JP7364021B2 - Robot, control method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a robot, a control method , and a program .

Conventionally, as a robot control device, for example, one disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. A robot to which this conventional control device is applied is equipped with a microphone and is configured to be able to speak. This conventional control device determines how many people are talking around the robot based on sounds around the robot that are picked up by a microphone. In addition, the volume of the robot's speech sound is controlled to a higher value when it is determined that many people are chatting, and when it is determined that a specific person is speaking. , is controlled to a smaller value. Accordingly, the conventional control device controls the volume of the robot's speech sound so as not to disturb the surrounding atmosphere.
On the other hand, in recent years, devices such as robots that perform predetermined operations by driving a driven part with a drive part are known. Relatively loud operation sounds (noise) such as sounds may be generated.

JP2014-186421A

However, when the above-mentioned conventional control device is applied to the above-mentioned recent robots and other devices, the conventional control device can detect the robot's speech sound based on the sounds around the robot that are picked up by the microphone as described above. It just controls the volume. For this reason, conventional control devices cannot prevent the above-mentioned problem of relatively loud operation noise that is harsh on the ears.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances , and it is an object of the present invention to provide a robot, a control method , and a program that can prevent problems such as operation sounds becoming harsh to the ears.

In order to achieve the above object, a robot according to the present invention is a robot equipped with a connecting part that connects a head or an arm part to a main body so that it can tilt, swing or rotate within a predetermined range, The volume of the operation sound generated along with the tilting, rocking, or rotation operation at the connecting portion is the volume of an environmental sound acquired through a predetermined microphone, and the operation at the connecting portion is stopped. control means for operating the connecting part so as to be adjusted based on the volume of environmental sound acquired while the robot is operating the robot as a pseudo living thing with the main body corresponding to the torso . and the microphone is provided on the body.
Further, the control method according to the present invention is a method for controlling a robot including a connecting portion that connects a head or an arm portion to a main body so as to be tiltable, swingable, or rotatable within a predetermined range, wherein the connecting portion The volume of the operation sound generated along with the tilting, rocking, or rotation operation at the connecting portion is the volume of an environmental sound acquired through a predetermined microphone, and the operation at the connecting portion is stopped. the robot is designed as a pseudo-living creature with the main body corresponding to a torso; The microphone is provided in the body.
Further, the program according to the present invention may cause a computer of a robot equipped with a connecting portion that connects a head or an arm portion to a main body so as to be tiltable, swingable, or rotatable within a predetermined range to be able to tilt, swing, or rotate in a predetermined range. , acquired when the volume of the operation sound generated along with the operation as the rocking or the rotation is the volume of an environmental sound acquired through a predetermined microphone, and the operation at the connecting part is stopped. The robot functions as a control means for operating the connecting part so as to be adjusted based on the volume of the environmental sound that is generated, and the robot is designed as a pseudo-living creature with the main body corresponding to a torso, The microphone is characterized in that it is provided in the body.

According to the present invention , it is possible to provide a robot, a control method , and a program that can prevent problems such as operation sounds becoming harsh to the ears.

It is an image diagram of the operation of the device, (a) is the initial state of the device when the environmental sound is low, (b) is the operation of the device when the environmental sound is low, and (c) is the case of (a). (d) is the initial state of the device when the environmental sound is louder than in (b), and (d) is the operation of the device when the environmental sound is louder than in (b). 7 is a flowchart showing a device setting process according to the first embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control process of the neck drive part based on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control process of the arm drive part based on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control process of the leg drive part based on 1st Embodiment. It is a flow chart of control processing of an utterance part concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control process of the neck drive part based on 2nd Embodiment. This is an example of a map for calculating the neck voltage value VONECK. It is a flowchart of the control process of the arm drive part based on 2nd Embodiment. This is an example of a map for calculating arm voltage value VOARM. This is an example of a map for calculating arm suppression angle θSUB. It is a flowchart of the control process of the leg drive part based on 2nd Embodiment. This is an example of a map for calculating leg voltage value VOTIRE. It is a flowchart of the control process of the neck drive part based on 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control process of the arm drive part based on 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the control process of the leg drive part based on 3rd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an operational image diagram of a device 100 to which a control device 30 according to an embodiment is applied. In FIG. 1, the length of the arrow indicates the magnitude of the action, and the size of the letters indicates the volume. Note that the "unit" that constitutes the control device 30 of the device 100 described in the text corresponds to the "means" described in the claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, the device 100 includes a main body 40, a driven section 10, a driving section 20 that drives the driven section 10, a control device 30 that controls the driving section 20, and an utterance section 50. .
The device 100 operates by driving the driven section 10 with the driving section 20 .

The device 100 is, for example, a robot imitating a human. In that case, a main body 40 of the device 100 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a robot) is provided with a control device 30 and a drive section 20, and the driven section 10 is connected to the main body 40 via the drive section 20. It is provided. The device 100 is also provided with a camera, a distance sensor, a touch sensor, an acceleration sensor, etc. (all not shown) for acquiring image information, and these cameras and various sensors are connected to the control device 30. ing.
The driven part 10 can be expressed in various ways depending on the way it moves, and has one neck body 11, two arm bodies 12, and two leg bodies 13. It is connected to the drive section 20 so as to be interlocked with the drive.
The drive unit 20 includes a transmission device such as an electric motor and gears, and includes a neck drive unit 21, an arm drive unit 22, and a leg drive unit 23 for driving the neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13, respectively. have.

The neck body 11 imitates a human head, is connected to the main body 40 via a neck drive section 21, and is tiltable and rotatable with respect to the main body 40 with a predetermined degree of freedom.
The arm body 12 is connected to the main body 40 via an arm drive unit 22, and is able to swing and rotate with a predetermined degree of freedom with respect to the main body 40 so as to be able to express human hand gestures.
The legs 13 are, for example, wheels with tires, which enable the main body 40 to move, and are connected to the main body 40 via the leg drive section 23. Note that the leg body 13 may be a foot having joints like a human's.

The drive unit 20 (neck drive unit 21, arm drive unit 22, and leg drive unit 23) includes a transmission device such as an electric motor and a gear, and operates according to a command from the control device 30 to drive the corresponding driven unit. 10 (neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13).
With such a configuration, the device 100 operates the driven section 10 via the drive section 20 in response to commands from the control device 30, thereby enabling various expressions.

The above-mentioned speech section 50 is composed of, for example, a speaker, and is activated by a command from the control device 30 to generate a speech sound according to the command.

Furthermore, potentiometers (not shown) for detecting the rotation angle positions of the neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13 are connected to the control device 30, and the control device 30 receives detection signals from these potentiometers. Based on this, the rotation angle positions of each of the neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13 are calculated at any time.

The control device 30 controls the operation of the device 100 via the drive unit 20. The control device 30 includes an environmental volume acquisition section 31, a drive control section 32, and a speech control section 33, and includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), It is composed of an I/O interface and the like (none of which are shown).
The environmental volume acquisition unit 31 is configured with, for example, a microphone, and calculates (acquires) the volume SVENV of the environmental sound around the device 100 based on a detection signal from the microphone.
The drive control unit 32 is composed of, for example, the above-mentioned CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O interface, etc., and the driven unit 10 is driven by the drive unit 20 according to the acquired environmental sound volume SVENV. The drive unit 20 is controlled so that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 generated by the operation is suppressed.
The speech control section 33 is composed of, for example, the above-mentioned CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O interface, etc., and controls the volume of the speech sound produced by the speech section 50 of the device 100 (robot) to be louder than the volume of the environmental sound. Control as follows.
Through the control by the drive control unit 32 as described above, the volume of the operation sound can be suppressed according to the acquired volume SVENV of the environmental sound. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.
Further, even if the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is large, the volume of the speech sound of the device 100 (robot) can be made larger than the volume SVENV of the environmental sound by the control by the speech control unit 33 as described above. ) can make it easier to hear what is being said.

The control device 30 further includes a determination unit (see step B2, FIG. 3, etc.) that determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than a predetermined threshold, and the drive control unit 32 determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than a predetermined threshold. When it is determined that SVENV is smaller than the threshold value, the drive unit 20 is controlled so that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 is suppressed. As a result, when the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 will not be harsh, so the driving unit 20 is driven normally, and the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 is If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, which is noticeable even if the values are the same, the drive unit 20 can be driven slowly to suppress the volume of the operation sound. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.

In the control device 30, the determination unit (see step B2 in FIG. 3, etc.) determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound acquired immediately before driving the driven unit 10 by the drive unit 20 is smaller than a threshold value. The drive control unit 32 controls the drive unit so that the volume of the operating sound of the device 100 is suppressed when the volume SVENV of the environmental sound acquired immediately before is determined to be smaller than the threshold value. 20 (see step B4 etc. in FIG. 3). Therefore, the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 can be adjusted in real time according to the volume of the environmental sound SVENV.

In the control device 30 described above, the drive control unit 32 executes normal control to control the drive unit 20 regardless of environmental sounds, and the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 controls the environment when the drive unit 20 is not driving the driven unit 10. The sound volume SVENV is acquired, and while the driven unit 10 is driving, the overall volume of the environmental sound and the operation sound of the device 100 is acquired, and the determination unit (see step J7 in FIG. 14, etc.) When the sound volume SVENV is smaller than the overall sound volume obtained during execution of normal control, it is determined that the environmental sound volume SVENV is smaller than the operating sound volume of the device 100. Therefore, without setting the operating sound of the device 100 in advance, the volume of the operating sound of the device 100 can be adjusted in real time according to the environmental sound volume SVENV.

In the control device 30, the driving section 20 and the driven section 10 are respectively configured of a plurality of driving sections 20 and a plurality of driven sections 10, and the operations of the plurality of driven sections 10 are given different predetermined priorities. (For example, neck body 11>leg body 13>arm body 12) is set in advance in descending order of priority.
In order to suppress the volume of operation sound of the device 100, the drive control unit 32 selects a low-priority driven unit (for example, an arm), which is a driven unit 10 with a lower operation priority among the plurality of drive units 20. The driving portions 20 (for example, the arm driving portion 22 and the leg driving portion 23) corresponding to the body 12 and the leg bodies 13 are changed as the driving speed of the low-priority driven portion decreases and the driving amount of the low-priority driven portion decreases. (Movement amount) is controlled so that it becomes small (see step C4 in FIG. 4, steps D5 and D6 in FIG. 5, etc.). In addition, in order to suppress the volume of the operation sound of the device 100, the drive control unit 32 controls a high-priority driven part (for example, the neck body 11) that is a driven part 10 whose operation has a higher priority. The drive section 20 (for example, the neck drive section 21) is controlled so that the drive speed of the high-priority driven section is reduced (see step B4 in FIG. 3, etc.). As a result, the operation noise of low-priority driven parts with low operation priority is reduced by sacrificing both the drive amount (travel amount) and drive speed, and the high-priority driven parts with high operation priority are reduced. As for the part, it is possible to reduce the driving speed and reduce the operational noise without sacrificing the driving amount (travel amount), so the functionality and expressiveness caused by the movement of the device 100 (robot) can be reduced excessively. The operation sound can be suppressed in accordance with the volume SVENV of the environmental sound without any noise.

FIGS. 1A to 1D show an example of the operation of the device 100 controlled by the control device 30 as described above. When the environmental sound is relatively low, the device 100 changes from the initial state shown in FIG. 1(a) to a relatively small range or speed such that the operating sound is lower than usual, as shown in FIG. 1(b). Each driven section 10 operates, and the utterance section 50 emits sound at a volume higher than the volume SVENV of the environmental sound and lower than normal.
On the other hand, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the device 100 changes from the initial state shown in FIG. Each driven unit 10 operates within a certain range or speed, and the speaking unit 50 emits sound at a volume higher than the volume of the environmental sound SVENV and higher than normal.

(First embodiment)
Next, a first form for implementing the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the first embodiment) will be described in detail. Note that the same elements are given the same numbers or symbols throughout the description of the embodiments.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the setting process of the device 100 according to the first embodiment, and FIGS. 3 to 6 show the neck drive unit 21, arm drive unit 22, leg drive unit 23, and speech unit 50 control processes are shown, and these processes are executed by the CPU of the control device 30.

(Setting process of device 100)
As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 30 performs a setting process for the device 100 according to the following control method.
First, the user turns on a main power source (not shown) that supplies power to the drive section 20, control device 30, and speech section 50 of the device 100 (robot) to start the device 100.
At the same time, the control device 30 sets the neck driving flag F_NECK, the arm driving flag F_ARM, the leg driving flag F_TIRE, and the speaking flag F_UTTER stored in a memory (not shown) provided in the control device 30. Reset everything to 0. Note that the neck driving flag F_NECK, the arm driving flag F_ARM, and the leg driving flag F_TIRE are 1 when each driven part 10 is being driven, and are 0 when not being driven. The speaking flag F_UTTER is 1 while the speaking unit 50 is speaking, and is 0 when the speaking unit 50 is not speaking. Each flag is stored in the RAM of the control device 30 and updated as needed according to the operation of each driven section 10 and speaking section 50.

First, the control device 30 determines whether or not all driven parts 10 (neck body 11, arm body 12, leg body 13) and speaking unit 50 are stopped by checking that each of the above flags is 0. (Step A1).
If all driven parts 10 and speaking parts 50 are stopped (step A1: YES), the control device 30 calculates the volume SVENV of the environmental sound using the environmental sound volume acquisition part 31 (step A2), and performs step A2. Move to A3. On the other hand, if all driven parts 10 and speaking parts 50 are not stopped (step A1: NO), step A2 is skipped and the process moves to step A3.

In step A3, the control device 30 determines whether the neck driving flag F_NECK is 0 or not.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is 0 (YES in step A3), the process moves to step A4.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is not 0 (NO in step A3), the process moves to step A6.

In step A4, the control device 30 determines whether or not there is an instruction to the neck drive section 21 to drive the neck body 11.
Here, the control device 30 receives, for example, sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone) of the device 100 (robot), image information acquired by the camera of the device 100, and A driving instruction is given to the neck driving section 21 according to the analysis results based on the detection signals of the various sensors provided in the device 100.
For example, the device 100 acquires a question from the user by the environmental volume acquisition unit 31, analyzes the content from the voice of the question, and controls the neck drive unit 21 by instructing it to drive according to the content. Tilt the body 11 vertically and nod, or shake the head body 11 sideways.
If there is a drive instruction to the neck drive unit 21 (YES in step A4), the process moves to step A5.
If there is no drive instruction to the neck drive unit 21 (NO in step A4), the process moves to step A6.

In step A5 above, the control device 30 sets the neck driving flag F_NECK to 1, and proceeds to step A6.

In step A6, the control device 30 determines whether the arm driving flag F_ARM is 0 or not.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is 0 (YES in step A6), the process moves to step A7.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is not 0 (NO in step A6), the process moves to step A9.

In step A7, the control device 30 determines whether or not there is a drive instruction to the arm drive unit 22.
Here, the control device 30 receives, for example, sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone), image information acquired by a camera of the device 100, and various information provided in the device 100. A drive instruction is given to the arm drive unit 22 according to the analysis result based on the detection signal of the sensor.
For example, the device 100 acquires a question from the user by the environmental volume acquisition unit 31, analyzes the content from the voice of the question, and controls the arm drive unit 22 by instructing the arm drive unit 22 to drive according to the content. The body 12 is raised and the arms 12 are swung up and down.
If there is an instruction to drive the arm body 12 to the arm drive unit 22 (YES in step A7), the process moves to step A8.
If there is no drive instruction to the arm drive unit 22 (NO in step A7), the process moves to step A9.

In step A8 above, the control device 30 sets the arm driving flag F_ARM to 1, and proceeds to step A9.

In step A9, the control device 30 determines whether the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 0 or not.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 0 (YES in step A9), the process moves to step A10.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is not 0 (NO in step A9), the process moves to step A12.

In step A10 described above, the control device 30 determines whether or not there is a drive instruction to the leg drive unit 23.
Here, the control device 30 receives, for example, sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone), image information acquired by a camera of the device 100, and various information provided in the device 100. A drive instruction is given to the leg drive unit 23 according to the analysis result based on the detection signal of the sensor.
For example, the device 100 acquires a question from the user using the environmental volume acquisition unit 31, analyzes the content from the voice of the question, and controls the leg drive unit 23 by instructing the leg drive unit 23 to drive according to the content. The body 40 is moved by rotating the body 13 (tire).
If there is an instruction to drive the leg body 13 to the leg drive unit 23 (YES in step A10), the process moves to step A11.
If there is no drive instruction to the leg drive unit 23 (NO in step A10), the process moves to step A12.

In step A11 described above, the control device 30 sets the leg driving flag F_TIRE to 1, and proceeds to step A12.

In step A12, the control device 30 determines whether the speaking flag F_UTTER is 0 or not.
If the speaking flag F_UTTER is 0 (YES in step A12), the process moves to step A13.
If the speaking flag F_UTTER is not 0 (NO in step A12), the process returns to step A1.

In step A13 described above, the control device 30 determines whether or not there is a drive instruction to the utterance unit 50.
Here, the control device 30 receives, for example, sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone), image information acquired by a camera of the device 100, and various information provided in the device 100. A drive instruction is given to the speech unit 50 according to the analysis result based on the detection signal of the sensor.
For example, the device 100 acquires a question from a user using the environmental volume acquisition unit 31, analyzes the content from the voice of the question, and controls the utterance unit 50 by instructing it to drive according to the content, thereby responding to the question. vocalize the response.
If there is a drive instruction to the utterance section 50 (YES at step A13), the process moves to step A14.
If there is no instruction to drive the speech unit 50 (NO in step A13), the process returns to step A1.

In step A14 above, the control device 30 sets the speaking flag F_UTTER to 1, and returns to step A1.

As described above, since the control device 30 performs the setting process for the device 100, each drive unit 20 (neck drive unit 21, arm drive unit 22, leg drive unit 23) and speech unit 50 are all stopped. In this case, the volume of the environmental sound SVENV can be obtained. Therefore, the control device 30 can obtain the volume SVENV of pure environmental sound, which is not mixed with the operation sound generated by the device 100 itself, at a timely timing while the device 100 is activated.
Moreover, since the control device 30 sets a flag corresponding to each drive unit 20 when there is a drive instruction for each drive unit 20, each drive unit 20 can be controlled independently.

Next, control processing of the drive unit 20 (neck drive unit 21, arm drive unit 22, leg drive unit 23) and speech unit 50 will be individually explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. As mentioned above, a predetermined priority is set for the operation of the plurality of driven parts 10 consisting of the neck body 11, the arm body 12, and the leg body 13, and the priority of the neck body 11 is higher than that of the arm body 12. The priority of the leg 13 is higher than the priority of the arm 12 (priority: neck 11 > leg 13 > arm 12). In these control processes, when suppressing the operation sound of the device 100 according to the environmental sound volume SVENV, the driving speed of the neck body 11 is reduced, the driving speed of the leg bodies 13 is reduced, and The amount of drive of the leg body 13 is reduced and the arm body 12 is stopped (driving speed=0, amount of drive=0).

