JP7493388B2 - Operation suspension release device and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technology for resuming operation suspension of an autonomously mobile information processing device.

Autonomously mobile information processing devices, such as robots that guide people in public spaces, are equipped with stop switches to ensure the safety of users. A robot equipped with such an emergency stop means is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a switch that can be used to emergency stop the movement of an articulated robot in any posture. It also describes that the emergency stop can be released by again operating the emergency stop switch provided in various places on the robot.

JP 2002-224990 A

However, with conventional robots, anyone can easily turn the stop switch off, so if a child, for example, turns off the stop switch as a prank, the robot may suddenly start moving, posing a danger.

The present invention aims to solve the above problems and provide an operation stop release device and release method for an autonomously mobile information processing device that does not pose a risk when the stop switch is released.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an operation stop release device that includes an emergency stop switch provided in an autonomous robot, an emergency stop command unit that issues a command to stop the operation of the autonomous robot when the emergency stop switch is used as a trigger, an emergency stop command release unit that issues a command to resume the operation of the autonomous robot from a state in which the operation of the autonomous robot has been stopped, a posture confirmation unit that confirms whether the posture of the autonomous robot is a predetermined posture , and a sensor information confirmation unit that checks whether at least one sensor provided in the autonomous robot is normal, and after the posture confirmation unit is able to confirm that the posture of the autonomous robot is a predetermined posture, the emergency stop command release unit provides an operation stop release device in which the sensor information confirmation unit checks whether at least one sensor provided in the autonomous robot is normal, and after it is confirmed that the sensor is normal, releases the emergency stop.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an operation stop release method that includes an emergency stop step of issuing a command to stop the operation of the autonomous robot when an emergency stop switch provided in the autonomous robot is used as a trigger, and an emergency stop release step of issuing a command to resume operation of the autonomous robot from a state in which the operation of the autonomous robot has been stopped, and the emergency stop release step issues a command to resume the suspended operation when multiple stop release triggers, including the release of the emergency stop switch, are used.

According to the present invention, by providing multiple triggers using sensors to release the emergency stop, it is possible to prevent anyone from easily releasing the stop, thereby ensuring the safety of the autonomous robot's operation.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a processing flow of an operation stop release device for an autonomous robot in accordance with a first embodiment. 1A and 1B are external configuration diagrams showing the front and rear views of an autonomous robot equipped with an operation stop release device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an autonomous robot equipped with an operation stop release device according to a first embodiment.

The embodiments of the present invention will be described below in order with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the term "sensor" refers to various types of sensors, such as contact sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and TOF (Time of Flight) sensors, as well as cameras such as solid-state image sensors.

Example 1 is an example of an operation suspension release device and an operation suspension release method for an autonomous robot, which is an autonomously mobile information processing device.

That is, this is an embodiment of an operation stop release device that includes an emergency stop switch provided on the autonomous robot, an emergency stop command unit that issues a command to stop the operation of the autonomous robot when the emergency stop switch is used as a trigger, and an emergency stop command release unit that issues a command to resume the operation of the autonomous robot from a state in which the operation of the autonomous robot has been stopped, and the emergency stop command release unit issues a command to resume the suspended operation by a multi-stage emergency stop release means including the release of the emergency stop switch. Also, this is an embodiment of an operation stop release method that includes an emergency stop step that issues a command to stop the operation of the autonomous robot when the emergency stop switch provided on the autonomous robot is used as a trigger, and an emergency stop release step that issues a command to resume the operation of the autonomous robot from a state in which the operation of the autonomous robot has been stopped, and the emergency stop release step issues a command to resume the suspended operation by a multiplicity of stop release triggers including the release of the emergency stop switch.

The configuration of the autonomous robot operation suspension release device and operation suspension release method according to this embodiment will be explained below with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

First, an example of the external configuration of an autonomous robot will be described using FIG. 2. The autonomous robot operates upon receiving commands from a personal computer (PC) 203, which is an external computer. PC 203 functions as a robot command generation unit 301 shown in the functional configuration diagram of the autonomous robot. The autonomous robot operates upon receiving commands from robot command generation unit 301.

The autonomous robot is provided with a central processing unit (CPU) 202 inside the main body 201 that processes programs for executing a stop release method. The main body 201 is provided with various sensors such as proximity sensors 204, 205, such as ultrasonic sensors, an acceleration sensor 210, and a camera. The legs 208 of the autonomous robot are provided with leg motor units (not shown), and the arms 209 are provided with arm motor units (not shown). Contact sensors 206, 207 are attached to the legs 208. Furthermore, although not shown, an emergency stop switch is attached to the back of the main body 201. Additionally, the legs are provided with TOF (Time of Flight) proximity sensors.

Then, after the autonomous robot's power is turned on, it executes initial processing and starts service. At this point, if the attached emergency stop switch is pressed, an emergency stop operation is performed to cut off power. If the emergency stop switch is then released, multiple stop release triggers are used to issue a command to resume the interrupted operation. For example, if the knee contact sensor is turned on and an ultrasonic sensor detects that there are no obstacles ahead, it is determined that a maintenance worker has operated the robot, and the emergency stop is released. At this time, the rear side may be photographed with the rear camera, and the person who released the emergency stop may be determined through image diagnosis. After the emergency stop is released, the autonomous robot resumes service.

Figure 1 shows an example of a processing flow consisting of multiple steps of the autonomous robot stop release device of this embodiment, which is executed by a program running on the CPU 202. As shown in the figure, after starting, an initial process (S101) is performed, and the service is started (S102). Then, it is detected whether the emergency stop switch is on (ON) or not (S103), and if it is on (YES), an emergency stop operation is performed (S104).

After that, it is confirmed whether the posture of the autonomous robot is a predetermined posture (S105), and if it is a predetermined posture (YES), a soundness check is performed to check whether the various sensors are normal (S106). That is, prior to the emergency stop release step, a posture confirmation step is executed to confirm whether the posture of the autonomous robot is a predetermined posture, and a sensor confirmation step is executed to confirm whether the sensors installed in the autonomous robot are normal.

If the result is normal (YES), it is checked whether the emergency stop switch is on (ON) or not (OFF) (S107), and if it is off (OFF), it is checked whether the emergency stop release operation is on (ON) or off (OFF) (S108), and if it is on (ON), the emergency stop is released (S109), the autonomous robot service is resumed (S110), and finally the service ends (S111).

Next, an example of the functional configuration of an autonomous robot with a stop release device of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. In the figure, the autonomous robot 302 is equipped with a robot control unit 306, to which commands from the robot command generation unit 301 described above, as well as sensor outputs from the sensors 303, 304 and acceleration sensor 305, are input. The output of the acceleration sensor 305 is input to an attitude confirmation unit 309, which confirms whether the attitude of the main body 201 is a predetermined attitude or not. The outputs of the sensors 303, 304 are input to a sensor information confirmation unit 308, which checks whether the sensors are normal or not, and various uses are made of the sensor information. The outputs from the sensor information confirmation unit 308 and the attitude confirmation unit 309 are input to an emergency stop command release unit 310.

The emergency stop command release unit 310 issues a command to resume the suspended operation by a multi-stage emergency stop release means including the release (OFF) of the emergency stop switch and the output from the sensor information confirmation unit 308. For example, the multi-stage emergency stop release means enables the autonomous robot to resume operation by operating one sensor after the emergency stop switch 307 is released (OFF). Alternatively, the multi-stage emergency stop release means enables the autonomous robot to resume operation by operating multiple sensors after the emergency stop switch is released. Furthermore, the multi-stage emergency stop release means enables the autonomous robot to resume operation by operating at least one or more predetermined sensors among the multiple sensors and non-operating at least one or more sensors. Alternatively, one of the multi-stage emergency stop release means may be a remote release means via a network not shown. Note that non-operation of a sensor means a case where there is no sensor output or a desired image is not captured by a camera, etc.

Meanwhile, the output of the emergency stop switch 307 is input to an emergency stop command release unit 310, an emergency stop command unit 311, and further to various drive units. When the emergency stop switch 307 is turned on (ON), the emergency stop command unit 311 outputs an emergency stop command to a robot operation command unit 312. In response to this, the robot operation command unit 312 outputs drive signals to a wheel drive unit 313 and an arm drive unit 314, and drives a vehicle motor unit 315 and an arm motor unit 316.

Furthermore, the emergency stop command unit 311 receives a stop command release command from the emergency stop command release unit 310 and releases the emergency stop. As described above in detail, the autonomous robot operation stop release device and method of this embodiment provides multiple stop release triggers using sensors when releasing an emergency stop, thereby preventing anyone from easily releasing the stop and ensuring the safety of the autonomous robot's operation.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and further includes various modified examples. For example, the above-described embodiment is described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described.

Furthermore, although the above-mentioned configurations, functions, CPUs, etc. have been described mainly with reference to examples of creating programs that realize all or part of them, it goes without saying that all or part of them may be realized in hardware, for example by designing them as integrated circuits. In other words, all or part of the functions of the processing unit may be realized by integrated circuits such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) instead of programs.

201 Main body 202 CPU
203 PC
204, 205 Proximity sensors 206, 207 Contact sensor 208 Legs 209 Arms 210 Acceleration sensor 301 Robot command generator 302 Autonomous robot 303, 304 Sensor 1, Sensor 2
305 Acceleration sensor 306 Robot control unit 307 Emergency stop switch 308 Sensor information confirmation unit 309 Posture confirmation unit 310 Emergency stop command release unit 311 Emergency stop command unit 312 Robot operation command unit 313 Wheel drive unit 314 Arm drive unit 315 Wheel motor unit 316 Arm motor unit

Claims (6)

An operation suspension release device,
An emergency stop switch installed on the autonomous robot,
an emergency stop command unit that issues a command to stop the operation of the autonomous robot when the emergency stop switch is used as a trigger;
an emergency stop command release unit that issues a command to resume operation of the autonomous robot from a state in which operation of the autonomous robot has been stopped;
an attitude confirmation unit that confirms whether or not the attitude of the autonomous robot is a predetermined attitude;
a sensor information confirmation unit that checks whether at least one sensor installed in the autonomous robot is normal;
Equipped with
After the attitude confirmation unit has confirmed that the attitude of the autonomous robot is a predetermined attitude, the sensor information confirmation unit checks whether at least one sensor arranged in the autonomous robot is normal, and after confirming that the sensor is normal, the emergency stop command release unit releases the emergency stop.
An operation stop release device characterized by the above. 2. The operation stop release device according to claim 1,
the autonomous robot is equipped with an acceleration sensor;
the attitude confirmation unit confirms whether or not the attitude of the autonomous robot is a predetermined attitude based on information from the acceleration sensor;
An operation stop release device characterized by the above. 2. The operation stop release device according to claim 1 ,
The autonomous robot includes a plurality of sensors including at least one of a proximity sensor, a camera, and a contact sensor;
The sensor information confirmation unit checks whether the plurality of sensors are normal.
An operation stop release device characterized by the above. 2. The operation stop release device according to claim 1,
The autonomous robot includes a plurality of sensors including at least one of a proximity sensor, a camera, and a contact sensor;
A pattern in which any one of the plurality of sensors is in operation and the other sensors are not in operation is stored in advance, and the emergency stop command release unit releases the emergency stop based on whether or not the stored pattern matches.
An operation stop release device characterized by the above. In the operation stop release device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The operation stop release device includes remote release means via a network. An operation suspension release method, comprising:
an emergency stop step of issuing a command to stop the operation of the autonomous robot when an emergency stop switch provided in the autonomous robot is used as a trigger;
an emergency stop release step of issuing a command to resume operation from a state in which operation of the autonomous robot has been stopped;
a posture confirmation step of confirming whether or not the posture of the autonomous robot is a predetermined posture prior to the emergency stop release step;
A sensor confirmation step of confirming whether or not a sensor installed in the autonomous robot is normal.
A method for releasing a stopped operation, comprising:

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