JP2011000655A - Communication robot development supporting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a noble communication robot development supporting apparatus facilitating setting of the transition of a complicated action module.SOLUTION: The communication robot development supporting apparatus (10) supports the development of a communication robot (12). Sequence display means layers the transition of an action module into a main sequence at the highest level and a sub sequence lower than the main sequence and individually displays a main sequence screen 312 corresponding to the main sequence and a sub sequence screen 314 corresponding to the sub sequence, respectively. For example, in the main sequence screen 312, a main sequence is prepared, based on a behavior icon 304 corresponding to the action module, a sequence icon 320 corresponding to the sub sequence and a transition line 306 showing an execution order of the action module by connecting between the icons. In the sub sequence screen 314, for example, a subsequence is prepared, based on the behavior icon 304 and the transition line 306. Thus, the transition of a complicated action module is easily defined.

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication robot development support device, and more particularly to a communication robot development support device for developing a communication robot that takes communication behavior by executing a behavior module including a series of behavior programs.

  The present applicant has proposed a communication robot development support apparatus in Patent Document 1. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for easily visualizing the relationship between behavior modules for controlling communication behavior (behavior) included in a communication robot on a screen. In the technique of Patent Document 1, since the relationship between behavior modules can be intuitively grasped, for example, creation / editing of rules for autonomous behavior can be appropriately performed.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-88328 [G06F 9/06]

  However, with the technology of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to visualize the relationship between complex behavior modules on the screen in an easy-to-understand manner. For example, hierarchical behavior module transitions or behavior module reflection transitions are performed. I couldn't grasp it all together. For this reason, when setting the transition of a complicated action module, the developer took extra effort.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a novel communication robot development support device.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a communication robot development support device that can easily set transitions of complicated behavior modules.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to solve the above problems. Note that reference numerals in parentheses, supplementary explanations, and the like indicate correspondence relationships with embodiments described later to help understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention in any way.

  A first invention is a communication robot development support device for developing a communication robot that takes a communication action by executing an action module consisting of a series of action programs, and a main sequence in which the action module transition is at the highest level And sub-sequences corresponding to the main sequence and the sub-sequence screen corresponding to the sub-sequence are individually displayed on the screen, and the behavior icon indicating the behavior module is displayed on the screen. An icon display means for displaying the first sequence icon indicating the subsequence on at least the main sequence screen, and an icon displayed on the main sequence screen by the icon display means; Based on the transition line indicating the execution order of the behavior modules by connecting the icons, the main sequence creating means for creating the main sequence, and the icon and the transition line displayed on the sub-sequence screen by the icon display means And a communication robot development support device comprising subsequence creation means for creating a subsequence.

  In the first invention, the communication robot development support device (10) is for supporting the development of the communication robot (12). The sequence display means (26, 302, 312, 314, S1) stratifies the transition of the behavior module into a main sequence that is the highest level and a subsequence that is lower than that, and a main sequence screen (312) corresponding to the main sequence. And a subsequence screen (314) corresponding to the subsequence are individually displayed on the visualization screen (302). On the main sequence screen, a behavior icon (304) corresponding to the behavior module and a sequence icon (320) corresponding to the sub-sequence are displayed. The main sequence creation means (312, S7) creates a main sequence based on the behavior icon, the sequence icon, and the transition line (306) indicating the execution order of the behavior modules by connecting the icons. In addition, on the sub-sequence screen, a behavior icon corresponding to the behavior module is displayed. For example, the subsequence creation means (314, S7) creates a subsequence based on the behavior icon and the transition line.

  According to the first invention, it is possible to easily set the transition of a complicated behavior module.

  The second invention is dependent on the first invention and further comprises sequence storage means for storing the main sequence created by the main sequence creation means and the subsequence created by the subsequence creation means, and the icon display means is Readout icon display means for reading a desired sequence from the sequence storage means and displaying a second sequence icon indicating the sequence on the screen.

  In the second invention, the sequence storage means (30, S11) stores the main sequence created on the main sequence screen (312) and the subsequence created on the subsequence screen (314). For example, the sequence list screen (318) displays a list of sequence names stored by the sequence storage means. Then, for example, when the name of the sequence dragged by the input device (28) such as a mouse is dropped on the visualization screen (302), a sequence icon indicating the sequence is displayed on the visualization screen.

  A third invention is dependent on the first or second invention, and further includes a return destination designating unit for designating a return destination from the reflective transition of the behavior module.

  In the third invention, the return destination designating means (26, 334), for example, includes a reflective transition between a behavior icon (304) of a behavior of a reflective transition and a behavior icon of a behavior to be executed after finishing the reflective transition. By connecting with a line (334), the return destination from the reflexive transition of the behavior module is specified.

  According to the third invention, the transition method such as “return to the transition source”, “return to the top of the sequence of the transition source”, “specify the return destination”, etc. can be simply applied to the reflective transition of the behavior module Can be set.

  According to the present invention, the behavior module transition is hierarchized into a main sequence and a sub sequence, and the main sequence screen showing the main sequence and the sub sequence screen showing the sub sequence are individually displayed. Can easily grasp the relationship.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the communication robot development assistance apparatus and communication robot of one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the communication robot development assistance apparatus shown in FIG. It is an illustration figure which shows the structure of the action module with which the communication robot shown in FIG. 1 is provided. (A) is an illustration figure which shows the sequential transition of an action module, (B) is an illustration figure which shows the reflective transition of an action module. It is an external view which shows an example of the communication robot shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of the communication robot shown in FIG. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the composer screen displayed with the communication robot development assistance apparatus shown in FIG. It is an illustration figure which shows the main sequence displayed on the main sequence screen of the composer screen shown in FIG. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the composer screen displayed with the communication robot development assistance apparatus shown in FIG. It is an illustration figure which shows the subsequence displayed on the subsequence screen of the composer screen shown in FIG. It is an illustration figure which shows the reflective transition displayed on the subsequence screen of the composer screen shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of a development assistance apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of a communication robot. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the execution process of the reflective transition of FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a communication robot development support apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as “development support apparatus”) 10 of this embodiment is a communication robot that takes a communication action by executing an action module consisting of a series of action programs. (Hereinafter simply referred to as “robot”).

  The development support apparatus 10 is configured by a computer such as a personal computer (PC) or a workstation, and includes, for example, a CPU 20 as shown in FIG. The CPU 20 is also called a microcomputer or a processor, and is connected via a bus 22 to a memory 24, a display device 26 such as a liquid crystal display or CRT, and an input device 28 such as a mouse and a keyboard.

  Although not shown, the memory 24 includes a ROM, an HDD, and a RAM. The ROM and HDD store a program for controlling the operation of the development support apparatus 10, and also store screen data displayed on the display device 26, image data of each icon, and the like. Furthermore, the ROM and the HDD store programs and data for controlling the behavior of the robot 12. Here, the behavior indicates the communication behavior of the robot 12 realized by the behavior module, and a plurality of behavior modules are stored in the ROM and HDD in association with each behavior. The RAM is used as a work memory or a buffer memory.

  Further, the CPU 20 is connected to a sequence database (hereinafter, sequence DB) 30 via the bus 22. As will be described in detail later, the sequence DB 30 stores the main sequence and sub-sequence, and the developer of the robot 12 reads the sequence data (sequence data) stored in the sequence DB 30. The state transition of the behavior module can be set using the data of the sequence.

  The CPU 20 is connected to the communication LAN board 32 via the bus 22. The communication LAN board 32 is configured by a DSP, for example, and provides transmission data given from the CPU 20 to the wireless communication device 34, and the wireless communication device 34 transmits the transmission data to the robot 12 via the network 200. The communication LAN board 32 receives data via the wireless communication device 34 and gives the received data to the CPU 20.

  The robot 12 that supports development by the development support apparatus 10 will be described.

  The robot 12 is a humanoid type and autonomously moving type having various sensors, and can take a communication action using at least one of gesture and voice. As described above, the program for realizing the communication behavior (behavior) of the robot 12 is executed as a modularized “behavior module”. Further, the execution order of the behavior modules is set as “behavior module state transition”, and a communication behavior that maintains a coherent context or a harmonious situation in the long term is realized. “Behavior module state transition” indicates a short-term transition of a behavior module. For example, it may be a connection or ordering of several behavior modules, but a long-term (for example, all day) or all behavior modules. It does not define a transition. That is, the robot 12 sequentially executes the “behavior modules”, and the execution order of the behavior modules is guided by “state transition of the behavior modules”.

  Specifically, the behavior module includes a precondition section, an instruction section, and a recognition section, as shown in FIG. When executing the behavior module, first, the robot 12 confirms whether or not the behavior module is in an executable state by executing the precondition section. If the precondition is satisfied, the instruction unit is executed next. Thereby, the robot 12 takes an action that interacts with a human, and specifically presents a predetermined communication action to the human using at least one of gesture and voice. The recognition unit is set to recognize several human reactions (predicted 1 to expected N) that are expected to be taken with respect to the communication action presented by the robot 12.

  The behavior module transitions include sequential transitions and reflexive transitions, as shown in FIG. The robot 10 recognizes the human reaction by executing the recognizing unit after executing the instruction unit of the current behavior module. Thereafter, the robot 10 ends the execution of the current behavior module, records a result value corresponding to the recognition result, and transitions to the next executable behavior module (FIG. 4A). The behavior module to be executed next is determined by the result values (predicted 1 to predicted N) of the current behavior module, and this transition is guided by the state transition of the behavior module.

  In addition, if there is a disturbance from the outside, it is handled by a reflective transition. If a reflexive transition is set for the current situation and the precondition part of the corresponding next action module is satisfied, the robot 12 stops executing the current action module and immediately Transition to a module (FIG. 4B). This reactive transition is also guided by the state transition of the behavior module.

  However, the “episode rule” can also be applied as a rule regarding the execution order of the behavior modules. This “episode rule” is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-114242 filed by the applicant in advance and already published.

  The hardware configuration of the robot 12 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the robot 12 includes a carriage 50, and two wheels 52 and one slave wheel 54 that autonomously move the robot 12 are provided on the lower surface of the carriage 50. The two wheels 52 are independently driven by a wheel motor 76 (see FIG. 6), and the carriage 50, that is, the robot 12 can be moved in any direction, front, back, left, and right. The slave wheel 54 is an auxiliary wheel that assists the wheel 52. Therefore, the robot 12 can move in the arranged space by autonomous control. However, the robot 12 may be fixedly arranged at a certain place.

  A cylindrical sensor mounting panel 58 is provided on the carriage 50, and a large number of infrared distance sensors 60 are mounted on the sensor mounting panel 58. These infrared distance sensors 60 measure the distance to the sensor mounting panel 58, that is, the object (such as a human being or an obstacle) around the robot 12.

  In this embodiment, an infrared distance sensor is used as the distance sensor, but an ultrasonic distance sensor, a millimeter wave radar, or the like can be used instead of the infrared distance sensor.

  A body 62 is provided on the sensor mounting panel 58 so as to stand upright. Further, the above-described infrared distance sensor 60 is further provided at the front upper center of the body 62 (a position corresponding to a person's chest), and measures the distance mainly to a person in front of the robot 12. Further, the body 62 is provided with a support column 64 extending from substantially the center of the upper end on the side surface side, and an omnidirectional camera 66 is provided on the support column 64. The omnidirectional camera 66 captures the surroundings of the robot 12 and is distinguished from an eye camera 90 described later. As the omnidirectional camera 66, for example, a camera using a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD or a CMOS can be adopted. In addition, the installation positions of the infrared distance sensor 60 and the omnidirectional camera 66 are not limited to the portions, and can be changed as appropriate.

  An upper arm 70R and an upper arm 70L are provided at upper end portions on both sides of the body 62 (a position corresponding to a human shoulder) by a shoulder joint 68R and a shoulder joint 68L, respectively. Although illustration is omitted, each of the shoulder joint 68R and the shoulder joint 68L has three orthogonal degrees of freedom. That is, the shoulder joint 68R can control the angle of the upper arm 70R around each of three orthogonal axes. A certain axis (yaw axis) of the shoulder joint 68R is an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction (or axis) of the upper arm 70R, and the other two axes (pitch axis and roll axis) are orthogonal to the axes from different directions. It is an axis to do. Similarly, the shoulder joint 68L can control the angle of the upper arm 70L around each of three orthogonal axes. A certain axis (yaw axis) of the shoulder joint 68L is an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction (or axis) of the upper arm 70L, and the other two axes (pitch axis and roll axis) are orthogonal to the axis from different directions. It is an axis to do.

  In addition, an elbow joint 72R and an elbow joint 72L are provided at the tips of the upper arm 70R and the upper arm 70L, respectively. Although illustration is omitted, each of the elbow joint 72R and the elbow joint 72L has one degree of freedom, and the angles of the forearm 74R and the forearm 74L can be controlled around the axis (pitch axis).

  A sphere 76R and a sphere 76L corresponding to a human hand are fixedly provided at the tips of the forearm 74R and the forearm 74L, respectively. However, when a finger or palm function is required, a “hand” in the shape of a human hand can be used. Although not shown, the front surface of the carriage 50, the portion corresponding to the shoulder including the shoulder joint 68R and the shoulder joint 68L, the upper arm 70R, the upper arm 70L, the forearm 74R, the forearm 74L, the sphere 76R, and the sphere 76L, , A contact sensor 78 (shown generically in FIG. 6) is provided. A contact sensor 78 on the front surface of the carriage 50 detects contact of a person or other obstacle with the carriage 50. Therefore, when the robot 12 is in contact with an obstacle during its movement, the robot 12 can detect the contact and immediately stop the driving of the wheel 52 to suddenly stop the movement of the robot 12. Further, the other contact sensors 78 detect whether or not the respective parts are touched. In addition, the installation position of the contact sensor 78 is not limited to the said site | part, and may be provided in an appropriate position (position corresponding to a person's chest, abdomen, side, back, and waist).

  A neck joint 80 is provided at the upper center of the body 62 (a position corresponding to a person's neck), and a head 82 is further provided thereon. Although illustration is omitted, the neck joint 80 has a degree of freedom of three axes, and the angle can be controlled around each of the three axes. A certain axis (yaw axis) is an axis directed directly above (vertically upward) of the robot 12, and the other two axes (pitch axis and roll axis) are axes orthogonal to each other in different directions.

  The head 82 is provided with a speaker 84 at a position corresponding to a human mouth. The speaker 84 is used for the robot 12 to communicate with a person around it by voice or sound. A microphone 86R and a microphone 86L are provided at a position corresponding to a human ear. Hereinafter, the right microphone 86R and the left microphone 86L may be collectively referred to as a microphone 86. The microphone 86 captures ambient sounds, in particular, the voices of humans who are subjects of communication. Furthermore, an eyeball part 88R and an eyeball part 88L are provided at positions corresponding to human eyes. The eyeball part 88R and the eyeball part 88L include an eye camera 90R and an eye camera 90L, respectively. Hereinafter, the right eyeball part 88R and the left eyeball part 88L may be collectively referred to as the eyeball part 88. Further, the right eye camera 90R and the left eye camera 90L may be collectively referred to as an eye camera 90.

  The eye camera 90 captures a human face approaching the robot 12, other parts or objects, and captures a corresponding video signal. The eye camera 90 can be the same camera as the omnidirectional camera 66 described above. For example, the eye camera 90 is fixed in the eyeball unit 88, and the eyeball unit 88 is attached to a predetermined position in the head 82 via an eyeball support unit (not shown). Although illustration is omitted, the eyeball support portion has two degrees of freedom, and the angle can be controlled around each of these axes. For example, one of the two axes is an axis (yaw axis) in a direction toward the top of the head 82, and the other is orthogonal to the one axis and goes straight in a direction in which the front side (face) of the head 82 faces. It is an axis (pitch axis) in the direction to be. By rotating the eyeball support portion around each of the two axes, the tip (front) side of the eyeball portion 88 or the eye camera 90 is displaced, and the camera axis, that is, the line-of-sight direction is moved. In addition, the installation positions of the above-described speaker 84, microphone 86, and eye camera 90 are not limited to the portions, and may be provided at appropriate positions.

  As described above, the robot 12 of this embodiment includes independent two-axis driving of the wheels 52, three degrees of freedom of the shoulder joint 68 (6 degrees of freedom on the left and right), one degree of freedom of the elbow joint 72 (2 degrees of freedom on the left and right), It has a total of 17 degrees of freedom, 3 degrees of freedom for the neck joint 80 and 2 degrees of freedom for the eyeball support (4 degrees of freedom for left and right).

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the robot 12. With reference to FIG. 6, the robot 12 includes a CPU 100. The CPU 100 is also called a microcomputer or a processor, and is connected to the memory 104, the motor control board 106, the sensor input / output board 108, and the audio input / output board 110 via the bus 102.

  Although not shown, the memory 104 includes a ROM, an HDD, and a RAM. The ROM and HDD store a plurality of behavior modules that are the same as those stored in the memory 24 of the development support apparatus 10. The RAM is used as a work memory or a buffer memory.

  The motor control board 106 is configured by, for example, a DSP, and controls driving of motors of axes such as arms, neck joints, and eyeballs. In other words, the motor control board 106 receives control data from the CPU 100, and controls two motors that control the respective angles of the two axes of the right eyeball unit 88R (collectively indicated as “right eyeball motor 112” in FIG. 6). Control the rotation angle. Similarly, the motor control board 106 receives the control data from the CPU 100, and shows two motors for controlling the angles of the two axes of the left eyeball portion 88L (in FIG. 6, collectively referred to as “left eyeball motor 114”). ) To control the rotation angle.

  The motor control board 106 receives control data from the CPU 100, and includes a total of four motors including three motors for controlling the angles of the three orthogonal axes of the shoulder joint 68R and one motor for controlling the angle of the elbow joint 72R. The rotation angle of two motors (collectively indicated as “right arm motor 116” in FIG. 6) is controlled. Similarly, the motor control board 106 receives control data from the CPU 100, and includes three motors for controlling the angles of the three orthogonal axes of the shoulder joint 68L and one motor for controlling the angle of the elbow joint 72L. The rotation angles of a total of four motors (collectively indicated as “left arm motor 118” in FIG. 6) are controlled.

  Further, the motor control board 106 receives three control data from the CPU 100 and controls three angles of the three orthogonal axes of the neck joint 80 (in FIG. 6, collectively indicated as “head motor 130”). Control the rotation angle. The motor control board 106 receives control data from the CPU 100 and controls the rotation angles of two motors (collectively referred to as “wheel motors 76” in FIG. 6) that drive the wheels 52. In this embodiment, a motor other than the wheel motor 76 uses a stepping motor (that is, a pulse motor) in order to simplify the control. However, a DC motor may be used similarly to the wheel motor 76. The actuator that drives the body part of the robot 12 is not limited to a motor that uses a current as a power source, and may be changed as appropriate. For example, in another embodiment, an air actuator or the like may be applied.

  Similar to the motor control board 106, the sensor input / output board 108 is configured by a DSP and takes in signals from each sensor and gives them to the CPU 100. That is, data relating to the reflection time from each of the infrared distance sensors 60 is input to the CPU 100 through the sensor input / output board 108. Further, the video signal from the omnidirectional camera 66 is input to the CPU 100 after being subjected to predetermined processing by the sensor input / output board 108 as necessary. Similarly, the video signal from the eye camera 90 is also input to the CPU 100. Further, signals from the plurality of contact sensors 78 described above (collectively referred to as “contact sensors 78” in FIG. 6) are provided to the CPU 100 via the sensor input / output board 108. Similarly, the voice input / output board 110 is also configured by a DSP, and voice or voice in accordance with voice synthesis data provided from the CPU 100 is output from the speaker 84. Also, voice input from the microphone 86 is given to the CPU 100 via the voice input / output board 110.

  The CPU 100 is connected to the communication LAN board 132 via the bus 102. The communication LAN board 132 is configured by a DSP, for example, and sends transmission data given from the CPU 100 to the wireless communication device 134, and the wireless communication device 134 sends the transmission data to the development support device 10 via the network 200. In addition, the communication LAN board 132 receives data via the wireless communication device 134 and provides the received data to the CPU 100.

  The development support apparatus 10 is useful for the development of the robot 12 as described above. Specifically, in the development support device 10, when the development support process is started, a composer screen 300 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 is displayed on the display device 26.

  On this composer screen 300, the developer of the robot 12 can set the state transition of the behavior module and can transmit information (transition information) regarding the state transition of the behavior module to the robot 12. Then, as will be described in detail later, the robot 12 that has received the transition information from the development support apparatus 10 reads the behavior module data from the memory 104 according to the transition information, and takes a communication behavior corresponding to the behavior module.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the composer screen 300 includes a visualization screen 302, on which a state transition of the behavior module is graphically visualized and displayed. On the visualization screen 302, behaviors corresponding to the behavior modules are displayed as rectangular icons (behavior icons 304), and the behavior icons 304 and other behavior icons 304 are arrow lines (transition lines 306) indicating the execution order of the behavior modules. ). Specifically, when a port on the right side (output side) of the behavior icon 304 (behavior icon A) is clicked with the input device 28 such as a mouse, an arrow line (transition line 306) from this port to the current mouse pointer. ) Is displayed on the visualization screen 302. When the port on the left side (input side) of the behavior icon 304 (behavior icon B) is clicked as it is, the behavior icon 304 (behavior icon A) and the behavior icon 304 (behavior icon B) are connected by a transition line 306. Will be.

  In addition, a main sequence tab 308 to a sub sequence tab 310 are provided in the upper left portion of the visualization screen 302. On the visualization screen 302, the state transition of the behavior module is displayed in a hierarchy in a main sequence having the highest level and a subsequence lower than the main sequence. For example, the main sequence tab 308 or the sub sequence is displayed with the input device 28 such as a mouse. By selecting the tab 310, the visualization screen 302 is switched between a main sequence screen 312 (see FIG. 7) corresponding to the main sequence and a sub sequence screen 314 (see FIG. 9) corresponding to the sub sequence. The developer of the robot 12 can create a main sequence on the main sequence screen 312 and can create a sub sequence on the sub sequence screen 314, and the created sequence is stored in the sequence DB 30.

  Further, a behavior list screen 316 is provided on the right side of the visualization screen 302. The behavior list screen 316 includes “Akushu”, “Hug”, “Bye”, “Listen”, “Talk”, “Guide”, A list of behavior names such as “Navi (guidance)” is displayed as a target object (behavior object) of a drag-and-drop operation by the input device 28 such as a mouse. For example, when the developer of the robot 12 operates the input device 28 such as a mouse, drags a behavior object on the behavior list screen 316, and drops it on the visualization screen 302, a behavior icon 304 corresponding to the behavior object is displayed. Is drawn on the visualization screen 302.

  A sequence list screen 318 is provided on the left side of the visualization screen 302. On the sequence list screen 318, a list of sequences stored in the sequence DB 30 is displayed, and the names of the respective sequences are displayed as objects (sequence objects) to be dragged and dropped by the input device 28 such as a mouse. The For example, when the developer of the robot 12 operates the input device 28 such as a mouse, drags a sequence object of a sub sequence on the sequence list screen 318, and drops it on the visualization screen 302, an icon corresponding to the sequence is displayed. (Sequence icon 320) is drawn on the visualization screen 302.

  In such a composer screen 300, as described above, a main sequence is created on the main sequence screen 312 and a sub-sequence is created on the sub-sequence screen 314.

  FIG. 7 is an example of the composer screen 300 in a state where the main sequence screen 312 is displayed on the visualization screen 302, and FIG. 8 is an illustrative view showing the main sequence of the main sequence screen 312.

  As shown in FIG. 7, on the main sequence screen 312, a behavior icon 304 is displayed, a trapezoidal icon (conditional branch icon 322) indicating a conditional branch due to a response of a communication partner with whom communication is performed, and execution of the main sequence A main start icon 324 indicating the start and a main end icon 326 indicating the end of execution of the main sequence are displayed.

  In addition, on the main sequence screen 312, a subsequence sequence icon 320 is displayed, and the sequence icon 320 and other icons 304, 322, 324, and 326 are connected by a transition line 306, so that The subsequence is embedded in

  Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, in this main sequence screen 312, a main start icon 324 and a “Talk” behavior icon 304 are connected by a transition line 306, and this “Talk” is further displayed. The behavior icon 304 of “Let's guide you? (Ask)” is connected with a transition line 306. In other words, the behavior robot 12, when you start to run this main sequence, first of all, to perform a behavior B1 to speech as "Hello", when a predetermined time has elapsed, then, that the utterance "Do Let's directions?" B2 will be executed.

  Then, the behavior icon 304 and the conditional branch icon 322 of “Let's guide you? (Ask)” are connected by a transition line 306, and the port “Yes” on the right side (output side) of the conditional branch icon 322 is connected. And the sequence icon 320 are connected by a transition line 306. Also, a “No” port on the right side (output side) of the conditional branch icon 322 and a behavior icon 304 “Tell me about bargain information (Talk)” are connected by a transition line 306. That is, the robot 12 waits for a reply from the conversation partner, and if there is a reply “Yes” from the conversation partner, the robot 12 starts executing the subsequence. On the other hand, if there is a reply of “No” from the conversation partner, the behavior B4 for teaching the bargain information by saying “Tell me bargain information” is executed.

  Further, the “guidance end” port on the right side (output side) of the sequence icon 320 and the “Bye” behavior icon 304 are connected by a transition line 306, and the “Bye” behavior icon 304 and the main end icon 326 are connected. They are connected by a transition line 306. In addition, the “interrupt end” port on the right side (output side) of the sequence icon 320 and the behavior icon 304 of “Tell me about bargain information (Talk)” are connected by a transition line 306, and “ The “Teach” (Talk) behavior icon 304 and the “Bye” behavior icon 304 are connected by a transition line 306, and the “By” behavior icon 304 and the main end icon 326 are connected by a transition line 306. The That is, if the execution of the sub-sequence is completed in the state where the guidance is completed, the robot 12 executes the behavior B5 that speaks “Babei” and ends the execution of the main sequence. On the other hand, if the robot 12 completes the execution of the subsequence in the interrupted state, that is, as described later in detail, if the robot 12 returns to the main sequence from the reflexive transition R3, then " The behavior B4 that teaches bargain information is executed and the behavior B5 that speaks “Babei” is executed, and the execution of the main sequence ends.

  9 is an example of the composer screen 300 in a state where the sub-sequence screen 314 is displayed on the visualization screen 302. FIG. 10 is an illustrative view showing the sub-sequence of the sub-sequence screen 314. 11 is an illustrative view showing a reflective transition of the sub-sequence screen 314. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 9, on the sub-sequence screen 314, a behavior icon 304 and a conditional branch icon 322 are displayed, a sub-start icon 328 indicating the start of execution of the sub-sequence, and a sub-end icon indicating the end of execution of the sub-sequence. 330 is displayed.

  In this sub-sequence screen 314, reflection behavior (R1, R2, R3) is changed to the behavior “Guide”, the behavior “Guide”, and the behavior “Guide 3”. ) Is set, and a reflective transition start icon 332 indicating the start of execution of the reflective transitions (R1, R2, R3) is displayed. For example, the developer of the robot 12 can specify a return destination from the reflexive transition (R1, R2, R3), specifically, a behavior icon of the behavior to be executed last in the reflexive transition, By connecting the behavior icon of the behavior to be executed after finishing the reflective transition with an arrow broken line (reflective transition line 334), for the reflective transition (R1, R2, R3), “return to transition source”. ”,“ Return to the top of the sequence of the transition source ”,“ specify the return destination ”, etc. can be set.

  Referring to FIGS. 9 to 11, in this subsequence screen 314, the substart icon 328 and the “Where do you want to go (Ask)” behavior icon 304 are connected by a transition line 306, and this “where to go” is displayed. (Ask) "behavior icon 304 and conditional branch icon 322 are connected by transition line 306. That is, when the robot 12 starts executing this subsequence, it first executes the behavior B3-1 that says “Where do you want to go?” And waits for the reply of the conversation partner.

  Then, the port of “Restaurant 1” on the right side (output side) of the conditional branch icon 322 and the behavior icon 304 of “To Restaurant 1 (Guide)” are connected by a transition line 306, and the right side of the conditional branch icon 322 (output side) ) Of “Restaurant 2” and the behavior icon 304 of “Guide 2” are connected by a transition line 306, and the port of “Restaurant 3” on the right side (output side) of the conditional branch icon 322 A behavior icon 304 of “Guide 3” is connected by a transition line 306. That is, if there is a response “restaurant 1” from the conversation partner, the robot 12 executes the behavior B3-2 explaining the route to the restaurant 1, and if there is a response “restaurant 2” from the conversation partner, The behavior B3-3 for explaining the route to the restaurant 2 is executed, and if there is a response “restaurant 3” from the conversation partner, the behavior B3-4 for explaining the route to the restaurant 3 is executed.

  Then, each of the behavior icons 304 of “To Restaurant 1 (Guide)”, “To Restaurant 2 (Guide)”, and “To Restaurant 3 (Guide)”, and the behavior of “Do you want to guide others? (Ask)” The icon 304 is connected with a transition line 306. That is, the robot 12 executes any one of the behavior B3-2 explaining the route to the restaurant 1, the behavior B3-3 explaining the route to the restaurant 2, and the behavior B3-4 explaining the route to the restaurant 3. Then, after that, the behavior B3-5 that speaks "Is there another guide?" Is executed.

  Then, a behavior icon 304 “Condition to others? (Ask)” and a conditional branch icon 322 are connected by a transition line 306, and a port “Yes” on the right side (output side) of the conditional branch icon 322 A behavior icon 304 of “Where do you want to go (Ask)” is connected by a transition line 306. Further, the “No” port on the right side (output side) of the conditional branch icon 322 and the sub-end icon 330 are connected by a transition line 306. That is, the robot 12 waits for the reply of the conversation partner, and if there is a reply of “Yes” from the conversation partner, the robot 12 executes the behavior B3-1 that speaks again “Where do you want to go? (Ask)”. . On the other hand, if there is a reply “No” from the conversation partner, the execution of the sub-sequence is terminated, and thereafter the behavior B5 (refer to FIG. 8) that speaks “Babei” is executed.

  In addition, the reflective transition start icon 332 of the reflective transition R1 corresponding to the transition condition of “Tell me somewhere else” and the behavior icon 304 of “I understand” (Talk) are connected by a transition line 306. In this reflective transition R1, a transition method of “return to the top of the transition source sequence” is set. Here, a behavior icon 304 of “I understand” (Talk) and “Where do you want to go? ) ”Behavior icon 304 is connected by a reflective transition line 334. That is, the robot 12 executes one of the behavior B3-2 for explaining the route to the restaurant 1, the behavior B3-3 for explaining the route to the restaurant 2, and the behavior B3-4 for explaining the route to the restaurant 3. When the conversation partner speaks to the robot 12 “Please tell me another place”, the robot 12 stops the current behavior and calls the behavior to say “I understand”. After that, the behavior B3-1 that says “Where do you want to go?” Is executed.

  In addition, the reflective transition start icon 332 of the reflective transition R 2 corresponding to the transition condition “explain once again” and the behavior icon 304 of “Ok” (Talk) are connected by a transition line 306. In this reflective transition R2, a transition method of “returning to the transition source” is set. Here, a behavior icon 304 of “I understand (Talk)”, “to restaurant 1 (Guide)”, “restaurant 2” Each of the “Guide” and “Guide” behavior icons 304 is connected by a reflective transition line 334. That is, the robot 12 executes one of the behavior B3-2 for explaining the route to the restaurant 1, the behavior B3-3 for explaining the route to the restaurant 2, and the behavior B3-4 for explaining the route to the restaurant 3. If the conversation partner utters “explain” to the robot 12, the robot 12 stops executing the current behavior and sets a behavior to utter “I understand”. After that, either behavior B3-2 explaining the route to restaurant 1, behavior B3-3 explaining the route to restaurant 2, and behavior B3-4 explaining the route to restaurant 3 is performed again. Will be executed.

  In addition, the reflective transition start icon 332 of the reflective transition R3 corresponding to the transition condition “not necessary” and the behavior icon 304 of “Talk” are connected by a transition line 306. In this reflective transition R3, a transition method of “specifying a return destination” is set. Here, a behavior icon 304 and a sub-end icon 330 of “Yes” are reflected in a reflective transition line 334. Connected with As described above, on the main sequence screen 312, the “interrupt end” port on the right side (output side) of the sequence icon 320 and the behavior icon 304 of “Tell me about bargain information (Talk)” are transition lines. Connected at 306. That is, the robot 12 executes one of the behavior B3-2 for explaining the route to the restaurant 1, the behavior B3-3 for explaining the route to the restaurant 2, and the behavior B3-4 for explaining the route to the restaurant 3. When the conversation partner utters “I don't need it” to the robot 12, the robot 12 stops the current behavior and executes the behavior to say “Is that?” Then, the behavior B4 (see FIG. 8) for teaching bargain information is executed by uttering “Tell me bargain information”.

  Specifically, the CPU 20 of the development support apparatus 10 executes the development support process according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the process is started, the CPU 20 first reads screen data from the memory 24 in step S1, and displays a composer screen 300 as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 9 on the display device 26, for example.

  Next, in step S3, it is determined whether there is a stop command. For example, if a developer or the like of the robot 12 selects an end menu (not shown) on the composer screen 300, “YES” is determined, and in the subsequent step S5, an end process is executed to end the development support process. On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S3, that is, if there is no stop command, the process proceeds to a step S7.

  In step S7, action module state transition setting processing is performed. Here, the developer of the robot 12 creates the main sequence on the main sequence screen 312 and sets the state transition of the behavior module by creating the sub sequence on the sub sequence screen 314.

  In step S9, it is determined whether or not the action module state transition setting process has been completed. Here, after the behavior module state transition is set, it is determined whether or not a decision menu (not shown) on the composer screen 300 has been selected. If the determination menu is selected in step S9, “YES” is determined. In the subsequent step S11, the created sequence is stored in the sequence DB 30. In step S13, information on the state transition of the action module (transition information). Is transmitted to the robot 12, and the process returns to step S3.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the overall processing of the CPU 100 of the robot 12. As shown in FIG. 13, when the CPU 100 of the robot 12 executes the entire process, in step S31, the CPU 100 executes a predetermined behavior to be performed first. That is, an action module corresponding to a predetermined behavior to be performed first is read from the memory 104, and an action defined by the action module is performed. As the predetermined behavior to be executed first, for example, an exploration of the surrounding environment such as “EXPLORE (surrounding the surrounding environment)” may be set.

  Subsequently, in step S33, it is determined whether or not there is a stop command. Here, for example, if development is in progress, it is determined whether or not there has been an end instruction from the development support apparatus 10 or whether or not an end button for stopping the robot 12 has been pressed.

  If “YES” in the step S33, an end process is executed in a subsequent step S35, and the operation process of the robot 12 is ended. In this end process, each part of the body of the robot 12 may be returned to the home position.

  On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S33, that is, if there is no stop command, whether or not transition information on “state transition of behavior module” is transmitted from the development support apparatus 10 via the network 200 in a step S37. Determine whether. If “YES” in the step S37, the transition information is received and written in the memory 104 in a succeeding step S39.

  Subsequently, in step S41, the first behavior is executed according to the transition information. Here, the robot 12 reads the data of the first behavior module from the memory 104 according to the transition information, and executes the behavior corresponding to the behavior module.

  In the next step S43, it is determined whether or not the condition of the reflective transition is satisfied for the behavior of the robot 12 currently being executed. Here, it is determined whether or not the conversation partner has taken an action that satisfies the reflexive transition condition with respect to the robot 12.

  If “YES” in the step S43, that is, if the condition of the reflective transition is satisfied with respect to the behavior currently being executed by the robot 12, the execution process of the reflective transition (see FIG. 14) is performed in a step S45. Start.

  On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S43, that is, if the condition of the reflective transition with respect to the behavior currently being executed by the robot 12 is not satisfied, all the behaviors specified in the transition information in the step S47. It is determined whether or not the execution of is completed. If “YES” in the step S47, that is, if execution of all the behaviors specified in the state transition of the behavior module is completed, the process returns to the step S33.

  On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S47, that is, if the execution of all the behaviors is not yet completed, the next behavior is executed in accordance with the transition information in a step S49. And it returns to step S43 and a process is repeated.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the execution process of the reflective transition in step S45 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, when the CPU 100 of the robot 12 starts execution processing of the reflexive transition Ri, in S61, the execution of the current behavior Bi of the robot 12 is interrupted, and in S63, the reflexive transition Ri is defined. A series of behaviors {Bi1, Bi2,..., BiN} are executed.

  In step S65, it is determined whether or not a transition method of “return to transition source” is set for the reflective transition Ri. If “YES” in the step S65, the behavior Bi is executed again in a step S67, the process returns to the step S43 (see FIG. 13), and the process is repeated. On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S65, that is, if the transition method of “return to transition source” is not set for the reflective transition Ri, the process proceeds to a step S69.

  In step S69, it is determined whether or not a transition method of “return to the beginning of the sequence of the transition source” is set for the reflective transition Ri. If “YES” in the step S69, the first behavior of the sequence to which the behavior Bi belongs is executed in a step S71, the process returns to the step S43 (see FIG. 13), and the process is repeated. On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S69, that is, neither the “return to transition source” transition method nor the “return to transition source sequence” transition method is set for the reflective transition Ri. The process proceeds to step S73.

  In step S73, it is determined whether or not “specify return destination” is set for the reflective transition Ri. If “YES” in the step S73, the behavior designated as the return destination is executed in a step S75, the process returns to the step S43 (see FIG. 13), and the process is repeated.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the state transition of the behavior module is hierarchized into the main sequence having the highest level and the subsequences lower than the main sequence, and the main sequence screen 312 corresponding to the main sequence and the subsequence corresponding to the subsequence The sequence screen 314 is displayed individually. A main sequence can be created based on the icons 304, 320, 322, 324, and 326 displayed on the main sequence screen 312 and the connecting line 306 connecting them. Further, a subsequence can be created based on the icons 304, 322, 328, and 330 displayed on the subsequence screen 314 and the connecting line 306 connecting them. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily set the relationship between complex action modules having a hierarchical structure.

  In this embodiment, the behavior icon of the behavior that is executed last in the reflective transition and the behavior icon of the behavior that is executed after the reflective transition is finished are connected by the reflective transition line 334 to reflect the behavior. You can specify the return destination from the transition. Then, a transition method such as “return to the transition source”, “return to the top of the sequence of the transition source”, or “specify the return destination” can be set for the reflective transition.

  In this embodiment, a group of execution order relationships included in a part of the main sequence is hierarchized as a sub-sequence and one sequence icon 320 is displayed on the main sequence screen 312, but this is not limitative. There is no need. For example, if a part of the main sequence includes a plurality of execution order relationships, each of them may be hierarchized as a sub-sequence and a plurality of sequence icons 320 may be displayed on the main sequence screen 312. Further, for example, if a part of a subsequence includes a group of execution order relations, the subsequence may be hierarchized as a subsequence, and the sequence icon 320 may be displayed on the subsequence screen 314.

10 ... Communication robot development support device 12 ... Communication robot 20 ... CPU
22 ... bus 24 ... memory 26 ... display device 28 ... input device 30 ... sequence DB
60 ... Infrared distance sensor 66 ... Omnidirectional camera 78 ... Contact sensor 84 ... Speaker 86 ... Microphone 90 ... Eye camera 100 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 ... Bus 104 ... Memory 106 ... Motor control board 108 ... Sensor input / output board 110 ... Voice input / output board 200 ... Network 300 ... Composer screen 302 ... Visualization screen 304 ... Behavior icon 306 ... Transition icon 312 ... Main sequence screen 314 ... Subsequence screen 320 ... Sequence screen 334 ... Reflective transition icon

Claims (3)

A communication robot development support device for developing a communication robot that takes a communication action by executing an action module comprising a series of action programs,
The transition of the behavior module is hierarchized into a main sequence that is the highest level and a sub sequence that is lower than the main sequence, and a main sequence screen corresponding to the main sequence and a sub sequence screen corresponding to the sub sequence are individually displayed on the screen Sequence display means for displaying,
Icon display means for displaying a behavior icon indicating the behavior module on the screen and displaying at least a first sequence icon indicating the sub-sequence on the main sequence screen;
Main sequence creation means for creating the main sequence based on the icons displayed on the main sequence screen by the icon display means and transition lines indicating the execution order of the behavior modules by connecting the icons; and A communication robot development support device comprising subsequence creation means for creating the subsequence based on the icon displayed on the subsequence screen by the icon display means and the transition line. Sequence storage means for storing the main sequence created by the main sequence creation means and the sub-sequence created by the sub-sequence creation means;
The communication robot development support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the icon display means includes a read icon display means for reading a desired sequence from the sequence storage means and displaying a second sequence icon indicating the sequence on the screen. .   The communication robot development support device according to claim 1, further comprising return destination designation means for designating a return destination from the reflective transition of the behavior module.

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