(Control processing of neck drive unit 21)
First, the control process of the neck drive section 21 will be explained with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 30 performs control processing of the neck drive unit 21 according to the following control method.

In step B1 of FIG. 3, the control device 30 determines whether the neck driving flag F_NECK is 1 or not.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is not 1 (NO in step B1), the process returns to step B1 again.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is 1 (YES in step B1), the process moves to step B2.

In step B2 above, the control device 30 compares the volume SVENV of the environmental sound and the neck movement sound SVNECK, and determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the neck movement sound SVNECK.
This neck operation sound SVNECK is an operation sound generated by the neck drive unit 21 and the entire neck body 11 under control in the normal mode, which will be described later. Stored in ROM. In this case, the neck movement sound SVNECK is set to, for example, 40 dB.
If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is greater than or equal to the neck movement sound SVNECK (NO in step B2), the process moves to step B3.
If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the neck movement sound SVNECK (YES in step B2), the process moves to step B4.

In step B3 described above, the control device 30 sets the neck voltage value VONECK applied to the electric motor of the neck drive unit 21 to the target neck voltage value VONOBJ, which is a predetermined fixed value, and proceeds to step B5.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operation sound does not bother the user's ears, so the control device 30 operates the neck drive unit 21 at the target neck voltage value VONOBJ, which is the voltage value in the normal mode.

In step B4 above, the control device 30 sets the neck voltage value VONECK applied to the electric motor of the neck drive unit 21 to a value obtained by subtracting the neck voltage suppression value VNREF from the target neck voltage value VONOBJ, which is a fixed value. , move on to step B5.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sounds of the neck drive unit 21 and the neck body 11 are annoying to the user, so the control device 30 sets the voltage value in the quiet mode (target neck voltage value VONOBJ - neck voltage). The neck drive unit 21 is operated at the suppression value VNREF).
As a result, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the electric motor, gear, and neck body 11 that constitute the neck drive section 21 rotate at a low rotational speed (drive speed), so that the entire electric motor, gear, and neck body 11 are The operating noise generated can be suppressed. In other words, the drive control unit 32 controls the neck drive unit 21 so that the drive speed of the neck body 11 is reduced in order to suppress the volume of the operation sound of the device 100.
Here, the neck voltage suppression value VNREF is set in advance so that the neck voltage value VONECK calculated by subtraction is the lowest voltage value that allows the neck drive unit 21 and the neck body 11 to operate without any trouble. .

In step B5 described above, the control device 30 calculates the target neck angle θNOBJ, which is the target value of the rotational angular position of the neck body 11, and proceeds to step B6.
Here, the control device 30 controls the target neck based on analysis results such as sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone) and image information acquired by the camera of the device 100, for example. Calculate the angle θNOBJ.

In step B6 above, the control device 30 performs feedback (FB) control based on the target neck angle θNOBJ and the actual neck angle θNECK, which is the rotation angle position of the neck body 11 calculated as described above. , proceed to step B7.
That is, the control device 30 performs feedback control on the neck drive unit 21 so that the actual neck angle θNECK becomes the target neck angle θNOBJ. In this feedback control, the neck voltage value VONECK set in step B3 or B4 is applied to the electric motor of the neck drive section 21.

In step B7 described above, the control device 30 determines whether or not the movement of the neck body 11 is completed.
Specifically, when the actual neck angle θNECK converges to the target neck angle θNOBJ, it is determined that the movement of the neck body 11 has been completed (YES in step B7), and the process moves to step B8.
If the actual neck angle θNECK does not converge to the target neck angle θNOBJ, it is determined that the movement of the neck body 11 is not completed (NO in step B7), and the process returns to step B6. As described above, feedback control based on the target neck angle θNOBJ and the actual neck angle θNECK is repeated until θNECK converges to θNOBJ.

In step B8 described above, the control device 30 sets the neck driving flag F_NECK to 0 in order to end the current driving of the neck body 11 under the control of the neck driving section 21, and returns to step B1.

In this way, when the control device 30 operates the neck drive unit 21, if the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the neck movement sound SVNECK, that is, if the environmental sound is relatively quiet, if SVENV≧SVNECK, Compared to this, by applying a smaller voltage to the neck drive unit 21, the driving speed of the neck body 11 is adjusted to be lower, so that operational noise can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.
Furthermore, when suppressing the operation noise of the device 100, the driving speed of the neck body 11 is reduced without restricting the drive amount of the neck body 11 (high priority driven part), which has the highest operational priority. Although the time required is longer, it is possible to cause the neck body 11 to perform desired movements and ensure the functionality and expressiveness of the neck body 11.

(Control processing of arm drive unit 22)
Next, the control process of the arm drive section 22 will be explained with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 30 performs control processing of the arm drive unit 22 according to the following control method.

First, in step C1 of FIG. 4, the control device 30 determines whether the arm driving flag F_ARM is 1 or not.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is not 1 (NO in step C1), the process returns to step C1 again.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is 1 (YES in step C1), the process moves to step C2.

In step C2 above, the control device 30 compares the volume SVENV of the environmental sound and the arm movement sound SVARM, and determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the arm movement sound SVARM. This arm operation sound SVARM is an operation sound generated by the entire arm drive unit 22 and arm body 12 under control in the normal mode, which will be described later. Stored in ROM. In this case, the arm action sound SVARM is set to, for example, 60 dB.

If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is greater than or equal to the arm movement sound SVARM (NO in step C2), the process moves to step C3.
If the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is smaller than the arm movement sound SVARM (YES in step C2), the process moves to step C4.

In step C3 described above, the control device 30 sets the arm voltage value VOARM applied to the electric motor of the arm drive unit 22 to the target arm voltage value VOAOBJ, which is a predetermined fixed value, and proceeds to step C5.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operation sounds of the arm drive section 22 and the arm body 12 will not be harsh to the user, so the control device 30 operates the arm drive section at the target arm voltage value VOAOBJ, which is the voltage value in the normal mode. 22 is activated.

In step C4 described above, the control device 30 sets the arm voltage value VOARM applied to the electric motor of the arm drive unit 22 to 0 (zero), and moves to step C8, which will be described later.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively low, the operation sound of the arm drive section 22 and the arm body 12 becomes harsh to the user, so the control device 30 does not drive the arm drive section 22. That is, control is executed in the quiet mode, and the electric motor of the arm drive unit 22 is stopped together with the arm body 12.
As a result, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the electric motor, gear, and arm body 12 that constitute the arm drive section 22 are stopped, so that the operation noise generated from the electric motor, gear, and arm body 12 as a whole can be suppressed. In other words, the drive control unit 32 controls the arm drive unit 22 so that the drive speed of the arm body 12 is reduced (stopped) in order to suppress the volume of the operation sound of the device 100.

In step C5 above, the control device 30 calculates the target arm angle θAOBJ, which is the target value of the rotational angular position of the arm body 12, and proceeds to step C6.
Here, the control device 30 controls the target arm according to analysis results such as sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone) and image information acquired by the camera of the device 100, for example. Calculate the angle θAOBJ.

In step C6 above, the control device 30 performs feedback (FB) control based on the target arm angle θAOBJ and the actual arm angle θARM, which is the rotational angular position of the arm body 12 calculated as described above. Then, proceed to step C7.
That is, the control device 30 performs feedback control on the arm drive unit 22 so that the actual arm angle θARM becomes the target arm angle θAOBJ. In this feedback control, the arm voltage value VOARM set in step C3 is applied to the electric motor of the arm drive section 22.

In step C7 above, the control device 30 determines whether the movement of the arm body 12 is completed.
Specifically, when the actual arm angle θARM converges to the target arm angle θAOBJ, it is determined that the movement of the arm body 12 has been completed (YES in step C7), and the process moves to step C8.
If the actual arm angle θARM does not converge to the target arm angle θAOBJ, it is determined that the movement of the arm body 12 is not completed (NO in step C7), and the process returns to step C6. As described above, feedback control based on the target arm angle θAOBJ and the actual arm angle θARM is repeated until θARM converges to θAOBJ.

In step C8 described above, the control device 30 sets the arm driving flag F_ARM to 0 in order to end the current driving of the arm body 12 under the control of the arm driving section 22, and returns to step C1.

In this way, when the control device 30 operates the arm drive unit 22, if the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is smaller than the neck movement sound SVNECK, that is, if the environmental sound is relatively quiet, if SVENV≧SVNECK, By applying a smaller voltage to the arm drive unit 22, the drive speed of the arm body 12 is adjusted to be lower than that of the arm drive unit 22, so that operational noise can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.
Further, when suppressing the operation noise of the device 100, the arm 12 (low priority driven part) having the lowest priority of operation is stopped, so the above effect can be effectively obtained.

(Control processing of leg drive section 23)
Next, the control process of the leg drive section 23 will be explained with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the control device 30 performs control processing of the leg drive unit 23 according to the following control method.

First, in step D1 of FIG. 5, the control device 30 determines whether the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 1 or not.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is not 1 (NO in step D1), the process returns to step D1 again.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 1 (YES in step D1), the process moves to step D2.

In step D2 described above, the control device 30 calculates the target leg drive amount MAOBJ, which is the target value of the drive amount of the leg 13 (the amount of movement of the tire that is the leg 13), and proceeds to step D3.
Here, the control device 30 controls the target leg according to analysis results such as sound information based on an input signal acquired from the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 (microphone) and image information acquired by the camera of the device 100, for example. Calculate the drive amount MAOBJ.

In step D3 above, the control device 30 compares the volume SVENV of the environmental sound and the leg movement sound SVTIRE, and determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the leg movement sound SVTIRE.
This leg operation sound SVTIRE is an operation sound generated by the entire leg drive unit 23 and leg body 13 under control in the normal mode, which will be described later. is memorized. In this case, the leg movement sound SVTIRE is set to, for example, 80 dB.

If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is greater than or equal to the leg movement sound SVTIRE (NO in step D3), the process moves to step D4.
If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the leg movement sound SVTIRE (YES in step D3), the process moves to step D5.

In step D4 described above, the control device 30 sets the leg voltage value VOTIRE applied to the electric motor of the leg drive unit 23 to the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ, which is a predetermined fixed value, and proceeds to step D7.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operating sound of the leg drive section 23 and the leg body 13 will not be harsh to the user, so the control device 30 operates the leg drive section at the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ, which is the voltage value in the normal mode. 23 is activated.

In the above step D5, the control device 30 sets the leg voltage value VOTIRE applied to the electric motor of the leg drive unit 23 to a value obtained by subtracting the leg voltage suppression value VTREF from the above target leg voltage value VOTOBJ, and in step Move to D6.
In other words, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sounds of the leg drive unit 23 and the leg body 13 are annoying to the user, so the control device 30 sets a relatively low voltage value (target leg voltage value VOTOBJ - leg voltage value) in the quiet mode. The leg drive section 23 is operated at the voltage suppression value VTREF).
As a result, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the electric motor, gear, and tires forming the leg body 13 rotate at a low rotational speed (drive speed), so that the entire electric motor, gears, and tires rotate at a low rotational speed (drive speed). It is possible to suppress the operating noise generated from the In other words, the drive control unit 32 controls the leg drive unit 23 so that the drive speed of the legs 13 is reduced in order to suppress the volume of the operation sound of the device 100.
Here, the leg voltage suppression value VTREF is set in advance so that the leg voltage value VOTIRE calculated by subtraction is the lowest voltage value that allows the leg drive unit 23 and the leg body 13 to operate without any trouble. .

Following step D5, in step D6 described above, the control device 30 sets the target leg drive amount MAOBJ to the minimum leg drive amount MAMIN, which is a predetermined minimum value, and proceeds to step D7. This minimum leg drive amount MAMIN is set to a smaller value than the MAOBJ value calculated in step D2 above.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the operating sound of the leg drive unit 23 and the leg body 13 becomes harsh to the user, so the control device 30 operates the leg drive unit 23 at a relatively low voltage value in the quiet mode. (step D5), the leg drive unit 23 is operated with the minimum leg drive amount MAMIN, which is a relatively small drive amount in the quiet mode.

In step D7 described above, the control device 30 provides feedback (FB ) control, and the process moves to step D8.
That is, the control device 30 performs feedback control on the leg drive unit 23 so that the actual leg drive amount MAACT becomes the target leg drive amount MAOBJ. In this feedback control, the leg voltage value VOTIRE set in step D4 or D5 is applied to the electric motor of the leg drive unit 23.

In step D8 above, the control device 30 determines whether the movement of the leg 13 is completed.
Specifically, when the actual leg drive amount MAACT converges to the target leg drive amount MAOBJ, it is determined that the movement of the leg body 13 is completed (YES in step D8), and the process moves to step D9.
If the actual leg drive amount MAACT does not converge to the target leg drive amount MAOBJ, it is determined that the movement of the leg body 13 is not completed (NO in step D8), and the process returns to step D7. As described above, feedback control based on the actual leg drive amount MAACT and the target leg drive amount MAOBJ is repeated until MAACT converges to MAOBJ.

In step D9 described above, the control device 30 sets the leg driving flag F_TIRE to 0 in order to end the current drive of the leg body 13 under the control of the leg drive unit 23, and returns to step D1.

In this way, when the control device 30 operates the leg drive unit 23, if the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is smaller than the leg operation sound SVTIRE, that is, if the environmental sound is relatively quiet, if SVENV≧SVTIRE, By applying a smaller voltage to the leg drive unit 23, the driving speed of the leg 13 is adjusted to be lower, and the amount of drive of the leg 13 is adjusted to be smaller (MAOBJ← MAMIN), so operating noise can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.
In addition, when suppressing the operation noise of the device 100, the drive amount of the leg body 13 (low priority driven part) whose operation priority is lower than the neck body 11 and higher than the arm body 12 in the normal mode. Since the height is adjusted to be smaller than that, the functionality and expressiveness of the leg body 13 can be ensured to some extent.

(Control processing of utterance unit 50)
Next, the control process of the speech unit 50 will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control device 30 performs control processing of the speech unit 50 according to the following control method.

First, in step E1 of FIG. 6, the control device 30 determines whether the speaking flag F_UTTER is 1 or not.
If the speaking flag F_UTTER is not 1 (NO in step E1), the process returns to step E1 again.
If the speaking flag F_UTTER is 1 (YES in step E1), the process moves to step E2.

In step E2 above, the control device 30 sets the target speech volume SVOBJ, which is the target value of the speech volume of the speech unit 50, to the obtained environmental sound volume SVENV, which is a predetermined audible sound volume set in advance. The audible volume is set to a value including the audible volume SVAUD, and the process moves to step E3. Thereby, the volume of the speech sound produced by the speech unit 50 is controlled to become the target speech volume SVOBJ.

In step E3, the control device 30 sets the speaking flag F_UTTER to 0, and returns to step E1.

In this way, when the control device 30 operates the speech section 50, it adjusts the volume of the speech section 50 so that it becomes larger by the audible volume SVAUD than the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. You can increase the volume when it is loud and suppress the volume when the environmental sound is relatively quiet. Therefore, the speech sound of the device 100 can be easily heard, and problems such as the speech sound of the device 100 becoming harsh on the ears can be prevented.

Note that the above-mentioned control processing of the neck drive section 21 (see FIG. 3), control processing of the arm drive section 22 (see FIG. 4), control processing of the leg drive section 23 (see FIG. 5), and control processing of the speech section 50 (see FIG. The control processes (see FIG. 6) are executed in synchronization with each other.

Further, in the first embodiment, the neck voltage suppression value VNREF used in step B4 of FIG. 3 is set to a predetermined fixed value, but it may be set variably according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound The smaller SVENV is, the larger VNREF is set). This similarly applies to the leg voltage suppression value VTREF used in step D5 of FIG.
Furthermore, in the first embodiment, when SVENV<SVRAM (step C2: YES), VOARM is set to the value 0 to stop the arm body 12 (step C4), but steps D5 and D6 in FIG. As in, VOARM may be set to a value obtained by subtracting a predetermined suppression value from VOAOBJ, and the target arm drive amount, which is the target value of the drive amount of the arm body 12, may be set to the minimum value. In this case as well, the predetermined suppression value may be set variably depending on the volume SVENV of the environmental sound.

Further, in the first embodiment, the neck movement sound SVNECK, arm movement sound SVARM, and leg movement sound SVTIRE are used for the determination in steps B2, C2, and D3, but other appropriate threshold values may be used. . For example, for the determination in each of steps B2, C2, and D3, a threshold value obtained by adding or subtracting a predetermined value to each of the corresponding neck movement sound SVNECK, arm movement sound SVARM, and leg movement sound SVTIRE may be used. Alternatively, thresholds set independently of the corresponding neck movement sounds SVNECK, arm movement sounds SVARM, and leg movement sounds SVTIRE may be used for the determination in each of steps B2, C2, and D3.
Further, in the first embodiment, the volume of the speech sound of the speech unit 50 is controlled according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound, but it may be controlled independently of the volume SVENV of the environmental sound.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the second embodiment) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13.
The setting process of the device 100 and the control process of the utterance unit 50 according to the second embodiment are similar to the setting process of the device 100 (see FIG. 2) and the control process of the utterance unit 50 (see FIG. 6) according to the first embodiment. is executed. In the following, a description of processes common to the process according to the first embodiment will be omitted, and the processes different from the first embodiment, such as a control process for the neck drive unit 21 (see FIG. 7) and a control process for the arm drive unit 22, will be omitted. (See FIG. 9) and the control process of the leg drive unit 23 (See FIG. 12) will be mainly explained.
Note that the control processing of the neck drive unit 21, the arm drive unit 22, the leg drive unit 23, and the speech unit 50 (see FIG. 6) are the same as in the first embodiment. , may be executed synchronously.

(Control processing of neck drive unit 21)
First, the control process of the neck drive section 21 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 30 performs control processing of the neck drive unit 21 according to the following control method.

First, in step F1 of FIG. 7, the control device 30 determines whether the neck driving flag F_NECK is 1 or not.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is not 1 (NO in step F1), the process returns to step F1 again.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is 1 (YES in step F1), the process moves to step F2.

In this step F2, the control device 30 searches for a predetermined neck voltage value VONECK calculation map as shown in FIG. Calculate the voltage value applied to the
Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the neck voltage value VONECK calculation map represents the relationship between the neck voltage value VONECK and the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. In the map for calculating the neck voltage value VONECK, in the range where the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is equal to or higher than the neck movement sound SVNECK, the neck voltage value VONECK is set to the target neck voltage value VONOBJ for the normal mode, and the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is set to the target neck voltage value VONOBJ for the normal mode. In a range smaller than the neck movement sound SVNECK, the neck voltage value VONECK is set to a smaller value as the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller, in order to execute the control according to the quiet mode in the second embodiment. When the volume SVENV is 0 (zero), it is set to the minimum neck voltage value VONMIN. This minimum neck voltage value VONMIN is set to the minimum voltage value that allows the neck body 11 to operate.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operation sound does not bother the user's ears, so the control device 30 operates the neck drive unit 21 at the target neck voltage value VONOBJ, which is the voltage value in the normal mode. If the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sound will be annoying to the user, so the quiet mode control lowers the voltage value for operating the neck drive unit 21 according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. And the neck body 11 is operated so that the overall operating noise is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.

