JP6436549B2 - Autonomous robot - Google Patents

Description

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

  Development of autonomous behavior robots that provide dialogue and healing with humans such as humanoid robots and pet robots is underway (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such robots operate according to a control program, but some robots evolve their behavior by learning autonomously based on the surrounding situation, and become closer to life forms.

JP 2000-323219 A

  In recent years, such robot technology is rapidly progressing, but has not yet realized a presence as a companion like a pet. This is because no matter how high the performance of the robot is, it is not possible to feel the warmth of living creatures just by control based on the premise that it is a machine.

  The present invention has been completed on the basis of the above-mentioned problem recognition, and its main object is to provide a structure and control technology that gives a robot a sense of life.

An autonomous behavior robot according to an aspect of the present invention includes a body that forms an appearance, an expansion / contraction body provided on the body, and an intake / exhaust mechanism that performs intake / exhaust inside the body according to the expansion / contraction of the expansion / contraction body. Prepare.
An autonomous behavior type robot according to another aspect of the present invention includes a body that forms an appearance, an expansion / contraction body provided on the body, and an expansion / contraction mechanism that expands / contracts the expansion / contraction body at a predetermined cycle.
An autonomous behavior robot according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a body having an intake port for taking in outside air, an exhaust port for discharging inside air, a fan arranged in the body, and the presence or absence of a surrounding person And a fan control unit that drives the fan under a predetermined condition when it is determined that there is no person in the vicinity.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the structure and control technique which give a robot a life feeling can be provided.

It is a figure showing the external appearance of the robot which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which represents the structure of a robot roughly. It is a side view showing the structure of a robot centering on a frame. It is a schematic diagram showing the drive mechanism for expanding and contracting the trunk | drum of a robot. It is a figure which shows a wheel accommodation operation | movement typically. It is a figure which shows an expansion / contraction operation | movement typically. 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 a schematic diagram for demonstrating the function in which a robot calculates | requires coolness. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the time change of a temperature map. It is a flowchart which illustrates the respiration control of a robot. It is a figure showing the structure and operation | movement of the robot which concern on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure showing the structure and operation | movement of a robot which concern on 3rd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the positional relationship between the structures may be expressed based on the illustrated state. In the following embodiments and modifications thereof, substantially the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof may be omitted as appropriate.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the robot 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1A is a front view, and FIG. 1B is a side view.
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.

  The robot 100 is premised on indoor behavior. For example, the behavior range is the house of the owner's home. 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, and 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 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) described later. 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 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 a pair of hands 106. The hand 106 does not have a function of gripping an object, and is slightly displaced up and down and left and right in accordance with expansion / contraction deformation of the body portion described later. In the modified example, the two hands 106 may be individually controlled, and simple operations such as raising, shaking, and vibrating may be possible.

  Eye 110 has a built-in camera. The eye 110 can also display an image using a liquid crystal element or an organic EL element. The robot 100 is equipped with various sensors such as a sound collecting microphone and an ultrasonic sensor in addition to a camera built in the eye 110. 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.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the robot 100. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the structure of the robot 100 with the frame as the center. 2 corresponds to a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a drive mechanism for expanding and contracting the body of the robot 100. 4A is a plan view of the drive mechanism, and FIG. 4B shows the operation of the drive mechanism.

  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 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. Sufficient intervals are provided between the plurality of side plates 336 to allow ventilation. A battery 118, a control device 342, various actuators, and the like are accommodated inside the base frame 308.

  A stepped hole 360 is provided at the center of the lower plate 334, and an exhaust valve 362 is provided. That is, the upper small diameter portion in the stepped hole 360 forms the exhaust port 364, and the valve body 366 made of a rubber sheet is disposed in the lower large diameter portion. A valve seat 368 is formed on the boundary surface between the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion. One side of the valve body 366 in the radial direction is bonded to the large diameter portion to be a fixed end, and the opposite side in the radial direction is a free end. The exhaust valve 362 is opened and closed when the valve body 366 is attached to and detached from the valve seat 368. The exhaust valve 362 is a check valve that opens only when the air in the main body frame 310 is discharged to the outside.

  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 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 vent holes 327 for ensuring ventilation between the upper and lower sides. A stepped hole 350 is provided at the center of the upper end portion of the head frame 316, and an intake valve 352 is provided. That is, the upper small diameter portion of the stepped hole 350 forms the intake port 354, and the valve body 356 made of a rubber sheet is disposed in the lower large diameter portion. A valve seat 358 is formed on the boundary surface between the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion. One side of the valve body 356 in the radial direction is bonded to the large diameter portion to become a fixed end, and the opposite side in the radial direction is a free end. The intake valve 352 is opened and closed when the valve body 356 is attached to and detached from the valve seat 358. The intake valve 352 is a check valve that opens only when outside air is introduced into the main body frame 310.

  A metal base plate 328 is provided so as 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, the wheel drive mechanism 370, and the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372. As shown in FIG. 3, the wheel drive mechanism 370 includes a front wheel drive mechanism 374 and a rear wheel drive mechanism 376. The body frame 318 has a smooth curved surface at the upper half 380 so that the outline of the body 104 is rounded. The upper half 380 is formed so as to gradually become smaller toward the upper part corresponding to the neck. The lower half 382 of the body frame 318 has a small width so as to form a storage space S for the front wheel 102 between the lower half 382 and the wheel cover 312. The boundary between the upper half 380 and the lower half 382 has a step shape.

  The left and right side walls constituting the lower half 382 are parallel to each other, and pass through and support a rotating shaft 378 described later of the front wheel drive mechanism 374. The upper half 380 is formed with a slit-shaped opening 384 that is open from the side toward the front. The opening 384 allows a pressing member 386 (described later) of the expansion / contraction driving mechanism 372 to pass therethrough. A lower plate 334 is provided to close the lower end opening of the lower half 382. In other words, the base frame 308 is fixed to and supported by the lower end portion of the body frame 318.

  The pair of wheel covers 312 is provided so as to cover the lower half 382 of the body frame 318 from the left and right. The wheel cover 312 is made of resin and assembled so as to form a smooth outer surface (curved surface) continuous with the upper half 380 of the body frame 318. The upper end of the wheel cover 312 is connected along the lower end of the upper half 380. Accordingly, a storage space S that is opened downward is formed between the side wall of the lower half 382 and the wheel cover 312.

  The outer skin 314 is made of urethane rubber and is mounted so as to cover the main body frame 310 and the wheel cover 312 from the outside. In the present embodiment, urethane rubber is employed, but in a modification, an elastic body such as urethane such as foaming urethane or other rubber may be used. The outer skin 314 functions as an “expanded body”. The hand 106 is integrally formed with the outer skin 314.

  An opening 390 is provided at a position corresponding to the air inlet 354 at the upper end of the outer skin 314. Thereby, the introduction of outside air via the intake valve 352 is enabled. The outer skin 314 is generally in close contact with the outer surfaces of the main body frame 310 and the wheel cover 312, but a sealing member is provided to ensure airtightness in the main body frame 310. In other words, an O-ring 392 is fitted to the upper end portion of the body frame 318 to ensure a sealing property with the outer skin 314. In addition, an O-ring 394 is fitted at the boundary between the body frame 318 and the wheel cover 312 to ensure a sealing property with the outer skin 314.

  With such a configuration, a communication passage 355 that connects the intake port 354 and the exhaust port 364 is formed inside the main body frame 310. When both the intake port 354 and the exhaust port 364 are closed, the communication path 355 is a sealed space. Heat generating components such as the battery 118, the control device 342, and the actuator are disposed in the communication path 355. Moreover, it is preferable that these heat generating components are arranged so as not to obstruct the flow of air flowing through the communication path 355 as much as possible. In order to improve the ventilation of the communication path 355, the base plate 328 has a plurality of ventilation holes 331 formed therein. A plurality of air holes 333 are also formed in the upper plate 332.

