JP4401558B2 - Humanoid robot - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a humanoid robot head, and more particularly to a humanoid robot head incorporating a visual means.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional humanoid robot, a visual device formed by placing an ITV camera on a support base that moves in the pan direction (around the vertical axis) and the tilt direction (around the horizontal axis) is fixed on the torso. It is known that the entire visual device is covered with a cover formed of a transparent acrylic resin or the like having a viewing angle range.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the above-described conventional configuration, the portion of the viewing angle range in the cover is generally a curved surface, but it is difficult to uniformly mold the curved surface using acrylic resin. When it is fixed to the body and taken by a camera provided in the cover, it is inevitable that the refractive index of the transmitted light changes with the movement of the line of sight and the image is distorted.
[0004]
The present invention has been devised to solve such problems of the prior art, and the main purpose of the present invention is to improve a person who can prevent image distortion caused by eye movement. The purpose is to provide the head of a type robot.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve such an object, the head of the humanoid robot according to the present invention includes a first support base (8) coupled to the neck (6) so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis, and a horizontal axis. A second support base (17) coupled to the first support base in a rotatable manner around, a visual means (camera 18 in the embodiment) attached to the second support base, Drive means for driving the first support base and the second support base, and the first support base, the second support base, the drive means, and the vision are integrally coupled to the second support base. A head of a humanoid robot having a full face helmet-shaped cover (2) covering the whole of the means, and the driving means drives the first support base around a vertical axis with respect to the neck. The first rotary actuator (11) and the second support base are supported by the first rotary actuator (11). Is constituted by a second rotary actuator for driving about a horizontal axis (14) relative to both of the first rotary actuator the second rotary actuator is disposed on the full face helmet shape in the cover, the cover The part located in front of the visual means is configured as a shield part (24) made of transparent resin.
[0006]
In this way, since the visual means and the head are integrated, the movement of the line of sight always coincides with the movement of the head. Therefore, even when the head portion , particularly the shield portion , is formed of a transparent acrylic resin, there is no fear of causing image distortion due to non-uniform thickness of the transparent acrylic resin.
[0007]
Also, the head of the robot according to the present invention, preferably, in addition to the above SL, the cover and integrally combined visor (4) is provided inside the shield portion, the visual inside the visor Means are arranged, and the visor is provided with a hole (5) having substantially the same diameter as the light receiving hole (lens portion 23 in the embodiment) of the visual means. As a result, only the light receiving unit can be exposed to the outside, so that stray light can be prevented from entering the imaging unit of the camera.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 shows the upper body of a humanoid robot to which the present invention is applied. In this robot 1, a head 2 having a full face helmet-like shape is placed on a body 3. And only the lens part of the camera is looking through the hole 5 provided in the visor 4 covering the front surface of the head 2.
[0010]
The head 2 of the robot 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
[0011]
A neck 6 that supports the head 2 is fixed to the body 3. The neck portion 6 has its axis extending in the vertical direction, and a first support base 8 is rotatable around a vertical axis at a top end thereof via a bearing 7 that supports radial, thrust, and moment loads. It is supported by. Further, a large-diameter cogged pulley 9 is fixed to be non-rotatable thereon.
[0012]
The 1st support stand 8 consists of a pair of vertical part 8V and the horizontal part 8H which connects these lower ends, The said bearing 7 is provided in the horizontal part 8H. A first rotary actuator 11 such as an electric motor with a speed reducer is fixed on a bracket 10 integrally coupled to the rear part. The upper ends of the pair of vertical portions 8V in the first support base 8 are also connected by a plate 8P, and a rotary actuator control circuit (not shown) or the like is placed on the upper surface thereof.
[0013]
A small diameter cogged pulley 12 is fixed to the output shaft of the first rotary actuator 11. An endless cogged belt 13 is wound around the small diameter cogged pulley 12 and the large diameter cogged pulley 9. As a result, when the first rotary actuator 11 is driven, the small-diameter cogged pulley 12 revolves around the large-diameter cogged pulley 9, whereby the first support base 8 rotates around the neck 6. This rotation angle is controlled by the output of a rotary encoder that rotates integrally with the output shaft of the first rotary actuator 11, for example.
[0014]
A state in which the second rotary actuator 14 having substantially the same structure as the first rotary actuator 11 has its axis extending in the horizontal direction on the inner surface of the left vertical portion 8V from the front surface of the first support base 8. It is fixed with. A pair of support shafts 15 that are parallel to the axis of the second rotary actuator 14 are pivotally mounted on the same axis line with radial bearings 16 on both vertical portions 8V. A second support 17 is fixed between the inner ends of the pair of support shafts 15. A pair of left and right cameras 18 are attached to the front surface of the second support base 17.
[0015]
Like the first rotary actuator 11, the left support shaft 15 and the output shaft of the second rotary actuator 14 are connected to each other by cogged pulleys 19 and 20 having different diameters and an endless cogged belt 21. When the second rotary actuator 14 is driven, the second support base 17 is rotated about the support shaft 15 extending in the horizontal direction.
[0016]
Stays 22 for supporting the head 2 are fixed to the outer ends of the pair of support shafts 15, respectively. The head 2 is fixed to the stay 22. That is, the second support base 17 and the head 2 are integrally rotated about the support shaft 15.
[0017]
As described above, the front side of the head 2 is covered with the visor 4 provided with the hole 5 through which only the lens portion 23 of the camera 18 is viewed, and the shield 24 is formed on the front surface thereof with a curved surface, for example, with transparent acrylic resin. Is provided.
[0018]
Now, in the head 2 of the robot 1 configured as described above, when the first rotary actuator 11 is driven, the first support base 8 rotates about the vertical axis. As a result, the camera 18 moves its line of sight in the pan direction. When the second rotary actuator 14 is driven, the second support base 17 rotates about the horizontal axis, and the line of sight of the camera 18 moves in the tilt direction. By appropriately interlocking the rotational movements of the first and second support bases 8 and 17, the line of sight of the camera 18 can be freely moved in both the pan and tilt directions. Here, since the head 2 is substantially integrated with the second support base 17, the portion of the shield 24 made of a transparent acrylic resin integrally coupled to the head 2 is also directed in the same direction as the line of sight. Exercise.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the camera as the visual means and the head shield are integrally operated, and therefore, the portion through which the line of sight passes on the acrylic resin shield does not change. Thus, image distortion due to non-uniform thickness of the acrylic resin portion can be avoided, and a great effect can be obtained in improving the line-of-sight accuracy.
[0020]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, only the light receiving hole (lens) can be exposed to the outside, so that it is possible to prevent stray light from entering the imaging unit, and to improve the accuracy of the image data. A big effect is acquired.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upper body of a humanoid robot to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a front view showing a part of the head cut away according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing a part of the head cut according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Robot 2 Head 4 Visor 5 Hole 8 1st support stand 11 1st rotary actuator 14 2nd rotary actuator 17 2nd support stand 18 Camera 22 Stay 23 Lens part

Claims (2)

A first support base coupled pivotably about a vertical axis to the neck;
A second support base coupled to the first support base for rotation about a horizontal axis;
Visual means attached to the second support;
Driving means for driving the first support base and the second support base;
A humanoid robot head integrally coupled to the second support base and having a full-face helmet-shaped cover covering the first and second support bases, the drive means, and the visual means. And
The drive means drives the first support base about a vertical axis with respect to the neck, and drives the second support base about a horizontal axis with respect to the first support base. The first rotary actuator and both of the first rotary actuator and the second rotary actuator are disposed in the full-face helmet-shaped cover,
The cover is a head of a humanoid robot in which a portion located in front of the visual means is configured as a shield portion made of transparent resin. A visor integrally coupled with the cover is provided inside the shield part, the visual means is disposed inside the visor, and the visor is provided with a hole having substantially the same diameter as the light receiving hole of the visual means. The head of the humanoid robot according to claim 1.

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