In step F3 following step F2 above, the control device 30 calculates the target neck angle θNOBJ, which is the target value of the rotational angular position of the neck body 11, as described in the first embodiment, and proceeds to step F4. .

In the above step F4 and steps F5 and F6 following step F4, the control device 30 executes the same processing as steps B6, B7 and B8 in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment.
That is, feedback control based on the target neck angle θNOBJ and the actual neck angle θNECK (rotational angular position of the neck body 11) calculated as described in the first embodiment is performed when the actual neck angle θNECK is the target neck angle θNOBJ. This is repeated until convergence (steps F4 and F5). This feedback control uses the neck voltage value VONECK calculated in step F2.
Further, by this feedback control, when the actual neck angle θNECK converges to the target neck angle θNOBJ (step F5: YES), it is assumed that the drive is completed, and the current drive of the neck body 11 under the control of the neck drive unit 21 ends. In order to do so, the neck driving flag F_NECK is set to 0 (step F6), and the process returns to step F1.

As described above, when operating the neck drive unit 21, the control device 30 adjusts the voltage applied to the neck drive unit 21 by searching the neck voltage value VONECK calculation map according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. Therefore, when the environmental sound is relatively quiet, the operation sound can be suppressed according to the size (lowness) of the environmental sound. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears. In this case, the smaller the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is, the smaller the voltage applied to the neck drive unit 21 is set (see FIG. 8), so that the drive speed of the neck body 11 is adjusted to be lower. By doing so, the operating noise can be suppressed more precisely.
Furthermore, when suppressing the operation noise of the device 100, the driving speed of the neck body 11 is reduced without limiting the amount of drive of the neck body 11, which has the highest priority for operation, as in the first embodiment. , the functionality and expressiveness of the neck body 11 can be ensured.

(Control processing of arm drive unit 22)
Next, the control process of the arm drive section 22 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11. As shown in FIG. 9, the control device 30 performs control processing of the arm drive unit 22 according to the following control method.

First, in step G1 of FIG. 9, the control device 30 determines whether the arm driving flag F_ARM is 1 or not.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is not 1 (NO in step G1), the process returns to step G1 again.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is 1 (YES in step G1), the process moves to step G2.

In step G2 described above, the control device 30 searches for a predetermined arm voltage value VOARM calculation map as shown in FIG. Calculate the voltage value applied to the
Here, as shown in FIG. 10, the arm voltage value VOARM calculation map represents the relationship between the arm voltage value VOARM and the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. In the map for calculating the arm voltage value VOARM, the arm voltage value VOARM is set to the target arm voltage value VOAOBJ, which is a fixed value, in the range where the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is larger than the arm movement sound SVARM, and the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is set to the target arm voltage value VOAOBJ. In a range that is smaller than the movement sound SVARM and larger than the predetermined minimum arm movement sound SVMIN, the smaller the environmental sound volume SVENV is, the smaller the value is set, and in the range where the environmental sound volume SVENV is smaller than the minimum arm movement sound SVMIN , is set to 0 (zero).
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operation sound does not bother the user's ears, so the control device 30 operates the arm drive unit 22 at the target arm voltage value VOABJ, which is the voltage value in the normal mode. If the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sound will be annoying to the user, so the quiet mode control in the second embodiment lowers the voltage value for operating the arm drive unit 22 according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. , the arm drive unit 22 and the arm body 12 are operated so that the overall operating noise is reduced. In addition, if the environmental sound is extremely low, the operation sound will be annoying to the user even if the operation is extremely small, so the voltage value for operating the arm drive unit 22 is set to 0 (zero) by control in the quiet mode. By stopping the section 22 and the arm body 12, the entire operating sound of the arm drive section 22 and the arm body 12 is eliminated.

In step G3 following step G2 above, the control device 30 calculates the target arm angle θAOBJ as described in the first embodiment.

Next, the control device 30 calculates the arm suppression angle θSUB by searching a map for calculating the arm suppression angle θSUB as shown in FIG. 11 according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound (step G4). Next, the control device 30 sets the target arm angle θAOBJ of the arm drive unit 22 to a value obtained by subtracting the arm suppression angle θSUB from the target arm angle θAOBJ calculated in step G3 above (step G5).

Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the arm suppression angle θSUB calculation map represents the relationship between the arm suppression angle θSUB and the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. In the map for calculating the arm suppression angle θSUB, the arm suppression angle θSUB is set to 0 (zero) in a range where the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is larger than the arm movement sound SVARM, and the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is smaller than the arm movement sound SVARM. , in a range larger than a predetermined minimum arm movement sound SVMIN, the smaller the environmental sound volume SVENV is, the larger the value is set, and in a range where the environmental sound volume SVENV is smaller than the minimum arm movement sound SVMIN, the value is set to the maximum value. The maximum arm suppression angle θMAX is set.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sounds of the arm drive unit 22 and the arm body 12 are annoying to the user. The arm drive unit 22 is operated at the arm suppression angle θSUB).
In step G5 above, when the target arm angle θAOBJ takes a negative value (when the arm suppression angle θSUB is larger than the arm swing angle θOBJ), the value of the target arm angle θAOBJ is set to 0 (zero). Due to this and the above-mentioned setting of the arm voltage value VOARM to the value 0 (see FIG. 10), the control device 30 stops the arm drive section 22 and the arm body 12.

That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operation sound does not bother the user's ears, so the control device 30 operates the arm drive unit 22 at the arm swing angle θOBJ, which is the swing angle in the normal mode. If the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sound will be harsh to the user's ears. Therefore, by controlling in the quiet mode, the swinging angle (swinging range), and the arm drive unit 22 and the arm body 12 are operated so that the overall operating noise is reduced. In addition, when the environmental sound is extremely low, even if the movement is extremely small, the operation sound will be annoying to the user. The entire operation sound of the arm body 12 is made to disappear. As described above, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh to the ears.

In step G6 following step G5, and steps G7 and G8 following step G6, the control device 30 performs the same processing as steps C6, C7, and C8 in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment.
That is, feedback control based on the target arm angle θAOBJ calculated in step G5 and the actual arm angle θARM (rotational angular position of the arm body 12) calculated as described in the first embodiment is performed based on the actual arm angle θAOBJ. This is repeated until θARM converges to the target arm angle θAOBJ (steps G6 and G7). This feedback control uses the arm voltage value VOARM calculated in step G2.
Further, by this feedback control, when the actual arm angle θARM converges to the target arm angle θAOBJ (step G7: YES), the drive is deemed to have been completed, and the current drive of the arm body 12 under the control of the arm drive unit 22 is terminated. In order to do so, the arm driving flag F_ARM is set to 0 (step G8), and the process returns to step G1.

As described above, when operating the arm drive unit 22, the control device 30 adjusts the voltage applied to the arm drive unit 22 by searching the map for calculating the arm voltage value VOARM according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound, and adjusts the voltage applied to the arm drive unit 22. The swing angle of the arm body 12 is adjusted by searching the map for calculating the arm suppression angle θSUB according to the volume SVENV of operation noise can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.
In this case, as the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller, the voltage applied to the arm drive unit 22 is set to a smaller value (see FIG. 10), so that the drive speed of the arm body 12 is adjusted to be lower. By setting the target arm angle θAOBJ to a smaller value (FIG. 11 and step G5), the amount of drive of the arm body 12 is adjusted to be smaller, thereby making it possible to further reduce and finely suppress the operation noise.
Further, when suppressing the operation sound of the device 100, in a range where the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is smaller than the minimum arm operation sound SVMIN, by setting the voltage applied to the arm drive unit 22 to 0 (see FIG. 10), Since the arm body 12 whose motion has the lowest priority is stopped, the above effect can be effectively obtained.

(Control processing of leg drive unit 23)
Next, the control process of the leg drive section 23 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. As shown in FIG. 12, the control device 30 performs control processing of the leg drive unit 23 according to the following control method.

First, in step H1 of FIG. 12, the control device 30 determines whether the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 1 or not.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is not 1 (NO in step H1), the process returns to step H1 again.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 1 (YES in step H1), the process moves to step H2.

In step H2 described above, the control device 30 searches the leg voltage value VOTIRE calculation map as shown in FIG. The voltage value) is calculated, and the process moves to step H3.
Here, as shown in FIG. 13, the leg voltage value VOTIRE calculation map represents the relationship between the leg voltage value VOTIRE and the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. In the map for calculating the leg voltage value VOTIRE, the leg voltage value VOTIRE is set to the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ, which is a fixed value, in the range where the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is larger than the leg movement sound SVTIRE, and the volume of the environmental sound SVENV is set to the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ, which is a fixed value. In a range smaller than the operation sound SVTIRE, the smaller the environmental sound volume SVENV is, the smaller the value is set, and when the environmental sound volume SVENV is 0 (zero), the minimum leg voltage value VOTMIN is set. This minimum leg voltage value VOTMIN is set to the minimum voltage value that allows the leg body 13 to operate.
That is, when the environmental sound is relatively loud, the operation sound does not bother the user, so the control device 30 operates the leg drive unit 23 at the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ, which is the voltage value in the normal mode. If the environmental sound is relatively small, the operation sound will be annoying to the user, so the quiet mode control lowers the voltage value for operating the leg drive unit 23 according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound. And the legs 13 are operated so that the overall operation noise is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.

In step H3 above, the control device 30 calculates the target leg drive amount MAOBJ as described in the first embodiment, and proceeds to step H4.