  The front wheel drive mechanism 374 includes a rotation shaft 378 and an actuator 379. The front wheel 102 has a direct drive motor (hereinafter referred to as “DD motor”) 396 at the center thereof. DD motor 396 has an outer rotor structure, a stator is fixed to axle 398, and a rotor is coaxially fixed to wheel 397 of front wheel 102. The axle 398 is integrated with the rotating shaft 378 via the arm 400. A bearing 402 is embedded in a lower side wall of the body frame 318 so as to be pivotably supported while penetrating the rotation shaft 378. The bearing 402 is provided with a seal structure (bearing seal) for hermetically sealing the inside and outside of the body frame 318. By driving the actuator 379, the front wheel 102 can be driven forward and backward from the storage space S to the outside.

  Rear wheel drive mechanism 376 includes a rotation shaft 404 and an actuator 406. Two arms 408 extend from the rotation shaft 404, and an axle 410 is integrally provided at the tip thereof. The rear wheel 103 is rotatably supported on the axle 410. A bearing (not shown) is embedded in the lower side wall of the trunk frame 318 so as to be pivotably supported while penetrating the pivot shaft 404. The bearing is also provided with a shaft seal structure. By driving the actuator 406, the rear wheel 103 can be driven back and forth from the storage space S to the outside.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 includes a pair of left and right pressing members 386 and an actuator 416 that drives each pressing member 386. A rotation shaft 412 is provided at the base end portion of the pressing member 386, and the actuator 416 includes a motor for driving the rotation shaft 412 to rotate. A gear mechanism (deceleration mechanism) 424 is provided between the rotation shaft of the motor and the rotation shaft 412.

  The pressing member 386 is obtained by bending a long metal plate by press molding, and is formed in a rib shape. The pressing member 386 has a curvature such that the front half 420 is generally along the inner surface of the outer skin 314. The rotation shaft 412 is pivotally supported at a predetermined position of the base frame 308.

  With such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 4B, the distance between the pair of pressing members 386 can be changed. That is, the interval can be increased by rotating the pressing member 386 in one direction by the actuator 416 (upper stage in the figure), and the interval can be reduced by rotating in the opposite direction (lower stage in the figure). By such driving, the width of the pressing body constituted by the pair of pressing members 386 can be changed by Δw to the left and right.

Next, wheel storage operation and expansion / contraction operation of the robot 100 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the wheel storing operation. FIG. 5A is a side view, and FIG. 5B is a front view. The dotted line in the figure indicates a state in which the wheel can advance from the storage space S and can travel, and the solid line in the figure indicates a state in which the wheel is stored in the storage space S.

  When the wheels are stored, the actuators 379 and 406 are driven in one direction. At this time, the arm 400 rotates about the rotation shaft 378 and the front wheel 102 rises from the floor surface F. Further, the arm 408 rotates about the rotation shaft 404, and the rear wheel 103 rises from the floor surface F (see the one-dot chain line arrow). As a result, the body 104 descends and the seating surface 108 contacts the floor surface F (see solid arrow). Thereby, the state where the robot 100 is sitting is realized. By driving the actuators 379 and 406 in the opposite directions, each wheel can be advanced from the storage space S and the robot 100 can be raised.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing the expansion / contraction operation. 6A shows an expanded state, and FIG. 6B shows a contracted state.
When the actuator 416 is driven in one direction, as shown in FIG. 6A, the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 increases the distance between the pair of pressing members 386 (see solid arrows). As a result, the outer skin 314 is pushed and expanded to expand the internal pressure of the main body frame 310 to a negative pressure. As a result, the intake valve 352 is opened, and the outside air is introduced into the body 104 (see a two-dot chain line arrow). At this time, the exhaust valve 362 is kept closed. In appearance, the body of the robot 100 swells and the hand 106 is slightly pushed up.

  When the actuator 416 is driven in the opposite direction, the expansion / contraction driving mechanism 372 reduces the distance between the pair of pressing members 386 as shown in FIG. 6B (see solid arrows). At this time, the outer skin 314 contracts to return to its original shape due to its elastic force. Thereby, the internal pressure of the main body frame 310 increases, and the exhaust valve 362 is opened. As a result, the inside air of the body 104 is discharged to the outside (see a two-dot chain line arrow). At this time, the intake valve 352 is kept closed. In appearance, the torso of the robot 100 is shrunk to the original state, and the hand 106 is lowered. By repeating the above operations, it is possible to realize a state where the robot 100 is breathing like a living thing in appearance. The intake valve 352, the exhaust valve 362, and the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 function as an “intake / exhaust mechanism”.

FIG. 7 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 the home. The server 200 and the robot 100 in this embodiment correspond one-to-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. 8 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 indicates 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, the coordinate P <b> 1 is a point (hereinafter referred to as “favorite point”) where the emotion is high in the indoor space managed by the server 200 as the action range of the robot 100. The favor point may be a “safe place” such as the shade of a sofa or under a table, a place where people can easily gather, such as a living room, or a lively place. Further, it may be a place that has been gently stroked or touched in the past. 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”). Disgusting points include places that make loud noises such as near TVs, places that get wet easily like baths and toilets, closed spaces and dark places, and places that lead to unpleasant memories that have been treated wildly by users. There may be. 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. .

  Alternatively, the external sensor 114 with the beacon ID = 1 transmits a robot search signal in a plurality of directions, and the robot 100 returns a robot response signal when receiving the robot search signal. Thereby, the server 200 may grasp how far the robot 100 is from which external sensor 114 in which direction. In another embodiment, the current position may be specified by calculating the movement distance of the robot 100 from the number of rotations of the wheels (front wheel 102), or the current position may be specified based on an image obtained from a camera. May be. When the emotion map 116 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.

  Note that a 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 may have parameters indicating various emotions and sense sizes. For example, when the value of the emotion parameter of loneliness is increasing, the value of the emotion parameter may be decreased by setting a large weighting coefficient of an action map for evaluating a place of peace and 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. 9 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. 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 secondary battery such as a lithium ion secondary battery, and is a power source of the robot 100.

  The internal sensor 128 is a collection of various sensors built in the robot 100. Specifically, a camera, a sound collecting microphone, an infrared sensor, a thermo sensor, a touch sensor, an acceleration sensor, an odor sensor, and the like. 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 odor sensor classifies various odors into a plurality of categories (hereinafter referred to as “odor category”).

  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 includes the wheel drive mechanism 370 and the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 described above. The drive mechanism 120 mainly controls the wheel (front wheel 102), the head (head frame 316), and the trunk (the pressing member 386 for expanding and contracting the expansion / contraction body). The drive mechanism 120 changes the movement direction and movement speed of the robot 100 by changing the rotation speed and rotation direction 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 at the seating surface 108 and enters the seating state.

FIG. 10 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 an operation pattern storage unit 232, a map storage unit 216, a personal data storage unit 218, and a history data storage unit 238. The motion pattern storage unit 232 associates IDs of motion patterns (hereinafter referred to as “motion IDs”) representing various gestures (gestures) of the robot 100 with the selection conditions. The map storage unit 216 stores a plurality of behavior maps. The personal data storage unit 218 stores information on users, particularly owners. Specifically, various parameters such as intimacy with the user and physical characteristics / behavioral characteristics of the user are stored. Other attribute information such as age and gender may be stored.

  The history data storage unit 238 stores history information of actions (actions) such as movement of the robot 100 and gestures. This history information includes information transmitted from the robot 100 in addition to information detected and managed on the server 200 side. This history information is updated or deleted periodically.

  The robot 100 identifies the user based on the user's physical characteristics and behavioral characteristics. The robot 100 always captures the periphery with a built-in camera. Then, the physical characteristics and behavioral characteristics of the person appearing in the image are extracted. The physical characteristics may be visual characteristics associated with the body such as height, preferred clothes, presence of glasses, skin color, hair color, ear size, average body temperature, Other features such as smell, voice quality, etc. may also be included. Specifically, behavioral features are features associated with behavior such as a location that the user likes, activeness of movement, and the presence or absence of smoking. For example, an owner identified as a father often does not stay at home, and often does not move on the sofa when at home, but a behavioral characteristic such as the mother is often in the kitchen and has a wide action range is extracted. The robot 100 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.

  The method for identifying the user by the user ID is simple and reliable, but it is assumed that the user has a device capable of providing the user ID. On the other hand, a method for identifying a user based on physical characteristics or behavioral characteristics has an advantage that even a user who does not have a portable device can identify even though the image recognition processing burden is large. Only one of the two methods may be employed, or the user may be specified by using the two methods in a complementary manner. In this embodiment, users are clustered based on physical characteristics and behavioral characteristics, and the users are identified by deep learning (multilayer neural network).

  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 determination unit 222, and a closeness management unit 220. 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 map management unit 210 changes the parameters of each coordinate by the method described with reference to FIG. The temperature map management unit 226, which is a part of the function of the map management unit 210, manages a temperature map that is a kind of behavior map.

  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 toward 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 212 further includes a person recognition unit 214 and a reception recognition unit 228. The person recognizing unit 214 recognizes a person from an image captured by the built-in camera of the robot 100, and extracts a physical characteristic and a behavioral characteristic of the person. Then, based on the body feature information and behavior feature information registered in the personal data storage unit 218, the imaged user, that is, the user the robot 100 is viewing corresponds to any person such as a father, mother, eldest son, etc. Judge whether to do. 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. The person recognizing unit 214 also performs feature extraction for a cat or dog other than a person, for example, a pet.

  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 determination unit 222 of the server 200 determines the operation (movement and gesture) of the robot 100 in cooperation with the operation determination unit 150 of the robot 100. The operation determination unit 222 includes a movement determination unit 234 and a behavior determination unit 236. The movement determination unit 234 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 movement determination unit 234 may create a plurality of movement routes and select one of the movement routes. The behavior determination unit 236 selects a gesture of the robot 100 from a plurality of operation patterns in the operation pattern storage unit 232.

  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. Details of the intimacy management will be described later.

(Robot 100)
The robot 100 includes a communication unit 142, a data processing unit 136, a data storage unit 148, a drive mechanism 120, and an internal sensor 128. The communication unit 142 corresponds to the communication device 126 (see FIG. 9) and is responsible for communication processing with the external sensor 114 and the server 200. The data storage unit 148 stores various data. The data storage unit 148 corresponds to the storage device 124 (see FIG. 9). 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 internal sensor 128 includes a temperature detection unit 152. The temperature detector 152 measures the user's body temperature and ambient temperature. The temperature detection unit 152 includes a non-contact temperature sensor such as a radiation thermometer or a thermography, and a contact temperature sensor such as a thermistor, a resistance temperature detector, a thermocouple, or an IC temperature sensor.

  Data storage unit 148 includes an operation pattern storage unit 160 and a history data storage unit 164. The operation pattern storage unit 160 defines various operations of the robot 100. In the operation pattern storage unit 160, an operation ID and an operation selection condition are associated with each other. For example, the selection probability of the action pattern A when an unpleasant action is detected is recorded in association with the action ID. The behavior determination unit 140 selects an operation pattern based on such a selection condition.

  In the operation pattern storage unit 160, an operation ID and a control method of various actuators for realizing the operation are defined. Specifically, the robot 100 is rotated by moving the robot 100 by accommodating the wheel, sitting, lifting the hand 106, or rotating the two front wheels 102 or rotating only one of the front wheels 102. In order to express various gestures, such as trembling by rotating the front wheel 102 in the stowed state, or stopping and looking back when leaving the user, the operation timing, operation time, and operation of each actuator (drive mechanism 120) The direction and the like are defined in time series for each operation pattern.

  The history data storage unit 164 sequentially stores history information of actions (operations) such as movement of the robot 100 and gestures. This history information is transmitted to the server 200, for example, at the timing of termination processing when the power is turned off. The history data storage unit 164 is a volatile memory and may be erased when the power is turned off.

  The data processing unit 136 includes a recognition unit 156 and an operation determination unit 150. The operation determination unit 150 determines the operation of the robot 100 in cooperation with the operation determination unit 222 of the server 200. The operation determination unit 150 includes a movement determination unit 138 and a behavior determination unit 140. The operation determination unit 150 also functions as a “control unit” that controls the drive mechanism 120.

  The drive mechanism 120 includes a movement drive unit 144 and an action drive unit 146. The movement determining unit 138 determines the moving direction of the robot 100 together with the movement determining unit 234 of the server 200. The movement based on the behavior map may be determined by the server 200, and the movement determining unit 138 may determine an immediate movement such as avoiding an obstacle. The movement drive unit 144 drives the wheels in accordance with instructions from the movement determination unit 138, thereby causing the robot 100 to move toward the movement target point. The action map determines the outline of the moving direction of the robot 100, but the robot 100 can also take actions corresponding to the intimacy.

  The action ID selected by the action determining unit 236 of the server 200 is transmitted to the robot 100, and the action determining unit 140 instructs the action driving unit 146 to execute an action pattern corresponding to the action ID.

  Note that some complicated motion patterns may be determined by the server 200, and other motion patterns may be determined by the robot 100. Alternatively, the basic operation pattern may be determined in the server 200 and the additional operation pattern may be determined in the robot 100. How the operation pattern determination process is shared between the server 200 and the robot 100 may be designed according to the specifications of the robot system 300.

  The behavior determination unit 140 can execute a gesture that raises both hands 106 as a gesture to be hugged when a close user is nearby, and accommodates the front wheel 102 when getting tired of “cuddle”. You can also express gestures that hesitate to hold by holding it in reverse.

  The action driving unit 146 causes the robot 100 to express various gestures by driving each mechanism in accordance with an instruction from the action determining unit 140. For example, when an intimate operation instruction is received from the behavior determination unit 140 when a highly intimate user is nearby, the behavior driving unit 146 drives the wheel driving mechanism 370 to store the wheel, and the robot 100 is placed on the floor surface. Sit down. Moreover, the hand 106 is lifted by driving the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372, and a gesture for holding the hand 106 is performed.

  The recognition unit 156 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 recognizing unit 156 periodically images the outside world with the built-in camera (internal sensor 128), and detects a user who is a moving object such as a person or a pet. These features are transmitted to the server 200, and the person recognition unit 214 of the server 200 extracts the physical features of the moving object. It also detects the user's smell and the user's voice. Smell and sound (voice) are classified into a plurality of types by a known method. Further, the temperature detection unit 152 can also detect the temperature when touched. The recognition unit 156 also functions as a “temperature determination unit” that determines the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 152.

  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 by a decrease in the load applied to the wheel. The recognizing unit 156 functions as a “lifting determination unit” that determines that the user has held it.

  As described above, the response recognition unit 228 of the server 200 recognizes various user responses to the robot 100. Some typical response actions among these 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.

  A series of recognition processes including detection / analysis / determination 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. Processing may be executed. 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 the favor in the living room more and more likes the living room is realized.

  The person recognition unit 214 of the server 200 detects a moving object from various data obtained from the external sensor 114 or the internal sensor 128, and extracts its features (physical features and behavioral features). Based on these features, cluster analysis is performed on a plurality of moving objects. As moving objects, not only humans but also pets such as dogs and cats may be analyzed.

  The robot 100 periodically takes images, and the person recognition unit 214 recognizes the moving object from these images and extracts the feature 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.

  The intimacy with respect to the user varies depending on what action is performed from the moving object (user). The closeness management unit 220 increases or decreases the closeness for each clustered user. The intimacy changes mainly by (1) detection (visual recognition), (2) physical contact, and (3) voice call.

(1) Detection When an infant is detected in the captured image of the robot 100, the infant is “visually recognized” by the robot 100. More specifically, it is determined that the feature of the detected moving object matches the cluster (profile) of the infant by deep learning based on the feature information obtained from the photographed image and other feature information obtained from the odor sensor or the like at the time of photographing. When it becomes visual recognition determination. When the visual recognition determination is made, the closeness management unit 220 increases the closeness of the infant. The user with higher detection frequency tends to have a higher familiarity. This control method emulates the biological behavior that it is easy to get a sense of familiarity with people who often meet.

  In addition to simple detection, closeness may be increased when “eyes meet”. The recognizing unit 156 of the robot 100 recognizes the face image of the directly facing user, recognizes the gaze direction from the face image, and when the gaze direction is directed toward itself for a predetermined time or more, You may recognize.

(2) Physical Contact When the robot 100 visually recognizes the user and detects a touch (physical contact) from the user, it is determined that the user has shown interest in the robot 100, and the closeness increases. For example, when touched by a mother, the closeness management unit 220 increases the closeness of the mother. The robot 100 may detect a touch on itself by covering the outer shell with a piezoelectric fabric. You may detect a touch by detecting a user's body temperature with a temperature sensor. When the robot 100 detects a cuddle, the closeness may be greatly increased on the assumption that strong love for the robot 100 is indicated.

  On the other hand, when detecting a violent act such as kicking, being hit, or grabbing the horn 112, the intimacy manager 220 decreases the intimacy. For example, when thrown by an infant, the familiarity management unit 220 greatly reduces the familiarity with the infant. Such a control method emulates the biological behavior that people who touch the software tend to feel close, but hate violent people.

(3) Voice call The robot 100 also changes the familiarity when it detects a voice directed at itself. For example, when the user's name and love terms are detected in a predetermined volume range, the love degree is increased. Typical term patterns such as “cute”, “interesting”, and “come” may be registered in advance as dear terms, and it may be determined whether or not they are dear terms by voice recognition. On the other hand, when the voice is spoken at a loud volume exceeding the normal volume range, the closeness may be lowered. When you are beaten loudly or surprised, your affection will decrease. Moreover, when a dislike term is applied, the degree of love may be reduced. A typical term pattern such as “Kora”, “Kuruna”, “Over there”, or “Baka” may be registered in advance as an aversion term, and it may be determined whether or not it is an aversion term by voice recognition.

  The name of the robot 100 may be registered in advance by the user. Alternatively, the robot 100 may recognize a term that is frequently applied among various terms applied to the robot 100 as its own name. In this case, terms that tend to appear frequently, such as “Oi” and “Odei”, may be excluded from candidates for name recognition.

  According to the above control method, 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 intimacy management unit 220 decreases the intimacy with time. For example, the closeness management unit 220 may decrease the closeness of all users by 1 every 10 minutes. In other words, the user cannot maintain an intimate relationship with the robot 100 unless he / she continues to pet the robot 100.

  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) Cluster with very high intimacy The robot 100 approaches a user (hereinafter referred to as “proximity action”) and performs a affection gesture that is defined in advance as a gesture that favors a person, thereby showing the affection of love. Express strongly.
(2) Cluster with relatively high intimacy The robot 100 performs only the proximity action.
(3) Cluster with relatively low familiarity The robot 100 does not perform any special action.
(4) Cluster with a particularly low degree of intimacy The robot 100 performs a leaving 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).

  When it is detected that the user A is picked up, the respiratory expression is roughened by increasing the expansion / contraction speed by the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372, or the stored left and right front wheels 102 (left wheel 102a, right wheel 102b) are rotated alternately. By repeating the stop, you can express a gesture that hesitates to hold. At this time, the left and right front wheels 102 may be simultaneously rotated in opposite directions with respect to the axle (axis). Alternatively, the left and right front wheels 102 may be rotated alternately. On the other hand, when it is detected that the user B is hugging, it is possible to express a sense of relief by slowing the breathing expression by reducing the expansion / contraction speed by the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372.

  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.

[Respiratory function]
A general robot is equipped with a device such as a fan for forcibly circulating air. However, in the robot 100 that emulates a biological behavior characteristic, the operating sound of the fan makes the user feel a “machine” and is preferably suppressed as much as possible. Therefore, the robot 100 of the present embodiment drives the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 to take in outside air into the body 104 and reduce the internal noise so as to reduce mechanical noise generated due to cooling of heat-generating components such as a CPU as much as possible. Let the air out. As described above, since the expansion / contraction operation of the robot 100 looks like a breathing of a living thing, it can make the robot 100 feel closer to a living thing (living body).

  Such a breathing expression changes according to the internal state of the robot 100 and the surrounding environment. For example, after performing frequent movements and other relatively intense movements, it is possible to express shortness of breath after intense exercise by increasing the load of breathing movements based on the history information. Further, when the ambient temperature is detected to be high due to the season or the air conditioning state, it is possible to express how the robot 100 is hot by increasing the load of the breathing motion. With such control, the life feeling of the robot 100 can be improved.

  On the other hand, the lower the outside air temperature, the easier it is to cool the heat generating component, and the operation level of the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 can be suppressed. As a result, the heat generated by the operation of the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 can be suppressed, and the heat generating component can be efficiently cooled. Therefore, the robot 100 of this embodiment also has a function of moving itself to a cool place.

[Function for seeking coolness]
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining a function in which the robot 100 obtains coolness.
The movable range of the robot 100 in this embodiment is the entire indoor area shown in FIG. An external sensor 114 is installed in each indoor part. When the robot 100 moves indoors, it regularly measures room temperature (ambient temperature). The temperature map management unit 226 creates a temperature map indicating the ambient temperature distribution in the movable range by associating the room temperature with the position coordinates of the measurement point. The temperature map is information associating the room temperature with the position coordinates, and the high temperature region 170 and the low temperature region 172 are specified by the temperature map. The high temperature region 170 is a region where the room temperature is equal to or higher than the threshold M1, and the high temperature region 170 is that the room temperature is less than the threshold M2 (M2 ≦ M1).

  In the present embodiment, the high temperature region 170 is a region of 25 degrees Celsius or higher, and the low temperature region 172 is a region of less than 15 degrees Celsius. In FIG. 11, a plurality of high temperature regions 170a to 170d and a plurality of low temperature regions 172a to 172g are detected. For example, the high temperature region 170 may be near a heating element such as a window or an electric appliance. The low-temperature region 172 may be a place or a shade where the cooler winds.

  The robot 100 has behavioral characteristics that prefer the low temperature region 172 and avoid the high temperature region 170. When the internal temperature rises, the robot 100 searches for a point whose room temperature is lower than the current point in order to lower the temperature. Specifically, the robot 100 (server 200) specifies the cool spot C, which is estimated to be lower in room temperature than the current point, as the movement target point based on the temperature map.

  The cool spot C is in the low temperature region 172a, and it is desirable that the room temperature is particularly low. The movement determination unit 234 of the server 200 may specify an arbitrary point in the closest low temperature region 172 as the cool spot C, or may specify a spot below the predetermined room temperature closest to the current position as the cool spot C. Good. Alternatively, the coolest point C may be specified as the point having the lowest room temperature in the temperature map. At least, the cool point C may be a point where the room temperature is lower than the current point or the room temperature is estimated to be low.

  The movement determination unit 234 of the server 200 identifies a plurality of movement routes toward the cool spot C. In FIG. 11, two travel routes, the route R1 and the route R2, are specified. The route R2 passes through the high temperature region 170a, but the route R1 does not pass through the high temperature region 170. In this case, the movement determination unit 234 selects a lower temperature route R1. This is to suppress an increase in internal temperature as much as possible even when the robot 100 moves.

  The movement determination unit 234 may select a movement route having a low average value of room temperature for each predetermined interval. If the room temperature for each meter is 25 degrees, 22 degrees, and 27 degrees in a 3 meter travel route, the average value of 25 degrees is specified as the room temperature of the travel route (hereinafter referred to as “route temperature”). May be. Alternatively, the movement determination unit 234 may specify the highest room temperature or the lowest temperature in the movement route as the route temperature. When the route temperatures of the plurality of travel routes are the same, or when the difference in route temperatures is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, the travel determination unit 234 may select the shorter travel route. The server 200 notifies the robot 100 of the movement target point (cooling point C) and the route R1 therefor, and the robot 100 goes to the cooling point C through the route R1.

  Since the robot 100 incorporates a heating element such as the processor 122, the temperature inside the housing of the robot 100 (internal temperature) tends to be higher than room temperature. The robot 100 can exhaust heat by the operation of the above-described suction / exhaust mechanism (expansion / contraction mechanism), but can also decrease the internal temperature by heading to the cool spot C autonomously. This is a merit unique to autonomous behavior type robots. Moreover, according to such a control method, it is possible to express a biological behavior characteristic of “I am not good at being hot”.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining the time change of the temperature map.
Room temperature varies with time. FIG. 12 shows temperature maps 180 for three time zones: a temperature map 180a from 6:00 to 9:00, a temperature map 180b from 9:00 to 12:00, and a temperature map 180c from 12: 0 to 15:00. .

  The robot 100 periodically measures the room temperature. The temperature map management unit 226 records the measurement date and time in association with the room temperature and the measurement point. For example, when the room temperature is measured between 6:00 and 9:00, the temperature map management unit 226 updates the temperature map 180a. When the room temperature is measured a plurality of times at the same point in the same time zone, the latest room temperature may be recorded in the temperature map 180, or the average room temperature measured a plurality of times may be recorded.

  According to FIG. 12, in the temperature map 180a, the low temperature region 172 is wider than the high temperature region 170, but the high temperature region 170 increases as time progresses from the temperature map 180b to the temperature map 180c. The plurality of temperature maps 180 provide information that the room temperature at the south window is high during the day and that the back of the sofa is always cool. The robot system 300 can appropriately identify the cool spot C by referring to the temperature map 180 corresponding to the time zone at the start of movement.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the breathing control of the robot 100.
The processing in this figure is repeatedly executed at a predetermined control cycle. The internal sensor 128 periodically measures the internal temperature and room temperature (ambient temperature) of the robot 100. When the recognizing unit 156 detects that a highly intimate user is nearby (Y in S10), the behavior determining unit 140 issues a wheel storage instruction to the behavior driving unit 146 (S12), and also issues an intimate operation instruction. (S14). As a result, the wheels (the front wheel 102 and the rear wheel 103) are housed in the body 104, and the robot 100 is seated on the floor. In addition, when the pressing member 386 is spread out, the hand 106 is lifted, and a gesture for holding a hand is expressed.

  As a result, when the recognition unit 156 recognizes that the user has lifted it within a predetermined time (Y in S16), the behavior determination unit 140 selects the breathing motion (S18), and the breathing motion control A is applied to the behavior driving unit 146. Instruct (S20). The breathing motion control A expresses a breathing motion that appeals comfort by, for example, gently driving the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372.

  On the other hand, if no lifting by the user is detected (N in S16) or a highly intimate user is not detected (N in S10), if the wheel is in the stored state (Y in S30), the behavior determination unit 140 A wheel advance instruction is issued to the action driving unit 146 (S32). Thereby, a wheel advances from the accommodation space S, and it will be in the state which can move. If it is not a wheel storage state (N of S30), the process of S32 will be skipped.

  At this time, if the internal temperature t is larger than the predetermined threshold T1 (Y in S34), the movement determination unit 234 searches the cool spot C with reference to the temperature map 180 (S36). The movement determination unit 234 sets the cool spot C as the movement target point, and determines a movement route to reach the cool spot C (S38). When the movement target point and the movement route are determined, the movement determination unit 138 of the robot 100 issues a movement instruction to the movement driving unit 144 (S40).

  If it moves to the cool spot C (Y of S42), the action judgment part 140 will select a breathing action (S44), and will instruct | indicate the breathing action control B to the action drive part 146 (S46). The breathing motion control B is set based on the internal temperature of the robot 100 and the ambient temperature (temperature of the cool spot C). For example, when it is determined that the cooling load to an appropriate temperature is large based on the internal temperature and the ambient temperature, cooling is promoted by driving the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 at a relatively high speed. When it is determined that the cooling load is small, cooling is promoted by driving the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 372 at an appropriate speed. By such control, it is possible to increase the cooling efficiency and save power.

  Even if the internal temperature t is equal to or lower than the threshold T1 (N in S34), if the change rate Δt of the internal temperature is larger than the predetermined threshold T2 (Y in S48), the process proceeds to S36, and the movement determination unit 234 Searches the cool spot C (S36). The change rate of the internal temperature may be defined as a temperature increase rate per predetermined period, for example, 5 seconds. This is because when the rate of temperature increase is large, it is expected that cooling will be required immediately even if the internal temperature t is low at this time.

  When the internal temperature t is equal to or lower than the threshold T1 (N in S34) and the change rate Δt of the internal temperature is equal to or lower than the threshold T2 (N in S48), the robot 100 does not move to the cool spot C.

  The actual behavior characteristics of the robot 100 are a little more complicated. In the emotion map 116 described with reference to FIG. 8, when the favor point P1 having a large z value exists, the robot 100 selects the favor point P1 as the movement target point rather than the cool point C even if the internal temperature t is high. It may be. When the internal temperature t is particularly high, the robot 100 may head for the cool point C even if the favorable point P1 having a large z value exists.

  When there is a cool dark place and the robot 100 has a characteristic that it is not good at a dark place, the behavior characteristic that avoids a dark place and the behavior characteristic that seeks a cool place are contradictory. When the internal temperature is very high, the incentive for a cool place is stronger than the incentive to avoid a dark place. The movement target point of the robot 100 is determined based on a plurality of behavior maps including the temperature map 180 and various parameters such as internal temperature and familiarity.

  The robot system 300 including the robot 100 and the robot 100 has been described above based on the embodiment. In this embodiment, the outer skin 314 of the body 104 is used as an expansion / contraction body, and intake / exhaust into the body 104 is performed by opening / closing the intake valve 352 and the exhaust valve 362 corresponding to the expansion / contraction of the outer skin 314. For this reason, the heat generating component in the robot 100 can be cooled to an appropriate temperature, and failure or deterioration due to heat can be prevented. In addition, breathing motion can be expressed by the expansion and contraction of the body 104, and the robot 100 can be given a sense of life.

  In other words, the computer may have problems such as the stop of the processor 122 and the destruction of data in the memory (storage device 124) at high temperatures. In particular, when the internal temperature is lowered by a cooling device such as a fan, noise increases as the operating level of the cooling function increases. For the robot 100 that emulates a biological behavior characteristic, the noise during cooling makes a “machine” feel, which can be a frightening. In this respect, in the present embodiment, life can be given by operating the expansion / contraction mechanism to supply and discharge air and show the breathing operation of the robot 100. Furthermore, the robot 100 has a feature of autonomous behavior. When the robot 100 moves to the cool spot C by itself, cooling without excessively relying on the cooling device is possible. Such a control method also contributes to power saving of the robot 100.

Further, in the present embodiment, clean outside air can be introduced into the body 104 by providing the intake port 354 above the exhaust port 364. In addition, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the heat-exposed hot inside air is directed toward the user and causes discomfort.
[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the configuration and operation of the robot 500 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 14A shows a state where the expansion / contraction body contracts, and FIG. 14B shows a state where the expansion / contraction body expands.

  In the robot 500, the lower part of the body 504 is operable like a fan. An upper end portion of the wheel cover 312 is rotatably connected to the body frame 318. A rotation shaft 510 of the wheel cover 312 is pivotally supported on the trunk frame 318. An actuator 512 for rotationally driving the rotation shaft 510 is provided inside the body frame 318. The wheel cover 312 and the actuator 512 constitute an expansion / contraction drive mechanism 572.

  In this embodiment, the pressing member 386 as in the first embodiment is not provided, but air can be introduced into the inner surface of the outer skin 314 through the opening 384. An adhesive layer 514 is provided over the entire circumference between the upper portion of the trunk frame 318 and the outer skin 314. Also, an adhesive layer 516 is provided over the entire circumference between the wheel cover 312 and the outer skin 314. With such a configuration, the sealing performance of the expansion / contraction portion of the outer skin 314 is ensured.

  An intake valve 552 is provided at the upper end of the main body frame 310. Intake valve 552 includes a valve body 556 arranged to face valve seat 358. A spring 560 that urges the valve body 556 in the valve closing direction is interposed between the valve body 556 and the plate 325. When the valve body 556 is attached to and detached from the valve seat 358 from the inside of the head frame 316, the air inlet 354 is opened and closed.

  The lower plate 534 of the base frame 508 has a leg portion 540, and the bottom surface of the leg portion 540 is a seating surface 108. That is, in this embodiment, when the wheel is stored, the lower plate 534 is grounded to the floor, not the trunk frame 318. The lower end portion of the body frame 318 is fixed to the upper surface of the lower plate 534. An exhaust valve 362 is provided at the center of the lower plate 534. Heat sinks 542 are provided on the upper and side surfaces of the lower plate 534. The heat sink 542 on the side surface extends toward the front wheel 102.

  A fan 570 is disposed in the vicinity of the exhaust port 364 in the communication path 355 in the body frame 318. By driving the fan 570, a differential pressure can be generated inside and outside the body 504, and the intake valve 552 and the exhaust valve 362 can be opened simultaneously. Thereby, outside air can be circulated in the body 504. The behavior determination unit 140 can adjust the operation level by adjusting the number of rotations of the fan 570 according to the internal temperature of the robot 100.

  Heat pipes 580 and 582 are disposed inside the body frame 318. The heat pipe 580 efficiently guides heat generated from the control device 342 and the battery 118 to the heat sink 542. The heat pipe 582 efficiently guides heat transferred from the head frame 316 side to the heat sink 542. When the wheel cover 312 is driven, it functions like a fan and heat exchange by the heat sink 542 is promoted.

  With this configuration, when the actuator 512 is driven in one direction, the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 572 increases the distance between the pair of wheel covers 312 as shown in FIG. 14B (see solid arrows). As a result, the outer skin 314 is pushed and expanded to expand the internal pressure of the main body frame 310 to a negative pressure. As a result, the intake valve 552 is opened and the outside air is introduced into the body 504 (see the two-dot chain line arrow). At this time, the exhaust valve 362 is kept closed. In appearance, the body of the robot 500 swells and the hand 106 is slightly pushed up.

  When the actuator 512 is driven in the opposite direction, the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 572 decreases the distance between the pair of wheel covers 312 as shown in FIG. At this time, the outer skin 314 contracts to return to its original shape due to its elastic force. Thereby, the internal pressure of the main body frame 310 increases, and the exhaust valve 362 is opened. As a result, the inside air of the body 504 is discharged to the outside (see a two-dot chain line arrow). At this time, the intake valve 552 is kept closed. In appearance, the body of the robot 500 is contracted to the original state, and the hand 106 is lowered. By repeating the above operations, it is possible to realize a state where the robot 500 is breathing like a living thing in appearance. The intake valve 552, the exhaust valve 362, and the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 572 function as an “intake / exhaust mechanism”.

  The operation determination unit 150 may drive the fan 570 and promote cooling under a predetermined condition when the recognition unit 156 (presence determination unit) determines that there is no person in the vicinity. For example, the fan 570 may be driven on the condition that an affirmative determination is made in S34 or S48 of FIG. 13 and a user is not detected around the robot 100 when selecting a breathing motion in S44. Thereby, in addition to intake / exhaust by the expansion / contraction operation of the outer skin 314, intake / exhaust by the fan 570 can be used together, and the cooling capacity can be improved. On the other hand, since the fan 570 is driven on the condition that there is no user around, the life feeling of the robot 100 as viewed from the user can be secured. Since there is no user, the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 572 may not be driven, and only the fan 570 may be driven.

The robot 500 measures the operation level of the fan 570, specifically, the rotation speed and rotation time of the fan 570, and is estimated to be when the operation level is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold or when the operation level is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold. You may move to cool spot C. The robot 500 may estimate that the operation level becomes high when the change rate of the operation level of the fan 570 is large, or may estimate that the operation level becomes high when a process with a large load is scheduled to be executed. When high-load processing is scheduled to be executed, it can be estimated that the internal temperature also increases.
[Third Embodiment]
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the configuration and operation of a robot 600 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 15A shows a state where the expansion / contraction body has expanded, and FIG. 15B shows a state where the expansion / contraction body has contracted.

  The robot 600 is different from the first and second embodiments in which the expansion / contraction driving mechanism 672 applies a load in the contraction direction to the outer skin 314. The expansion / contraction drive mechanism 672 includes a shape memory alloy wire 610 embedded in the outer skin 314 and a drive circuit 620 (energization circuit) thereof. The shape memory alloy wire 610 is formed as a wire-shaped wire that shrinks and hardens when heated and relaxes and expands when heated gradually. Lead wires drawn from both ends of the shape memory alloy wire 610 are connected to the drive circuit 620. When the switch of the drive circuit 620 is turned on, the shape memory alloy wire 610 is energized.

  The shape memory alloy wire 610 is molded or knitted at a height position corresponding to the opening 384 in the outer skin 314. Lead wires are drawn from both ends of the shape memory alloy wire 610 to the inside of the body frame 318. One shape memory alloy wire 610 may be provided, or a plurality of shape memory alloy wires may be provided in parallel.

  When the outer skin 314 is not loaded, as shown in FIG. 15A, the outer skin 314 is inflated due to its elasticity. The shape memory alloy wire 610 is in a relaxed and elongated state along the outer skin 314 in a curved shape. When the drive circuit 620 is turned on, the shape memory alloy wire 610 is linearly contracted and hardened as shown in FIG. 15B.

  With such a configuration, when the switch of the drive circuit 620 is switched from on to off, the shape memory alloy wire 610 relaxes and extends as shown in FIG. 15A (see solid arrows). As a result, the outer skin 314 expands to its original state, and the internal pressure of the main body frame 310 becomes negative. As a result, the intake valve 352 is opened, and the outside air is introduced into the body 104 (see a two-dot chain line arrow). At this time, the exhaust valve 362 is kept closed. In appearance, the body of the robot 600 swells and the hand 106 is pushed up slightly.

  When the switch of the drive circuit 620 is switched from OFF to ON, as shown in FIG. 15B, the shape memory alloy wire 610 is contracted and hardened linearly, and the outer skin 314 is pressed inward to contract. Thereby, the internal pressure of the main body frame 310 increases, and the exhaust valve 362 is opened. As a result, the inside air of the body 104 is discharged to the outside (see a two-dot chain line arrow). At this time, the intake valve 352 is kept closed. In appearance, the body of the robot 600 is contracted to the original state, and the hand 106 is lowered. By repeating the above operation, it is possible to realize a state in which the robot 600 is breathing like a living thing in appearance. The intake valve 352, the exhaust valve 362, and the expansion / contraction drive mechanism 672 function as an “intake / exhaust mechanism”.

  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. 10 and each function of the server 200 can be generally grasped as one “robot”. 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.

  In the present embodiment, it has been described that the temperature map management unit 226 creates and updates the temperature map 180 when the robot 100 appropriately measures the room temperature. However, the temperature map 180 is stored in advance in the server 200 as “congenital and unchangeable”. It may be set as “possible prior knowledge”. In the map storage unit 216, a plurality of temperature maps 180 corresponding to a plurality of types of time zones may be initialized.

  Similarly, one or more cool spots C may be initialized in the server 200 as “innate knowledge” in advance. For example, the back of the sofa or the bedroom may be set in advance as the cool spot C. The robot 100 may act by estimating the cool point C determined in this way as a “point lower in temperature than the current point”.

  The robot 100 may search the cool spot C by itself without referring to the temperature map 180. For example, the robot 100 may measure the ambient temperature with a thermosensor, and specify the point with the lowest ambient temperature as the cool point C.

  When the user goes out, it is considered that the room temperature rises because the cooling is turned off. For this reason, the robot 100 may estimate that the internal temperature increases when the user goes out. When the robot 100 has an innate or empirical knowledge that the room temperature becomes the highest at 14:00, the robot 100 may move to the cool spot C before 14:00. As described above, the robot 100 may estimate the timing at which the internal temperature becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature based on not only the rate of change of the internal temperature but also innate or empirical knowledge.

  On midsummer days, when the external sensor 114 detects that the user has returned home, the robot 100 may approach the user. This is because it can be expected that the user who has returned home will cool. In addition, when the user is hot, the user may be cooled by performing a gesture such as comparing the cooling with the user.

  The time zone of the temperature map 180 may be defined based not only on the time of the day but also on the day and season. For example, a temperature map 180 of 9:00 to 12:00 on June 7 may be prepared separately from the temperature map 180 of 9:00 to 12:00 on June 6. By preparing the temperature map 180 corresponding to various time zones, it becomes easier to specify the cool spot C more accurately. A plurality of temperature maps 180 may be prepared according to the weather, such as sunny weather, cloudy weather, and rainy weather. The server 200 may acquire weather information by connecting to a weather forecast site.

  The robot 100 may pass quickly through the hot spot on the moving route toward the cool spot C, and pass slowly through the cold spot. The server 200 estimates the route temperature of each moving route based on the temperature map 180. Then, a moving route having a low route temperature is preferentially selected. Here, “select preferentially” may be to select a moving route with a lower route temperature with a higher probability.

  When there are a plurality of robots 100, the temperature map may be shared. The external sensor 114 may incorporate a temperature sensor. Then, the temperature map management unit 226 may form / update the temperature map 180 based on the temperature information obtained from the plurality of external sensors 114.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the pair of hands 106 is displaced in accordance with the expansion / contraction deformation of the trunk portion is shown. In a modified example, the two hands 106 may be individually controlled, and simple operations such as raising, shaking, and vibrating may be possible. Specifically, a wire may be embedded in the hand 106. The hand 106 can be lifted by the driving mechanism 120 pulling the hand 106 through the wire. A gesture in which the hand 106 is shaken by vibrating the hand 106 is also possible. More complex gestures can be expressed by using a large number of wires.

  In the above embodiment, the robot 100 is made to travel on three wheels, and the front wheel is the driving wheel and the rear wheel is the driven wheel. In the modification, both the front wheels and the rear wheels may be drive wheels. Moreover, you may employ | adopt the structure which carries out 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive. In the latter case, one of the front wheels and the rear wheels may be a drive wheel, or both may be drive wheels. It is preferable that all the wheels can be stored in the body 104 by the drive mechanism.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the intake port 354 is provided at the uppermost part of the body 104 and the exhaust port 364 is provided at the lowermost part is shown. However, if the intake port 354 is disposed relatively above the exhaust port 364. Good. These arrangements can be set as appropriate.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, the behavior determination unit 140 may determine the activity amount (motion amount) of the robot 100 based on the history information stored in the history data storage unit 164. Then, the expansion / contraction drive mechanism may be driven at a higher speed as the amount of recent activity increases, or cooling may be promoted by increasing the drive frequency. A state where the amount of activity is large is considered to correspond to a state where the internal temperature of the robot 100 is high, and as a result, the cooling efficiency is increased. In terms of appearance, it is possible to express how the breathing after rough movements becomes rough, and the life feeling of the robot 100 can be further improved.

  In the said embodiment, the valve which senses the pressure difference inside and outside a body and opens and closes autonomously as an intake valve and an exhaust valve was illustrated. In a modified example, one or both of them may be an electrically driven valve such as an electromagnetic valve driven by a solenoid or an electric valve driven by a motor.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, an air pump may be installed in the body to expand and contract the expansion / contraction body and supply and discharge air.

  In the above embodiment, the intake valve is disposed relatively above the exhaust valve, but conversely, it may be disposed relatively below. However, it is preferable to arrange the intake valve at a position away from the floor surface.

  In the above embodiment, the outer skin 314 (expansion / contraction body) is an elastic body. In the modification, it is not an elastic body but may be a flexible expansion / contraction body. A first drive mechanism that can push the expansion / contraction body from the inside and a second drive mechanism that can push and shrink the expansion / contraction body from the outside may be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the robot has wheels as the “grounding unit” having the grounding surface when moving is illustrated. In a modified example, the “grounding portion” may be a leg portion and may be configured to be able to walk. The drive mechanism drives the grounding part forward and backward from the storage space provided in the body to the outside. In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the wheel is completely stored in the storage space of the body is illustrated, but a part of the wheel may be stored in the storage space. In other words, the drive mechanism may be configured to retract the grounding portion to the storage space in a non-grounded state when the storage condition is satisfied when stopped. In that case, when the grounding portion is retracted to the storage space, it is preferable that more than half of the grounding portion is stored. Thereby, when a user picks up the robot, it can prevent or suppress that it gets dirty.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, it may be comfortable for the user to feel warmth from the robot depending on the season or the like. Therefore, it may be configured to store heat in the body 104 by controlling the intake valve and the exhaust valve to be intentionally closed while driving the robot. In that case, the intake valve and the exhaust valve may be configured by an electrically driven valve such as an electromagnetic valve or an electric valve. By guiding the warmed inside air to the inner surface of the outer skin 314 through the opening 384, the outer skin 314 can be warmed from the inside. The user can feel the warmth by lifting the robot in this state. This also increases the life of the robot. Note that a member having excellent thermal conductivity may be embedded in the outer skin 314. In addition, a hole communicating with the gap between the outer skin 314 and the main body frame 310 may be separately provided at a position different from the opening 384.

  The above-described embodiments and modifications can also be defined as an autonomous behavior type robot having the following configuration. The robot includes a hollow body having a head and a torso, an intake port for taking outside air into the body, an exhaust port for exhausting inside air from the body, the intake port and the exhaust port. A communicating path that forms a sealed space when both the intake port and the exhaust port are closed, and an expansion / contraction body that is disposed in the trunk portion and forms at least a part of the communicating path; A drive mechanism for expanding and contracting the expansion / contraction body, and opening the intake port with the exhaust port closed according to the expansion of the expansion / contraction body, and closing the intake port according to the contraction of the expansion / contraction body And an intake / exhaust mechanism that opens the exhaust port.

  Note that at least one of the intake port and the exhaust port may be an orifice and the valve may not be provided. In that case, the communication path 355 is not sealed. The robot includes a hollow body having a head and a torso, an intake port for taking outside air into the body, an exhaust port for exhausting inside air from the body, the intake port and the exhaust port. A communication path to be communicated; an expansion / contraction body disposed in the body portion and constituting at least a part of the communication path; a drive mechanism for expanding and contracting the expansion / contraction body; and in response to expansion of the expansion / contraction body And an intake / exhaust mechanism that increases the opening of the intake port from the exhaust port and increases the opening of the exhaust port from the intake port in response to contraction of the expansion / contraction body.

  Even with such a configuration, the volume change of the expansion / contraction body can be realized by the opening balance between the intake port and the exhaust port. Thereby, a feeling of breathing of the robot can be given.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, air flowing from the intake port flows through the communication path 355 toward the exhaust port. You may provide the sound conversion part which generate | occur | produces comfortable sounds, such as exhalation and sleep, using this air flow. In addition, due to the structure of the communication path 355, a ventilation sound (wind noise) may occur due to ventilation. In general, aeration sound is generated when air flow is disturbed. The sound conversion unit may adjust the flow of air to suppress the generation of an aeration sound that makes a person feel uncomfortable, and may convert the sound into a comfortable sound such as exhalation or sleep. The sound conversion unit may be a sound conversion mechanism that structurally converts the ventilation sound. For example, a whistle structure that generates a sound comfortable for the user may be employed. For example, the frequency of the ventilation sound may be converged to a specific frequency range by adjusting the angle of the edge portion that generates the ventilation sound in the communication path 355. The structure which suppresses a ventilation speed may be sufficient. A current plate may be provided to regulate the air flow. Further, the sound conversion unit may be a sound conversion device that electrically converts ventilation sound. For example, a modulation device that modulates the frequency of ventilation sound (wind noise) may be used. Alternatively, a filtering device that cuts a part of the frequency region of the ventilation sound may be used. It may be a sound device that has a mute or soundproof function and generates a pleasant specific sound. With such a configuration, even if it is actually mechanical intake / exhaust, the user feels like a breath of a living thing, and it is possible to give the robot a sense of life.

  As described above, in order to make the robot feel warm, the outer skin 314 is made of a porous foam material such as sponge, and the inside air (air heated by the heat-generating component) is discharged to the outside according to the expansion and contraction of the outer skin 314. May be leaked. For example, urethane sponge, rubber sponge or other sponges can be used. An open-cell sponge or the like is preferable from the viewpoint of air permeability, but even if it is a closed-cell sponge, it can be ventilated by processing the gap. Thereby, when the outer skin 314 is contracted to compress the internal air, a part of the internal air may leak into the outer skin 314. Alternatively, the outer skin 314 may be made of a material having a relatively high thermal conductivity, and the temperature of the inside air may be transmitted to the outer surface of the outer skin 314. With such a configuration, the user can feel the body temperature of the robot, and the robot can be given a sense of life.

  However, the material and its structure are selected so that the user does not feel the robot overheating beyond the warmth. A structure in which the warmth is felt in a limited range of the body 104 may be employed. For example, in the structure shown in FIG. 6 and the like, a porous foam material may be partially employed around the opening 384 in the outer skin 314. Or you may employ | adopt the material with high heat conductivity centering on the part. Thereby, warmth can be made to feel around the trunk of the robot that the user holds.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, periodicity may be imparted to the expansion / contraction of the outer skin 314 (expansion / contraction body). In other words, the robot's breathing motion may be periodic. The operation determination unit 150 functions as an “activity determination unit” and a “control unit”. The motion determination unit 150 determines the amount of activity of the robot, and changes the expansion / contraction cycle of the outer skin 314 by controlling the expansion / contraction drive mechanism according to the amount of activity. Specifically, the expansion / contraction cycle in the normal state of the robot is set as a reference cycle (constant). Here, the “normal state” is a state in which the activity amount (motion load) of the robot is equal to or less than the determination reference value. Then, when the amount of activity in the most recent predetermined period exceeds the determination reference value, the period of expansion and contraction may be made shorter than the reference period. As a result, the shortness of breath of the robot can be expressed in appearance. When the recognizing unit 156 determines that the user has held it, the period of expansion / contraction may be longer than the reference period. Thereby, the comfort of the robot can be expressed in appearance.

  In FIG. 13, the breathing motion control A and the breathing motion control B are illustrated as an example of the breathing control of the robot, but it goes without saying that there may be other controls. The robot may basically be capable of breathing at all times except when the power is cut off. In the respiration control of FIG. 13, when the internal temperature t is equal to or lower than the threshold T1 (N in S34) and the change rate Δt of the internal temperature is equal to or lower than the threshold T2 (N in S48), the respiration motion control C is selected. Good. The breathing motion control C may use the expansion / contraction cycle of the outer skin 314 as the reference cycle.

  As in the second embodiment, from the viewpoint of driving the fan only when there is no person in the vicinity, that is, ensuring the life of the robot by not showing the mechanical operation to the user, the expansion / contraction mechanism of the robot Can be omitted. That is, it is possible to cope with the problem of securing the life feeling of an autonomous behavior type robot by an indirect method of not showing a mechanical motion, instead of an active method of showing a biological motion of breathing.

  Or conversely, an intake / exhaust mechanism for cooling by intake / exhaust into the body may be omitted, and an expansion / contraction body may be attached to the side surface of the body, and the expansion / contraction operation may be periodically performed. The expansion / contraction body can be worn, for example, in the form of clothes. For cooling the body, for example, a water cooling type or other cooling mechanism can be adopted. In the case of the water cooling type, a circulation circuit for circulating the cooling water in the body and a heat exchanger for exchanging heat with the circulation circuit may be installed. The heat exchanger may be a heat sink.

  Although not described in the above embodiment, when the internal temperature rises while the robot is being held up by the user and exceeds a predetermined cooling reference value, the robot may be instructed to hold the robot. For example, control is performed such as rotating the left and right wheels housed in the body in opposite directions, and alternately switching the rotation directions. Thereby, when the user lowers the robot to the floor surface, the robot may be controlled to go to the cool spot (S36 in FIG. 13). Further, at least the user may move to a point not in the vicinity and drive the fan (FIG. 14).

Claims (16)

A body forming the appearance;
An expansion / contraction body provided in the body;
A drive mechanism that applies a load of at least one of an expansion direction and a contraction direction to the expansion / contraction body;
An intake / exhaust mechanism for performing intake / exhaust in the body according to expansion / contraction of the expansion / contraction body;
An autonomous behavior type robot characterized by comprising:   The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 1, wherein the expansion / contraction body is an elastic body.   The intake / exhaust mechanism includes an intake valve that opens and closes an intake port for taking outside air into the body, and an exhaust valve that opens and closes an exhaust port for exhausting inside air from the body. 2. The autonomous behavior type robot according to 2.   The intake / exhaust mechanism opens the intake valve with the exhaust valve closed according to expansion of the expansion / contraction body, and opens the exhaust valve with the intake valve closed according to contraction of the expansion / contraction body. The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 3, wherein the robot is an autonomous behavior type robot. A communication path that connects the intake port and the exhaust port, and forms a sealed space when both the intake port and the exhaust port are closed;
A heat generating component for driving the robot;
With
The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the heat generating component is disposed in the communication path.   6. The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 3, wherein the intake port is provided in the body above the exhaust port. A lifting determination unit that determines that the object has been lifted;
A control unit that controls the drive mechanism when it is determined that it is held up, and controls the expansion / contraction body to expand and contract;
The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 1, comprising: A temperature determination unit for determining the ambient temperature;
A control unit that controls the drive mechanism according to the determined ambient temperature and changes the expansion / contraction state or expansion / contraction mode of the expansion / contraction body;
The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 1, further comprising: A history information storage unit that records the operation history of the robot;
An activity determination unit that determines an activity amount based on the operation history;
A control unit that controls the drive mechanism according to the determined amount of activity, and changes the expansion / contraction state or expansion / contraction mode of the expansion / contraction body;
The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 1, comprising: A fan disposed in the communication path;
A presence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a nearby person;
A fan control unit that drives the fan under predetermined conditions when it is determined that there is no person in the vicinity;
The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 5, further comprising: The body has an intake port for taking in outside air and an exhaust port for discharging inside air;
The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 1, further comprising a sound conversion unit that generates a predetermined sound in accordance with an air flow generated by intake and exhaust at the intake port and the exhaust port.   6. The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 5, wherein the body includes a material that leaks inside air to the outside in accordance with expansion / contraction of the expansion / contraction body. A heating part for driving the robot in the body is provided,
The autonomous behavior robot according to claim 1, wherein the body includes a material that transmits a temperature of inside air to an outer surface. A body forming the appearance;
An expansion / contraction body provided in the body;
An expansion / contraction mechanism for expanding and contracting the expansion / contraction body at a predetermined period;
A history information storage unit that records the operation history of the robot;
An activity determination unit that determines an activity amount based on the operation history;
A control unit that controls the expansion / contraction mechanism according to the determined amount of activity, and changes a period of expansion / contraction of the expansion / contraction body;
An autonomous behavior type robot characterized by comprising: The inflation and deflation mechanism is autonomous action robot according to claim 14, characterized in that it comprises a driving Organization for loading at least one of the load in the expansion direction and the contraction direction to the expansion and contraction thereof. A body having an intake port for taking in outside air and an exhaust port for discharging inside air;
A fan disposed in the body;
A presence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a nearby person;
A fan control unit that drives the fan under predetermined conditions when it is determined that there is no person in the vicinity;
The autonomous behavior type robot according to claim 14, further comprising:

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