JP2018192559A - Autonomous mobile robot detecting touch to body of curved surface shape - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a robot which has a rounded body and can recognize a contact from a human.SOLUTION: A robot has a curved body surface. A touch sensor 400 has an annular plate 402 of an annular shape. The annular plate 402 of the touch sensor 400 is installed on a body surface of the robot, and detects a contact to the robot. The robot changes action characteristics according to the contact to the robot. A plurality of electrodes 404 is installed on the annular plate 402. A detection chip 406 detects a potential change of each electrode 404 at the time of contacting. The robot determines a contact type to the robot, from potential change patterns.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot that autonomously selects an action according to an internal state or an external environment.

  Humans keep pets for healing. On the other hand, many people give up pets for various reasons, such as not having enough time to care for pets, lack of living environment to keep pets, allergies, and difficulty in bereavement. If there is a robot that plays the role of a pet, it may be possible to give healing to a person who cannot keep a pet (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-323219 A

  Humans tend to feel instinctively when they look at soft, round and small pets. Humans express their affection for pets by touching them and recognize that pets are loved by humans by touching them. Therefore, it is considered that a sympathy with the robot can be greatly enhanced if the robot has a shape that makes it easy to touch and can recognize the touch.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above idea, and its main object is to provide a robot having a rounded body and capable of recognizing human contact.

An autonomous behavior type robot according to an aspect of the present invention includes a sensor that is installed on the body surface of the robot and detects contact with the robot, and an operation control unit that controls the operation of the robot according to the contact with the robot.
The robot has a curved body surface, and the sensor has an annular shape. The sensor is installed along the curved surface of the body surface of the robot.

  A sensor according to an aspect of the present invention includes an annular sensing unit in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged in an extending direction, and a detection chip that detects potential changes of the plurality of electrodes. The detection chip individually detects potential changes of the plurality of electrodes.

  According to the present invention, it is easy to increase empathy for a robot.

It is a front external view of a robot. It is a side external view of a robot. It is sectional drawing which represents the structure of a robot roughly. It is a block diagram of a robot system. It is a conceptual diagram of an emotion map. It is a hardware block diagram of a robot. It is a functional block diagram of a robot system. It is an external view of a circular arc type touch sensor. It is an external view of a perfect circle type touch sensor. It is a schematic diagram which shows the attachment aspect of a circular arc type touch sensor. It is sectional drawing of the sensing part of a touch sensor. It is a cross-sectional enlarged view of a body. It is a schematic diagram which shows the electric potential change of the touch sensor at the time of a contact. It is a data structure figure of a type table. It is an external view of the touch sensor in a modification.

FIG. 1A is a front external view of the robot 100. FIG. 1B is a side external view of the robot 100.
The robot 100 according to the present embodiment is an autonomous behavior type robot that determines an action and a gesture (gesture) based on an external environment and an internal state. The external environment is recognized by various sensors such as a camera and a thermo sensor. The internal state is quantified as various parameters expressing the emotion of the robot 100. These will be described later.

  As a general rule, the robot 100 uses the interior of the owner's family as the range of action. Hereinafter, a person related to the robot 100 is referred to as a “user”, and a user who is a member of the home to which the robot 100 belongs is referred to as an “owner”.

  The body 104 of the robot 100 has a rounded shape as a whole and includes an outer skin formed of a soft and elastic material such as urethane, rubber, resin, or fiber. The robot 100 may be dressed. By making the body 104 round, soft, and comfortable to touch, the robot 100 provides the user with a sense of security and a comfortable touch.

  The robot 100 has a total weight of 15 kg or less, preferably 10 kg or less, more preferably 5 kg or less. By 13 months after birth, the majority of babies start walking alone. The average weight of a 13-month-old baby is over 9 kilograms for boys and less than 9 kilograms for girls. Therefore, if the total weight of the robot 100 is 10 kg or less, the user can hold the robot 100 with almost the same effort as holding a baby who cannot walk alone. The average weight of babies under 2 months of age is less than 5 kilograms for both men and women. Therefore, if the total weight of the robot 100 is 5 kilograms or less, the user can hold the robot 100 with the same effort as holding an infant.

  Various attributes such as moderate weight, roundness, softness, and good touch feel that the user can easily hold the robot 100 and that the user wants to hold it. For the same reason, the height of the robot 100 is 1.2 meters or less, preferably 0.7 meters or less. It is an important concept that the robot 100 in this embodiment can be held.

  The robot 100 includes three wheels for traveling on three wheels. As shown, a pair of front wheels 102 (left wheel 102a and right wheel 102b) and one rear wheel 103 are included. The front wheel 102 is a driving wheel, and the rear wheel 103 is a driven wheel. The front wheel 102 does not have a steering mechanism, but the rotation speed and the rotation direction can be individually controlled. The rear wheel 103 is a so-called omni wheel, and is rotatable in order to move the robot 100 forward, backward, left and right. By making the rotation speed of the right wheel 102b larger than that of the left wheel 102a, the robot 100 can turn left or rotate counterclockwise. By making the rotation speed of the left wheel 102a larger than that of the right wheel 102b, the robot 100 can turn right or rotate clockwise.

  The front wheel 102 and the rear wheel 103 can be completely accommodated in the body 104 by a drive mechanism (rotation mechanism, link mechanism). Although most of the wheels are hidden by the body 104 even during traveling, the robot 100 is incapable of moving when the wheels are completely stored in the body 104. That is, the body 104 descends and sits on the floor F as the wheels are retracted. In this seated state, a flat seating surface 108 (grounding bottom surface) formed on the bottom of the body 104 abuts against the floor surface F.

  The robot 100 has two hands 106. The hand 106 does not have a function of gripping an object. The hand 106 can perform simple operations such as raising, shaking, and vibrating. The two hands 106 can also be individually controlled.

  The eye 110 can display an image using a liquid crystal element or an organic EL element. The robot 100 is equipped with various sensors such as a microphone array and an ultrasonic sensor that can specify the sound source direction. It also has a built-in speaker and can emit simple sounds.

  A horn 112 is attached to the head of the robot 100. Since the robot 100 is lightweight as described above, the user can lift the robot 100 by holding the horn 112. An omnidirectional camera is attached to the horn 112, and the entire upper area of the robot 100 can be imaged at once.

  On the body 104 of the robot 100, six touch sensors 400 (touch sensors 400a to 400f) are installed along a curved body surface. The touch sensor 400 in this embodiment is a capacitance sensor. The touch sensor 400 has an annular shape, and is roughly classified into two types: an “arc type” having a notch in a part thereof and a “perfect circle type” having no notch. The arc shape will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 7, and the perfect circle shape will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the round touch sensors 400d and 400e are installed on the side of the robot 100. Arc-shaped touch sensors 400a and 400f are installed on the abdomen and back of the robot 100, and arc-shaped touch sensors 400b and 400c are installed on the left and right sides of the body. The abdominal touch sensor 400a has an outer diameter of about 10 centimeters, and the outer diameters of the temporal head touch sensors 400d and 400e are about 7 centimeters. The shape and size of the touch sensor 400 vary depending on the installation location.

  The plurality of touch sensors 400 are preferably installed at least in the main part of the robot 100. The “main part” in the present embodiment means at least both the head and abdomen (or chest). Preferably also includes the back. It is desirable to be able to detect a touch on the back in addition to the head and abdomen (or chest).

  The round and soft body 104 gives a comfortable touch to the user. Further, since the robot 100 incorporates heat generating components such as a battery 118 and a control circuit 342 (described later), part of the internal heat is transmitted to the body surface. The warmth of the body 104 of the robot 100 also increases the pleasure associated with the contact with the robot 100.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the robot 100.
As shown in FIG. 2, the body 104 of the robot 100 includes a base frame 308, a main body frame 310, a pair of resin wheel covers 312, and an outer skin 314. The base frame 308 is made of metal and constitutes an axis of the body 104 and supports an internal mechanism. The base frame 308 is configured by vertically connecting an upper plate 332 and a lower plate 334 by a plurality of side plates 336. A sufficient space is provided between the plurality of side plates 336 so as to allow ventilation. A battery 118, a control circuit 342, and various actuators are housed inside the base frame 308.

