JP2009274184A - Expression-variable structure of facial expression producing robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce facial expressions of a human using a simple structure, reduce the size and weight of an entire head, provide good replaceability of simulated movable parts such as eyebrows and a mouth or a simulated face, and to improve maintenability. <P>SOLUTION: A facial expression producing robot 10 is provided with the simulated face 12 simulating a face of the human, eyebrow parts 14 operably attached on the front side of the simulated face 12, and an expression forming means 16 to simulate and express facial expressions of the human by operating the eyebrow parts 14. The simulated face 12 is composed of a magnetically permeable material and a thickness. The expression forming means 16 includes front-side members 22 attached to the eyebrow parts 14, back-side members 24 disposed facing the front-side members 22 across the simulated face 14 therebetween, and a moving mechanism 30 to move the back-side members 24. Either one of the front-side member 22 and the back-side member 24 is composed of a magnet; the other is composed of a magnet or a magnetic substance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a facial expression variable structure of a facial expression expression robot capable of simulating various facial expressions of human beings.

In recent years, robots for medical welfare and entertainment have been researched and developed, and among them, robots that can communicate while performing emotional expression in the same way as human beings are being actively researched. Patent Document 1 discloses an emotion expression device for expressing such a facial expression of a robot. In this emotion expression device, a thread-like body is connected to the left and right ends of the eyebrows of the robot, and the eyebrows are moved up and down by winding and sending out the thread-like body by rotating a motor, thereby changing the facial expression of the robot.
JP 2003-80479 A

  However, in the device of Patent Document 1, a mechanism and a motor for winding and feeding out the same number of filamentous bodies are necessary, so that the structure for expressing the expression becomes complicated, There is an inconvenience that the head of the robot becomes larger and heavier. In particular, in the mechanism of Patent Document 1, it is considered that the eyebrows can be deformed in a complicated manner and more various facial expressions can be expressed by attaching filaments to the eyebrows at a plurality of locations. The above-mentioned inconvenience becomes more remarkable. In addition, if the eyebrow body with a different design shape is exchanged, expression on a different face can be expressed. In this case, the eyebrow to be exchanged is removed after all the filaments fixed at a plurality of locations on the eyebrow body are removed. There is also an inconvenience that the replacement of the eyebrows becomes complicated because each filamentous body must be fixed again at a plurality of locations on the body. Similarly, when performing maintenance on the head of the robot, it is necessary to remove and attach the filamentous body to the eyebrows, resulting in inconvenience that the maintenance work becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been devised by paying attention to such inconveniences, and its purpose is to express a human facial expression with a simple structure, and to reduce the size and weight of the entire head. Another object of the present invention is to provide a facial expression variable structure of a facial expression expression robot that can improve the exchangeability of a simulated movable body such as an eyebrow and a mouth or a simulated face, and can improve the maintainability.

(1) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a simulated face simulating a human face, a simulated movable body operably attached to the surface side of the simulated face, and operating the simulated movable body. In the facial expression variable structure of the facial expression expression robot equipped with facial expression forming means for simulating human facial expression,
The expression forming means has a configuration in which a magnetic force is generated between the facial expression forming means and the simulated movable body is operated by the magnetic force.

(2) The present invention also provides a simulated face that simulates a human face, a simulated movable body that is operatively attached to the surface side of the simulated face, and a facial expression of a human by operating the simulated movable body. In a facial expression variable structure of a facial expression expression robot equipped with a facial expression forming means that simulates expression,
The simulated face is made of a magnetically permeable material and thickness,
The facial expression forming means includes a front side member attached to the simulated movable body, a back side member disposed relative to the front side member across the simulated face, and a moving mechanism for moving the back side member,
One of the front side member and the back side member is constituted by a magnet, and either one is constituted by a magnet or a magnetic material.

(3) Furthermore, the present invention provides a simulated face that simulates a human face, a simulated movable body that is operatively attached to the surface side of the simulated face, and a human facial expression by operating the simulated movable body. In a facial expression variable structure of a facial expression expression robot equipped with a facial expression forming means that simulates expression,
The simulated face is made of a magnetically permeable material and thickness,
The facial expression forming means comprises a back side member disposed relative to the simulated movable body, and a moving mechanism for moving the back side member,
Any one of the simulated movable body and the back side member may be configured by a magnet, and either the other may be configured by a magnet or a magnetic body.

  In the claims and the specification, “up”, “down”, “front”, “back”, “left”, and “right” refer to the simulated face of the robot on the near side unless otherwise specified. Means “up”, “down”, “front”, “back”, “left”, “right”.

  According to the present invention, since the simulated movable body can be operated using a magnetic force without directly operating with a wire, a mechanism for winding and feeding the wire is not necessary, and the number of wires is the same. A motor is not required, and human facial expressions can be expressed with a simple structure, and the entire head can be reduced in size and weight. In addition, since it is not necessary to fix the wire directly to the simulated movable body, it is not necessary to remove or attach the complicated face or simulated movable body when replacing the simulated face or simulated movable body. In addition, the maintenance performance of the robot head can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a face part of a facial expression expression robot to which the expression variable mechanism of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a part above the nose of the face part. The figure is shown. In these figures, the facial expression expression robot 10 simulates a simulated face 12 that simulates a human face and an eyebrow part that is attached to the front side of the simulated face 12 and is a movable part within the human face. An eyebrow part 14 as a simulated movable body, and facial expression forming means 16 (see FIG. 2) for simulating and expressing a human facial expression by operating the eyebrow part 14 are configured.

  Although the simulated face 12 is not particularly limited, it is made of a photo-curing resin and has a thickness capable of transmitting magnetism for operating the eyebrows 14 as will be described later. Any material can be used as the simulated face 12 as long as it is made of a material and thickness that can transmit magnetism so that the operation of the eyebrows 14 described later can be performed.

  The eyebrows 14 are provided on both the left and right sides of the simulated face 12, and are formed of a predetermined resin elastic body that enables a deformation operation described later. The eyebrows 14 and 14 of the present embodiment are not particularly limited, but the initial state before the deformation operation is provided in a gently curved line shape, and is rotatable and detachable with respect to the simulated face 12. The left and right ends are fixed by pins 19 and 19 (see FIG. 2).

  The facial expression forming means 16 is attached to each of the right and left eyebrows 14 and 14 and disposed on the front side of the simulated face 12, and is disposed on the back side of the simulated face 12, sandwiching the simulated face 12 therebetween. The back side member 24 disposed relative to the front side member 22 and the simulated face 12 are detachably attached and a head mechanism 27 that moves the back side member 24 is provided.

  The front side member 22 and the back side member 24 are made of disc-shaped magnets having opposite polarities, and the front side member 22 is fixed at substantially the center in the left-right direction on the back surfaces of the left and right eyebrows 14, 14, and the back side member 24 is It is fixed to the head mechanism 27 side.

  The head mechanism 27 includes a frame portion 29 that supports various members, a moving mechanism 30 that moves the back side member 24, a pair of left and right eyeball portions 32 that are rotatably supported with respect to the frame portion 29, and each eyeball. An eyelid part 33 supported by the frame part so as to be vertically movable above the part 32, and an eyelid drive mechanism 35 for driving the eyeball part 32 and the eyelid part 33 are provided.

  The frame portion 29 includes a lower plate 37 positioned on the lower end side, side plates 38 and 38 standing upright from the front left and right sides of the lower plate 37, and an upper plate spanned between the upper ends of the side plates 38 and 38. 39 and a rear frame 41 standing behind the lower plate 37.

  The side plates 38, 38 are formed with insertion holes 45, 46 of bolts 43 at two positions on the front and rear of the upper end portion, respectively, and the upper plate 39 is connected to the side plate by the bolts 43 inserted into the insertion holes 45, 46, respectively. 38. The front insertion hole 45 is formed in a round hole shape having an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the bolt 43, while the rear insertion hole 46 is not illustrated, but extends long while curving in the vertical direction. It is formed in a hole shape. Accordingly, the rear insertion hole 46 can adjust the insertion position of the bolt 43 in the vertical direction. When the bolt 43 is loosened, the bolt 43 inserted into the front insertion hole 45 is used as a rotation fulcrum. The rear side of the upper plate 39 can be rotated in the vertical direction, and the upper plate 39 can be fixed at a desired inclination angle by tightening the bolts 43. That is, the upper plate 39 can adjust the vertical inclination angle thereof.

  The upper plate 39 is formed with two slot holes 48 extending in the left-right direction in both the left and right regions.

  The moving mechanism 30 is provided on both the left and right sides to hold the back member 24 so as to be movable up and down, and has a substantially L-shaped holding frame 50 in side view, a motor 52 supported by the rear frame 41, and driving of the motor 52. The pulley 53 includes a rotatable pulley 53 and a wire 55 that is wound around the pulley 53 and is connected to the holding frame 50.

  2 and 3, the holding frame 50 includes a main body upper portion 57 that is detachably attached to the upper plate 39, a main body front portion 58 that hangs down from the front end side of the main body upper portion 57, and a main body. Two upper and lower rollers 60, 60 provided on the front portion 58, around which the wire 55 is hung, are fixed to the wire 55 at a position between the rollers 60, 60, and can move up and down integrally with the wire 55. And a movable part 62 to which the rear side member 24 is fixed on the front end side.

  The main body upper portion 57 is fixed by being bolted to an arbitrary position of the slot hole 48 of the upper plate 39, and the rear side member 24 is adjusted by adjusting the mounting position of the main body upper portion 57 in the left-right direction. Positioning in the left-right direction is possible.

  The wire 55 is made of a material with little elastic deformation, and is wound around a pulley 53 and rollers 60 and 60 on both upper and lower sides. The pulley 53 is provided in one place, and as shown in FIG. 2, wires 55, 55 from the holding frames 50, 50 on both the left and right sides are wound around. Therefore, when the pulley 53 is rotated by driving the motor 52, the wires 55, 55 from the holding frames 50, 50 on both the left and right sides move simultaneously, and the back side members 24 on both the left and right sides move up and down synchronously.

  The eyelid drive mechanism 35 has a known structure that can cause the eyeball portion 32 and the eyelid portion 33 to perform desired operations via a transmission mechanism such as a pulley and a belt by power from a motor. Since the operations of the eyeball unit 32 and the eyelid unit 33 are not the gist of the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, pre-preparation and operation of the eyebrows 14 in the facial expression robot 10 will be described.

  The back side member 24 is positioned while considering the shape of the simulated face 12. That is, first, the inclination angles of the left and right holding frames 50 and 50 are adjusted based on the shape of the simulated face 12 so that the back member 24 moves up and down substantially along the curved shape of the upper region of the simulated face 12. . Here, when the inclination angle of the upper plate 39 is adjusted and the postures of the main body front portions 58 and 58 of the holding frames 50 and 50 are in a desired state, the upper plate 39 is fixed to the side plates 38 and 38 with the bolts 43. The Next, when the simulated face 12 is attached to the head mechanism 27, each holding frame for the upper plate 39 so that the front side member 22 fixed to the eyebrow portion 14 faces the back side member 24 across the simulated face 12. The left and right mounting positions of 50 and 50 are determined, and the holding frames 50 and 50 are bolted to the upper plate 39. Thereafter, the simulated face 12 is attached to the head mechanism 27.

  When the above preparation is completed and a power source (not shown) is turned on to rotate the motor 52 in a predetermined direction, the pulley 53 rotates following the motor 52, and the left and right wires 55, 55 rotate. Together with the wires 55 and 55, the movable parts 62 and 62 on both the left and right sides simultaneously move upward. As a result, the back-side members 24 and 24 fixed to the movable parts 62 and 62 also simultaneously move upward, and the front-side members 22 and 22 having opposite polarities follow and move upward due to magnetism transmitted through the simulated faces 12 and 12. Move to. Then, the left and right eyebrows 14 and 14 are fixed to the simulated face 12 so that both left and right ends are rotatable and elastically deformable. The substantially center of the eyebrows 14 and 14 to which the member 22 is fixed is lifted, and the eyebrows 14 and 14 are deformed into a U-shape as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. On the other hand, when the motor 52 is rotated in the opposite direction to that described above, the back side members 24 and 24 move downward, and the eyebrows 14 and 14 have a reverse letter shape as indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. Deformation operation. The front side member 22 and the back side member 24 can generate a magnetic force that can overcome the frictional force when the members 22 and 24 come into contact with the simulated face 12 and can elastically displace the eyebrows 14. .

  Therefore, according to such an embodiment, the following effects are produced. That is, in the conventional structure, in order to realize the up-and-down movement (two degrees of freedom) of the eyebrow 14, a motor for fixing the wire to the upper and lower sides of the eyebrow and winding or feeding the wire to each wire. Was required. However, according to the present embodiment, the same movement can be realized by one motor 52, and the head mechanism 27 can be reduced in size and weight. In addition, since the wire 55 is not directly connected to the eyebrows 14, the simulated face 12 can be easily detached from the head mechanism 27, and maintenance of the head mechanism 27 is facilitated. Furthermore, when replacing the simulated face 12 or the eyebrow 14 with a different design shape, it is not necessary to attach or remove the wire 55 to or from the eyebrow 14. Therefore, it is troublesome only by adjusting the attachment position of the holding frame 50 described above. Therefore, the simulated face 12 and the eyebrows 14 can be exchanged without performing a simple operation, and the expression of different facial expressions can be performed with a simple operation.

  In the above embodiment, only the eyebrows 14 have been described as the simulated movable body for the sake of simplification, but the same applies to the lip portion simulating a human lip, other simulated movable bodies, and the like. The mechanism can be deformed. Further, as these simulated movable bodies, not only resin but also elastic bodies made of other materials can be adopted as long as the above-described deformation operation is possible. Furthermore, when a magnet or a magnetic body that can be elastically deformed is used as the simulated movable body, the front member 22 can be eliminated.

  Further, either one of the front side member 22 and the back side member 24 can be constituted by a magnet, and either one can be constituted by a magnetic material.

  Furthermore, the front-side member 22 and the back-side member 24 are not limited to the shape, the number of components, and the arrangement described above, and may be various as long as a desired operation can be obtained with respect to the simulated movable body such as the eyebrows 14. Can be modified. For example, in addition to providing more front side members 22 for the simulated movable body, the simulated movable body can be operated in a more complicated manner by operating the back side member 24 not only in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the moving mechanism 30 which operates the back side member 24 with the wire 55 is employ | adopted, this invention is not restricted to this, As long as the back side member 24 can be moved, various structures are employ | adopted. can do.

  In addition, the configuration of each part of the apparatus in the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configuration example, and various modifications are possible as long as substantially the same operation is achieved.

The schematic front view of the face part of the facial expression expression robot of this embodiment. The schematic exploded perspective view of the part above the nose among the face parts of the said facial expression expression robot. The schematic sectional side view which showed only the principal part of the expression formation means notionally. (A) is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the operation | movement from which an eyebrow part raises from an initial state, (B) is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating the operation | movement from which an eyebrow part falls from an initial state.

Explanation of symbols

10 facial expression expression robot 12 simulated face 14 eyebrow (simulated movable body)
16 Facial expression forming means 22 Front side member 24 Back side member 30 Movement mechanism

Claims (3)

A simulated face simulating a human face, a simulated movable body operably attached to the surface side of the simulated face, and facial expression forming means for simulating and expressing a human facial expression by operating the simulated movable body In the facial expression variable structure of the facial expression expression robot provided,
The expression changing structure of a facial expression expression robot, wherein the expression forming means generates a magnetic force with the simulated movable body and operates the simulated movable body with the magnetic force. A simulated face simulating a human face, a simulated movable body operably attached to the surface side of the simulated face, and facial expression forming means for simulating and expressing a human facial expression by operating the simulated movable body In the facial expression variable structure of the facial expression expression robot provided,
The simulated face is made of a magnetically permeable material and thickness,
The facial expression forming means includes a front side member attached to the simulated movable body, a back side member disposed relative to the front side member across the simulated face, and a moving mechanism for moving the back side member,
One of the front side member and the back side member is constituted by a magnet, and one of the other side is constituted by a magnet or a magnetic body. A simulated face simulating a human face, a simulated movable body operably attached to the surface side of the simulated face, and facial expression forming means for simulating and expressing a human facial expression by operating the simulated movable body In the facial expression variable structure of the facial expression expression robot provided,
The simulated face is made of a magnetically permeable material and thickness,
The facial expression forming means comprises a back side member disposed relative to the simulated movable body, and a moving mechanism for moving the back side member,
One of the simulated movable body and the back side member is constituted by a magnet, and the other is constituted by a magnet or a magnetic body.

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