a vertical shaft is coupled to a neck 6, a second support base 17 which is rotatable around a horizontal shaft is coupled to the first support base, a vision means (camera 18 in a preferred embodiment) is attached to the second support base, these first and second support bases which include drive means (first and second rotary actuators 11 and 14 in the preferred embodiment) and the head covering an entire of the vision means are coupled to a stay 22 which is substantially integral with the second support base. By this constitution, the vision means and the head are integrally operated whereby a motion of the line of vision and motion of the head always correspond to each other. Accordingly, in a case where the head is made of transparent acrylic resin, there is no fear of generation of the image distortion due to an ununiformity in a thickness of the transparent acrylic resin.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot head, and more particularly to a robot head incorporating visual means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional humanoid robot, a visual device having an ITV camera mounted on a support base that moves in a pan direction (around a vertical axis) and a tilt direction (around a horizontal axis) is mounted on a body. It is known that the visual device is fixed and the entire visual device is covered with a cover whose viewing angle range is formed of a transparent acrylic resin or the like.

[0003]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional structure, the portion of the cover in the range of the viewing angle is generally curved, but it is difficult to mold the curved surface uniformly using acrylic resin. Therefore, when an acrylic resin cover is fixed to the body and an image is taken by a camera provided in the cover, the refractive index of the transmitted light changes with the movement of the line of sight, and it is inevitable that the image is distorted. Was.

[0004] The present invention has been devised to solve such problems of the prior art, and its main objects are as follows.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot head improved so as to prevent the occurrence of image distortion due to the movement of the line of sight.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a first support base rotatable about a vertical axis is provided at a head (2) of a robot (1). (8) is connected to the neck (6), a second support (17) rotatable about a horizontal axis is connected to the first support, and visual means (embodiment) is connected to the second support. The camera 18) is attached, and the head covering the entirety of the first and second support bases and the visual means including the driving means (the first and second rotary actuators 11 and 14 in the embodiment) is attached. The stay is coupled to a stay (22) which is substantially integral with the second support.

[0006] In this way, the visual means and the head are operated integrally, so that the movement of the line of sight always coincides with the movement of the head. Therefore, even when the head is made of a transparent acrylic resin, there is no fear of causing image distortion due to uneven thickness of the transparent acrylic resin.

In the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, a visor (4) provided with a hole (5) having substantially the same diameter as the light receiving portion (the lens portion 23 in the embodiment) of the visual means. Was decided. Accordingly, only the light receiving unit can be exposed to the outside, so that stray light can be prevented from entering the imaging unit of the camera.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the upper body of a humanoid robot to which the present invention is applied. The robot 1 has a head 2 in a full-face helmet-like form mounted on a body 3. Then, only the lens portion of the camera is seen through the hole 5 provided in the visor 4 covering the front surface of the head 2.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the head 2 of the robot 1 will be described.
Will be described in more detail.

A neck 6 supporting the head 2 is fixed to the body 3. The neck 6 has its axis extending in the vertical direction, and at the upper end thereof, a first support base 8 is rotatable about a vertical axis via a bearing 7 that supports radial, thrust, and moment loads. It is supported by. Further, a large-diameter cogged pulley 9 is fixed thereon so as not to rotate.

The first support 8 comprises a pair of vertical portions 8V and a horizontal portion 8H connecting the lower ends thereof. The bearing 7 is provided on the horizontal portion 8H. A first rotary actuator 1 such as, for example, an electric motor with a speed reducer is mounted on a bracket 10 integrally connected to the rear portion.
1 is fixed. The upper ends of the pair of vertical portions 8V of the first support 8 are also connected by a plate 8P, and a control circuit (not shown) for a rotary actuator is mounted on the upper surface thereof.

A small-diameter cogged pulley 12 is fixed to the output shaft of the first rotary actuator 11. An endless cogged belt 13 is wound between the small-diameter cogged pulley 12 and the large-diameter cogged pulley 9. As a result, when the first rotary actuator 11 is driven, the small-diameter cogged pulley 12 revolves around the large-diameter cogged pulley 9, whereby the first support 8 rotates about the neck 6. This rotation angle is
For example, it is controlled by the output of a rotary encoder that rotates integrally with the output shaft of the first rotary actuator 11.

A second rotary actuator 14 having substantially the same structure as the first rotary actuator 11 extends horizontally on the inner surface of the vertical portion 8V on the left side of the first support base 8 from the front. It is fixed in the state where it was made to be. A pair of support shafts 15 that are parallel to the axis of the second rotary actuator 14 are respectively pivotally mounted on both vertical portions 8V on the same axis with radial bearings 16. The pair of support shafts 15
The second support table 17 is fixed between the inner ends of the second support table.
A pair of left and right cameras 18 are provided on the front surface of the second support base 17.
Is attached.

The support shaft 15 on the left side from the front and the second
Similarly to the first rotary actuator 11, between the output shaft of the rotary actuator 14 and the coaxial pulleys 19 and 20 having different diameters and the endless cog belt 21 are connected to each other.
When the fourth support 4 is driven, the second support base 17 rotates around a support shaft 15 extending in the horizontal direction.

At the outer ends of the pair of support shafts 15, stays 22 for supporting the head 2 are fixed. The head 2 is fixed to the stay 22. That is, the second support 17 and the head 2 are integrally rotated about the support shaft 15.

As described above, the visor 4 provided with the hole 5 through which only the lens portion 23 of the camera 18 can be seen is used.
Is covered with a shield 24 formed on the front surface thereof with a curved surface made of, for example, transparent acrylic resin.

In the head 2 of the robot 1 configured as described above, when the first rotary actuator 11 is driven, the first support 8 rotates around the vertical axis. Thereby, the camera 18 moves its line of sight in the pan direction. When the second rotary actuator 14 is driven, the second support 17 rotates about a horizontal axis, and the camera 1
The line of sight 8 moves in the tilt direction. These first,
By appropriately interlocking the rotational movements of the second support bases 8 and 17, the line of sight of the camera 18 can be freely moved in both pan and tilt directions. Here, head 2
Is substantially integral with the second support 17, so that the portion of the shield 24 made of transparent acrylic resin and integrally connected to the head 2 also moves so as to face the same direction as the line of sight.

[0019]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the camera as the visual means and the shield of the head are operated integrally, the site where the line of sight passes on the acrylic resin shield. Does not fluctuate, so that image distortion due to unevenness in the thickness of the acrylic resin portion can be avoided, and a great effect can be obtained in improving the visual line accuracy.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, only the light receiving hole (lens) can be exposed to the outside.
It is possible to prevent stray light from entering the imaging unit, and a great effect can be obtained in improving the accuracy of image data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upper body of a humanoid robot to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a part of the head according to the present invention cut away.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the head according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the head according to the present invention with a part of the head removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 robot 2 head 4 visor 5 hole 8 first support 11 first rotary actuator 14 second rotary actuator 17 second support 18 camera 22 stay 23 lens unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) // G03B 15/00 G03B 15/00 PF term (reference) 2C150 CA01 CA02 CA04 DA24 DA25 DA26 DA27 DA28 EB01 ED42 ED52 EF07 EF16 EF23 EF33 EH06 EH08 2H083 AA01 3F059 AA17 DB02 DB09 DE08 FB22 3F060 BA07 GA05 GA13 GB02 HA35

Claims (2)

[Claims] A first support coupled to the neck so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis; and a second support coupled to the first support so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis. And a visual means attached to the second support base; and a cover for covering the entirety of the first and second support bases, a driving means for driving them, and the visual means, The head of the robot, wherein the cover is coupled to a stay substantially integral with the second support. 2. The robot head according to claim 1, further comprising a visor provided with a hole having substantially the same diameter as a light receiving hole of the visual unit.