KR102135821B1 - Touch sensor module, and artificial robot having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an artificial intelligence robot and, more specifically, to a touch sensor module for detecting whether a human body is touched, and an artificial intelligence robot having the same, which has a simple structure and can be made compact. The present invention provides the touch sensor module (900) installed in a robot body (100) of the artificial intelligence robot having at least one contact portion (111) made of a plastic material to detect whether the human body is touched. The touch sensor module comprises: a touch sensor controller (910) having a plurality of channels for detecting the movement of electric charges; and at least one metal sheet (921) attached to the inner surface of the contact portion (111), having a conductive material, and electrically connected to a sensor connection channel (911) as one of the plurality of channels. The touch sensor controller (910) detects a flow of an amount of electric charges through the sensor connection channel (911) connected to the metal sheet (921), and determines whether the human body is in contact with the contact portion (111).

Description

Touch sensor module, and artificial robot having the same {Touch sensor module, and artificial robot having the same}

The present invention relates to an artificial intelligence robot, and more particularly, to a touch sensor module for detecting whether a human body is touched, and an artificial intelligence robot having the same.

Artificial intelligence is a technology that embodies human intellectual abilities such as thinking and learning through computers. Artificial intelligence can be conceptually divided into strong artificial intelligence (strong AI) and weak artificial intelligence (weak AI). Kang AI refers to artificial intelligence that has an ego that can think freely like humans. It is also called Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) because it can perform various tasks like humans. Kang AI can be further divided into human-type artificial intelligence that thinks and acts in the same way as humans, and non-human artificial intelligence that perceives and thinks in a different way from humans.

Meanwhile, with the development of IT technologies such as cameras and motors, the concept of an artificial intelligence robot equipped with artificial intelligence along with mechanical functions, so-called AI robot concept, is emerging.

AI robots are robots equipped with artificial intelligence, and can have various shapes and functions depending on the form of implementation, and are implemented and commercialized with various robots such as guide robots such as Airstar and toy robots such as robot dogs.

In particular, the AI robot may be equipped with a camera for an autonomous driving function, a voice recognition sensor for recognizing voice, and the like according to the implemented function.

In addition, AI robots are actively developing robots capable of communicating with humans, such as dialogue with humans and motion recognition.

On the other hand, the AI robot needs an autonomous driving function that moves in an arbitrary path while recognizing obstacles by itself according to its function.

An object of the present invention is to provide a touch sensor module capable of recognizing the above trend and detecting whether a human body is touched by a simple structure, and an artificial intelligence robot having the same.

The present invention was created to achieve the object of the present invention as described above, the present invention is installed in the robot body 100 of the artificial intelligence robot having one or more contact parts 111 having a plastic material A touch sensor module 900 for detecting whether or not, comprising: a touch sensor controller 910 having a plurality of channels for sensing movement of an amount of charge; It is attached to the inner surface of the contact part 111, has a conductive material, and includes one or more metal sheets 921 electrically connected to the sensor connection channel 911 as one of the plurality of channels, and the touch sensor controller ( Reference numeral 910 discloses a touch sensor module, characterized in that it determines whether a human body is in contact with the contact part 111 by sensing a flow of an electric charge through a sensor connection channel 911 connected to the metal sheet 921.

The metal sheet 921 may have a copper material.

In addition, the metal sheet 921 may have a thickness of 1 μm to 3 mm.

The touch sensor module may include one or more sampling capacitors 930 having one end electrically connected to the sampling channel 912 as one of the plurality of channels, the other end being grounded and having a preset capacitance value.

In addition, the touch sensor controller 910 detects the number of charge transfers between the sampling capacitor 930 and the metal sheet 921 with a preset detection period, and when the detected number of charge transfers falls within a preset reference range. It is determined that there is a human body contact with the contact part 111, and if it is smaller than the reference value, it may be determined that there is no human body contact with the contact part 111.

The touch sensor module and the artificial intelligence robot having the same according to the present invention have an advantage of being able to have a simple structure and compactness by sensing a change in an amount of charge accumulated when a human body is touched by being attached to a plastic body.

In addition, the touch sensor module and the artificial intelligence robot having the same according to the present invention comprise a part of the touch sensor that detects contact with the human body with a metal sheet, so that it can be attached to the inner circumferential surface of members having various external shapes. There is an advantage of implementing a touch sensor in

Furthermore, it is possible to install on the inner side of various parts of the external shape of the artificial intelligence robot implemented by various curved surfaces through cutting and changing the shape of the metal sheet, so that various functions of communication with humans can be built through touch with the human body. There is an advantage to be able to.

In particular, the touch sensor module and the artificial intelligence robot having the same according to the present invention can provide a simple and variously shaped touch sensor module to improve intimacy or mutual interaction when interacting with humans in the implementation of the artificial intelligence robot. There is an advantage to be able to.

In addition, the artificial intelligence robot having an autonomous driving function according to the present invention and the autonomous driving control method of the artificial intelligence robot include a depth camera, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a collision detection sensor, and use the detection result for each sensor. Thus, there is an advantage in that the autonomous driving of the artificial intelligence robot can be controlled more quickly and efficiently by controlling the driving of the robot body.

1 is a front view showing an example of an artificial intelligence robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2A and 2B are a side view and a rear view of the artificial intelligence robot of FIG. 1, respectively.
3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the artificial intelligence robot of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a method for controlling autonomous driving of the artificial intelligence robot of FIG. 1.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a specific embodiment of the autonomous driving control method according to FIG. 4.
6 is a conceptual diagram showing a situation in which the artificial intelligence robot of FIG. 1 recognizes an obstacle.
7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a touch sensor module according to the present invention, which is installed in the artificial intelligence robot of FIG. 1 to detect whether a human body is touched.
8 is a perspective view illustrating a touch sensing unit of the touch sensor module of FIG. 7.
9 is a cross-sectional view in the direction V-V in FIG. 8.
10A and 10B are cross-sectional views showing an example of an impact sensor to which the touch sensor module of FIG. 7 is applied, and FIG. 10A is a cross-sectional view showing an obstacle contactless and FIG. 10B.

Hereinafter, a touch sensor module and an artificial intelligence robot having the same according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention is a robot that performs preset functions such as traffic guidance and safety assistant, and any robot equipped with an artificial intelligence function can be used.

As an example, the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention, as shown in Figures 1 to 6, the robot body 100 and; A traveling unit 130 installed in the robot body 100 to move the robot body 100 in an arbitrary path; One or more cameras 500 installed in the robot body 100 to obtain images for measuring distances and heights to obstacles and capable of controlling depth; A lidar sensor unit 600 installed in the robot body 100 to measure a distance and height to an obstacle using a laser; An ultrasonic sensor unit 700 installed in the robot body 100 to measure a distance to an obstacle by ultrasonic waves; An impact sensor unit 800 installed in the robot body 100 to check whether or not there is contact with an obstacle; The main control unit 300 that is installed in the robot body 100 and receives the image acquired by the camera 500 and the measurement data on the obstacle from the lidar sensor unit 600 and calculates the distance, height, and position of the obstacle. )Wow; An artificial intelligence platform for implementing the autonomous driving function is mounted, the first data including the distance, height, and position of the obstacle calculated by the main control unit 300, the distance data measured by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700, and It includes a driving control unit 400 for controlling the driving unit 130 by inputting the contact presence data sensed by the impact detection sensor unit 800 to the artificial intelligence platform.

A robot body 100 with a built-in computer system (CPU, memory, storage device, power) for implementing artificial intelligence, one or more displays 240 for communicating with humans, etc., and a sound generating device for generating voice (not shown) ), distance detection, voice recognition, various sensors (241, 242, 243, 244) for detecting whether or not a human body is touched, etc., various modules may be installed according to the required functions of the artificial intelligence robot.

The robot body 100 is a component constituting the body of an artificial intelligence robot, and may be made of a metal material, a plastic material, a combination, etc., and a computer system (main control unit, driving control unit, etc.) for implementing the functions of the artificial intelligence robot. Can be installed distributedly.

The robot body 100 may include a head unit 110 at an upper end according to the design, function, and installation position of the implemented artificial intelligence robot.

The head unit 110 may be configured in design, such as implementing a shape similar to a human appearance, and various sensors such as a display and one or more cameras for recognizing an external environment may be installed.

In particular, in the robot body 100 including the head unit 110, one or more displays 120 may be installed at an appropriate position in order to implement the functions of the artificial intelligence robot.

The display 120 is a configuration for visual display such as a user who is a person to interact with the robot, an intention to the user, and information provision, and can be configured in various ways.

In this case, the display 120 may be formed as a touch screen for input by user's touch.

In addition, the robot body 100 including the head unit 110 may be provided with a speaker (not shown) for displaying a user who is a person to interact with the robot, an intention to the user, and providing information.

Meanwhile, it is preferable that the robot body 100 is configured to be able to move in an arbitrary path according to a function.

Thus, the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention, as shown in Figs. 1 to 2B, is installed in the robot body 100 to add a driving unit 130 for moving the robot body 100 in an arbitrary path Can be included as.

The driving unit 130 is installed in the robot body 100 to move the robot body 100 in an arbitrary path, and various configurations are possible according to the movement implementation.