  The main body frame 310 is made of a resin material and includes a head frame 316 and a body frame 318. The head frame 316 has a hollow hemispherical shape and forms the head skeleton of the robot 100. The torso frame 318 has a stepped cylinder shape and forms a torso skeleton of the robot 100. The body frame 318 is fixed integrally with the base frame 308. The head frame 316 is assembled to the upper end portion of the trunk frame 318 so as to be relatively displaceable. The touch sensor 400 of FIG. 1 is attached to the surface of the main body frame 310.

  The head frame 316 is provided with three axes of a yaw axis 320, a pitch axis 322, and a roll axis 324, and an actuator 326 for rotationally driving each axis. Actuator 326 includes a plurality of servo motors for individually driving each axis. The yaw shaft 320 is driven for the swinging motion, the pitch shaft 322 is driven for the rolling motion, and the roll shaft 324 is driven for the tilting motion.

  A plate 325 that supports the yaw shaft 320 is fixed to the upper portion of the head frame 316. The plate 325 is formed with a plurality of ventilation holes 327 for ensuring ventilation between the upper and lower sides.

  A metal base plate 328 is provided to support the head frame 316 and its internal mechanism from below. The base plate 328 is connected to the plate 325 via a cross link mechanism 329 (pantograph mechanism), and is connected to the upper plate 332 (base frame 308) via a joint 330.

  The body frame 318 houses the base frame 308 and the wheel drive mechanism 370. Wheel drive mechanism 370 includes a rotation shaft 378 and an actuator 379. The lower half of the body frame 318 has a small width so as to form a storage space S for the front wheel 102 between the body frame 318 and the wheel cover 312.

  The outer skin 314 is made of urethane rubber and covers the main body frame 310 and the wheel cover 312 from the outside. The hand 106 is integrally formed with the outer skin 314. An opening 390 for introducing outside air is provided at the upper end of the outer skin 314.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the robot system 300.
The robot system 300 includes a robot 100, a server 200, and a plurality of external sensors 114. A plurality of external sensors 114 (external sensors 114a, 114b,..., 114n) are installed in advance in the house. The external sensor 114 may be fixed to the wall surface of the house or may be placed on the floor. In the server 200, the position coordinates of the external sensor 114 are registered. The position coordinates are defined as x, y coordinates in the house assumed as the action range of the robot 100.

Server 200 is installed in a house. The server 200 and the robot 100 in this embodiment usually correspond one-on-one. Based on information obtained from the sensors built in the robot 100 and the plurality of external sensors 114, the server 200 determines the basic behavior of the robot 100.
The external sensor 114 is for reinforcing the sensory organ of the robot 100, and the server 200 is for reinforcing the brain of the robot 100.

The external sensor 114 periodically transmits a radio signal (hereinafter referred to as “robot search signal”) including the ID of the external sensor 114 (hereinafter referred to as “beacon ID”). When the robot 100 receives the robot search signal, it returns a radio signal including a beacon ID (hereinafter referred to as a “robot response signal”). The server 200 measures the time from when the external sensor 114 transmits the robot search signal to when it receives the robot response signal, and measures the distance from the external sensor 114 to the robot 100. By measuring the distances between the plurality of external sensors 114 and the robot 100, the position coordinates of the robot 100 are specified.
Of course, the robot 100 may periodically transmit its position coordinates to the server 200.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of the emotion map 116.
The emotion map 116 is a data table stored in the server 200. The robot 100 selects an action according to the emotion map 116. The emotion map 116 shown in FIG. 4 shows the magnitude of the affectionate feeling with respect to the location of the robot 100. The x-axis and y-axis of the emotion map 116 indicate two-dimensional space coordinates. The z-axis indicates the size of feelings of good and bad. When the z value is positive, the place is highly likable. When the z value is negative, the place is disliked.

  In the emotion map 116 of FIG. 4, the coordinate P <b> 1 is a point where the favorable feeling is high (hereinafter referred to as “favorite point”) in the indoor space managed by the server 200 as the action range of the robot 100. The definition of what kind of place the robot 100 prefers is arbitrary, but in general, it is desirable to set a place favored by small children, small animals such as dogs and cats, as a favorable point.

  The coordinate P2 is a point where the bad feeling is high (hereinafter referred to as “disgusting point”). Although the definition of what place the robot 100 dislikes is arbitrary, it is generally desirable to set a place where a small child or a small animal such as a dog or cat is afraid as an aversion point.

  The coordinate Q indicates the current position of the robot 100. The server 200 specifies the position coordinates of the robot 100 based on the robot search signal periodically transmitted by the plurality of external sensors 114 and the robot response signal corresponding thereto. For example, when the external sensor 114 with the beacon ID = 1 and the external sensor 114 with the beacon ID = 2 each detect the robot 100, the distance of the robot 100 is obtained from the two external sensors 114, and the position coordinates of the robot 100 are obtained therefrom. .

  When the emotion map 116 shown in FIG. 4 is given, the robot 100 moves in a direction attracted to the favorable point (coordinate P1) and away from the disgusting point (coordinate P2).

  The emotion map 116 changes dynamically. When the robot 100 reaches the coordinate P1, the z value (favorable feeling) at the coordinate P1 decreases with time. Thereby, the robot 100 can emulate the biological behavior of reaching the favored point (coordinate P1), “satisfied with emotion”, and eventually “getting bored” at that place. Similarly, the bad feeling at the coordinate P2 is also alleviated with time. As time passes, new favor points and dislike points are born, and the robot 100 makes a new action selection. The robot 100 has an “interest” at a new favorable point and continuously selects an action.

  The emotion map 116 represents the undulation of emotion as the internal state of the robot 100. The robot 100 aims at the favor point, avoids the dislike point, stays at the favor point for a while, and eventually takes the next action. By such control, the action selection of the robot 100 can be made human and biological.

  The map that affects the behavior of the robot 100 (hereinafter collectively referred to as “behavior map”) is not limited to the emotion map 116 of the type shown in FIG. For example, it is possible to define various behavior maps such as curiosity, feelings of avoiding fear, feelings of peace, feelings of calm and dimness, feelings of physical comfort such as coolness and warmth. Then, the destination point of the robot 100 may be determined by weighted averaging the z values of the plurality of behavior maps.

  In addition to the behavior map, the robot 100 has parameters indicating the sizes of various emotions and sensations. For example, when the value of the emotion parameter of loneliness is increasing, the weighting coefficient of the behavior map that evaluates a safe place is set large, and the value of the emotion parameter is decreased by reaching the target point. Similarly, when the value of a parameter indicating a sense of boring is increasing, a weighting coefficient of an action map for evaluating a place satisfying curiosity may be set large.

FIG. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the robot 100.
The robot 100 includes an internal sensor 128, a communication device 126, a storage device 124, a processor 122, a drive mechanism 120, and a battery 118. The drive mechanism 120 includes the wheel drive mechanism 370 described above. The processor 122 and the storage device 124 are included in the control circuit 342. Each unit is connected to each other by a power line 130 and a signal line 132. The battery 118 supplies power to each unit via the power line 130. Each unit transmits and receives control signals via a signal line 132. The battery 118 is a lithium ion secondary battery and is a power source for the robot 100.

  The internal sensor 128 is a collection of various sensors built in the robot 100. Specifically, a camera (omnidirectional camera), a microphone array, a distance measuring sensor (infrared sensor), a thermo sensor, a touch sensor, an acceleration sensor, an odor sensor, a touch sensor, and the like. The touch sensor is installed between the outer skin 314 and the main body frame 310 to detect a user's touch. The odor sensor is a known sensor that applies the principle that the electrical resistance changes due to the adsorption of molecules that cause odors.

  The communication device 126 is a communication module that performs wireless communication for various external devices such as the server 200, the external sensor 114, and a mobile device possessed by the user. The storage device 124 includes a nonvolatile memory and a volatile memory, and stores a computer program and various setting information. The processor 122 is a computer program execution means. The drive mechanism 120 is an actuator that controls the internal mechanism. In addition to this, displays and speakers are also installed.

  The processor 122 selects an action of the robot 100 while communicating with the server 200 and the external sensor 114 via the communication device 126. Various external information obtained by the internal sensor 128 also affects action selection. The drive mechanism 120 mainly controls the wheel (front wheel 102) and the head (head frame 316). The drive mechanism 120 changes the movement direction and movement speed of the robot 100 by changing the rotation speed and rotation direction of each of the two front wheels 102. The drive mechanism 120 can also raise and lower the wheels (the front wheel 102 and the rear wheel 103). When the wheel rises, the wheel is completely stored in the body 104, and the robot 100 comes into contact with the floor surface F at the seating surface 108 and enters the seating state. In addition, the drive mechanism 120 controls the hand 106 via the wire 135.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the robot system 300.
As described above, the robot system 300 includes the robot 100, the server 200, and the plurality of external sensors 114. Each component of the robot 100 and the server 200 includes an arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and various coprocessors, a storage device such as a memory and a storage, hardware including a wired or wireless communication line connecting them, and a storage It is realized by software stored in the apparatus and supplying processing instructions to the arithmetic unit. The computer program may be constituted by a device driver, an operating system, various application programs located in an upper layer thereof, and a library that provides a common function to these programs. Each block described below is not a hardware unit configuration but a functional unit block.
Some of the functions of the robot 100 may be realized by the server 200, and some or all of the functions of the server 200 may be realized by the robot 100.

(Server 200)
Server 200 includes a communication unit 204, a data processing unit 202, and a data storage unit 206.
The communication unit 204 is in charge of communication processing with the external sensor 114 and the robot 100. The data storage unit 206 stores various data. The data processing unit 202 executes various processes based on the data acquired by the communication unit 204 and the data stored in the data storage unit 206. The data processing unit 202 also functions as an interface between the communication unit 204 and the data storage unit 206.

The data storage unit 206 includes a motion storage unit 232, a map storage unit 216, and a personal data storage unit 218.
The robot 100 has a plurality of motion patterns (motions). Various motions are defined, such as shaking the hand 106, approaching the owner while meandering, and staring at the owner with the neck raised.

  The motion storage unit 232 stores a “motion file” that defines the control content of the motion. Each motion is identified by a motion ID. The motion file is also downloaded to the motion storage unit 160 of the robot 100. Which motion is to be executed may be determined by the server 200 or may be determined by the robot 100.

  Many of the motions of the robot 100 are configured as compound motions including a plurality of unit motions. For example, when the robot 100 approaches the owner, it may be expressed as a combination of a unit motion turning toward the owner, a unit motion approaching while raising the hand, a unit motion approaching while shaking the body, and a unit motion sitting while raising both hands. . The combination of these four motions realizes a motion of “sitting close to the owner, raising hands halfway, and finally shaking the body”. In the motion file, the rotation angle and angular velocity of an actuator provided in the robot 100 are defined in association with the time axis. Various motions are expressed by controlling each actuator over time according to a motion file (actuator control information).

The transition time when changing from the previous unit motion to the next unit motion is called “interval”. The interval may be defined according to the time required for changing the unit motion and the content of the motion. The length of the interval is adjustable.
Hereinafter, settings related to behavior control of the robot 100 such as when and which motion to select and output adjustment of each actuator for realizing the motion are collectively referred to as “behavior characteristics”. The behavior characteristics of the robot 100 are defined by a motion selection algorithm, a motion selection probability, a motion file, and the like.

  In addition to the motion file, the motion storage unit 232 stores a motion selection table that defines a motion to be executed when various events occur. In the motion selection table, one or more motions and their selection probabilities are associated with events.

  The map storage unit 216 stores a map indicating an arrangement state of obstacles such as a chair and a table in addition to a plurality of behavior maps. The personal data storage unit 218 stores information on users, particularly owners. Specifically, master information indicating the intimacy for the user and the physical characteristics / behavioral characteristics of the user is stored. Other attribute information such as age and gender may be stored.

  The robot 100 has an internal parameter called familiarity for each user. When the robot 100 recognizes a behavior that favors oneself, such as picking up oneself or singing a voice, the familiarity with the user increases. The intimacy with respect to a user who is not involved in the robot 100, a user who works wildly, or a user who encounters less frequently becomes low.

The data processing unit 202 includes a position management unit 208, a map management unit 210, a recognition unit 212, an operation control unit 222, a closeness management unit 220, and a state management unit 244.
The position management unit 208 specifies the position coordinates of the robot 100 by the method described with reference to FIG. The position management unit 208 may track the position coordinates of the user in real time.

The state management unit 244 manages various internal parameters such as various physical states such as a charging rate, an internal temperature, and a processing load of the processor 122. The state management unit 244 includes an emotion management unit 234.
The emotion management unit 234 manages various emotion parameters indicating emotions of the robot 100 (solitude, curiosity, approval desire, etc.). These emotion parameters are constantly fluctuating. The importance of the plurality of behavior maps changes according to the emotion parameter, the movement target point of the robot 100 changes according to the behavior map, and the emotion parameter changes with the movement of the robot 100 and the passage of time.

  For example, when the emotion parameter indicating loneliness is high, the emotion management unit 234 sets a large weighting coefficient for the behavior map for evaluating a safe place. When the robot 100 reaches a point where the loneliness can be resolved in the action map, the emotion management unit 234 decreases the emotion parameter indicating the loneliness. In addition, various emotion parameters are changed by a response action described later. For example, the emotion parameter indicating loneliness decreases when the owner “holds”, and the emotion parameter indicating loneliness gradually increases when the owner is not visually recognized for a long time.

The map management unit 210 changes the parameters of each coordinate by the method described with reference to FIG. 4 for a plurality of behavior maps. The map management unit 210 may select one of a plurality of behavior maps, or may perform a weighted average of z values of the plurality of behavior maps. For example, in the behavior map A, the z values at the coordinates R1 and R2 are 4 and 3, and in the behavior map B, the z values at the coordinates R1 and R2 are −1 and 3. In the case of the simple average, since the total z value of the coordinates R1 is 4-1 = 3 and the total z value of the coordinates R2 is 3 + 3 = 6, the robot 100 moves in the direction of the coordinate R2 instead of the coordinate R1.
When the action map A is emphasized five times as much as the action map B, the total z value of the coordinates R1 is 4 × 5-1 = 19 and the total z value of the coordinates R2 is 3 × 5 + 3 = 18. Head in the direction of

  The recognition unit 212 recognizes the external environment. The recognition of the external environment includes various recognitions such as recognition of weather and season based on temperature and humidity, and recognition of shade (safe area) based on light quantity and temperature. The recognition unit 156 of the robot 100 acquires various environment information by the internal sensor 128, performs primary processing on the acquired environment information, and then transfers the information to the recognition unit 212 of the server 200.

  Specifically, the recognition unit 156 of the robot 100 extracts a moving object, in particular, an image area corresponding to a person or an animal from the image, and features indicating the physical characteristics or behavioral characteristics of the moving object from the extracted image area. A “feature vector” is extracted as a set of quantities. The feature vector component (feature amount) is a numerical value obtained by quantifying various physical and behavioral features. For example, the horizontal width of the human eye is digitized in the range of 0 to 1 to form one feature vector component. A technique for extracting a feature vector from a captured image of a person is an application of a known face recognition technique. The robot 100 transmits the feature vector to the server 200.

The recognition unit 212 of the server 200 further includes a person recognition unit 214 and a reception recognition unit 228.
The person recognizing unit 214 compares the feature vector extracted from the image captured by the built-in camera of the robot 100 with the feature vector of the user (cluster) registered in the personal data storage unit 218 in advance, thereby capturing the imaged user. It is determined which person corresponds to (user identification process). The person recognition unit 214 includes a facial expression recognition unit 230. The facial expression recognition unit 230 estimates the user's emotion by recognizing the user's facial expression as an image.
Note that the person recognition unit 214 also performs user identification processing for moving objects other than people, such as cats and dogs that are pets.

The response recognition unit 228 recognizes various response actions performed on the robot 100 and classifies them as pleasant / unpleasant actions. The response recognition unit 228 also classifies the response into an affirmative / negative response by recognizing the owner's response to the behavior of the robot 100.
Pleasant / unpleasant behavior is determined based on whether the user's response is pleasant or uncomfortable as a living thing. For example, being held is a pleasant action for the robot 100, and being kicked is an unpleasant action for the robot 100. An affirmative / negative reaction is discriminated based on whether the user's response acts indicate a user's pleasant feeling or an unpleasant feeling. For example, being held is an affirmative reaction indicating a user's pleasant feeling, and being kicked is a negative reaction indicating a user's unpleasant feeling.

  The operation control unit 222 of the server 200 determines the motion of the robot 100 in cooperation with the operation control unit 150 of the robot 100. The operation control unit 222 of the server 200 creates a movement target point of the robot 100 and a movement route therefor based on the action map selection by the map management unit 210. The operation control unit 222 may create a plurality of travel routes, and then select any travel route.

The motion control unit 222 selects the motion of the robot 100 from the plurality of motions in the motion storage unit 232. Each motion is associated with a selection probability for each situation. For example, a selection method is defined such that when a pleasant action is made by the owner, motion A is executed with a probability of 20%, and when the temperature becomes 30 ° C. or higher, motion B is executed with a probability of 5%. .
A movement target point and a movement route are determined in the action map, and a motion is selected by various events described later.

  The intimacy manager 220 manages intimacy for each user. As described above, the familiarity is registered in the personal data storage unit 218 as a part of personal data. When a pleasant act is detected, the intimacy manager 220 increases the intimacy for the owner. Intimacy goes down when unpleasant behavior is detected. In addition, the intimacy of the owner who has not been visible for a long time gradually decreases.

(Robot 100)
The robot 100 includes a communication unit 142, a data processing unit 136, a data storage unit 148, an internal sensor 128, and a drive mechanism 120.
The communication unit 142 corresponds to the communication device 126 (see FIG. 5), and is responsible for communication processing with the external sensor 114, the server 200, and the other robot 100. The data storage unit 148 stores various data. The data storage unit 148 corresponds to the storage device 124 (see FIG. 5). The data processing unit 136 performs various processes based on the data acquired by the communication unit 142 and the data stored in the data storage unit 148. The data processing unit 136 corresponds to the processor 122 and a computer program executed by the processor 122. The data processing unit 136 also functions as an interface for the communication unit 142, the internal sensor 128, the drive mechanism 120, and the data storage unit 148.

The data storage unit 148 includes a motion storage unit 160 that defines various motions of the robot 100 and a contact type storage unit 170 that defines a contact type.
Various motion files are downloaded from the motion storage unit 232 of the server 200 to the motion storage unit 160 of the robot 100. The motion is identified by a motion ID. The front wheel 102 is housed and seated, the hand 106 is lifted, the two front wheels 102 are reversely rotated, or the robot 100 is rotated by rotating only one of the front wheels 102. In order to express various motions, such as shaking by rotating the front wheel 102, stopping and looking back when leaving the user, the operation timing, operation time, operation direction, etc. of various actuators (drive mechanism 120) Time series are defined in the motion file.

  Various data may also be downloaded to the data storage unit 148 from the map storage unit 216 and the personal data storage unit 218.

  The contact type storage unit 170 stores a “contact type” indicating a contact mode with respect to the robot 100 and a “type table” that associates a detection pattern of the touch sensor 400 with each other. The contact type is a type of contact mode (contents of body touch) of the user with respect to the robot 100 such as “striking”, “pinning”, and “stroking”. The detection pattern typifies the potential change (detection content) of the touch sensor 400 when the user touches the robot 100. The type table will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

The internal sensor 128 includes a touch sensor 400, a camera 138, and a thermo sensor 140.
The touch sensor 400 detects a user contact with the body 104. The camera 138 always captures the periphery of the robot 100. The camera 138 is an omnidirectional camera. The thermosensor 140 periodically detects the outside air temperature distribution around the robot 100. The camera 138 and the thermo sensor 140 can detect whether or not the user exists in the vicinity.

The data processing unit 136 includes a recognition unit 156, an operation control unit 150, a contact determination unit 152, and a sensitivity control unit 154.
The operation control unit 150 of the robot 100 determines the motion of the robot 100 in cooperation with the operation control unit 222 of the server 200. Some motions may be determined by the server 200, and other motions may be determined by the robot 100. Further, although the robot 100 determines the motion, the server 200 may determine the motion when the processing load on the robot 100 is high. The server 200 may determine a base motion and the robot 100 may determine an additional motion. How the server 200 and the robot 100 share the motion determination process may be designed according to the specifications of the robot system 300.

  The operation control unit 150 of the robot 100 determines the moving direction of the robot 100 together with the operation control unit 222 of the server 200. The movement based on the behavior map may be determined by the server 200, and an immediate movement such as avoiding an obstacle may be determined by the motion control unit 150 of the robot 100. The drive mechanism 120 drives the front wheel 102 in accordance with an instruction from the operation control unit 150 to direct the robot 100 toward the movement target point.

  The operation control unit 150 of the robot 100 instructs the drive mechanism 120 to execute the selected motion. The drive mechanism 120 controls each actuator according to the motion file.

  The motion control unit 150 can execute a motion of lifting both hands 106 as a gesture for holding a “cug” when a close user is nearby, and the left and right front wheels 102 when the user is tired of the “cug”. It is also possible to express a motion that hesitates to hold a child by alternately repeating reverse rotation and stopping while being accommodated. The drive mechanism 120 causes the robot 100 to express various motions by driving the front wheels 102, the hands 106, and the neck (head frame 316) according to instructions from the operation control unit 150.

  The contact determination unit 152 determines the contact type by comparing the detection pattern of each of the plurality of touch sensors 400 and a type table (described later). The sensitivity control unit 154 changes the sensitivity of the touch sensor 400, specifically, the reference voltage for detection. This will also be described in detail later.

  The recognition unit 156 of the robot 100 interprets external information obtained from the internal sensor 128. The recognition unit 156 can perform visual recognition (visual part), odor recognition (olfactory part), sound recognition (auditory part), and tactile recognition (tactile part).

  The recognition unit 156 periodically images the outside world with the camera 138 and detects moving objects such as people and pets. The recognition unit 156 includes a feature extraction unit 146. The feature extraction unit 146 extracts a feature vector from the captured image of the moving object. As described above, the feature vector is a set of parameters (features) indicating physical characteristics and behavioral characteristics of the moving object. When a moving object is detected, physical characteristics and behavioral characteristics are extracted from an odor sensor, a built-in sound collecting microphone, a temperature sensor, and the like. For example, when a moving object appears in the image, bearded, active early in the morning, wearing red clothes, smelling perfume, loud, wearing glasses, wearing a skirt Various features such as being white hair, tall, fat, tanned, on the couch. These features are also quantified and become feature vector components.

The robot system 300 clusters users who frequently appear as “owners” based on physical characteristics and behavioral characteristics obtained from a large amount of image information and other sensing information.
For example, if a moving object (user) with a beard is active early in the morning (early waking up) and rarely wears red clothes, a cluster (early bearded and less red clothes) User)). On the other hand, a moving object wearing glasses often wears a skirt, but if this moving object does not have a beard, a cluster that wears glasses and wears a skirt but does not have an absolute beard. A second profile (user) is created.
The above is a simple example, but by the above-described method, the first profile corresponding to the father and the second profile corresponding to the mother are formed, and this house has at least two users (owners). The robot 100 recognizes this.

  However, the robot 100 need not recognize that the first profile is “father”. To the last, it is only necessary to be able to recognize a person image of “a cluster that has a beard and often wakes up early and rarely wears red clothes”. For each profile, a feature vector that characterizes the profile is defined.

Assume that the robot 100 newly recognizes a moving object (user) in a state where such cluster analysis is completed.
At this time, the person recognition unit 214 of the server 200 executes user identification processing based on the feature vector of the new moving object, and determines which profile (cluster) the moving object corresponds to.

  Among a series of recognition processes including detection, analysis, and determination, the recognition unit 156 of the robot 100 performs selection and extraction of information necessary for recognition, and interpretation processing such as determination is executed by the recognition unit 212 of the server 200. . The recognition process may be performed only by the recognition unit 212 of the server 200, or may be performed only by the recognition unit 156 of the robot 100, or the above-described recognition process may be performed while both roles are shared as described above. Also good.

When a strong impact is applied to the robot 100, the recognizing unit 156 recognizes this with the built-in acceleration sensor, and the response recognizing unit 228 of the server 200 recognizes that the “violent act” has been performed by a nearby user. When the user grabs the horn 112 and lifts the robot 100, it may be recognized as a violent act. When a user who is facing the robot 100 speaks in a specific volume range and a specific frequency band, the reception recognition unit 228 of the server 200 may recognize that a “speaking action” has been performed on the server 200. In addition, when a temperature about the body temperature is detected, it is recognized that a “contact act” is performed by the user, and when an upward acceleration is detected in a state where the contact is recognized, it is recognized that “cug” has been performed. A physical contact when the user lifts the body 104 may be sensed, or the holding may be recognized when the load applied to the front wheel 102 decreases.
In summary, the robot 100 acquires the user's action as physical information by the internal sensor 128, the response recognition unit 228 of the server 200 determines pleasure / discomfort, and the recognition unit 212 of the server 200 performs user identification processing based on the feature vector. Execute.

  The response recognition unit 228 of the server 200 recognizes various user responses to the robot 100. Some typical response actions among various response actions are associated with pleasure or discomfort, affirmation or denial. In general, most of the response actions that become pleasant acts are positive responses, and most of the response actions that become unpleasant acts are negative responses. Pleasant / unpleasant behavior is related to intimacy, and positive / negative reactions affect the behavior selection of the robot 100.

  The closeness management unit 220 of the server 200 changes the closeness to the user according to the response action recognized by the recognition unit 156. In principle, the intimacy for a user who has performed a pleasant act is increased, and the intimacy for a user who has performed an unpleasant action is decreased.

  The recognition unit 212 of the server 200 determines pleasure / discomfort according to the response, and the map management unit 210 changes the z value of the point where the pleasant / discomfort act is performed in the action map expressing “attachment to a place”. May be. For example, when a pleasant act is performed in the living room, the map management unit 210 may set a favorable point in the living room with a high probability. In this case, a positive feedback effect that the robot 100 likes the living room and receives a pleasant act in the living room more and more likes the living room is realized.

  The intimacy with respect to the user varies depending on what action is performed from the moving object (user).

  The robot 100 sets a high familiarity with people who often meet, people who often touch, and people who often speak. On the other hand, the intimacy of people who rarely see, people who do not touch much, violent people, and people who speak loudly is low. The robot 100 changes the familiarity for each user based on various external information detected by sensors (visual sense, tactile sense, auditory sense).

  The actual robot 100 autonomously performs complex action selection according to the action map. The robot 100 behaves while being influenced by a plurality of behavior maps based on various parameters such as loneliness, boredom, and curiosity. If the influence of the action map is excluded, or the robot 100 is in an internal state where the influence of the action map is small, in principle, the robot 100 tries to approach a person with high intimacy, and away from a person with low intimacy. And

The behavior of the robot 100 is categorized as follows according to intimacy.
(1) User with very high intimacy The robot 100 approaches the user (hereinafter referred to as “proximity action”) and performs a affection gesture that is defined in advance as a gesture that favors the person. Express strongly.
(2) User whose degree of closeness is relatively high The robot 100 performs only the proximity action.
(3) User with relatively low familiarity The robot 100 does not perform any special action.
(4) User whose degree of closeness is particularly low The robot 100 performs a withdrawal action.

  According to the above control method, the robot 100 approaches the user when a user with a high familiarity is found, and conversely moves away from the user when a user with a low familiarity is found. By such a control method, it is possible to express so-called “shrinking”. Moreover, when a visitor (user A with a low intimacy) appears, the robot 100 may move away from the visitor toward the family (user B with a high intimacy). In this case, the user B can feel that the robot 100 feels anxiety because of shyness and relies on himself / herself. By such behavioral expression, the user B is aroused by the joy of being selected and relied upon and the feeling of attachment accompanying it.

  On the other hand, when the user A who is a visitor frequently visits, speaks, and touches, the closeness of the robot 100 to the user A gradually increases, and the robot 100 does not perform a shy behavior (withdrawal behavior) to the user A. . The user A can also be attached to the robot 100 by feeling that the robot 100 has become familiar with him.

  Note that the above action selection is not always executed. For example, when an internal parameter indicating the curiosity of the robot 100 is high, an action map for finding a place satisfying the curiosity is emphasized, and thus the robot 100 may not select an action influenced by intimacy. . Further, when the external sensor 114 installed at the entrance detects the return of the user, the user's welcome action may be executed with the highest priority.

  When sensing other than the touch sensor 400, such as a camera 138, a thermo sensor 140, or a odor sensor (not shown), is disturbed by contact from the user, the operation control unit 150 performs a notification operation. Specifically, when a certain percentage or more of the field of view of the camera 138 is blocked, for example, 50% or more, or when a certain percentage or more of the detection range of the thermosensor 140 is detected as the same temperature distribution, the user's hand or body May be in the way of sensing. When the recognition unit 156 determines that the period during which the sensing is disturbed continues for a predetermined time or more, the operation control unit 150 performs a notification operation.

  The notification operation is an operation for reporting to the owner that there is a user or an obstacle and a sensor other than the touch sensor 400 cannot be normally sensed. Specifically, the operation control unit 150 performs a notification operation such as keeping an eye on, making a sound, or shaking the body. The notification operation may be initially set in advance as a “typical operation (motion) for notifying something” specific to the robot 100.

FIG. 7 is an external view of an arc-shaped touch sensor 400A.
There are two types of touch sensors 400, an arc type (C type) touch sensor 400A and a perfect circle type (O type) touch sensor 400B. First, the arc-shaped touch sensor 400A will be described.

  The touch sensor 400 </ b> A includes a sensing unit 408 having an annular shape and a detection chip 406 connected to the sensing unit 408. The sensing unit 408 is formed in a C shape including a notch 410 in part. The sensing unit 408 includes an annular plate 402 and four electrodes 404 (electrodes 404 a to 404 d) formed on the annular plate 402. The annular plate 402 is preferably formed of a thin and easily bent shape / material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or paper. The electrode 404 is formed by printing conductive ink on the annular plate 402 with an ink jet printer. Alternatively, a thin plate electrode 404 may be attached to the annular plate 402.

  A reference potential is applied to each of the four electrodes 404 from the detection chip 406, and the detection chip 406 can individually detect a potential change of each of the four electrodes 404. Although details will be described later with reference to FIG. 10, each electrode 404 forms a thin capacitor. When an object rich in moisture, such as a finger, approaches the sensing unit 408, the potential of each electrode 404 changes. The detection chip 406 detects a potential change of each of the four electrodes 404. The contact determination unit 152 determines the contact type based on the detection result of the detection chip 406.

  A plurality of notches 424 are formed on the outer periphery of the sensing unit 408. The notch 424 engages with a protrusion formed on the main body frame 310 of the robot 100. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The detection chip 406 is disposed at the center of the sensing unit 408 (annular part). For this reason, the size of the touch sensor 400A can be formed compactly within the outer diameter size of the sensing unit 408.

  The larger the sensing unit 408, in other words, the larger the electrode 404, the greater the detection capability of the touch sensor 400A. The touch sensor 400A is installed on the body 104 in a state where the sensing unit 408 is along the curved surface of the main body frame 310 (the head frame 316 and the torso frame 318). The detection chip 406 is introduced into the main body frame 310 from an opening (not shown) provided in the main body frame 310. A power supply line and a signal line are connected to the detection chip 406 and are electrically connected to each unit. Since the sensing unit 408 is formed of a thin and soft material and has an annular shape, it is easy to match the curved surface of the body 104. In particular, since the degree of bending of the sensing unit 408 can be adjusted by adjusting the degree of opening of the notch 410, the body 104 having various curvatures can be flexibly supported. For example, when the touch sensor 400a of FIG. 1 is installed on the abdomen of the robot 100, the degree of opening of the notch 410 may be adjusted in accordance with the curvature of the abdomen.

FIG. 8 is an external view of a perfect circle touch sensor 400B.
The touch sensor 400B includes a sensing unit 412 having an annular shape and a detection chip 406 connected to the sensing unit 412. The sensing unit 412 of the touch sensor 400B has an O-shape that does not have the notch 410. Similar to the touch sensor 400A, the sensing unit 412 of the touch sensor B includes an annular plate 402 and four electrodes 404 (electrodes 404a to 404d) formed on the annular plate 402.

  Also in the touch sensor 400B, a reference potential is applied from the detection chip 406 to each of the four electrodes 404, and the detection chip 406 can individually detect a change in potential of each of the four electrodes 404.

  Although the detection chip 406 of the touch sensor 400B is outside the sensing unit 412, the detection chip 406 may be formed inside the sensing unit 412. Alternatively, the touch sensor 400B may be installed on the body 104 in a state where the detection chip 406 is housed (folded) inside the sensing unit 412 by bending the wiring unit 414 connecting the sensing unit 412 and the detection chip 406. . The perfect circular touch sensor 400 </ b> B is installed in a place having a relatively small curvature, such as the temporal region of the robot 100. A plurality of notches 424 that engage with protrusions formed on the body frame 310 of the robot 100 are also formed on the outer periphery of the sensing unit 412.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing how the arc-shaped touch sensor 400A is attached.
A plurality of protrusions 426 are formed on the body frame 310 of the robot 100. When attaching the touch sensor 400A, the protrusion 426 is fitted into the notch 424 of the touch sensor 400A. By engaging the notch 424 and the protrusion 426, the touch sensor 400A can be stably attached to the main body frame 310, and the positioning of the touch sensor 400A can be ensured. The same applies to the touch sensor 400B.

  The touch sensor 400 may have a hole instead of the notch 424. Then, the touch sensor 400 may be fixed to the main body frame 310 by inserting the protrusions 426 into the holes. Alternatively, the touch sensor 400 may be positioned by writing a mark on the main body frame 310 and fixing the touch sensor 400 to the main body frame 310 according to the mark.

  The touch sensor 400 is preferably fixed to the main body frame 310 by at least two, preferably three or more notches 424. The touch sensor 400 may be fixed to the main body frame 310 by providing a recess in the main body frame 310 and fitting the touch sensor 400 into the recess.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the sensing unit 408 of the touch sensor 400A.
In the sensing unit 408 of the touch sensor 400A, three annular plates 402 (annular plates 402a to 402c) are bonded together. The second electrode 416 is installed on the annular plate 402a, and the first electrode 420 is installed on the annular plate 402c. A mesh conductor 418 is installed on the middle annular plate 402b.

  The first electrode 420 is located on the inner side (mechanism side) of the robot 100, and the second electrode 416 is located on the outer side of the robot 100. A capacitor is formed by the second electrode 416 and the first electrode 420. The mesh conductor 418 is a conductor for adjusting the capacitance of the second electrode 416 and the first electrode 420 and is not an essential component. The detection chip 406 sets the first electrode 420 to the ground potential and applies a reference potential (0 (V) or higher) to the second electrode 416.

  The detection chip 406 measures the potential difference between the first electrode 420 and the second electrode 416. The potential difference when not in contact is a reference potential. When an object such as a finger approaches the second electrode 416 (outside), the potential difference of the second electrode 416 of the first electrode 420 (hereinafter simply referred to as “the potential of the electrode 404”) changes.

  By setting the first electrode 420 to the ground potential, the influence of the electromagnetic wave radiated from the communication device 126, the processor 122, and the like on the touch sensor 400 can be suppressed. The sensing unit 412 of the perfect circular touch sensor 400B has a similar stacked structure.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the body 104.
Touch sensor 400 is sandwiched between body frame 310 (inner skeleton) and outer skin 314. The touch sensor 400 is installed along the curved surface shape of the resin main body frame 310. The touch sensor 400 may be adhered to the main body frame 310 or may be fixed to the main body frame 310 with a fixing tool such as a screw. The outer skin 314 is formed of an elastic body such as urethane rubber. The surface of the outer skin 314 is covered with a cloth skin 380.

  In the touch sensor 400, the potential of the electrode 404 changes sensitively with the contact with the skin 380. For this reason, when the user touches the skin 380, the potential of the touch sensor 400 (second electrode 416) changes. Thus, by providing the outer skin 314 of the elastic body on the outside of the touch sensor 400, for example, the deformed state of the outer skin 314 changes depending on whether it is gently touched or strongly touched, thereby changing the potential change. By measuring in advance the potential change at the time of contact without deformation of the outer skin 314 and the potential change at the time of contact with deformation of the outer skin 314, it is possible not only to detect contact but also to detect the strength of contact. .

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a change in potential of the touch sensor 400 at the time of contact.
As described above, when the finger touches the skin 380 and applies pressure, the potential of the electrode 404 (second electrode 416) of the touch sensor 400 changes. FIG. 12 shows a potential change accompanying contact with an electrode 404 of a touch sensor 400. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the potential difference between the first electrode 420 and the second electrode 416.

  When the user contacts the body 104 of the robot 100, the potential of each of the four electrodes 404 changes in the touch sensor 400 located in the vicinity of the contact location. Depending on the contact state at this time, a specific pattern (hereinafter referred to as “potential change pattern”) appears in the potential change of the electrode 404.

  The potential change pattern is characterized by parameters such as the speed of potential change, the magnitude of the potential change amount, and the time to return to the reference potential. For example, when the user strokes the abdomen of the robot 100, the potential of the electrode 404 of the abdomen touch sensor 400a changes slowly and repeatedly. On the other hand, when the user strikes the abdomen of the robot 100, the potential of the electrode 404 of the abdomen touch sensor 400a changes rapidly and greatly. A combination of potential change patterns of the four electrodes 404 included in one touch sensor 400 is referred to as a detection pattern of the touch sensor 400. The detection pattern and the contact type are associated by a type table.

FIG. 13 is a data structure diagram of the type table 180.
The type table 180 associates detection patterns with contact types and motions. The type table 180 is stored in the contact type storage unit 170. The contact type is classified into a plurality of types of touching positions or touched positions of the robot 100 such as “tapping the stomach”, “patting the head”, “tapping the stomach”, “stroking the stomach”, and “holding”. . The contact type is identified by a type ID.

  The detection pattern typifies the detection pattern of the touch sensor 400. As described above, the detection pattern typifies the potential change pattern of each of the plurality of touch sensors 400 included in the touch sensor 400. For example, “a peak potential of the electrode 404a is equal to or higher than V1 and a peak potential of the electrode 404b is equal to or higher than V2” for a touch sensor 400 may be defined as a kind of detection pattern. The detection pattern is identified by the pattern ID. The touch sensor 400 is identified by a sensor ID.

  According to the type table 180 shown in FIG. 12, the sensor with sensor ID = S01 (hereinafter referred to as “sensor (S01)”) indicates the detection pattern (P01), and the sensor (S02) indicates the detection pattern. When (P04) is indicated, the contact determination unit 152 determines that contact corresponding to the contact type (T01) has been made by the user. If the contact type (T01) corresponds to “boil the stomach”, the reception recognition unit 228 determines that a pleasant act has been performed, and the closeness management unit 220 increases the closeness to the user. According to FIG. 12, in the determination of the contact type (T01), the detection contents other than the sensor (S01) and the sensor (S02) are not considered.

  Motion (M01) to motion (M04) are associated with the contact type (T01). Each motion is associated with a selection probability. According to FIG. 13, the selection probability of the motion (M01) for the contact type (T01) is 30%. Therefore, when the contact determination unit 152 determines that contact has been made according to the contact type (T01), the motion control unit 150 selects the motion (M01) with a probability of 30%. The motion (M01) may be, for example, “motion staring at the user”. According to such a control method, when the user “boiles the stomach” of the robot 100, the robot 100 may perform a reaction action of “gazing at the user”. When the user expresses affection for the robot 100 by stroking the stomach of the robot 100, the robot 100 performs an action as if responding to the user's affection by staring at the user.

  In addition, the intimacy management unit 220 changes the intimacy with respect to the user in accordance with the contact state of the user with the robot 100, and the operation control unit 222 changes the behavior characteristics of the robot 100 in accordance with the intimacy with respect to the user. In other words, the way the robot 100 relates to the user changes due to the physical contact between the user and the robot 100.

  In addition to this, various contact types can be defined by a combination of contact location, contact time, and contact strength. When an intermittent touch is detected, the contact determination unit 152 may recognize that it is “zipped”. When a strong contact is detected instantaneously, it may be recognized as “struck”. The contact determination unit 152 may determine the contact type based on sensing information from not only the touch sensor 400 but also other sensors such as an acceleration sensor, a camera 138, and a thermo sensor 140.

  In accordance with the contact mode, the recognition unit 156 determines comfort / discomfort (comfort level). For example, a light touch is a pleasant act, but being hit is an unpleasant act. Being pecked is a pleasant act, but continuing to be pampered is an unpleasant act.

  The intimacy management unit 220 increases the intimacy with respect to the user when a pleasant action is detected. When an unpleasant behavior is detected, the closeness to the user is reduced. In addition, when an unpleasant action continues, when an unpleasant action such as violence is recognized, the operation control unit 150 instructs to move away from the user.

  In addition, the reception recognition unit 228 determines the user's emotion based on the contact mode detected by the touch sensor 400. Being touched gently is a positive response, and being kicked is a negative response. The motion control unit 222 may change the motion selection method depending on whether it is a positive response or a negative response. The emotion may be determined in combination with facial expression recognition by the facial expression recognition unit 230. For example, if an angry face or a laughing face can be recognized, the user's emotion can be determined more accurately.

  When an affirmative reaction is detected, the robot 100 selects a motion such as clinging to the vicinity of the owner or holding a cuddle. When a negative reaction is detected, it may be possible to sit down at a distance from the owner and relax. Since the behavior characteristics of the robot 100 change according to his / her feelings, the owner can recognize that the robot 100 may be tailored to himself / herself.

  In the case of an affirmative response, it is possible to increase the speed of the motion execution and to be active, and in the case of a negative response, the motion execution speed may be suppressed. The interval may be adjusted. The motion may be changed by replacing or omitting a part of the unit motion constituting the motion in response to an affirmative reaction or a negative reaction.

  The act of “touching” a person tends to express the feeling of the person touched by the person touched. It is said that the act of stroking the head expresses the feeling of petting the current thing. The act of touching the cheek is said to have the psychology of wanting to approach the other party. Therefore, it is possible to estimate the owner's feeling to some extent by the contact mode.

  When the person cannot be confirmed around the robot 100, in other words, when the person cannot be imaged by the camera 138 or when the moving heat source body cannot be detected by the thermosensor 140, the sensitivity control unit 154 suppresses the sensitivity of the touch sensor 400. The suppression of sensitivity is realized by a decrease in the reference voltage. Since contact detection of the touch sensor 400 is unnecessary when there is no person, suppressing the sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 contributes to power saving. The suppression of sensitivity here may be turning off (invalidating) the touch sensor 400.

The robot system 300 including the robot 100 and the robot 100 has been described above based on the embodiment.
The act of touching is the most primitive and basic means of communication. In the robot 100, the main body frame 310 corresponds to the bone, the outer skin 314 corresponds to the flesh, the epidermis 406 corresponds to the skin, and the touch sensor 400 corresponds to the nerve. Since the touch sensors 400 are embedded in a plurality of locations on the body 104 of the robot 100, the robot 100 can detect various contacts with the whole body. Since the touch sensor 400 is formed in an annular shape from a soft material such as a plastic film, the touch sensor 400 is easily along the curved body 104.

  The robot 100 is round and soft and has an appropriate weight. Further, since a heat source such as a battery 118 is built in, the temperature is transmitted to the body 104 of the robot 100. For this reason, the user tends to want to touch or hold the robot 100. By installing the touch sensor 400 along the round and soft body 104, the robot 100 can recognize various contact actions. Since the touch sensor 400 is covered with the outer skin 314 and the outer skin 380, the touch sensor 400 is not only visually invisible from the outside, but is physically protected by the soft outer skin 314 and the like.

  When the user gently touches the robot 100, the familiarity of the robot 100 with the user increases, and the behavior characteristics of the robot 100 change accordingly. On the other hand, close contact decreases the intimacy. In addition to having the body 104 that the user wants to touch, there is a mechanism that increases sympathy by touching, so that it is easier to promote interaction between the user and the robot 100.

  The touch sensor 400 is provided as a component that can be attached to the robot 100 later. When the touch sensor 400 fails, it can be replaced with a new touch sensor 400. Since the electrode 404 is formed by printing the conductive ink on the annular plate 402, the touch sensor 400 can be manufactured at low cost. Since the touch sensor 400 can be used as a common part of a wide variety of robots 100, a mass production effect can be expected.

  In the present embodiment, six touch sensors 400 are installed in the robot 100, and one touch sensor 400 has four electrodes 404. For this reason, the contact determination unit 152 can recognize various contact types based on combinations of potential changes of a total of 24 (= 6 × 4) electrodes 404.

  What is necessary is just to select the optimal size and shape of the touch sensor 400 according to the magnitude | size and shape (curvature) of an installation location. In the present embodiment, the influence of electromagnetic noise from the inside of the robot 100 on the touch sensor 400 is suppressed by grounding the inner first electrode 420. Preferably, the electromagnetic influence on the touch sensor 400 from the inside of the robot 100 may be further suppressed by a method of increasing the thickness of the main body frame 310 or providing an electromagnetic shielding plate (metal plate).

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment and modification, A component can be deform | transformed and embodied in the range which does not deviate from a summary. Various inventions may be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments and modifications. Moreover, you may delete some components from all the components shown by the said embodiment and modification.

  Although it has been described that the robot system 300 is configured by one robot 100, one server 200, and a plurality of external sensors 114, some of the functions of the robot 100 may be realized by the server 200. May be assigned to the robot 100. One server 200 may control a plurality of robots 100, or a plurality of servers 200 may cooperate to control one or more robots 100.

  A third device other than the robot 100 and the server 200 may bear a part of the function. A set of each function of the robot 100 described in FIG. 6 and each function of the server 200 can be grasped as one “robot” in a global manner. How to allocate a plurality of functions necessary for realizing the present invention to one or a plurality of hardware depends on the processing capability of each hardware, the specifications required for the robot system 300, and the like. It only has to be decided.

  As described above, “robot in the narrow sense” refers to the robot 100 that does not include the server 200, but “robot in the broad sense” refers to the robot system 300. Many of the functions of the server 200 may be integrated into the robot 100 in the future.

  Although the touch sensor 400 in the present embodiment has been described as including four electrodes 404, the number of electrodes 404 included in one touch sensor 400 is arbitrary. In the present embodiment, the touch sensor 400 has been described as including the annular plate 402 having an annular shape. As a modification, a plurality of plates 422 (electrodes 404) may be arranged radially with respect to the detection chip 406 as shown in FIG.

  The touch sensor 400 and its detection pattern and contact type may be defined in advance as the type table 180. Then, when the touch sensor 400 is installed in the robot 100, a contact detection function may be added to the robot 100 by installing the type table 180. For example, if a detection pattern corresponding to the contact type “boil gently” is registered, the contact determination unit 152 compares the detection pattern detected by the touch sensor 400 with the already registered detection pattern, so that the contact type It can be determined whether or not this is true. If the touch sensor 400 and the type table 180 are combined into a product, it is easy to introduce a contact determination function for various robots 100. The type table 180 may be built in the detection chip 406. The detection chip 406 may have the function of the contact determination unit 152.

  The contact determination unit 152 may determine the contact type by using a detection model as an input and a determination model such as a neural network. Specifically, first, a plurality of touch sensors 400 are attached to the first robot 100. Next, the user (teacher) contacts the first robot 100 corresponding to a plurality of contact types. For example, the user actually strokes the stomach of the first robot 100 in order to learn “contact the stomach” of the contact type (T01). The contact determination unit 152 of the first robot 100 records the detection pattern of each touch sensor 400 at this time. A learning device (not shown) connected to the first robot 100 acquires the detection pattern and the contact type (T01) at this time. The learning device sets a detection pattern in the input layer and uses the contact type (T01) as teacher data, thereby causing the neural network to learn the detection pattern corresponding to the contact type (T01). The same applies to other contact types. By such learning, a combination of detection patterns of the plurality of touch sensors 400 and a contact type are associated with each other. In other words, a determination model that functions similarly to the type table 180 is generated.

  One or more touch sensors 400 may be provided as a set with a determination model. When the touch sensor 400 is attached to the second robot 100, the determination model formed in the first robot 100 is also introduced into the second robot 100. Thereafter, when various contacts with the second robot 100 are made, the contact determination unit 152 of the second robot 100 determines the contact type by setting the detection pattern at that time as an input node. The determination model may be formed not only by the neural network but also by various multivariate analysis models such as discriminant analysis.

  When the attachment position of the touch sensor 400 in the first robot 100 is shifted from the attachment position of the touch sensor 400 in the second robot 100, the discrimination model reflecting the learning result in the first robot 100 functions well in the second robot 100. There is a possibility of disappearing. In the present embodiment, by assembling a plurality of electrodes 404 into the touch sensor 400, it is ensured that the positional relationship between the electrodes 404 is the same, and the touch sensor 400 is accurate and simple by the notches 424 and the protrusions 426. Therefore, the learning result of the first robot 100 can be accurately reflected on the other robots 100.

  In the present embodiment, the touch sensor 400 has been described as being inserted between the main body frame 310 and the outer skin 314. As a modification, the body frame 310 and the touch sensor 400 may be integrally formed by attaching the electrode 404 to the body frame 310.

  As a sensor for detecting contact, in addition to a capacitance sensor, a method of forming the skin 314 with a piezoelectric fabric is also conceivable. The piezoelectric fabric detects charges generated by the polylactic acid fiber by using polylactic acid fiber as the piezoelectric body and carbon fiber as the electrode. In addition, various contacts may be detected by combining a thermocouple, a pressure sensor, a strain gauge, and the like.

  Touch sensor 400 such as a capacitance sensor may have different sensitivities depending on the installation location. For example, the touch sensor 400 installed on the head may have low sensitivity, and the touch sensor 400 installed on the abdomen may be set to have high sensitivity. The sensitivity may be adjusted according to the level of the detection voltage, or the sensitivity may be changed by varying the density of the electrode lines in the capacitance sensor. By changing the sensitivity depending on the location, for example, it is possible to realize a skin sensation peculiar to the robot 100 such that the head is dull but the abdomen is sensitive. In addition, reducing the sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 in some places instead of making the entire touch sensor 400 highly sensitive also contributes to power saving.

  The touch frequency with respect to the robot 100 may affect the behavior characteristics of the robot 100. For example, the robot 100 that is frequently touching the abdomen during a predetermined period after manufacture may recognize that the abdomen is touched even after the predetermined period has elapsed as a pleasant act or a love expression. On the other hand, the robot 100 with a small number of times the abdomen is touched in the predetermined period may recognize that touching the abdomen after the predetermined period has elapsed as an unpleasant act. In this way, the pleasant / unpleasant determination method may be changed according to the contact mode. In other words, it is possible to realize the robot 100 in which the “growth” changes depending on the contact mode at an early age.

  In addition to the contact location, contact strength, and contact time, the comfort level may be determined based on the contact frequency and the time zone during which contact is made. For example, touching the cheek is a pleasant act, but if the cheek is touched frequently, the recognition may be changed as an unpleasant act. Further, touching during charging may be recognized as an unpleasant act.

  The comfort level in the present embodiment is a pleasant / unpleasant binary value, but may be a ternary value or more. For example, it may be categorized into five levels such as “very pleasant”, “somewhat pleasant”, “neutral”, “somewhat uncomfortable”, and “very uncomfortable”. The comfort level may be indicated by a continuous value. For example, 2 points for the stomach, -4 points for a strong touch, 1.5 times when the contact time is 3 seconds or longer, and (2-4) × 1. The comfort level may be calculated as -3 points with 5 = -3. The closeness management unit 220 updates the closeness according to the comfort level. Further, a motion corresponding to when the comfort level is equal to or greater than a predetermined value or less than a predetermined value may be associated in advance.

  The user may put a costume on the robot 100. There are various types of costumes. RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) tags are sewn on the costume. The RFID tag transmits a “costume ID” identifying the costume at a close range. The robot 100 reads the costume ID from the RFID tag, and specifies that the costume is worn and the type of the worn costume. The robot 100 may wear a plurality of costumes.

  When the robot 100 is wearing a costume, the detection sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 is considered to be reduced by the costume. When the internal sensor 128 detects wearing of a costume, the sensitivity control unit 154 may increase the sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 to a reference potential (normally set value) or more. The sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 may be adjusted according to the type and number of costumes. The server 200 or the robot 100 may have a data table that associates the costume ID with a suitable sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 in advance. The sensitivity control unit 154 may change the sensitivity of the touch sensor 400 with reference to the data table according to the type and number of costumes.

  In the present embodiment, the touch sensor 400 has been described as being attached to the outside of the main body frame 310. As a modification, the touch sensor 400 may be attached to the inside of the main body frame 310.

  100 robot, 102 front wheel, 102a left wheel, 102b right wheel, 103 rear wheel, 104 body, 106 hands, 108 seating surface, 110 eyes, 112 horn, 114 external sensor, 116 emotion map, 118 battery, 120 drive mechanism, 122 processor , 124 storage device, 126 communication device, 128 internal sensor, 130 power line, 132 signal line, 135 wire, 136 data processing unit, 138 camera, 140 thermo sensor, 142 communication unit, 146 feature extraction unit, 148 data storage unit, 150 operation control unit, 152 contact determination unit, 154 sensitivity control unit, 156 recognition unit, 160 motion storage unit, 170 contact type storage unit, 200 server, 202 data processing unit, 204 communication unit, 206 data storage unit, 208 position management Part 2 10 map management unit, 212 recognition unit, 214 person recognition unit, 216 map storage unit, 218 personal data storage unit, 220 intimacy management unit, 222 motion control unit, 228 reception recognition unit, 230 facial expression recognition unit, 232 motion storage unit 234 emotion management unit, 244 state management unit, 300 robot system, 308 base frame, 310 body frame, 312 wheel cover, 314 skin, 316 head frame, 318 trunk frame, 320 yaw axis, 322 pitch axis, 324 roll Axle, 325 plate, 326 actuator, 327 vent hole, 328 base plate, 329 cross link mechanism, 330 joint, 332 upper plate, 334 lower plate, 336 side plate, 342 control circuit, 370 wheel Moving mechanism, 378 Rotating shaft, 379 Actuator, 380 Skin, 390 Opening, 400 Touch sensor, 402 Annular plate, 402a Annular plate, 402b Annular plate, 402c Annular plate, 404 electrode, 406 Detection chip, 408 Sensing part, 410 notch part, 412 sensing part, 414 wiring part, 416 second electrode, 418 mesh conductor, 420 first electrode, 424 notch, 426 protrusion

Claims (13)

A sensor installed on the body surface of the robot to detect contact with the robot;
An operation control unit that controls the operation of the robot in response to contact with the robot,
The robot has a curved body surface,
The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 1, wherein the sensor has an annular shape and is installed along a curved surface of the body surface of the robot. A contact determination unit that determines a contact type according to a contact mode to the sensor among a plurality of types of contact types defined in advance;
In the sensor, a plurality of electrodes are arranged in an annular portion,
The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 1, wherein the contact determination unit determines a contact type based on a potential change at the time of contact of each of a plurality of electrodes included in the sensor.   The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 2, wherein the motion control unit changes behavior characteristics of the robot according to the determined contact type.   The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the sensors are installed at a plurality of locations on the body surface of the robot.   The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of sensors have different sizes depending on an installation location.   6. The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 4, wherein the motion control unit changes behavior characteristics of the robot according to a contact mode with respect to each of the plurality of sensors.   The autonomous behavior robot according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sensor has a shape in which a part of a ring is missing.   The autonomous behavior robot according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the sensor is installed between an inner skeleton of the robot and an outer skin of an elastic body.   2. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are arranged to face each other in an annular portion, and the first electrode located inside the robot is set to a ground potential. The autonomous behavior type robot according to any one of 1 to 8.   The sensor includes an electrode and a detection chip for detecting a change in potential of the electrode, and the detection chip is installed on the body surface of the robot in a state of being arranged at the center of the annular portion of the sensor. The autonomous behavior type robot according to any one of claims 1 to 9.   The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 1, further comprising: a sensitivity control unit configured to suppress detection sensitivity of the sensor when a user is not detected in a peripheral region. A sensing unit in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged in the extending direction;
A detection chip for detecting potential changes of the plurality of electrodes,
The sensor, wherein the detection chip individually detects a potential change of each of the plurality of electrodes.   The sensor according to claim 12, further comprising a notch that engages with a protrusion provided on a robot to be installed.

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