In step H4 above, the control device 30 compares the volume SVENV of the environmental sound and the leg movement sound SVTIRE, and determines whether the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the leg movement sound SVTIRE.
If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the leg movement sound SVTIRE (YES in step H4), the process moves to step H6.
If the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is greater than or equal to the leg movement sound SVTIRE (NO in step H4), the control device 30 sets the target leg drive amount MAOBJ of the leg drive unit 23 to the quiet mode as in the first embodiment. In order to execute this, a predetermined minimum leg drive amount MAMIN is set (step H5), and the process moves to step H6.

In step H6, and steps H7 and H8 following step H6, the control device 30 performs the same processing as steps D7, D8, and D9 in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment.
That is, it is based on the target leg drive amount MAOBJ calculated or set in step H3 or H5 and the actual leg drive amount MAACT (actual drive amount of the leg 13) calculated as explained in the first embodiment. Feedback control is repeatedly performed until the actual leg drive amount MAACT converges to the target leg drive amount MAOBJ (steps H6 and H7). The leg voltage value VOTIRE calculated in step H2 is used for this feedback control.
Further, by this feedback control, when the actual leg drive amount MAACT converges to the target leg drive amount MAOBJ (step H7: YES), it is assumed that the drive is completed, and the leg body 13 is driven by the current control of the leg drive unit 23. To end the process, the leg driving flag F_TIRE is set to 0 (step H8), and the process returns to step H1.

In this way, when operating the leg drive unit 23, the control device 30 adjusts the voltage applied to the leg drive unit 23 by searching the map for calculating the leg voltage value VOTIRE according to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound, and Since the driving amount of the leg body 13 is adjusted by setting the target leg driving amount MAOBJ according to the same as in the first embodiment, operation noise can be suppressed when environmental sounds are relatively quiet. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.
In this case, the smaller the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is, the lower the voltage applied to the leg drive unit 23 is set to a smaller value (see FIG. 13), so that the driving speed of the leg 13 is adjusted to be lower. As a result, operating noise can be suppressed more precisely.
Further, as in the case of the first embodiment, when suppressing the operation noise of the device 100, the driving amount of the leg body 13 whose operation priority is lower than that of the neck body 11 and higher than that of the arm body 12 is made smaller than usual. Since the adjustment is made, the functionality and expressiveness of the leg body 13 can be ensured to a certain extent.

In the second embodiment, when the volume of the environmental sound SVENV of the neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13 is smaller than each of the neck motion sound SVNECK, arm motion sound SVARM, and leg motion sound SVTIRE, The drive unit 20 is controlled so that the lower the environmental sound volume SVENV is, the lower the volume of the operating sound of the device 100 is. It may be performed in the entire range of the environmental sound volume SVENV, regardless of the leg movement sound SVTIRE.
Furthermore, in the second embodiment, various parameters such as the neck voltage value VONECK are calculated using various corresponding maps shown in FIGS. 8, 10, 11, and 13. It may be performed using a formula (model formula).

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the third embodiment) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16.
The setting process of the device 100 and the control process of the utterance unit 50 according to the third embodiment are the setting process of the device 100 (see FIG. 2) and the control process of the utterance unit 50 (see FIG. 2) according to the first and second embodiments. 6)). In the following, description of processes common to the processes according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be omitted, and the control process of the neck drive unit 21 (FIG. 14), which is the process different from the first embodiment and the second embodiment. (see FIG. 15), control processing of the arm drive section 22 (see FIG. 15), and control processing of the leg drive section 23 (see FIG. 16) will be mainly described.

First, an overview of the control processing of the neck drive section 21, arm drive section 22, and leg drive section 23 will be described. In each control process, each drive unit 20 is once controlled in the normal mode described in the first embodiment, and based on the microphone detection signal of the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 obtained while the driven unit 10 is being driven thereby. , the overall volume of the environmental sound and the operation sound of the device 100 is acquired (calculated) (step J5, etc., which will be described later). Then, when the volume SVENV of the environmental sound acquired immediately before driving the driven unit 10 is smaller than the overall volume, it is determined that the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 ( Step J7, which will be described later, etc.), the quiet mode control described in the first embodiment is executed. Note that, unlike the first embodiment, the control process for the speaking section 50 according to the third embodiment is executed after the driving of the driven section 10 is completed. Further, the control processing of the neck drive unit 21, arm drive unit 22, and leg drive unit 23 is executed in synchronization with each other, as in the first embodiment.

(Control processing of neck drive unit 21)
Next, the control process of the neck drive section 21 will be explained with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the control device 30 performs control processing of the neck drive unit 21 according to the following control method.

In step J1 of FIG. 14, the control device 30 determines whether the neck driving flag F_NECK is 1 or not.
If the neck driving flag F_NECK is not 1 (NO in step J1), the process returns to step J1 again.

On the other hand, if the neck driving flag F_NECK is 1 (YES in step J1), the neck body 11 is driven under normal mode control by executing the next steps J2 to J4. That is, in step J2, the control device 30 sets the neck voltage value VONECK to the target neck voltage value VONOBJ.

Next, in step J3, the control device 30 calculates the target neck angle θNOBJ as described in the first embodiment. Next, in step J4, the control device 30 performs feedback control based on the target neck angle θNOBJ and the actual neck angle θNECK, and proceeds to step J5.
That is, the control device 30 controls the neck drive unit 21 so that the actual neck angle θNECK becomes the target neck angle θNOBJ.

In the above step J5, the control device 30 calculates the overall actual sound volume SVACT based on the detection signal from the microphone of the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 at that time, and moves to step J6. This overall actual volume SVACT is the volume SVENV of the environmental sound during execution of control of the drive unit 20 in the normal mode, the driven unit 10 consisting of the neck body 11, the arm body 12, and the leg body 13, and the neck drive unit. 21, the entire operation sound of the drive section 20 consisting of the arm drive section 22 and the leg drive section 23. The reason will be explained later.

Subsequently, in step J6 described above, the control device 30 converts the differential operation sound VERSV from the overall actual sound volume SVACT calculated in step J5 to the environmental sound calculated in step A2 of FIG. 2 described in the first embodiment. The volume is set to a value obtained by subtracting the volume SVENV, and the process moves to step J7. As described above, in step A2, the environmental sound volume SVENV used in step J6 is updated every time the environmental sound volume SVENV is calculated while all driven parts 10 and speaking parts 50 are stopped. corresponds to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound when both the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are stopped, immediately before driving of the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 is started by setting various flags in subsequent steps A5, A8, A11, and A14. do. That is, the volume SVENV of the environmental sound corresponds to the volume SVENV of the environmental sound that does not include the operating sound of the device 100 and the speech sound of the speech unit 50. Further, as is clear from the above setting method, the differential operation sound VERSV corresponds to the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 including the driven section 10 and the drive section 20.

In step J7 above, the control device 30 compares the differential operating sound VERSV with a predetermined reference volume SREF, and determines whether the differential operating sound VERSV is larger than the reference volume SREF. This reference volume SREF is preset to a relatively small positive value.
If the differential operation sound VERSV is larger than the reference volume SREF (YES in step J7), that is, the volume SVENV of the environmental sound during the stop immediately before the driving of the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 is started is equal to the overall actual volume. If it is smaller than SVACT, it is determined that the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the volume of the operating sound of the device 100 generated by control in the normal mode, and the process moves to step J8. In step J8, the control device 30 sets the voltage value VONECK to a value obtained by subtracting the neck voltage suppression value VNREF from the target neck voltage value VONOBJ in order to execute the control in the quiet mode described in the first embodiment. , move to step J9.
On the other hand, if the differential operation sound VERSV is not larger than the reference volume SREF (NO in step J7), step J8 is skipped and the process moves to step J9.

In step J9 described above, the control device 30 again performs feedback control based on the target neck angle θNOBJ and the actual neck angle θNECK, and proceeds to step J10. In this case, this feedback control uses the neck voltage value VONECK set as the target neck voltage value VONOBJ in step J2 in the case of control in the normal mode, and in the case of control in the quiet mode, is used in step J8. The neck voltage value VONECK set to (VONOBJ-VNREF) is used.

In the above step J10, the control device 30 determines whether or not the driving of the neck body 11 is completed in the same manner as in step B7 of FIG. 3 of the first embodiment, and the actual neck angle θNECK becomes the target neck angle θNOBJ. The feedback control in step J9 is repeated until convergence.

Then, when the actual neck angle θNECK converges to the target neck angle θNOBJ, the control device 30 determines that the driving of the neck body 11 is completed (step J10: YES), and the current driving of the neck body 11 by the neck drive unit 21. To end the process, the neck driving flag F_NECK is set to 0 (step J11), and the process returns to step J1.

As described above, when the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are not being driven (stopped), the environmental volume acquisition unit 31 of the control device 30 acquires the volume SVENV of the environmental sound around the device 100 ( In step A2), when the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are being driven, the overall actual volume SVACT, which is the overall volume of the environmental sound and the operation sound of the device 100, is obtained (step J5, etc.). If the volume SVENV of this environmental sound is smaller than the overall actual volume SVACT calculated during the execution of control in the normal mode (steps J2 to J4, etc.) (step J7: YES), the volume SVENV of the environmental sound It is determined that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 is lower than that of the device 100, and the neck body 11 and the neck drive unit 21 are operated by control in the quiet mode, as in the first embodiment.
Therefore, unlike the case of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to set the neck motion sound SVNECK in advance, and the neck motion sound SVNECK does not need to be set in advance. , the operating sound of the device 100 can be appropriately suppressed, and a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh can be prevented.

