JPH10260725A - Robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce troublesome camera operations, to concentrate on the operation of a robot for that and to improve safety by receiving that the direction of the robot is changed and changing the direction of a camera in an opposite direction. SOLUTION: In case that an operator operates a robot operator 204 without operating a camera operator 205 and instructs the change of the direction of this robot 100, robot operation signals for instructing the change of the direction of the robot 100 are generated, sent to the robot 100 and inputted to a rotation/ movement control part 104 and the direction of the robot 100 is changed. The robot operation signals for instructing the change of the direction of the robot 100 are inputted to a camera control part 105 as well. In the camera control part 105, in order to continuously put the same object in the visual field of the camera 102 even when the direction of the robot 100 is changed, the direction of the camera 102 to the robot 100 is changed for the same angle as the change angle of the direction of the robot 100 in the opposite direction of the changing direction of the direction of the robot 100.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot whose direction and movement are controlled by remote control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, work is performed on behalf of humans in an environment where it is difficult for humans to directly work, such as in the deep sea or in outer space, or in an environment that is dangerous for humans, such as in a nuclear power plant. A robot remote control system that allows an operator (operator) to move the robot by remote control in an emergency or the like when a robot has been developed and the robot cannot operate autonomously for some reason has been developed. It is considered.

In recent years, hospitals and office buildings have
Robots are sometimes moved by remote control in an environment where there are people around them, and in such an environment, safety is particularly required. As an example of such a robot remote control system, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3-26491 discloses a camera in which a camera automatically tracks a subject such as a manipulator to reduce annoying camera work so that an operator can concentrate on robot operation. A robot remote control system has been proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-285786
In the publication, the position of the camera is moved in accordance with the movement of the manipulator so that the relative position between the camera and the subject such as the manipulator is always kept constant, so that the operator is always constant regardless of the position of the manipulator. There has been proposed a robot remote control system which can be operated at intervals of.

[0004]

In an environment where it is necessary to move the robot while taking the safety of the surroundings into consideration, it is necessary that the surroundings of the robot be the subject of the camera rather than the robot itself. However, the conventional proposal disclosed in the above-mentioned publication is a proposal in which the robot itself or a part of the robot is used as a subject and how to follow the movement of the subject. It is not appropriate from the viewpoint of avoiding contact with objects and securing the surroundings.

It is also conceivable to install a camera on the robot around the robot as a subject. However, even in such a case, the following problems are conceivable from the viewpoint of avoiding contact with obstacles. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a problem when a camera is installed on the robot and the surroundings of the robot are projected.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a camera 11 is set on a robot 10. The camera 11 has a field of view indicated by a dotted line in the figure, and is freely rotated by a pan mechanism 12 in the direction of arrows AA ′. Further, the robot 10 itself is also configured to be rotatable in a direction indicated by an arrow BB ′.

[0007] Here, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the robot 1 rotates in the direction of arrow B as shown in FIG. 3B in order to catch the obstacle 20 and avoid the obstacle. Then, the camera 11 installed on the robot 10 is also fixed together, and the obstacle 20 comes out of the field of view of the camera 11, and if the robot 11 keeps rotating in the direction of the arrow B as it is, there is a danger that the obstacle will come into contact with the obstacle. There is. Therefore, in this case, when the obstacle 20 goes out of the field of view of the camera 11 as shown in FIG.
Is temporarily stopped, and as shown in FIG. 3C, the camera 11 is moved in the direction opposite to the arrow B direction which is the rotation direction of the robot 10 until the obstacle 20 is again captured in the field of view of the camera 11. The robot 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow A,
A complicated operation of resuming the rotation of is required. Usually, the operator needs to perform various operations for exerting the original functions of the robot 10, including rotation and movement of the robot 10, and requires the complicated camera operation as described above to avoid obstacles. This places a burden on the operator and increases the risk of operating errors, which is extremely dangerous especially in an environment where there are people around.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a remotely controlled robot with further improved safety by reducing troublesome camera operations performed by an operator and allowing the operator to concentrate on robot operations. With the goal.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a robot in which the direction and movement are controlled by a remote control, wherein the robot controls the direction and the movement of the robot in response to a command from the remote control. -When the direction of the robot is changed by the movement control unit, the camera whose direction can be freely changed, and the rotation / movement control unit, the direction of the camera is changed to the direction opposite to the direction in which the direction of the robot is changed. And a camera control unit.

Here, in the robot of the present invention,
The camera control unit may input a command to change the direction of the robot, which is input to the rotation / movement control unit by remote control, and change the direction of the camera based on the command, or The camera control unit may detect an amount of change in the direction of the robot and change the direction of the camera based on the detected amount of change.

In the robot according to the present invention, the camera control unit changes the camera direction in response to a command to change the camera direction by remote control. If the timing and the timing of receiving the command to change the camera direction overlap, the camera direction is changed by the total change amount of the camera direction by the command and the change amount of the robot direction. Preferably, it is changed.

The robot of the present invention changes the direction of the camera in the opposite direction in response to the change in the direction of the robot, whereby the troublesome operation of the camera is reduced, and the operator can operate the robot accordingly. You can concentrate and improve safety.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a robot remote control system including a robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The robot remote control system shown in FIG. 1 includes a robot 100 and a remote control device 200, and communication between the antenna 101 of the robot 100 and the antenna 201 of the remote control device 200 is performed by radio waves. The robot 100 is provided with a camera 102 that can change the direction and captures the environment around the robot 100. A video signal obtained by the camera 102 is transmitted to a robot controller that communicates with the remote operation device 200. The video signal transmitted to the remote operation device 200 via the remote control device 103 is received by the remote operation control unit 202 responsible for communication with the robot 100, and transmitted to the monitor 203 that projects an image. Then, an image based on the video signal is displayed on the monitor 203.

On the other hand, a remote controller 200 includes a robot operator 204 for operating the direction and movement of the robot 100 and a camera 10 installed on the robot 100.
2 is provided with a camera operator 205 for operating the direction of the camera 2.
Is operated, the remote operation control unit 202 generates a robot operation signal and a camera operation signal, respectively, and the robot 1
Sent to 00. On the robot 100 side, the transmitted robot operation signal and camera operation signal are received by the robot control unit 103, and the rotation / movement control unit 10
4. Input to the camera control unit 105. The rotation / movement control unit 104, based on the input robot operation signal,
By controlling the amount of rotation of wheels 106 responsible for the rotation and movement of the robot 100, the rotation and movement of the entire robot 100 are controlled, and the camera control unit 105 determines the direction of the camera 102 based on the input camera operation signal. Control.

Here, the robot operation signal received by the robot control unit 103 is also input to the camera control unit 105, and the camera control unit 105 instructs the direction (rotation) of the robot 100 based on the input robot operation signal. If so, the direction of the camera 102 is controlled based on the robot operation signal as described below. That is, when the operator operates the robot operator 204 to instruct the change of the direction of the robot 100 without operating the camera operator 205, a robot operation signal instructing the change of the direction of the robot is generated, and the robot 100 Is sent to the rotation / movement control unit 104 and the direction of the robot 100 is changed. A robot operation signal for instructing the robot to change its direction is also input to the camera control unit 105. The direction of the camera 102 with respect to the robot 100 is changed in the opposite direction to the direction in which the direction of the robot 102 is changed so that the same subject continues to be included in the field of view of the camera 102 even if the direction of the robot 100 is changed. Change only the same angle as the change angle. By doing so, even if the direction of the robot 100 is changed, the same subject, for example, an obstacle during the movement is continuously displayed on the monitor 203. 1
02 from the need to change the orientation at the same time,
The operation error of the operator is reduced, and the danger of the robot contacting with the obstacle due to the movement of the robot is reduced.

When the operation of the robot operator 204 is instructed to change the direction of the robot 100 and the camera operator 205 is similarly operated to instruct the change of the direction of the camera 102, the camera controller At 105, even if the direction of the robot 100 is changed based on both the camera operation signal and the robot operation signal, when the direction of the camera 102 immediately before the change of the direction of the robot 100 is set as the reference direction, Regardless of the change in the direction, the camera direction is controlled so that the camera direction is changed from the reference direction by the amount of change in the camera direction indicated by the camera operation signal.

By controlling the direction of the camera 2 as described above, the camera can be operated independently of the change in the direction of the robot. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a remote control system including a robot according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The differences from the robot remote control system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the robot operation signal received by the robot control unit 103 is input to the rotation / movement control unit 104 and also to the camera control unit 105, and the camera control unit 105 outputs the robot operation signal together with the camera operation signal. Although the direction of the camera 102 is controlled based on the operation signal, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the robot operation signal received by the robot control unit 103 is input only to the rotation / movement control unit 104, and the camera control unit 105 is not directly input. Instead, the rotation / movement control unit 104
The amount of rotation of each wheel 106 is detected, and these wheels 10
The rotation amount of the entire robot 100 is detected by integrating the rotation amounts of the six robots, and the detected rotation amount of the entire robot 100 is input to the camera control unit 105. In the camera control unit 105, the input rotation amount of the robot 100 is handled as a signal equivalent to the robot operation signal instead of the robot operation signal in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the actual amount of rotation of the robot 100 is detected and the direction of the camera 102 is controlled.
Can be controlled more precisely.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if the robot's orientation is changed, it prevents the camera's orientation from being changed at the same time, thus reducing the cumbersome camera operation and allowing the operator to concentrate on operating the robot. Is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a robot remote control system including a robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a robot remote control system including a robot according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a problem in a case where a camera is installed on the robot and the surroundings of the robot are projected.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 robot 101 antenna 102 camera 103 robot control unit 104 rotation / movement control unit 105 camera control unit 106 wheels 200 remote control device 201 antenna 202 remote control control unit 203 monitor 204 robot control 205 camera control

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A robot whose direction and movement are controlled by a remote operation, a rotation / movement control unit for controlling the direction and movement of the robot in response to a command from the remote operation, a camera whose direction can be freely changed, When the rotation / movement control unit changes the direction of the robot, the camera control unit changes the direction of the camera to a direction opposite to the direction of change of the direction of the robot. Robot to do. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the camera control unit inputs a command to change the direction of the robot, which is input to the rotation / movement control unit by remote control, and changes the camera direction based on the command. The robot according to claim 1, wherein 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the camera control unit detects a change amount of the direction of the robot, and changes the direction of the camera based on the detected change amount.
The described robot. 4. The camera control section changes a camera direction in response to a command instructing a change of the camera direction by remote control, and comprises: When the timing at which the instruction to change the direction is received overlaps, the camera direction is changed by the total change amount of the camera direction change amount according to the command and the robot direction change amount. The robot according to claim 1, wherein: