JP2007264950A - Autonomously moving robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an autonomously moving robot capable of effectively suppressing crimes to a specified person while moving accompanying the specified person. <P>SOLUTION: The autonomously moving robot R can move accompanying the specified person M. The autonomously moving robot R reports to the surroundings that it monitors the specified person M and issues an alarm when an abnormal change occurs through a display 2 and a speaker 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an autonomous mobile robot that can move with a specific person.

In recent years, crimes by stalkers and the like are increasing and becoming a social problem. A crime prevention system using a mobile phone has been developed in order to correctly report the situation of the occurrence site to the police station when such an emergency occurs. For example, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, an emergency call is automatically transmitted by pressing an emergency button of a mobile phone, and on-site image data, audio data, and time data are transmitted to a police station.
JP 2003-217060 A

  However, in the crime prevention system using the above-described mobile phone, even if the situation when the criminal act occurs can be correctly grasped, the effect of suppressing the criminal act itself is small.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an autonomous mobile robot capable of effectively suppressing crimes against a specific person while moving along with the specific person. Objective.

  The autonomous mobile robot according to the present invention is an autonomous mobile robot that can move along with a specific person, and includes an informing unit that notifies the surroundings that the specific person is being monitored.

  Since this autonomous mobile robot is provided with notification means for notifying the surroundings that a specific person is being monitored, the occurrence of criminal acts can be suppressed.

  The autonomous mobile robot includes an anomaly detection means for detecting an anomaly based on image information or sound information of a surrounding environment including a specific person, and an alarm means for issuing an alarm when an anomaly is detected by the anomaly detection means. And preferred. If it does in this way, it will lead to a criminal's action suppression by issuing a warning, and it can reduce a possibility of harming a specific person.

  The notification means preferably has an illumination function for illuminating the surrounding environment including the specific person. In this way, the crime suppressing effect can be further enhanced at night and the like, and the safety of movement of the specific person can be increased.

  According to the present invention, crimes against a specific person can be effectively suppressed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  In the drawings to be referred to, FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a mobile robot as an autonomous mobile robot according to the present embodiment and a specific person as its master, and FIG. 2 shows the structure of the mobile robot shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control device provided in the mobile robot shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure by the control device shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the autonomous mobile robot is configured as a mobile robot R that can move along with a specific person M as a master. The mobile robot R leads the specific person M or follows the specific person M based on the observation information while observing the specific person M and the surrounding environment in the vicinity of the specific person M.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile robot R includes a body R1 that can be moved by the traveling device 1 and a head R2 that is rotatably connected to the body R1. A display 2 capable of displaying various messages such as alarms and guidance with images and characters is installed. The display 2 includes, for example, a high-luminance backlight light source, and has an illumination function that illuminates the surrounding environment including the specific person M. The body R1 includes a battery 3 as a power source, a head drive motor 4 for rotationally driving the head R2, a position sensor 9 for detecting its own position, a travel device 1, a display 2, and a head drive motor 4. The control apparatus 5 for controlling etc. is incorporated. The position sensor 9 has, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a gyro converter, and the like, and detects its current position by these.

  On the other hand, the head R2 of the mobile robot R is used for observing the surrounding environment including a specific person M and obstacles (other persons, animals, structures, installations, vehicles, etc.) existing in the vicinity thereof as a stereo image. A pair of left and right CCD cameras (or infrared cameras) 6A and 6B as an imaging device, a speaker 7 capable of producing voices of various messages such as notifications, warnings, and guidance, and sounds of a specific person M and its surrounding environment are collected. A microphone 8 for transmitting data and a transmitting antenna 10 for transmitting data wirelessly are installed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the traveling device 1 includes, for example, a pair of left and right drive wheels 1C and 1D whose rotation direction and rotation speed are independently controlled by wheel-in motors 1A and 1B, and a 360-degree turn. It is possible to have caster wheels 1E.

  The traveling device 1 moves the mobile robot R forward or backward by driving the pair of left and right drive wheels 1C and 1D forward or backward in the same direction. At that time, if the rotational speeds of the pair of left and right drive wheels 1C, 1D are the same, the mobile robot R moves straight, and if there is a difference between the rotational speeds of the pair of left and right drive wheels 1C, 1D, The mobile robot R is turned to the slow rotation side. When the pair of left and right drive wheels 1C and 1D are driven to rotate in the opposite directions at the same speed, the traveling device 1 rotates the mobile robot R to the left or right on the spot.

  Here, the control device 5 is configured by using microcomputer hardware and software such as an ECU (Electric Control Unit). This control device 5 has input / output between the wheel-in motors 1A and 1B and the drive circuit of the head drive motor 4, the display 2, the CCD cameras 6A and 6B, the speaker 7, the microphone 8, the position sensor 9, the transmission antenna 10, and the like. In addition to the interface I / O and A / D converter, ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and data, RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores input data, CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes programs, etc. It is provided as hardware.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 5 includes a specific person recognition unit 5A, a camera control unit 5B, an image recording unit 5C, an anomaly detection unit 5D, a data transmission unit 5E, and a travel control module 5M as software. Has been. The travel control module 5M includes a map database (DB) unit 5Ma, an environment recognition unit 5Mb, a destination input reception unit 5Mc, a follow-up travel plan unit 5Md, and a travel control unit 5Me.

  Image data is input to the specific person recognition unit 5A from the CCD cameras 6A and 6B every predetermined time. Then, edge processing of the captured image is performed based on sequentially input image data, and the specific person M is detected by matching processing with the contour model of the specific person M stored in advance. And this specific person detection part 5A estimates the three-dimensional position of the specific person M for every predetermined time by the principle of triangulation by carrying out the stereo matching process of the stereo image of the detected specific person M.

  The camera control unit 5B receives the three-dimensional position data of the specific person M from the specific person detection unit 5A every predetermined time. Based on the input three-dimensional position data of the specific person M, the camera control unit 5B rotates the head drive motor 4 so that the specific person M is positioned at the center of the image in cooperation with the travel control unit 5Me described later. And the head R2 of the mobile robot R is rotated.

  The traveling control module 5M controls traveling so that the mobile robot R leads the specific person M or follows the specific person M while avoiding obstacles in the vicinity of the specific person M. The map DB unit 5Ma stores a predetermined range of map data. The destination input receiving unit 5Mc receives an input of a destination that the specific person M is about to go to. The input to the destination input receiving unit 5Mc can be performed, for example, by causing the display 2 to function as a touch panel type input means. The follow-up travel plan unit 5Md is based on the current position data input from the position sensor 9, the map data input from the map DB unit 5Ma, and the destination data input from the destination input receiving unit 5Mc. Set the travel route to.

  The environment recognition unit 5Mb performs edge processing of the captured image based on the image data sequentially input from the CCD cameras 6A and 6B every predetermined time, so that an obstacle (another person or animal, Detect structures, installations, vehicles, etc.). Then, the stereo image of the detected obstacle is subjected to stereo matching processing, so that the three-dimensional position of the obstacle is estimated every predetermined time based on the principle of triangulation.

  The following travel plan unit 5Md receives the 3D position data of the specific person M from the specific person recognition unit 5A every predetermined time and also inputs the 3D position data of the obstacle from the environment recognition unit 5Mb every predetermined time. Is done. Then, based on the input three-dimensional position data of the specific person M and the obstacle, the mobile robot R leads the specific person M while avoiding the obstacle in the vicinity of the specific person M, or follows the specific person M. Set the details of the driving route. The travel control unit 5Me individually controls the rotation of the wheel-in motors 1A and 1B so as to move along the travel route set by the follow-up travel plan unit 5Md to rotate the drive wheels 1C and 1D of the travel device 1. Control the direction and speed individually.

  The image recording unit 5C receives image data from the CCD cameras 6A and 6B together with measurement time information every predetermined time. Then, an image showing the specific person M in the past 5 minutes is recorded and accumulated.

  Image data is input from the CCD cameras 6A and 6B to the anomaly detection unit 5D every predetermined time. In addition, sound data of the surrounding environment including the specific person M is input from the microphone 8 to the anomaly detection unit 5D every predetermined time. Further, the position data of the mobile robot R is input from the position sensor 9 to the anomaly detection unit 5D.

  The anomaly detection unit 5D detects an anomaly of the specific person M based on the input image data. Further, an abnormality of the specific person M is detected based on the input sound data. The detection of an abnormality of the specific person M will be described later. Then, the abnormality detection unit 5D detects the abnormality of the specific person M in this way, and notifies the surroundings through the display 2 and the speaker 7 that the specific person M is being monitored. As a notification method, for example, a character “owner monitoring” is displayed on the display 2, or a sound “owner monitoring is in progress” is output from the speaker 7.

  Then, when at least one of the image data and the sound data shows an abnormality, the abnormality detection unit 5D determines that an abnormality has occurred in the specific person M, and sends the abnormality detection signal together with the position data at that time to the data transmission unit 5E. Send to. Further, an alarm is issued to the surroundings through the display 2 and the speaker 7. As an alarm method, for example, the display 2 displays the characters “Anomaly has changed in the owner” and blinks, or the speaker 7 makes a sound or an alarm sound “Anomaly has occurred in the owner. Please rescue.” Can be mentioned.

  When the abnormality detection signal is input from the abnormality detection unit 5D, the data transmission unit 5E receives image data showing the specific person M from the image recording unit 5C for the past 5 minutes, and transmits the antenna 10 together with the input position data. The image data is transmitted to a predetermined channel (for example, a reporting channel of a security company or a police station).

  Here, the anomaly detection means of the present invention is constituted by the CCD cameras 6A and 6B and / or the microphone 8 and the anomaly detector 5D. Further, the anomaly detection unit 5D and the display 2 and / or the speaker 7 constitute the notification means of the present invention. The anomaly detector 5D and the display 2 and / or the speaker 7 constitute the alarm means of the present invention.

  Next, a processing procedure performed by the anomaly detection unit 5D configuring the control device 5 shown in FIG. 3 will be described in more detail along the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in step S1, the anomaly detection unit 5D acquires image data of the surrounding environment including the specific person M from the CCD cameras 6A and 6B every predetermined time. In next step S <b> 2, the abnormality detection unit 5 </ b> D acquires sound data of the surrounding environment including the specific person M from the microphone 8 every predetermined time.

  In subsequent step S3, the abnormality detection unit 5D detects an abnormality of the specific person M based on the acquired image data and sound data. Anomaly detection based on image data can be performed, for example, as follows. That is, when an unsteady facial expression (such as a surprised facial expression) of the specific person M is detected, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred. The detection of an unsteady facial expression can be performed by registering an unsteady facial expression of the specific person M in advance and searching for a corresponding one. Alternatively, it can be performed by extracting a feature point of the face of the specific person M and determining whether or not the displacement from the feature point position in a steady state is larger than a threshold value. In addition, it is possible to detect anomalies based on image data by detecting that there is a person approaching the specific person M within a certain distance.

  On the other hand, anomaly detection based on sound data can be performed as follows, for example. That is, when an unsteady voice of the specific person M is detected, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred. Detection of unsteady speech can be performed by previously registering keywords such as “car” and “help” and searching for a corresponding keyword. Alternatively, it can be performed by determining whether the intensity or frequency of the voice of the specific person M is greater than a predetermined threshold.

  In step S4, when it is determined that no abnormality has occurred in the specific person M, the process proceeds to step S5 to notify the surroundings that the specific person M is being monitored. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S4 that an abnormality has occurred in the specific person M, the process proceeds to step S6 to issue an alarm. Then, the process proceeds to step S7, the position data at that time is acquired from the position sensor 9, and the abnormality detection unit 5D transmits the abnormality detection signal together with the position data to the data transmission unit 5E in step S8. As a result, the data transmission unit 5E receives the image data showing the specific person M from the image recording unit 5C in the past 5 minutes, and sends the image data from the transmission antenna 10 together with the input position data to a predetermined channel (for example, To the security company or police station reporting channel).

  As described in detail above, the mobile robot R configured as the autonomous mobile robot according to the present embodiment captures the surrounding environment including the specific person M with the CCD cameras 6A and 6B, and based on the captured image data. By controlling the rotation direction and rotation speed of the pair of left and right drive wheels 1C, 1D of the traveling device 1 independently, the specific person M is led or specified while avoiding obstacles in the vicinity of the specific person M. Follow person M.

  At that time, the abnormality of the specific person M can be detected based on the image data acquired by the CCD cameras 6A and 6B and the sound data acquired by the microphone 8. When no abnormality has occurred, it is possible to notify the surroundings that the specific person M is being monitored through the display 2 or the speaker 7. Therefore, a person who tries to commit a crime, such as a stalker, can be squeezed to suppress the occurrence of criminal acts.

  Further, when an abnormality of the specific person M is detected, an alarm can be issued to the surroundings through the display 2 and the speaker 7. Therefore, issuing a warning leads to suppression of the behavior of a criminal, and the risk of harming a specific person can be reduced.

  In addition, the display 2 as the notification means includes, for example, a high-brightness backlight light source and has an illumination function that illuminates the surrounding environment including the specific person M, so that the crime suppression effect can be further enhanced at night, etc. The safety of movement of the specific person M can be improved.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, although the display 2 and the speaker 7 are cited as the notification means and warning means for notifying that the specific person M is being monitored, it indicates that “the monitoring is being performed” and “anomaly has occurred”. As long as social consensus is obtained, the present invention is not limited to this, and the notification means and the warning means may be configured simply by a pilot lamp or a light emitting element that emits predetermined light.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the abnormality detection unit 5D determines that an abnormality has not occurred, the fact that the specific person M is being monitored is notified. For example, the power supply of the mobile robot R A notification control unit is provided for receiving a trigger signal such as a power-on signal containing a signal, a mode signal in which the monitoring mode is selected by the specific person M, and the specific person M is being monitored when such a signal is input. You may make it alert | report that there exists.

  In addition, the video recording unit 5C records the image of the specific person M for the past 5 minutes, but may record a longer-term image. Then, when there is a request for image data from the data transmission unit 5E, an image of the latest fixed time (for example, the past 5 minutes) may be cut out.

  Also, a sound recording unit that records the sound acquired by the microphone 8 as with the image recording unit 5C may be provided, and the data transmission unit 5E may also transmit the sound data when an abnormality occurs.

  Further, the moving means may have other structures such as bipedal walking and quadrupedal walking. In addition, the means for recognizing the distance from surrounding obstacles (objects) is not limited to a stereo CCD camera, and may be a combination of an image sensor and laser distance measurement, a distance image sensor, or the like.

It is a top view which shows typically the mobile robot as an autonomous mobile robot which concerns on embodiment, and the specific person as the master. It is a side view which shows the structure of the mobile robot shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control apparatus with which the mobile robot shown in FIG. 2 is provided. It is a flowchart which shows a part of process sequence by the control apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Traveling apparatus, 2 ... Display, 3 ... Battery, 4 ... Head drive motor, 5 ... Control apparatus, 5A ... Specific person recognition part, 5B ... Camera control part, 5C ... Image recording part, 5D ... Abnormality detection part, 5E Data transmission unit, 5M ... travel control module, 5Ma ... map DB unit, 5Mb ... environment recognition unit, 5Mc ... destination input reception unit, 5Md ... follow-up travel plan unit, 5Me ... travel control unit, 6A, 6B ... CCD camera , 7 ... Speaker, 8 ... Microphone, 9 ... Position sensor, 10 ... Transmission antenna, R ... Mobile robot, M ... Specific person.

Claims (3)

An autonomous mobile robot that can move with a specific person,
An autonomous mobile robot characterized by comprising notifying means for notifying the surroundings that the specific person is being monitored. Anomaly detection means for detecting an anomaly based on image information or sound information of the surrounding environment including the specific person;
Alarm means for issuing an alarm when anomaly is detected by the anomaly detection means;
The autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, further comprising:   The autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit has an illumination function for illuminating a surrounding environment including the specific person.

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