KR101390204B1 - System and method for cooperative control of a intelligent mobile robot based multi-agent - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for cooperatively controlling a multi-agent-based intelligent mobile robot which can perform the cooperation between the control of a robot component and a robot component by use of a lightweight multi-agent technique suitable for platform technology of the intelligent service robot. The system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes at least one sensor agent for obtaining sensing data; a data converging agent for combining the obtained sensing data; and at least one event detecting agent sharing the combined sensing data and generating at least one event using the combined sensing data. The sensor agent, the data converging agent and the event detecting agent are separately manufactured, and are embedded in the components constituting the robot to share the data via mutual communication.

Description

Multi-agent-based intelligent mobile robot cooperative control system and method {SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COOPERATIVE CONTROL OF A INTELLIGENT MOBILE ROBOT BASED MULTI-AGENT}

The present invention relates to an intelligent mobile robot cooperative control system and method, and more particularly to an intelligent mobile robot cooperative control system and method based on multiple agents.

An intelligent robot may be defined as a robot that recognizes an external environment and performs autonomous operation by determining a situation by itself.

The field of intelligent service robots is rapidly increasing to industrial robots, medical robots, fire safety and safety support robots, defense robots, personal service robots, and cleaning robots, and various technologies and technologies such as IT, BT, and NT are combined. Is being fused. In addition, intelligent robots are developing into the concept of robots that create intelligent services through the convergence and hybridization of robot technologies with various fields such as future education, medical care, silver, national defense, construction, marine, and agriculture.

Intelligent service robot technology can be seen as a collection of advanced technologies such as material technology, sensor technology, software technology, driving technology, battery technology and communication technology, and strives to provide various services to meet the robot user's point of view. .

Research into the field of intelligent service robots to provide services is active, and due to the expansion of the service robot market at home and abroad, efforts are being made to standardize intelligent service robots in industry, research, and academia. Intelligent service robots can be divided into intelligent robot system technology, robot-human-environmental interaction that defines the relationship between robots and surroundings, and service and utilization technology related to robot application. Security, service and security authentication technology, robot software platform technology, human-robot communication technology, network system technology, ubiquitous robot agent technology. Standardization items and contents of the intelligent robot are shown in Table 1 below.

division Justice Target Standard Item Standardization Intelligent
robot
system
Technology Modular elements for intelligent robot implementation and hardware and software technology to integrate them.
Intelligent Robot H / W Component
And modules Intelligent Robot Vocabulary Standard
-Interface between robot hardware modules,
-Intelligent robot hardware and hardware module architecture Intelligent robot
Platform technology Intelligent Robot S / W Architecture
-Intelligent Robot S / W Library API
Intelligent robot middleware robot-
human-
Environmental interaction Interface technology for interaction between robots and robots, robots and humans, robots and environment, and network technology connecting them Human-robot
interface -User recognition and expression modeling for intelligent robot
Human-robot interface modeling
-Video and audio processing API for intelligent robot
-Speaker for intelligent robot, sound gesture recognition API
-Image data file format and exchange technology for intelligent robot Robot operating environment
And network Integrated Development Environment Interface Standard
-Network protocol for intelligent robot
-Based on integrated operation environment for intelligent robot
-QoS communication between server and intelligent robot
-Intelligent robot security and QoS support
-Network matching linkage technology between intelligent robot services
Ubiquitous situation / behavior recognition
-Ubiquitous Sensing and Autonomous Driving service
And
Application technology Description of performance evaluation and safety prior to the use of the robot or the definition of additional services provided by the robot and other related matters. Service and
Security authentication technology -Intelligent robot contents and service related standards (service description, modeling, transformation, etc.)
Intelligent Robot Service Description
-Intelligent robot network and system security technology
-Intelligent robot user authentication technology
-Intelligent robot authentication and billing technology
-Intelligent robot biometric user authentication technology Performance
And stability -Performance evaluation scale of intelligent robot sensor (microphone, camera, ultrasonic, etc.)
-Performance Evaluation Criteria for Element Technology Module (Voice Noise Processing, Speech Recognition, Image Recognition, etc.)
-Evaluation of cleaning robot function and performance
-Function and performance test and evaluation technology for intelligent robot
-Reliability / Safety Standards and Evaluation Technology for Intelligent Robot
-Autonomy and intelligence assessment

Such intelligent service robots are required to secure open software platform technology. The software components of an intelligent service robot must be well-combined with each other and the data transfer smoothly. Robot components must also be lightweight as embedded software.

Accordingly, the present invention is to provide an intelligent mobile robot cooperation control system and method that can perform the control of the robot component and cooperation between the robot component using a lightweight multi-agent technology suitable for the platform technology of the intelligent service robot.

In addition, through the multi-agent technology, for example, the mobile robot can perform a multi-functional service, for example, the mobile robot performs the cleaning, and the intelligent mobile robot cooperation control system and method that can perform newspaper delivery and guidance services To provide.

Other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-agent intelligent mobile robot cooperative control system for achieving the above object; A data fusion agent for combining the acquired sensing data; And at least one event sensing agent sharing the combined sensing data and generating at least one event using the combined sensing data, wherein the sensor agent, the data fusion agent, and the event sensing agent are each separately. It is manufactured, embedded in the constituent components of the robot, characterized in that to share data by mutual communication.

Here, the at least one event sensing agent may be plural, and the plurality of event sensing agents may generate a complex event by sharing the combined sensing data with each other.

Multi-agent-based intelligent mobile robot cooperation control method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of acquiring the sensing data by the sensor agent; A data fusion agent combining the acquired sensing data; And at least one event sensing agent sharing the combined sensing data, and generating at least one event using the combined sensing data, wherein the sensor agent, data fusion agent, and event sensing agent are each It is manufactured separately, and is embedded in the constituent components of the robot and is characterized by sharing data by mutual communication.

Here, the at least one event sensing agent may be plural, and the plurality of event sensing agents may generate a complex event by sharing the combined sensing data with each other.

As described above, the present invention can perform the control of the robot component and cooperation between the robot component using a lightweight multi-agent technology suitable for the platform technology of the intelligent service robot.

And, through the multi-agent technology, the intelligent service robot can perform a multifunctional service.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-agent system of a robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating data sharing between agents in a multi-agent system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a cooperative control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be.

On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention.

Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

The components of the service mobile robot include communication, driving, and sensor, and based on this, performance and safety, service and security authentication technology, robot software platform technology, human-robot communication technology, network system technology, ubiquitous robot agent technology Etc. are required. In particular, it is possible to secure software scalability, recyclability, and flexibility according to the configuration of the service robot platform.

Intelligent service robots can sense data from their surroundings and make faster and more accurate decisions through communication between robot components or with other robots. This requires sharing and analysis of the data detected by the robot. That is, data sharing and analysis between robot components and data sharing and analysis with other robots around are required. Intelligent robots can generate robotic events and provide services by interacting with the robot's surroundings. Therefore, a software technology capable of sharing and analyzing data between robot components and surrounding robots is required for robot decision making and providing various services.

Hereinafter, a multi-agent system capable of collecting, sharing, and analyzing sensor data for performing various services of an intelligent service mobile robot will be described. It shares data with robot components or surrounding robots through a multi-agent system. The multi-agent system generates events required for robot control through the convergence process on the collected data. The multi-agent system mentioned below may include a sensor agent for data collection, a filter agent for data filtering, a data fusion agent for data fusion, an event detection agent, and a driving agent for driving a robot. A fusion or complex event can be generated for shared and shared data. The event detection agent may generate an event when the sensing data satisfies a preset condition. Hereinafter, data sharing in a multi-agent system will be described, and a data fusion process for generating an event will be described.

Since the platform of intelligent service robot needs robot component control and cooperation, the software components must be well-combined with each other and data transmission must be smooth. A lightweight platform that can be embedded in each component can be built using multiagents. Multi-agent technology enables several agents to perform service of robots based on cooperation through message communication. Multiagent technology is a platform technology that is suitable for intelligent service robots because of its scalability, reusability, dispersibility and autonomy.

Multi-agent systems can deploy agent platforms, including AMS, ANS, etc., to components of the robot to distribute-oriented domains formed for specific purposes. The agent platform of a multiagent system can be designed and implemented to reduce the weight of the legacy system by lightening it. Therefore, the agent system of the intelligent service robot may be capable of performing not only one service but also multiple services. In addition, by using a communication function of the intelligent service robot may be a message communication for performing a service with another robot. Therefore, not only components of the intelligent service robot but also control and cooperation may be possible through communication with components of other robots.

Referring to Figure 1 will be described with respect to the multi-agent system of the robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-agent system of a robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-agent platform of the intelligent service robot is capable of communicating with each other and synchronizes a plurality of agents. It may include an element (Agents Status) for checking the status of these. And, many agents can be driven according to the purpose. The number and type of agents can be unlimited. As described above, the agent may be at least one of a sensor agent for data collection, a filter agent for data filtering, a data fusion agent for data fusion, an event detection agent, and a driving agent for driving a robot. The agent may be embedded in at least one component constituting the robot to perform a set function. In addition, the information collected in the step of performing the agent may be shared by communication between the agents. Here, the information sharing between the air agents may be information sharing between components (in other words, air agents) constituting the same robot, or information sharing between different robots. The shared information is used to generate an event required for robot control, and the shared information can be fused in the process.

Intelligent service robots based on multiagent systems can communicate messages between agents located in components. This may allow a faster reaction of the robot. An intelligent service robot has an agent located according to the purpose of each component, and can perform a service by sharing and fusing data on sensed data. Event generation for service execution of the robot is delivered by the responsible agent, and executes the event by the driving agent of each component.

Therefore, the multi-agent-based intelligent service robot can collect the detected data and refine the unnecessary data, and share the purified data. Each component is embedded with a lightweight multiagent system to deliver data sensed by the sensor, and the component can be operated by a reaction agent.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying Figure 2 will be described for data sharing between agents in the multi-agent agent system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating data sharing between agents in a multi-agent system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, when data is detected by at least one sensor, agent message communication for sharing data is performed. In addition, the message may be transmitted to another robot or a component of the robot that requires communication. The method of sharing data between agents in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and the topology for data sharing may be unlimited. For example, at least one of a ring topology, a mesh topology, a bus topology, and a hybrid topology may be used as a topology for data sharing between multiple air agents. .

The sensor set of the intelligent service robot is called S, and the data sensed by each sensor and sensor is S = {s1, s2, ..., sn-1, sn} (where s is the sensor node and sensor). Data sensed by the sensor), and data fusion for generating an event with respect to the data sensed by the sensor and data fusion according to the event. Data sensed by many sensors can be combined in various ways during data fusion for event generation. For example, a combination of sense data may be referred to as C, and a combination symbol may be referred to as Equation 1 below.

Here, the combination method of the sensing data may be unlimited, and may be modified to generate a specific event. The subject of the sensed data may also be unlimited. For example, filtering and combination of sense data may be performed on the driving agent for the occurrence of an event assigned to that driving agent. However, in order to reduce the weight of the agent or component, a subject for processing data may be appropriately set. And the sensed, filtered or combined data shared between agents can be shared as a whole or as part thereof. In the case of a robot that detects a fire and generates an appropriate event (fire event) when it is detected as a fire, a false event may occur when generating an event using only a temperature transmitted from a temperature sensor agent. This is because the temperature can reach the threshold for event occurrence even if no fire occurs. In this way, the sensing data of the sensor agent for detecting the carbon dioxide concentration may be shared. In this case, a combination of temperature sensing value and carbon dioxide concentration value can be used to generate a fire event. This can result in a reliable fire event. As such, the event can be reliably generated through the combination of sensing data, and the weight of the agent can be reduced.

The data for generating an event is also meaningful as one sensed data, and a data combining process for fusion may also be required. In the data fusion process for event generation in an intelligent service robot, the required data combination can be selected from all the sense data combinations. According to the combination of the selected data, the sensor agent may deliver the detected data to the agent of each component through message communication. Message communication of each agent may proceed with cooperation and control of each component.

Such sensor data fusion may be a processing step for generating an event for robot control.

The multi-agent system-based sensor data collection and convergence technology can be applied, for example, to extend the service and utilization technology by developing an intelligent mobile robot for use in a hotel. Specifically, it may be used for the development of an intelligent mobile robot capable of cleaning the lobby, delivering newspapers to the room, and guiding services (alarm, wake-up call, front service).

Hereinafter, a cooperative control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying FIG. 3. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a cooperative control method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, when sensing data is acquired from at least one sensor agent (S31), the sensing data may be processed (S32). In this case, the sensing data may be filtered by the filter agent, and the sensing data may be fused or combined as described above by the data fusion agent. Here, the filtering process may be omitted. The converged or combined sensing data is shared with at least one event sensing agent, and in this case, the event sensing agent may generate at least one event through the driving agent (S33). When sensing data fused or combined to a plurality of event sensing agents is shared, a fusion event may be generated for the shared data.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The appended claims are to be considered as falling within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (4)

At least one sensor agent for acquiring sensing data;
A data fusion agent for combining the acquired sensing data; And
At least one event sensing agent sharing the combined sensing data and generating at least one event using the combined sensing data,
The sensor agent, the data fusion agent and the event detection agent are each manufactured separately, embedded in a component of the robot and sharing data by mutual communication, characterized in that the multi-agent intelligent mobile robot cooperation control system. The method of claim 1,
And the at least one event detection agent is plural, and the plurality of event detection agents generate a complex event by sharing the combined sensing data with each other. Acquiring sensing data by the sensor agent;
A data fusion agent combining the acquired sensing data; And
At least one event sensing agent sharing the combined sensing data and generating at least one event using the combined sensing data,
The sensor agent, the data fusion agent and the event detection agent are each manufactured separately, embedded in the components constituting the robot and sharing data by mutual communication, characterized in that the multi-agent intelligent mobile robot cooperation control method. The method of claim 3, wherein
The at least one event detection agent is a plurality, the plurality of event detection agent is a multi-agent based intelligent mobile robot cooperation control method, characterized in that for generating a complex event by sharing the combined sensing data with each other.

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