(Control processing of arm drive unit 22)
Next, the control process of the arm drive section 22 will be explained.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart of control processing of the arm drive unit 22 according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, the control device 30 performs control processing of the arm drive unit 22 according to the following control method.

First, in step K1, the control device 30 determines whether the arm driving flag F_ARM is 1 or not.
If the arm driving flag F_ARM is not 1 (NO in step K1), the process returns to step K1 again.

On the other hand, when the arm driving flag F_ARM is 1 (YES in step K1), the arm body 12 is driven under normal mode control by executing the next steps K2 to K4. That is, in step K2, the control device 30 sets the arm voltage value VOARM applied to the electric motor of the arm drive unit 22 to the target arm voltage value VOAOBJ.

In step K3 following step K2, the control device 30 calculates the target arm angle θAOBJ as described in the first embodiment. Next, in step K4, the control device 30 performs feedback control based on the target arm angle θAOBJ and the actual arm angle θARM.
That is, the control device 30 controls the arm drive unit 22 so that the actual arm angle θARM becomes the target arm angle θAOBJ.

In step K5 following step K4, the control device 30 calculates the overall actual sound volume SVACT based on the detection signal from the microphone of the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 at that time, similar to step J5 in FIG.

In step K6 following step K5, the control device 30 sets the differential operation sound VERSV to a value obtained by subtracting the environmental sound volume SVENV from the overall actual sound volume SVACT calculated in step K5, as in step J6 of FIG. 14. Set.

In step K7 following step K6, the control device 30 compares the differential operating sound VERSV with the reference volume SREF, similar to step J7 in FIG. 14, and determines whether the differential operating sound VERSV is larger than the reference volume SREF. Discern.
If the differential operation sound VERSV is larger than the reference volume SREF (YES in step K7), the control device 30 executes control in the quiet mode in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and sets the arm voltage value VOARM to 0. (zero) (step K8), and the process moves to step K11, which will be described later.

On the other hand, if the differential operation sound VERSV is not larger than the reference sound volume SREF (NO in step K7), the control device 30 performs feedback control again based on the target arm angle θAOBJ and the actual arm angle θARM (step K9). That is, the control device 30 controls the arm drive unit 22 so that the actual arm angle θARM becomes the target arm angle θAOBJ. Thereby, the control device 30 operates the arm body 12 and the arm drive unit 22 under control in the normal mode.

In step K10 following step K9, the control device 30 determines whether the movement of the arm body 12 is completed in the same way as step C7 in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, and determines whether the actual arm angle θARM is The feedback control in step K9 is repeated until the angle converges to θAOBJ.

Then, when the actual arm angle θARM converges to the target arm angle θAOBJ, the control device 30 determines that the movement of the arm body 12 is completed (YES in step K10), and the arm drive unit 22 drives the arm body 12 this time. To end the process, in step K11, the arm driving flag F_ARM is set to 0, and the process returns to step K1.

As described above, when the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are not being driven (stopped), the environmental volume acquisition unit 31 of the control device 30 acquires the volume SVENV of the environmental sound around the device 100 ( In step A2), when the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are being driven, the overall actual volume SVACT, which is the overall volume of the environmental sound and the operation sound of the device 100, is obtained (step K5, etc.). If the volume SVENV of this environmental sound is smaller than the overall actual volume SVACT calculated during the execution of control in the normal mode (steps K2 to K4, etc.) (step K7: YES), the volume SVENV of the environmental sound It is determined that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 is lower than that of the device 100, and the arm body 12 and the arm drive unit 22 are stopped by control in the quiet mode, as in the first embodiment.
Therefore, unlike the case of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to set the arm movement sound SVARM in advance, and depending on the comparison result between the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 actually generated and the volume of the environmental sound SVENV. , the operating sound of the device 100 can be appropriately suppressed, and a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh can be prevented.

(Control processing of leg drive section 23)
Next, the control process of the leg drive section 23 will be explained with reference to FIG. 16. As shown in FIG. 16, the control device 30 performs control processing of the leg drive unit 23 according to the following control method.

First, in step L1, the control device 30 determines whether the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 1 or not.
If the leg driving flag F_TIRE is not 1 (NO in step L1), the process returns to step L1 again.

On the other hand, when the leg driving flag F_TIRE is 1 (YES in step L1), the leg body 13 is driven under normal mode control by executing the next steps L2 to L4. That is, in step L2, the control device 30 calculates the target leg drive amount MAOBJ as described in the first embodiment.

In step L3 following step L2, the control device 30 sets the leg voltage value VOTIRE to the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ. Next, in step L4, the control device 30 performs feedback control based on the target leg drive amount MAOBJ and the actual leg drive amount MAACT.
That is, the control device 30 controls the leg drive unit 23 so that the actual leg drive amount MAACT becomes the target leg drive amount MAOBJ.

In step L5 following step L4, the control device 30 calculates the overall actual sound volume SVACT based on the detection signal from the microphone of the environmental sound volume acquisition unit 31 at that time, similar to step J5 in FIG. As described above, the overall actual sound volume SVACT is determined by the volume SVENV of the environmental sound, the driven part 10 consisting of the neck body 11, the arm body 12, and the leg body 13, and , the entire operation sound of the drive section 20 consisting of the neck drive section 21, arm drive section 22, and leg drive section 23. This is due to the following reason. That is, since the control processes of the neck drive section 21, arm drive section 22, and leg drive section 23 are executed in synchronization with each other as described above, steps J2 to J4 in FIG. 14, steps K2 to K4 in FIG. The normal mode control by executing Steps L2 to L4 of 16 is executed simultaneously, and as a result, the driven section 10 consisting of the neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13, the neck drive section 21, and the arm drive section This is because the drive section 20 consisting of the leg drive section 22 and the leg drive section 23 operate simultaneously under control in the normal mode.

Subsequently, in step L6 following step L5, the control device 30 calculates the differential operating sound VERSV by subtracting the environmental sound volume SVENV from the overall actual volume SVACT calculated in step L5, as in step J6 of FIG. 14. Then, the process moves to step L7.

In step L7, the control device 30 compares the differential operating sound VERSV with the reference volume SREF, similar to step J7 in FIG. 14, and determines whether the differential operating sound VERSV is larger than the reference volume SREF.
If the differential operation sound VERSV is larger than the reference volume SREF (YES in step L7), the control device 30 sets the leg voltage value VOTIRE in order to execute control in the quiet mode in the same manner as in the first embodiment. , the target leg voltage value VOTOBJ is set to a value obtained by subtracting the leg voltage suppression value VTREF (step L8), and the target leg drive amount MAOBJ is set to the minimum leg drive amount MAMIN (step L9), and the process moves to step L10.

On the other hand, if the differential operation sound VERSV is not larger than the reference volume SREF (NO in step L7), steps L8 and L9 are skipped and the process moves to step L10 in order to drive the leg body 13 under control in the normal mode.

In step L10 described above, the control device 30 again performs feedback control based on the target leg drive amount MAOBJ and the actual leg drive amount MAACT. In this case, in the case of normal mode control, the target leg drive amount MAOBJ calculated in step L2 and the neck voltage value VONECK set as the target neck voltage value VONOBJ in step L3 are used for this feedback control. In the case of control in the quiet mode, the leg voltage value VOTIRE set to (VOTOBJ-VTREF) in step L8 and the target leg drive amount MAOBJ set to the minimum leg drive amount MAMIN in step L9 are used.

In step L11 following step L10, the control device 30 determines whether or not the driving of the leg body 13 is completed, in the same manner as step D8 in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment, and determines whether the actual leg drive amount MAACT is The feedback control in step L10 is repeated until the amount converges to the target leg drive amount MAOBJ.

Then, when the actual leg drive amount MAACT converges to the target leg drive amount MAOBJ, the control device 30 determines that the drive of the leg body 13 is completed (step L11: YES), and In order to end the driving of the leg, the leg driving flag F_TIRE is set to 0 (step L12), and the process returns to step L1.

As described above, when the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are not being driven (stopped), the environmental volume acquisition unit 31 of the control device 30 acquires the volume SVENV of the environmental sound around the device 100 ( In step A2), when the driven unit 10 and the speaking unit 50 are being driven, the overall actual volume SVACT, which is the overall volume of the environmental sound and the operation sound of the device 100, is obtained (step L5, etc.). If the volume SVENV of this environmental sound is smaller than the overall actual volume SVACT calculated during the execution of control in the normal mode (steps L2 to L4, etc.) (step L7: YES), the volume SVENV of the environmental sound It is determined that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 is lower than that of the device 100, and the leg body 13 and the leg drive unit 23 are operated by control in the quiet mode, as in the first embodiment.
Therefore, unlike the case of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to set the leg movement sound SVTIRE in advance, and depending on the comparison result between the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 actually generated and the volume of the environmental sound SVENV. , the operating sound of the device 100 can be appropriately suppressed, and a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh can be prevented.

According to the control device 30 of the device 100 of the present invention described above, the control device 30 of the device 100 operates when the driven part 10 is driven by the drive unit 20, and the control device 30 of the device 100 operates when the driven part 10 is driven by the drive part 20, The volume of the operation sound of the device 100 generated when the driven unit 10 is driven by the drive unit 20 is suppressed according to the acquired volume SVENV of the environmental sound. As shown in FIG. 2, since the drive control unit 32 is provided to control the drive unit 20, the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 can be suppressed according to the acquired volume SVENV of the environmental sound. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.

