JP2008125696A - Meal support system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a practical meal support system which is operated by a physically handicapped person who completely lost motor functions of upper limbs. <P>SOLUTION: The meal support system includes a meal support robot 2 which provides meals to a user 1, one or a plurality of imaging means 3 which monitor the condition of the user and the condition of the meal support robot, a display means 4 which provides information including a motion menu and a cursor to the user, and a control means which controls the meal support robot from the information of the imaging means and makes the display means display the information. The meal support robot includes a dish 5 for foods to place foods, a food providing means 6 for providing the food to the user, a food push-out means 7 for pushing out the food on the dish on the food providing means, and a dish moving means 8 for moving the dish in the direction perpendicular to the push-out direction of the food push-out means. The food providing means, the food push-out means, and the dish moving means of the meal support robot are driven by an actuator, and each means is controlled by an orthogonal coordinate system. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a meal support system for supporting meals of persons with disabilities in the upper limbs and the elderly.

  Currently, there are approximately 577,000 people with disabilities in the upper arm nationwide, and as the number of elderly people increases, the number of people with upper limb dysfunction due to aging increases rapidly, and it is expected that this will become a major social problem in the future. People with disabilities in the upper limbs are unable to live their daily lives on their own, and need the caregiver's support. In particular, meal support requires a long time even during the care work, and it is necessary to deal with the physical condition of the disabled individually. There was a heavy burden on caregivers. On the other hand, for people with disabilities, receiving meal support has hurt their self-esteem and refrains from caregivers, and cannot eat at their own pace. Since meals are the most important event that enriches life, development of a meal-supporting robot that enables individuals with upper limb disabilities to eat on their own can greatly contribute to improving the QOL of persons with disabilities. For this reason, meal support robots have been developed both at home and abroad. Manipulators that detect movements of fingers and arms of persons with disabilities using touch sensors, those that support eating and drinking operations for persons with disabilities in the upper limbs using manipulators, persons that persons with disabilities operate and operate robots with joysticks, and food that uses voice recognition Support robot hands have been developed. However, all the meal support robots are articulated, and the actuator is a DC motor. In the multi-joint system, vibration during driving of the robot is unavoidable, and food tends to fall during transportation, and accurate transportation of food to the mouth is difficult. The use of a DC motor has a problem in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), is dangerous for a pacemaker wearer, and may cause radio wave interference to home appliances. In addition, the touch sensor and joystick operation cannot be operated by a handicapped person who has completely lost the upper limb motor function, and the robot operation requires considerable training even with the remaining function.

Patent documents 1-3 are mentioned as a prior art.
Patent Document 1 describes a meal support robot. In Patent Document 1, a multi-joint type robot is employed. Further, a touch sensor is used for the operation, and a stepping motor or the like is used for the driving means.
Patent Document 2 describes a motor function assisting device and describes driving control of a driving means by eye movement. Since eye movement is detected by a potential change, it is necessary to provide an electrode around the user's eyeball.
Patent Document 3 is a patent by the present inventors and describes a system in which a user communicates intention by eye movement.
JP 2004-8327 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-254876 Japanese Patent No. 3673835

  An object of the present invention is to provide a practical meal support system that solves the above-described problems and can be operated even by a disabled person who has completely lost the motor function of the upper limb.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
A meal support robot that provides a meal to the user, one or a plurality of imaging means for monitoring the state of the user and the state of the meal support robot, and information including an operation menu and a cursor is provided to the user A meal support system comprising: a display means; and a control means for controlling the meal support robot based on information from the imaging means and displaying the information on the display means. Food dish to be loaded, food providing means for providing food to a user, food pushing means for pushing food from the food dish to the food providing means, food for moving the food dish in a direction orthogonal to the pushing direction of the food pushing means Dish moving means, and the food providing means, food pushing means and food dish moving means of the meal support robot are driven by an actuator. The meal support system is characterized in that each means is controlled by an orthogonal coordinate system.
A CCD camera can be used as the imaging means. The number of imaging means is preferably two, but is not limited to this. A PC or the like can be used as the control means.
As the actuator, an ultrasonic motor, a DC motor, a pneumatic motor, a pneumatic cylinder, or the like can be used.

Moreover, it has the following embodiments.
The food dish has a plurality of compartments for loading different foods, and a wall between the plurality of compartments is parallel to an extrusion direction of the food pushing means, and pushes food to the food supply means of the plurality of compartments. The part to put out is in an open state.
The control means performs intelligent visual control based on state information of the meal support robot from the imaging means.
The actuator is an ultrasonic motor.
The ultrasonic motor is controlled by intelligent variable IMC-PID control.
The control means has an eye interface function that can be operated according to the eyeball state of the user imaged by the imaging means.
The eye interface function uses a genetic algorithm to detect the eyeball position and line-of-sight direction.
The apparatus further includes voice input means for inputting the voice of the user, and the control means has a voice interface function operable by the voice input by the voice input means.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to provide a meal support system that can be operated independently even by a disabled person who has completely lost the upper limb motor function. Since the operation state of the meal support robot is detected based on the image from the imaging means, and the meal support robot is controlled based on the detected information, accurate control can be performed with a simple configuration. Since the meal support robot adopts a Cartesian coordinate robot structure, the trajectory calculation is simple, and since the operation is simple compared to the articulated robot, the blind spot of the imaging means is reduced. Since the present invention is a system that obtains a large amount of information by the image pickup means, an orthogonal coordinate system robot structure that reduces the blind spot of the image pickup means is advantageous. Further, by adopting the eye interface function, since the user's eyeball function (blink, line of sight, etc.) is detected based on the image from the imaging means, it is not necessary to attach a special sensor to the user. In addition, by using an ultrasonic motor for the actuator of the meal support robot, vibration and noise are reduced, and it is small and light, and has excellent EMC characteristics, thereby improving human safety.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the present meal support system, and FIG. 2 is a top view. The present meal support system includes a meal support robot 2 that provides meals to a user 1, an imaging unit 3 (CCD camera) that monitors the state of the user 1, the state of the meal support robot 2, and the eyeball state of the user 1, The display means 4 for providing the user 1 with information including the operation menu and the cursor, and the control (not shown) for controlling the meal support robot 2 based on the information from the imaging means 3 and displaying the information on the display means 4 It consists of means. The meal support robot 2 includes a food dish 5 on which food is placed, a food providing means 6 (spoon) for providing food to the user 1, a food pushing means 7 for pushing food from the food dish 5 to the food providing means 6, It comprises food dish moving means 8 for moving the food dish in a direction orthogonal to the pushing direction of the food pushing means 7. The food providing means 6, the food pushing means 7 and the food dish moving means 8 of the meal support robot 2 are driven by an ultrasonic motor, and each means is controlled by an orthogonal coordinate system.

  FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the meal support robot 2. The food dish 5 has a plurality of compartments for loading different foods, and the wall between the plurality of compartments is parallel to the extrusion direction of the food extruding means 7, and the portion for extruding the food to the food supply means 6 of the plurality of compartments Is open. The food providing means 6 and the food pushing means 7 are movable back and forth in the direction toward the user. The food dish 5 can be moved left and right in the direction orthogonal to the movement direction of the food pushing means 7 by the food dish moving means 8. Thus, by using the control of the orthogonal coordinate system in which each movement is in the orthogonal direction, the configuration is simplified and the blind spot of the imaging means 3 is reduced. In addition, since the structure is simple, there are few failures and maintenance is easy. These movements are driven by the ultrasonic motor 9. Compared to conventional DC motors, ultrasonic motors are driven by frictional force, so they have strong torque at low speed, no driving noise, large holding power when stopped, small size and light weight, and excellent characteristics such as EMC. is there. Utilizing this feature, an ultrasonic motor can be used as an actuator for a robot to realize an actuator that is quiet, quiet, excellent in EMC, and safe for humans. The ultrasonic motor 9 may be controlled by any control method, but preferably the intelligent variable IMC-PID control is preferable (for “intelligent variable IMC-PID control”, Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-312373 and See related application).

  4 and 5 are examples of the operation menu display by the display means 4. FIG. 4 is a screen for instructing the operation of the meal support robot 2, and FIG. 5 is a screen for selecting food on the food dish 5. These screens can be switched as necessary. A cursor 10 is displayed on the screen. The cursor 10 is controlled by the eyeball state (blink, line of sight, etc.) of the user obtained by the imaging means 3 (eye interface function). Various algorithms can be used to detect the eyeball state (for example, Patent Document 3). Preferably, a genetic algorithm is used as the algorithm (Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-274040). The cursor 10 is moved by the position / movement of the eyeball, and “clicked” by blinking or staring. When a menu on the screen is selected, the meal support robot 2 performs an operation corresponding to the menu. If the menu is as shown in FIG. 4, the meal support robot 2 performs the instructed operation, and if the menu is as shown in FIG. 5, the meal support robot 2 operates to provide the selected food. The menu can be selected by gazing at a menu item for a certain period of time instead of the cursor described above.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of intelligent visual control. In general, control of a robot requires detection of position information of an arm or the like, and usually various sensors are used. In this meal support system, since it is necessary to control the meal support robot while monitoring the state of the user 1, the position of the mouth of the user 1, the position of the food providing means 6, the position of the food pushing means 7, etc. Is detected from the image of the imaging means 3. Since the position of each part is detected using the imaging means 3, the configuration of the meal support robot 2 can be simplified, and the user 1 can be controlled while monitoring the state, so that safety is improved. Moreover, even if the user 1 moves, it can be accurately controlled. In general, a complicated calculation is required to detect a position based on an image from an imaging means. However, the meal support robot 2 of the present system employs an orthogonal coordinate system control, and thus the operation is relatively simple. Yes, it is easy to calculate the position of each part. In addition, if a blind spot is formed in the image from the image pickup means 3, it is difficult to detect the position. However, since the meal support robot 2 of this system adopts the orthogonal coordinate system, the blind spot of the image pickup means can be formed compared to the multi-joint system. Hateful.

  An operation example of the meal support system will be described. Food is placed on each section of the food dish 5 in advance. An operation menu and a cursor 10 are displayed on the display means 4, and the cursor 10 is controlled to move and click according to the eyeball state of the user 1 obtained by the imaging means 3. Alternatively, the menu item can be selected by gazing for a certain period of time instead of using the cursor. The user 1 selects the operation of the meal support robot 2 and the food on the food dish 5 while viewing the screen of the display means 4. When an action or food is selected from the action menu, the meal support robot 2 performs a necessary action. The operation of the meal support robot 2 is monitored by the imaging means 3 and controlled by the above-described intelligent visual control. For example, when food is selected by the action menu, the food dish 5 moves to the left and right so that the food comes to the food pushing means 7, and the food pushing means 7 moves to the user 1 side to feed the food to the food. By placing the food providing means 6 on the providing means 6 and moving the food providing means 6 toward the user 1, the user 1 can eat the food.

  In the above embodiment, the eye interface function is used for selection of an operation menu by the user, but a voice interface function can be used instead of the eye interface function. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the voice interface function. A voice input means 11 (microphone) is attached to the user 1 so that an operation menu can be selected by voice. The control means recognizes the voice input by the voice input means 11 and selects an operation menu based on the recognized voice.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Yes.

Schematic diagram of this meal support system Top view of this meal support system Detailed view of meal support robot Operation menu display example 1 Action menu display example 2 Illustration of intelligent visual control Illustration of voice interface function

Explanation of symbols

1 users (upper limb disabled)
2 Meal support robot 3 Imaging means (CCD camera)
4 Display means 5 Food dish 6 Food provision means (spoon)
7 Food pushing means 8 Food dish moving means 9 Ultrasonic motor 10 Cursor 11 Voice input means (microphone)

Claims (8)

A meal support robot that provides meals to users;
One or more imaging means for monitoring the state of the user and the state of the meal support robot;
Display means for providing the user with information including an operation menu and a cursor;
And a control means for controlling the meal support robot based on information from the imaging means and displaying the information on the display means,
The meal support robot includes: a food dish on which food is placed; food providing means for providing food to a user; food pushing means for pushing food from the food dish to the food providing means; and a direction orthogonal to the pushing direction of the food pushing means. Food dish moving means for moving the food dish to
The meal support system, wherein the food providing means, the food pushing means and the food dish moving means of the meal support robot are driven by an actuator, and each means is controlled by an orthogonal coordinate system.   The food dish has a plurality of compartments for loading different foods, and a wall between the plurality of compartments is parallel to an extrusion direction of the food pushing means, and pushes food to the food supply means of the plurality of compartments. The meal support system according to claim 1, wherein the portion to be served is in an open state.   The meal support system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs intelligent visual control based on state information of the meal support robot from the imaging unit.   The meal support system according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is an ultrasonic motor.   The meal support system according to claim 4, wherein the ultrasonic motor is controlled by intelligent variable IMC-PID control.   The meal support system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit has an eye interface function that can be operated according to an eyeball state of a user imaged by the imaging unit.   The meal support system according to claim 6, wherein the eye interface function uses a genetic algorithm for detection of an eyeball position and a gaze direction. Voice input means for inputting the voice of the user;
The meal support system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control means has a voice interface function operable by the voice input by the voice input means.