JP4714925B2 - Voice input device for electric wheelchair - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair-mounted voice input device for a user who operates an electric wheelchair.

Technologies related to electric wheelchairs controlled by voice are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-310665, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-225910, and the like, and all of them are based on the use of a single microphone as a voice input device. This single microphone means one microphone, and has a usage form in which one microphone is used to pick up voice for input.
JP 2003-310665 A JP-A-6-225910

When operating an electric wheelchair by voice in an actual environment where various environmental noises exist, it is essential to realize a voice recognition technology that is robust against noise.
In a conventional electric wheelchair that can be controlled by voice input from a single microphone, it is necessary to use a close-talking microphone such as a headset in order to suppress the mixing of noise.
However, the headset microphone needs to be worn every time the electric wheelchair is used, and if the headset microphone is misaligned, it needs to be corrected by itself.
In this case, for example, there is a problem that it is not always practical for a disabled person who can speak to some extent but has difficulty in moving his / her hand freely. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to fix the microphone to the electric wheelchair.
However, in this case, the problem is that the vibration of the wheelchair is transmitted to the microphone and noise is mixed, the problem that the ambient noise is likely to be mixed when the distance between the speaker and the microphone is increased, and the recognition accuracy deteriorates, or the wheelchair caused by the ambient noise. There is a problem of malfunction.

On the other hand, when it is difficult to grasp information that informs danger by sounds such as car horns, such as hearing impaired people, there is a need for a means to visually indicate what sound is coming from which direction on behalf of the disabled person. ing.
In processing using a microphone array, it is essential that the relative positional relationship between the microphones be maintained under any circumstances. For example, when one of the two microphone arrays touches a projection from the wall while driving and the brackets on which the microphones are arranged are deformed, there is an emergency situation where a wheelchair and an obstacle collide. Nevertheless, there is a problem that wheelchair control by voice becomes impossible.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to arrange a microphone so that an operator's voice instruction can be detected more accurately even in a situation where there is noise or vibration, or a situation where a microphone stand contacts an obstacle. Another object of the present invention is to provide a voice input device that can accurately control a vehicle on which an operator rides.

A microphone array voice input device mounted on an electric wheelchair or the like has a length that allows the two brackets on which the microphones are mounted to reach beyond the operator's mouth from the back through both shoulders in parallel. A plurality of microphones are arranged on the top.
A microphone array voice input device mounted on an electric wheelchair, etc., puts a shock absorber under the two struts, and attaches a metal fitting that can move up and down to the center of the metal fitting that connects the two struts. It absorbs vertical vibrations by inserting them, and absorbs lateral vibrations by inserting springs on both sides of the metal fittings at the center of the metal fittings connecting the two struts.
As described above, the microphone stand is supported by the shock absorber installed under the two struts and the metal fitting attached to the center of the metal fitting connecting the two struts. And the center metal fitting can not only move up and down, but can also rotate around its axis. With this structure, the microphone stand can be twisted at an angle within a certain range around the center of the central metal fitting while maintaining the shape of the parallel microphone array.
The microphone array voice input device mounted on an electric wheelchair etc. has two struts in a telescoping structure, so the length of the horizontal brackets above the columns and the columns can be adjusted up and down, and the horizontal brackets above the columns Since it has a telescopic structure, the width between the brackets on which the microphones on both shoulders are mounted can be adjusted, and the position of the brackets on which the microphones are mounted can also be adjusted.

Specifically:
(1) The voice input device includes a pair of microphone attachment bodies, each of which is provided as a microphone array with a plurality of microphones separated from each other. It is attached to a vehicle to be ridden, and an instruction from an operator is recognized by voice from signals taken from both microphones by a control means provided in the vehicle, and the vehicle is controlled to travel according to the instruction.
(2) In the voice input device according to (1), the pair of microphone attachment bodies have such a length that the parallel microphones pass from behind to above the shoulders and reach beyond the operator's mouth. A feature is that a microphone can be arranged.
(3) In the voice input device according to (1) or (2), the pair of microphone attachment bodies are attached to both ends of an adjustment bar extending in a horizontal direction, the adjustment bar is attached to a pair of adjustment pillars, The adjustment column is attached to the vehicle via a buffer unit that can suppress vertical vibration, and the pair of adjustment columns is attached to the vehicle via a vibration control mechanism that suppresses horizontal vibration.
(4) In the voice input device according to any one of (1) to (3), the vibration control mechanism is provided in the vehicle, a horizontal slide bar that fixes an end portion to each of the pair of adjustment columns, and the vehicle. A movable member having a receiving member, a ring-shaped portion that loosely inserts the horizontal slide rod so as to vibrate up and down, and a rod-shaped portion that is inserted through the through hole of the receiving member;
Each spring provided between each adjustment column and the ring-shaped portion to suppress horizontal vibration, and a spring provided between the receiving portion and the ring-shaped portion to suppress vertical vibration. It is characterized by that.
(5) In the audio input device according to (3) or (4), the pair of microphone attachment bodies are attached to both ends of an adjustment bar extending in a horizontal direction so that the position of the adjustment bar can be adjusted, and the adjustment position of the adjustment bar is adjusted. It is characterized by being attached to a pair of adjustable pillars.

Even a handicapped person who can speak to a certain extent but cannot move his / her hand freely can use the microphone array voice input device fixed to the wheelchair of the present invention to freely operate the wheelchair. become able to.
A practical electric wheelchair that does not require procedures such as mounting a microphone and correcting the microphone position is realized. In addition, by using the microphone stand having the above-described structure, it is possible to suppress the mixing of noise due to wheelchair vibration. By combining the microphone array voice input device of the present invention with sound source separation processing and sound source direction estimation processing, noise and operator's voice can be separated and voice recognition accuracy can be improved even in a real environment where various noises exist. It is also possible to indicate from which direction the sound is coming for a hearing impaired person or the like by estimating the direction of arrival of the sound source.
By adopting a microphone stand that has a structure in which a pair of adjustment pillars are connected to an adjustment bar, it is possible to suppress noise mixing due to wheelchair vibration, and it is also possible to adjust the position of the microphone / microphone array Become.
By adopting the microphone stand having the above-described structure, the microphone stand can be twisted at an angle within a certain range around the center of the central metal fitting while maintaining the shape of the parallel microphone array. As a result, even if one of the two microphone arrays comes in contact with an obstacle, the parallelism of the parallel microphone array is maintained, and the brackets in which the microphones are arranged are deformed by twisting to avoid the obstacle. Therefore, the voice operation can be performed correctly even in such a crisis state. Further, even if the user changes his / her posture or his / her arm or shoulder contacts the microphone stand, the shape of the parallel microphone array can be maintained without causing any pain to the user.

By arranging the microphone arrays in parallel,
(1) The speaker's utterance position can be specified.
(2) The direction of the sound source on the outer periphery of the microphone array can be specified in all directions.
(3) When the user voice and the peripheral noise occur at the same time, the user voice can be separated.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the electric wheelchair of the present invention will be described. In addition, the electric wheelchair shown below is one Embodiment of this invention, and is not limited to the said embodiment.
1 is an external view of an electric wheelchair equipped with the voice input device of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the voice input device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the voice input device shown in FIG.
The electric wheelchair equipped with the voice input device of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is a hallway wheelchair equipped with the voice input device 1 and the like.
The electric wheelchair is, for example, as a wheelchair, two rear wheels 36a (not shown), 36b, two front wheels 35a, 35b, a seat 37 installed above the rear wheels 36a, 36b, a backrest 40, and both sides of the backrest 40 In addition to having armrests 33a and 33b installed on the front and footrests 41a and 41b installed in front of the front wheels 35a and 35b, the armrest 33a has a display 31 and the armrest 33b has a joystick 32 and an emergency stop button 34. Are provided. The voice input device 1 is attached to the backrest 40.

The voice input device 1 is configured as shown in FIGS.
The bottomed cylindrical guide tubes 3a and 3b are provided on the structural part 21 in the backrest 40 of the electric wheelchair via shock absorbers 2a and 2b serving as buffering means in the length direction thereof.
Inside the guide cylinders 3a and 3b, slide bodies 4a and 4b are guided so as to be inserted in a telescopic manner.
The guide cylinders 3a and 3b and the slide bodies 4a and 4b are screwed and fixed so as to be adjustable by adjusting screws 6a and 6b as shown in the figure.
One end side of the slide bodies 4a and 4b is formed on the donut-shaped ring portions 4e and 4f, and the other end side is formed on the rod-like portions 4c and 4d that can be loosely inserted into the guide cylinders 3a and 3b. The guide cylinder 3a, the slide body 4a, and the adjustment screw 6a constitute the adjustment column 5a, and the guide cylinder 3b, the slide body 4b, and the adjustment screw 6b constitute the adjustment column 5b.
A cylindrical guide bar 7 is inserted into the ring portions 4e and 4f.
In the cylindrical guide bar 7, slide bars 8a and 8b are inserted loosely.
The cylindrical guide bar 7 and the slide bars 8a and 8b are screwed and fixed so as to be adjustable by adjusting screws 10a and 10b as shown in the figure. The adjustment bar 9 is constituted by the cylindrical guide bar 7, the slide bars 8a and 8b, and the adjustment screws 10a and 10b. A pair of adjustment columns 5a and 5b is connected to an adjustment bar to constitute a microphone stand.

The ends of the slider bars 8a and 8b are loosely fitted in the shaft holes 13a and 13b of the mounting brackets 11a and 11b so as to be freely rotatable. The slider bars 8a and 8b are screwed and fixed by adjustment screws 12a and 12b so that the mounting angles of the slider bars 8a and 8b can be adjusted.
The mounting brackets 11a and 11b are provided with long holes 14a and 14b in a direction perpendicular to the length direction of the slide bars 8a and 8b. Arbitrary shapes, for example, rod-shaped microphone attachment bodies 16a and 16b having a required length (e.g., reaching the operator's mouth) are loosely inserted in the long holes 14a and 14b.
The microphone mounting bodies 16a and 16b provided with the microphone arrays 17a and 17b are referred to as parallel microphone array bodies 18a and 18b.
The pair of microphone attachment bodies have such a length that they reach from the back of the operator through the shoulders in parallel to the mouth of the operator, and the microphone can be placed thereon.
The mounting brackets 11a and 11b and the microphone mounting bodies 16a and 16b are fixed to each other at arbitrary positions according to the operator by adjusting screws 15a and 15b.
On one end side of the microphone attachment bodies 16a and 16b, microphone arrays 17a and 17b each provided with an arbitrary number of microphones are provided so as to be adjustable. The number of microphones and the arrangement interval are arbitrarily set. One microphone can be provided on each of the microphone attachment bodies 16a and 16b. However, it is preferable to provide microphone arrays 17a and 17b each composed of a plurality of microphones on the microphone attachment bodies 16a and 16b.

The damping mechanism 30 has a buffering function for suppressing horizontal and vertical vibrations, and is provided in the guide cylinders 3a and 3b of the adjusting columns 5a and 5b.
A receiving member 24 is provided on a structural part 22 in the backrest 40 of the electric wheelchair via a support member 23. The receiving member 24 is provided with a vertical through hole (indicated by a dotted line). A rod-like portion 25a on one end side of the moving member 25 is inserted and guided into the through hole. The ring-shaped part 25b on the other end side of the moving member 25 is provided with a through hole (shown by a dotted line). In the through hole, a horizontal slide rod 26 protruding from the guide cylinder 3a and the guide cylinder 3b is slidably guided.
An extension spring 27 is provided between the ring-shaped portion 25 b of the moving member 25 and the receiving member 24. An extension spring 28 is provided on the outer periphery of the horizontal slide rod 26 between the ring-shaped portion 25b of the moving member 25 and the guide tube 3a, and the horizontal slide rod 26 between the ring-shaped portion 25b of the movable member 25 and the guide column 3b is provided. An extension spring 29 is provided on the outer periphery.
The extension spring 27 suppresses the vibration of the voice input device 1 in the vertical direction (length direction of the guide tube) by the elasticity of the spring.
The extension springs 28 and 29 suppress the vibration of the voice input device 1 in the horizontal direction (length direction of the adjustment bar) by the elasticity of the spring.

The vibration damping mechanism 30 includes a support member 23 provided in a structural part of the electric wheelchair, a receiving member 24 provided in the support member 23, and a vertical through hole (shown by a dotted line) of the receiving member 24 on one end side. The rod-shaped portion 25a is inserted and guided, the moving member 25 is slidably guided by the horizontal slide rod 26 with the ring-shaped portion 25b at the other end, and the rod-shaped portion 25a between the ring-shaped portion 25b of the moving member 25 and the receiving member 24. An extension spring 27 provided on the outer periphery of the guide tube 3a, a horizontal slide bar 26 attached to the guide tube 3a and the guide tube 3b, and a horizontal slide bar 26 between the ring-shaped portion 25b of the moving member 25 and the guide tube 3a. An extension spring 28 provided on the outer periphery, and an extension spring 29 provided on the outer periphery of the horizontal slide rod 26 between the ring-shaped portion 25b of the moving member 25 and the guide column 3b.
Further preferably, shock absorbers 2a and 2b provided between the guide cylinders 3a and 3b of the adjusting columns 5a and 5b and the structural component 21 in the backrest 40 are added to the vibration damping mechanism 30 as a vibration damping structure.
Thereby, the harmful vibration at the time of driving | running | working with traveling vehicles, such as an electric wheelchair, can be suppressed effectively.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the electric wheelchair of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the function of the electric wheelchair is represented by a block, two parallel microphone arrays 18a and 18b constituting a part of the voice input device, a microphone amplifier 61, an ADC (analog / digital converter) 61, Display 31 as display means, CPU (Central Processing Unit) board 63 and storage device 64 as control means, drive control means 65 and drive motor 67 as drive means, joystick 32 and emergency stop button 34 as operation means, etc. The operation switch 66 is provided. The CPU 63 and the drive control means 65 are connected by a serial cable 69.
A microphone amplifier 61, an ADC (Analog / Digital Converter) 61, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) board 63 as a control means and a storage device 64, a drive control means 65 as a drive means and a drive motor 67 are a wheelchair seat 37. It is housed in the backrest 40.
The control means includes a microphone amplifier 61, an ADC (analog / digital converter) 61, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) board 63 serving as the control means, and a storage device 64.

(Parallel microphone array audio input device)
The voice input means includes a sound receiving means including a plurality of microphone arrays 17a and 17b arranged to be separated from each other in order to receive a user voice.
The configuration of the parallel microphone array audio input device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described below. As shown in FIG. 2, two microphone mounting bodies 16a and 16b for mounting a plurality of microphones in an array form are fixed at one end to mounting brackets 11a and 11b, and in parallel at an arbitrary interval, for example, a distance of 37 cm from behind. It has a length enough to reach beyond the user's mouth through both shoulders, and an arbitrary number, for example, four microphones (total of 8 microphones) on the left and right microphone attachment bodies 16a, 16b, for example, 3 cm Arranged at intervals.
For vibration during traveling, the shock absorber 2a, 2b is placed under the vibration control mechanism 30, for example, the two guide cylinders 3a, 3b, and the horizontal slide bar 26 connecting the two columns is moved up and down. The movable member 25 is attached with a ring-shaped portion 25b, and a spring for suppressing horizontal vibration is provided on the outer periphery of the horizontal slide rod 26 between the guide tubes 3a and 3b and the ring-shaped portion 25b. The rod-like portion 25a connected to the ring-like portion 25b is loosely inserted into the through-hole of the receiving member 24 connected to the mechanical component of the backrest 40 with a spring provided on the outer periphery for suppressing vertical vibration.

A mechanism that absorbs vertical vibration by providing the spring 27 as described above is used. Further, if necessary, springs 28 and 29 are also inserted on the left and right sides of the metal member that can move up and down, that is, the ring-shaped portion 25b of the moving member 25, so that the vibration in the lateral direction is absorbed.
The height and width of the microphone attachment bodies 16a and 16b and the position of the microphone can be adjusted for each user as described above.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the voice input device 1 collects voice and inputs it to the CPU, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, parallel microphone array bodies 18a and 18b, a microphone amplifier, and an ADC (analog / digital converter). ) 61.
The sound receiving means includes at least one microphone, and preferably a microphone array in which a large number of microphones are arranged in an array. The microphones are arranged at least apart from each other so that the vectors from the sound sources are different. More preferably, the microphones are preferably arranged on both sides of the user. By being arranged on both sides of the user in this way, the user's voice input becomes easy and clear.

(Speech position estimation means and control means)
The CPU (central processing unit) board 68 is a board on which a CPU is mounted, and includes an utterance position estimation unit and a control unit. The utterance position estimation unit and the control unit include a storage device 64 connected to the CPU board 68.
FIG. 5 is a functional explanatory diagram of the microphone array.
As shown in FIG. 5, the utterance position estimation means estimates the user's utterance position based on the multichannel audio data received by the sound reception means and outputs a utterance position estimation signal.
The control means controls the drive control means based on the utterance position estimation signal and the auxiliary operation signal.
The ADC 61 and the CPU board 63 are connected via a USB cable 68, and the power of the microphone amplifier and the ADC 61 is supplied from the CPU board 63. The sampling rate can be arbitrarily set, for example, 8 kHz, and the number of quantization bits can be arbitrarily set, for example, 16 bits. When increasing the processing accuracy, the sampling rate and the number of quantization bits are increased.

(Auxiliary input means)
The auxiliary operation means is represented by an operation switch 66, and outputs an auxiliary operation signal by means of a coordinate position designation means comprising a joystick (not shown) and an emergency stop button (not shown), for example.

(Image display means)
The image display means has a display 31 and visually indicates the utterance position estimation signal and the state of the wheelchair.

(Driving means)
The drive means includes a drive control device 65 and drives and controls a drive motor 67 that is a drive source of the wheelchair wheel.

(Speech position detection)
The utterance position estimation means performs utterance position detection processing using input signals from a voice input device having a plurality of sound reception means.
In order to control the wheelchair by voice, it is necessary to specify whether the sound input from the microphone is user voice or environmental noise. This can be determined by estimating the position of the sound source. If there is a sound source outside the wheelchair, the sound source is judged as environmental noise, and if there is a sound source inside the wheelchair, it is judged as user voice.
For example, when only one microphone array is used, the direction of arrival of sound waves can be estimated, but it is difficult to measure the distance from the microphone array to the sound source. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, by arranging two microphone arrays in parallel, it is possible in principle to estimate the direction of arrival of sound waves with each microphone array and to estimate the coordinates of the sound source as the intersection. Become.
For the above reasons, the present invention employs a parallel microphone array as shown in FIG.

  Various electric appliances can be heard by voice by installing them on electric wheelchairs, vehicles such as automobiles, cranes and excavators, such as heavy machinery that cannot be used by hands because of complicated operations with high noise, sofas and chairs in the home, etc. It can be used in situations where operation by sound or voice is required in an environment where there are various other noises, such as operation, and vibration is further involved.

1 is an overview of a microphone array voice input device of the present invention mounted on a wheelchair. It is a rear view of the microphone array audio | voice input apparatus of this invention. It is a side view of the microphone array audio | voice input apparatus of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the electric wheelchair of the present invention. It is function explanatory drawing of the microphone array of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Voice input device 2 Syock absorber 3a, 3b Guide cylinder 4a, 4b Slide body 5a, 5b Adjustment pillar 6a, 6b Adjustment screw 7a, 7b Cylindrical guide bar 8a, 8b Slide bar 9 Adjustment bar 10a, 10b Adjustment screw 11a, 11b Mounting brackets 12a, 12b Adjustment screws 13a, 13b Shaft holes 14a, 14b Long holes 15a, 15b Adjustment screws 16a, 16b Microphone mounting bodies 17a, 17b Microphone arrays 18a, 18b Parallel microphone array bodies 23 Support members 24 Receiving members 25 Moving members 26 Horizontal slide rod 27, 28, 29 Extension spring 30 Damping mechanism

Claims (5)

  A pair of microphone attachment bodies each provided with a plurality of microphones spaced apart as a microphone array are attached in parallel to a vehicle on which the operator rides so that the microphones are positioned on both sides of the operator's mouth. A voice input device characterized in that an operator's instruction is specified by estimating a sound source position or performing voice recognition with respect to signals taken from both microphones by a provided control means, and driving the vehicle according to the instruction. .   The pair of microphone attachment bodies has a length that extends in parallel from behind to above the shoulders of the operator through both shoulders, so that the microphone can be placed thereon. The voice input device according to 1.   The pair of microphone attachment bodies are attached to both ends of an adjustment bar extending in the horizontal direction, the adjustment bar is attached to a pair of adjustment pillars, and the pair of adjustment pillars are attached to the vehicle via a buffer means that can suppress vertical vibration. 3. The voice input device according to claim 1, wherein the pair of adjusting columns are attached to the vehicle via a vibration control mechanism that suppresses horizontal vibration. The vibration damping mechanism is
A horizontal slide bar for fixing an end to each of the pair of adjusting columns, a receiving member provided in the vehicle, a ring-like part for loosely inserting the horizontal slide bar so as to vibrate up and down, and a through hole of the receiving member. A movable member having a rod-shaped portion, a spring provided between each adjusting column and the ring-shaped portion for suppressing horizontal vibration, and a portion disposed between the receiving portion and the ring-shaped portion. The voice input device according to claim 1, further comprising a spring that suppresses vibration in a vertical direction. 5. The pair of microphone attachment bodies are attached to both ends of an adjustment bar extending in a horizontal direction so that the position can be adjusted, and the adjustment bar is attached to a pair of adjustment columns capable of adjusting an expansion / contraction position. The voice input device according to item.

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