According to the above-described method for controlling the device 100 of the present invention, the method for controlling the device 100 that operates by driving the driven section 10 by the drive section 20 includes: In the environmental sound volume acquisition step of acquiring SVENV, and in accordance with the acquired environmental sound volume SVENV, the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 generated when the driven part 10 is driven by the driving part 20 is suppressed. and a control step of controlling the drive unit 20, so that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 can be suppressed according to the acquired volume SVENV of the environmental sound. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.

According to the program of the present invention described above, the computer of the control device 30 of the device 100 that operates when the driven section 10 is driven by the drive section 20 acquires the volume SVENV of the environmental sound around the device 100. drive so that the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 generated when the driven unit 10 is driven by the drive unit 20 is suppressed according to the environmental sound volume acquisition function and the volume SVENV of the acquired environmental sound. Since the control function for controlling the unit 20 is realized, the volume of the operation sound of the device 100 can be suppressed according to the acquired volume SVENV of the environmental sound. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem in which the operating sound of the device 100 becomes harsh on the ears.

In the third embodiment, the differential operation sound VERSV and the reference volume SREF are used for the determination of steps J7, K7, and L7, but instead of the reference volume SREF, for example, a value of 0 (zero) may be used. Alternatively, a negative predetermined value may be used. In that case, the operating noise of the device can be suppressed more strictly.
Further, in the third embodiment, when the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the overall actual volume SVACT, it is determined that the volume SVENV of the environmental sound is smaller than the volume of the device 100 through the determinations in steps J7, K7, and L7. However, for example, the volume of the environmental sound SVENV and the volume of the operating sound of the equipment can be determined separately by frequency analysis of the microphone detection signal of the environmental volume acquisition unit 31 obtained during execution of control in the normal mode. You may also obtain it and compare the two.
Furthermore, regarding the third embodiment, similarly to the second embodiment, the lower the volume SVENV of the environmental sound, the lower the volume of the operation sound of the device may be suppressed. In that case, various parameters such as the neck voltage value VONECK are calculated by searching a predetermined map according to the differential operation sound VERSV, or by using the differential operation sound VERSV and a predetermined calculation formula. .

Note that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments (first to third embodiments), and can be implemented in various ways. For example, in the embodiment, the device 100 is a robot that includes a neck body 11, an arm body 12, a leg body 13, and a speech unit 50. It may be a machine), or it may be a robot with more driven parts. That is, each of the numbers of driven parts 10 and driving parts 20 may be an appropriate number other than three (one, two, four or more).

Further, in the embodiment, the priority of the operations of the neck body 11, arm body 12, and leg body 13 is set in the order of neck body 11>leg body 13>arm body 12, but each of the plurality of driven parts The priority of the operation may be set to any other suitable level.
Furthermore, in the embodiment, in order to suppress the operating noise of the equipment, the driving section is controlled so that the driving speed of the driven section is reduced, but the greater the driving amount of the driven section, the more the operating noise becomes For larger devices, the driving section may be controlled so that the amount of drive of the driven section is reduced.

Further, in the embodiment, the device 100 is a robot, ie, a device that can operate autonomously, but it may also be any other suitable device that operates non-autonomously, such as an air conditioner.
Further, in the embodiment, the control device 30 is provided in the device 100 (robot), but it may be provided outside the device, and the device may be remotely controlled by the control device provided externally. .

Below, the invention described in the claims first attached to the application of this application will be added. The claim numbers stated in the supplementary notes are as in the claims originally attached to the request for this application.
<Claim 1>
A control device for equipment that operates when a driven part is driven by a drive part,
an environmental sound volume acquisition means for acquiring the volume of environmental sound around the device;
A control means for controlling the drive unit so that the volume of the operation sound of the device generated when the driven unit is driven by the drive unit is suppressed in accordance with the volume of the acquired environmental sound. and,
A device control device comprising:
<Claim 2>
further comprising determining means for determining whether the volume of the environmental sound is smaller than a predetermined threshold;
The control means controls the drive unit so that the volume of the operation sound of the device is suppressed when the volume of the environmental sound is determined to be lower than the threshold value. , A control device for equipment according to claim 1.
<Claim 3>
The determining means determines whether a volume of an environmental sound acquired immediately before the driven unit is driven by the driving unit is smaller than the threshold;
The control means controls the drive unit so that the volume of the operation sound of the device is suppressed when the volume of the acquired environmental sound is determined to be lower than the threshold value. The device control device according to claim 2, characterized in that:
<Claim 4>
4. The device control device according to claim 2, wherein the threshold is set to a predetermined volume of operation sound of the device.
<Claim 5>
The device according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the drive unit so that the smaller the volume of the environmental sound is, the lower the volume of the operation sound of the device is suppressed. Control device.
<Claim 6>
Further comprising a determining means for determining whether the volume of the environmental sound is lower than the volume of the operation sound of the device,
The control means controls the drive unit so that the volume of the operation sound of the device is suppressed when it is determined that the volume of the environmental sound is lower than the volume of the operation sound of the device. A device control device according to claim 1, characterized in that:
<Claim 7>
The control means executes normal control to control the drive unit regardless of the environmental sound,
The environmental sound volume acquisition means acquires the volume of the environmental sound when the driving unit is not driving the driven unit, and acquires the volume of the environmental sound when the driving unit is driving the driven unit, and acquires the volume of the environmental sound and the operation of the device when the driving unit is driving the driven unit. Get the overall volume of the sound,
The determining means determines whether the volume of the environmental sound is lower than the volume of the operation sound of the device when the volume of the acquired environmental sound is lower than the overall volume acquired during execution of the normal control. 7. The device control device according to claim 6, wherein the device is determined to be small.
<Claim 8>
8. The control means controls the driving section so that the driving speed of the driven section is reduced in order to suppress the volume of operation sound of the device. A control device for the device according to item 1.
<Claim 9>
The drive unit and the driven unit are each configured with a plurality of drive units and a plurality of driven units, and the operations of the plurality of driven units are preset with different predetermined priorities,
The control means controls a drive unit corresponding to a low-priority driven unit, which is a driven unit whose operation has a lower priority, among the plurality of drive units, in order to suppress the volume of operation sound of the device. is controlled so that the drive speed of the low priority driven part decreases and the drive amount of the low priority driven part becomes small, and the high priority driven part which is the driven part whose operation has a higher priority is 9. The device control device according to claim 8, wherein the drive unit corresponding to the driven unit is controlled so that the drive speed of the high priority driven unit is reduced.
<Claim 10>
The device is a robot capable of speaking,
10. The device control device according to claim 1, further comprising speech control means for controlling the volume of the speech sound of the robot to be louder than the environmental sound.
<Claim 11>
A method for controlling a device that operates by driving a driven part by a driving part, the method comprising:
an environmental sound volume acquisition step of acquiring the volume of environmental sound around the device;
a control step of controlling the drive unit so that the volume of the operation sound of the device generated when the driven unit is driven by the drive unit is suppressed according to the volume of the acquired environmental sound; and,
A method for controlling a device, comprising:
<Claim 12>
In the computer of the control device of the equipment that operates when the driven part is driven by the drive part,
an environmental volume acquisition function that acquires the volume of environmental sounds surrounding the device;
A control function that controls the drive unit so that the volume of the operation sound of the device generated when the driven unit is driven by the drive unit is suppressed in accordance with the volume of the acquired environmental sound. and,
A program that makes this possible.

10 Driven part 11 Neck body 12 Arm body 13 Leg body 20 Drive unit 21 Neck drive unit 22 Arm drive unit 23 Leg drive unit 30 Control device 31 Environmental volume acquisition unit 32 Drive control unit 33 Speech control unit 40 Main body 50 Speech unit 100 Equipment SVENV Environmental sound volume SVNECK Neck movement sound SVARM Arm movement sound SVTIRE Leg movement sound SVACT Overall actual volume

Claims (6)

A robot comprising a connecting part that connects the head or arm part to the main body so that it can tilt, swing or rotate within a predetermined range,
The volume of the operation sound generated along with the operation of the tilting, the rocking, or the rotation in the connecting section is the volume of an environmental sound acquired through a predetermined microphone, and comprising a control means for operating the connecting part so as to be adjusted based on the volume of the environmental sound acquired when the connecting part is stopped;
The robot is designed as a pseudo-living creature with the main body corresponding to a torso,
The microphone is provided in the body,
A robot characterized by : The control means operates the connecting section so that the volume of the operation sound is suppressed when the volume of the environmental sound is below a predetermined threshold.
The robot according to claim 1, characterized in that : The control means adjusts the volume of the operation sound by adjusting the speed of the tilting, the rocking, or the rotation.
The robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that : The control means adjusts the volume of the operation sound by adjusting the range width in the predetermined range.
The robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that : A method of controlling a robot including a connecting part that connects a head or an arm part to a main body so as to be tiltable, swingable or rotatable within a predetermined range, the method comprising:
The volume of the operation sound generated along with the operation of the tilting, the rocking, or the rotation in the connecting section is the volume of an environmental sound acquired through a predetermined microphone, and A control process for operating the connecting unit so as to be adjusted based on the volume of the environmental sound acquired when the connecting unit is stopped,
The robot is designed as a pseudo-living creature with the main body corresponding to a torso,
The microphone is provided in the body,
A control method characterized by: A robot computer equipped with a connecting part that connects the head or arm part to the main body so that it can tilt, swing or rotate within a predetermined range,
The volume of the operation sound generated along with the operation of the tilting, the rocking, or the rotation in the connecting section is the volume of an environmental sound acquired through a predetermined microphone, and Functioning as a control means for operating the connecting part so as to be adjusted based on the volume of the environmental sound acquired when the connecting part is stopped,
The robot is designed as a pseudo-living creature with the main body corresponding to a torso,
The microphone is provided in the body,
A program characterized by: