JP2008152659A - Antitheft autonomous mobile robot and antitheft method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid troubles by detecting theft and other troubles and notifying a predetermined point of contact, and to protect retained information securely when detecting troubles, which is conventionally insufficient. <P>SOLUTION: When self-retained position information is recognized as being different from position information acquired by external reference or when an interception of any robot functions is recognized, it is recognized as a theft or any other trouble, and a predetermined point of contact is notified and retained information is erased for trouble avoidance and retained information protection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to countermeasures against theft of robots, and particularly to countermeasures and avoidance of theft, forced movement, destruction, etc., from abnormal recognition of the self-position held by the autonomous mobile robot.

  With the recent development of robot technology, there are service robots such as home robots and security robots that perform intrusion monitoring and information management in offices and homes. These robots have advanced functions such as understanding instructions and autonomously moving to respond, or monitoring and learning family behavior to facilitate subsequent services. In addition, it has been reduced in size and weight in view of technological progress and handling.

  Coupled with sophistication of functions, miniaturization and weight reduction, there has been a risk of problems such as destruction of robots, function stoppage due to theft, and information leakage. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for preventing a theft by sending a notification signal when a robot detects that a distance from the ground is a predetermined distance or more by using a distance sensor or the like. However, there is a problem that it cannot be detected when it is lifted, dragged, or moved by wheels.

Patent Document 2 discloses a technology for authenticating the owner's face image and voiceprint recognition in a predetermined cycle, and notifying the owner when the authentication fails and preventing theft. ing. However, it cannot be applied to a business-use guide robot or the like that is used by many unspecified persons and in contact with many staff members.
JP 09-330484 A JP 2001-236585 A

  The problem to be solved is a problem that the robot is not equipped with measures to prevent theft / forced movement / crime prevention function or protection of retained information due to the miniaturization and weight reduction of autonomously movable robots such as crime prevention robots. .

  The first invention is an anti-theft autonomous mobile robot that has map information of an autonomously moving area, and that responds to theft, forced movement, destruction, etc. of a robot that recognizes its own position and moves autonomously.

The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot is
Means for acquiring a video around the self, image abnormality detecting means for detecting an image abnormality from the acquired video and the map information of the area to be held, and determining a position abnormality in which the position of the self is different from the area where the autonomous movement is performed Position abnormality detection means, and the position abnormality detection means, and means for notifying a predetermined contact from the determination result of the image abnormality detection means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot according to the first aspect of the invention further detects a movement in which the movement of the joint differs from the instruction in response to a movement instruction to the joint held by the anti-autonomous mobile robot. An abnormality detection unit is further provided, and the predetermined contact is notified from the determination result.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot of the second aspect of the present invention, the information held by the anti-theft robot is erased by judging the detection result of the position abnormality, the image abnormality, and the joint abnormality, or A means for destroying is further provided.

  A fourth invention is a theft countermeasure method for an anti-theft autonomous mobile robot that includes map information of an area that moves autonomously and recognizes its own position and responds to theft, forced movement, destruction, etc. of a robot that moves autonomously.

  The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot acquires a surrounding video, detects an image abnormality from the acquired video and the map information of the held area, and detects a positional abnormality that is different from the autonomous moving area. The movement of the joint relative to the movement command to the joint is detected as a joint abnormality that is different from the command, and it is determined that a trouble corresponding to theft, forced movement, destruction, etc. from the detected image abnormality, position abnormality, joint abnormality is detected. If it is determined that the trouble has occurred, a predetermined contact is notified.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that the trouble has occurred in the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot of the fourth aspect of the invention, information held by the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot is further erased, destroyed, or encrypted.

  According to the present invention, when it is recognized that the position information obtained by referring to the position information obtained by referring to the position information from the outside is different, or when it is recognized that the position information is disturbed, troubles such as theft It is possible to avoid trouble by judging and notifying a predetermined contact. In addition, it is possible to protect the stored information at the time of trouble determination, which has been insufficient in the past.

(Example 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an anti-theft autonomous mobile robot of the present invention. A configuration of an autonomous mobile robot having functions for theft, forced movement, destruction, and the like is shown.

The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot 1 is a robot behavior management control unit 10 that controls and manages robot behavior, a communication unit 20 that is an interface with a communication network 2 for notifying a predetermined contact when a trouble occurs, and detecting an abnormality. Crisis management unit 30 for determining, image processing unit 40 for performing image processing based on the captured peripheral image of the subject, self-position identifying unit 50 for determining the self-position based on image information and wheels and posture information, sensors such as robot posture Wheel drive control unit 60 that controls and drives wheels based on information, indirect angle drive control unit 70 that controls and drives joints based on information on the joint angle of the robot, sensor group 80 provided in the robot, and GPS 3 for self-position detection The GPS receiver 90 receives radio waves. The components of each of the above parts will be described individually. The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot is hereinafter collectively referred to as a robot, and the trouble of theft / forced movement / crime prevention function is collectively referred to as a trouble.
1) Robot behavior control unit 11: Obtain abnormality determination result from crisis management unit 30, current position information of robot from self-position identification unit 50, current joint angle information from joint angle control drive unit 70, and follow abnormality treatment method of DB12 Control management of autonomous behavior of robots such as commands. For example, in response to the determination of the occurrence of a trouble from the crisis management unit 30, commands for driving the wheels and driving the joint angles are issued via the self-position identification unit 50.

  Further, when a trouble occurs, a notification and a warning are given to a predetermined contact based on the abnormality treatment method stored in the DB 12. Further, it is determined whether the important information in the DB 12 is erased or destroyed, and an instruction is given to the target portion.

Since the behavior control of these robots generally performs control of autonomous movement by generating drive / behavior commands based on information in a predetermined behavior pattern DB held by the robot, description thereof is omitted.
2) DB12: For example, the following information is held.
A. Map information: Map information for areas that the robot moves autonomously and manages, and information on patrol routes. Further, if necessary, map information around a prescribed area within a predetermined distance is held.
I. Abnormal treatment method: Information specifying the troubleshooting method according to the abnormal item at the time of trouble occurrence. The contents will be described in the explanation part of FIG.
C. Security information, customer information: information on important security points in the management area, personal information of robot users (expressed as customers), and the like.

As a countermeasure against theft of these pieces of information, a method for dealing with troubles is determined in advance according to the level of secrecy.
3) Abnormality determination unit 31: An image abnormality detection result from the image abnormality detection unit 32, a position abnormality detection result from the position abnormality detection unit 33, and a joint abnormality detection result from the joint abnormality detection unit 34 are obtained, and the abnormal state, abnormality Integrate the confirmation results of the location, etc., and judge abnormalities comprehensively.
4) Image abnormality detection unit 32: Detects that a captured image from the camera 41 is not displayed due to, for example, the robot being covered with a shield or the camera being destroyed.
5) Positional abnormality detection unit 33: The current position (MAP) on the map calculated from the wheel sensor from the self-position management unit 51 is compared with the current position (GPS) received from the GPS, and is within the management area from the stored map. Whether the position is abnormal due to forced movement is detected.
6) Joint abnormality detection unit 34: compares the current joint angle information to determine whether or not the commanded joint angle is reached, or detects an abnormality by detecting the movement of the joint angle when there is no command. To do.
7) Camera 41: Shoots surrounding images.
8) Image bank 42: Stores the correspondence between the captured image and the position / posture of the robot that captured the image. Although it may be held in the DB 12, it is held in the image processing unit 40 for explanation.
9) Image coincidence detection unit 43: Calculates the current position / orientation of the robot by comparing the captured video and the data of the image bank 42.
10) Self-position management unit 51: The self-position management unit 51 receives the self-position calculated by the image coincidence detection unit 43 and the self-position calculation result by the wheel movement from the wheel control unit 61, and corrects the position against the stored map while correcting the position. The current position (MAP) of is calculated. Since the method for calculating the self-position based on the movement of the robot is conventionally known, a description thereof will be omitted.
11) Stored map 52: This is a map of the travel location of the robot, and corresponds to the map information in the DB 11. This is described in the self-position identification unit 50 for the sake of explanation.
12) Wheel control unit 61: Controls wheel driving based on a command from the robot behavior control unit 11 via the self-position management unit 51. The wheel is driven by feedback control based on the sensor data. Further, the position and orientation of the robot are calculated. 13) Wheel power unit 62: The wheel for moving the robot is rotated.
14) Joint angle control unit 71: Controls joint drive based on a command from the robot behavior control unit 11.
15) Joint angle power unit 72: Drives a joint provided by a robot such as an arm or a neck. It moves by feedback control based on sensor data.
16) Attitude sensor 81: A sensor for detecting the attitude of a robot such as a gyro.
17) Wheel sensor 82: a sensor for calculating the number of rotations of a wheel for moving the robot.
18) Joint angle sensor 83: a sensor that measures the joint angle of the arm and neck.

In addition, a sensor (for example, a switch) that detects whether or not it is in contact with the floor surface is provided as a position detection sensor, and measures are taken when the current position (MAP) cannot be calculated due to dragging and moving. A sensor to perform is also conceivable.
19) GPS receiver 90: Receives GPS data and calculates the current position (GPS), which is the absolute position of the robot.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic operation procedure of the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot of the present invention. When a theft-proof robot encounters a trouble, the trouble recognition, judgment and countermeasure procedure are shown.
S1: Register the initial position (MAP) of the autonomous mobile robot.
S2: Generate a robot movement command according to the robot action plan. Thereby, the wheel is driven to move the robot. S3: The relative movement distance of the robot from the initial position (MAP) is calculated using the wheel sensor and the attitude sensor. If the relative movement distance cannot be calculated, the process proceeds to S10.
S4: A current position (MAP) is obtained from the built-in map and the converted relative movement distance.
S5: GPS is received, current position (GPS) information which is an absolute position is obtained, and a difference between the current position (MAP) and the current position (GPS) is calculated. If radio waves from GPS cannot be received, the process proceeds to S10.
S6: It is confirmed whether there is a difference between the current position (MAP) and the current position (GPS). If it is determined that there is no difference, the process returns to S2 via S11 and continues normal movement. If there is a difference, the process proceeds to S7. Here, whether or not there is a difference is determined based on whether or not a difference in distance determined in consideration of a position error with respect to the current position (GPS) and an error of a built-in sensor is equal to or less than a threshold value.
S7: It is confirmed by the following method whether the current position (MAP) is within the regulated area under management.
A. Is the current position (GPS) within the specified area of the map information in DB12?
I. Is it possible to refer to a mark image that can be referred to at the current position (MAP) (marks on ceilings / walls, etc. of a prescribed area that has been investigated in advance)?
C. Is communication with a limited reach (such as a wireless LAN) blocked?
S8: From the result confirmed in S7, it is determined whether the current position (MAP) is within the specified area. If it is within the specified area, the process proceeds to S9, and if not, the process proceeds to S10.
S9: Check whether the following information can be detected and acquired.
A. Is the image input correctly from the camera?
I. Are you receiving from GPS?
C. Are you away from the floor? This confirmation is made by confirming the operation of a floor contact switch provided in the robot or not by whether or not the robot is separated from the floor by a predetermined amount or more. Description is omitted. By detecting being away from the floor surface, it is possible to detect a problem caused by dragging or wheel movement.
D. Are there any parts of the device that are damaged such as destruction? This confirmation can be made by comparing the monitoring result of the components that are normally provided with the robot and the operation of failure detection. As a result, it is possible to determine that the relative movement distance cannot be calculated in S3 due to the destruction of the component, and that the radio wave cannot be received from the GPS in S5.
S10: As the occurrence of troubles such as forced movement and destruction, the following measures defined in the operation rules are taken from the confirmed trouble situation. The determination of the reason why the relative moving distance cannot be calculated in S3 and the reason why the radio wave from the GPS in S5 cannot be received are made based on the determination result of whether the apparatus is faulty or broken in S9.
A. Notify the specified contact.
I. Issue the specified alarm.
C. Erase specified internal data.
D. Destroy specified parts. This is done by forcibly crashing the HDD or destroying the fuse of the memory chip.
E. Encrypt specified internal data.
S11: The current position (MAP) position on the map is determined in consideration of the position error with the current position (GPS) and the error of the built-in sensor.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an anti-theft autonomous mobile robot of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a basic operation procedure of the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Anti-theft autonomous mobile robot 2 Communication network 3 GPS
10 Robot Behavior Management Control Unit 11 Robot Behavior Control Unit 12 DB
20 communication unit 30 crisis management unit 31 abnormality determination unit 32 image abnormality detection unit 33 position abnormality detection unit 34 joint abnormality detection unit 40 image processing unit 41 camera 42 image coincidence detection unit 43 image bank 50 self-position identification unit 51 self-position management unit 52 stored map 60 wheel drive control unit 61 wheel control unit 62 wheel power unit 70 joint angle drive control unit 71 joint angle control unit 72 joint angle power unit 80 sensor group 81 posture sensor 82 wheel sensor 83 joint angle sensor 90 GPS receiving unit

Claims (5)

An anti-theft autonomous mobile robot that has map information of an area that moves autonomously, and that responds to theft, forced movement, destruction, etc. of a robot that recognizes its own position and moves autonomously,
The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot is
A means of acquiring video around the self,
Image abnormality detection means for detecting an image abnormality from the acquired video and the map information of the area to be held;
Position abnormality detecting means for determining a position abnormality that is different from the autonomously moving area;
Means for notifying a predetermined contact from the determination result of the position abnormality detection means and the image abnormality detection means;
Anti-theft autonomous mobile robot characterized by comprising The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1,
Furthermore, it further comprises a joint abnormality detecting means for detecting a movement of the joint different from the command in response to a movement command to the joint held by the autonomous mobile robot, and notifies the predetermined contact from the determination result The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot according to claim 1. The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot according to claim 2,
The anti-theft autonomous system according to claim 2, further comprising means for erasing or destroying information held by the anti-theft robot by judging the detection result of the position abnormality, the image abnormality, and the joint abnormality. Mobile robot. An anti-theft anti-theft mobile robot anti-theft method that has map information of an autonomously moving area, recognizes its own position and responds to theft, forced movement, destruction, etc. of an autonomously moving robot,
The anti-theft autonomous mobile robot is
Get the surrounding video,
An image abnormality is detected from the acquired video and the map information of the area to be held,
Detecting position anomalies that are different from the autonomously moving area
Detecting a joint abnormality in which movement of the joint with respect to a movement command to a joint is different from the command;
Judging from the detected image abnormality, position abnormality, joint abnormality, the occurrence of trouble corresponding to theft, forced movement, destruction, etc.,
A theft countermeasure method for an anti-theft autonomous mobile robot, wherein a predetermined contact is notified when it is determined that the trouble has occurred. A theft countermeasure method for an anti-theft autonomous mobile robot according to claim 4,
5. The anti-theft method according to claim 4, wherein when it is determined that the trouble has occurred, information held by the anti-theft autonomous mobile robot is further erased, destroyed, or encrypted.

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