For example, the driving unit 130 may have various mechanisms, such as a plurality of wheels coupled to the lower end of the robot body 100 and driven to rotate, a multi-fold structure composed of a plurality of legs.

As an example, when the driving unit 130 is composed of a plurality of wheels, forward rotation and reverse rotation are performed by rotational driving of a rotating motor coupled to the wheel, thereby moving forward, backward, moving left, moving right, rotating, etc. Various movements of the robot body 100 can be implemented.

Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention may be provided with various sensors to implement autonomous driving functions and other functions of artificial intelligence robots.

As an example, the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention is installed in the robot body 100 to implement an efficient autonomous driving function, acquires an image for measuring the distance and height to an obstacle, and one or more cameras capable of depth control ( 500) and; A lidar sensor unit 600 installed in the robot body 100 to measure a distance and height to an obstacle using a laser; An ultrasonic sensor unit 700 installed in the robot body 100 to measure a distance to an obstacle by ultrasonic waves; It is installed in the robot body 100 may include a shock sensor unit 800 for checking whether the contact with the obstacle.

The camera 500 is a component for acquiring an image around the robot body 100, and may perform various functions such as acquiring an image of a user, etc., to be rapported, and acquiring a surrounding image for implementing autonomous driving.

In particular, since it is preferable to use a separate camera according to the required function implementation, the camera 500 may be composed of one or more cameras according to each function implementation.

In particular, the camera 500 is installed in the robot body 100 to implement an efficient autonomous driving function to obtain an image for measuring a distance and height to an obstacle, and at this time, it is preferable to be configured to enable depth control.

The camera 500 for implementing autonomous driving is configured to enable depth control, so that accurate images can be obtained according to the distance of obstacles located nearby, and the distance and height of the obstacle by the main controller 300 to be described later Can be measured.

The Anaga image acquired by the camera 500 may be used to accurately measure the distance, height, and position of an obstacle by using the result measured by the lidar sensor unit 600 to be described later.

Meanwhile, the image acquired by the camera 500 is preferably transmitted to the main control unit 300 to be described later through a wired cable capable of high-speed transmission of data such as a USB cable in consideration of the high capacity of image data.

The lidar sensor unit 600 is installed in the robot body 100 to measure a distance and height to an obstacle using a laser, and may be composed of one or more lidar sensors.

Meanwhile, the camera 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600 are preferably installed in the front portion in consideration of the driving direction of the robot body 100, but are not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, when implementing autonomous driving of the robot body 100, the position, number, distance, and height of obstacles existing around it must be recognized.

At this time, the position, number, distance, height, etc. of obstacles existing around can be measured by the camera 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600, but for more precise autonomous driving, it is necessary to more delicately detect the obstacle. have.

In particular, the lidar sensor is a scanning method using a laser, so that a wide range of obstacles can be recognized. It is difficult to measure a precise distance.

In addition, since image processing and analysis are required when recognizing an obstacle through the camera 500, there is a problem in that agile response to the obstacle is difficult.

Accordingly, it is preferable that the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention further includes an ultrasonic sensor unit 700 including one or more, preferably a plurality of ultrasonic sensors 710, 720, and 730.

The ultrasonic sensor unit 700 is installed in the robot body 100 to measure a distance to an obstacle by ultrasonic waves, and may have various numbers and installation positions according to a distance measurement method and precision.

For example, the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 includes a front ultrasonic sensor 710 installed in the front part of the robot body 100, a rear left ultrasonic sensor 720 installed in the rear part of the robot body 100, and a rear right side. It may include an ultrasonic sensor 730.

The front ultrasonic sensor 710, the rear left ultrasonic sensor 720, and the rear right ultrasonic sensor 730 are configured to measure a distance to an obstacle by ultrasonic waves, and various configurations are possible.

Meanwhile, the rear left ultrasonic sensor 720 and the rear right ultrasonic sensor 730 are preferably installed lower than the installation position of the front ultrasonic sensor 710.

In addition, in the ultrasonic sensor unit 700, one or more ultrasonic sensors may be installed at left and right portions to measure the presence or absence of an obstacle in the lateral direction of the robot body 100 and a distance.

The impact detection sensor unit 800 is installed in the robot body 100 to check whether there is contact with an obstacle, and various configurations are possible according to the impact detection support.

For example, the impact detection sensor unit 800 may be configured as a sensor, such as a piezoelectric sensor, that senses by pressing force when contacting an obstacle.

As another example, the impact detection sensor unit 800 may be configured as an acceleration sensor that detects the transfer speed of the robot body 100 in consideration of preventing movement when contacting an obstacle.

As another example, the impact sensor unit 800 may be configured using a touch sensor to be described later.

Specifically, the impact sensor unit 800 is a contact unit 111 constituting a part of the touch sensor module 900 by installing a touch sensor module 900 to be described later on the robot body 100 and in contact with the obstacle. ) May be configured by additionally configuring a contact sensing member 940 that changes the electrostatic force by contact with.

An embodiment of the impact sensor unit 800 by the combination of the touch sensor module 900 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 and the contact detection member 940 that changes electrostatic force will be described later.

Meanwhile, the impact sensing sensor unit 800 may include a plurality of contact sensors 810 and 820 as a contact sensor to which the aforementioned contact sensing support is applied.

In particular, among the plurality of contact sensors 810 and 820, a plurality of the contact sensors 810 and 820 may be installed at a portion that can most commonly contact an obstacle when the artificial intelligence robot moves.

For example, the plurality of contact sensors 810 and 820 are a side portion of the robot body 100, that is, a left side, which is a portion having the highest contact possibility with an obstacle when the robot body 100 is moved relative to the front. It can be installed on the side and right side.

On the other hand, the detection result sensed by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and the impact sensor unit 800, that is, the second data including the distance to the obstacle and whether contact with the obstacle is For rapid driving control, it is preferable to directly transfer the driving unit 130 to the driving control unit 400 that controls autonomous driving.

That is, when the second data sensed by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and the impact sensor unit 800 is directly transmitted to the driving control unit 400, the driving unit 130 is quickly controlled to prevent collision with an obstacle. The driving of the driving unit 130 can be controlled more quickly and smoothly, such as preventing or changing the direction quickly.

Meanwhile, the first detection results sensed by the camera unit 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600 having the above configuration must be processed and quickly transferred to the driving control unit 400 to be described later. Rapid driving control is possible.

Thus, the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, is installed on the robot body 100, the image acquired by the camera 500, and obstacles from the lidar sensor unit 600 A main control unit 300 that receives measurement data for and calculates a distance, height, and position of an obstacle; An artificial intelligence platform for implementing the autonomous driving function is mounted, and the first data including the distance, height, and position of the obstacle calculated by the main control unit 300, the distance data measured by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700, and the impact It includes a driving control unit 400 for controlling the driving unit 130 by inputting the contact presence data sensed by the detection sensor unit 800 to the artificial intelligence platform.

The main control unit 300 is installed in the robot body 100 and receives the image acquired by the camera 500 and measurement data about the obstacle from the lidar sensor unit 600, and receives the distance, height and distance to the obstacle. As a configuration for calculating the location, a variety of configurations are possible, such as consisting of a single PCB mounted with a CPU and a storage medium rather than a physical configuration.

In addition, the main control unit 300, as well as processing the data received from the camera 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600, operation control of the camera 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600, traffic guidance, area Functions for realizing the unique functions of artificial intelligence robots, such as guidance, can be installed together.

The driving control unit 400 is equipped with an artificial intelligence platform for implementing an autonomous driving function, and the first data including the distance, height, and position of the obstacle calculated by the main control unit 300, the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 Various configurations are possible as a configuration for controlling the driving unit 130 by inputting the distance data measured by and the contact presence data detected by the impact sensor unit 800 into the artificial intelligence platform.

The drive control unit 400 may be integrally configured with the main control unit 300 described above, but is configured separately from the main control unit 300 for rapid processing and load distribution of the driving unit 130 and the driving unit 130 ) Can be configured specialized in the control of autonomous driving.

That is, the driving control unit 400, similar to the main control unit 300, can be configured in a variety of configurations, such as consisting of one or one PCB on which a CPU and a storage medium are mounted, rather than a physical configuration. An artificial intelligence platform may be mounted for driving, that is, autonomous driving control of the driving unit 130.

The artificial intelligence platform is configured using an open source specialized for autonomous driving, etc., as measured by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700, the first data including the distance, height and position of the obstacle calculated by the main control unit 300 Any artificial intelligence platform capable of outputting a control signal optimized for autonomous driving of the driving unit 130 by receiving the received distance data and the contact presence data sensed by the impact detection sensor unit 800 can be used.

Since the artificial intelligence platform related to autonomous driving has been presented in various ways by various subjects, detailed descriptions will be omitted.

Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention includes one or more acoustic sensors (not shown) for recognizing surrounding voices, sounds, etc., a short-range communication sensor/wireless communication module for communication with peripheral devices, for example, one or more infrared sensors ( Not shown), wireless communication modules such as LTE, ZigBee, Bluetooth, etc., and one or more touch sensor modules 900 for checking whether a human body is ruptured.

Particularly, the part where the touch sensor module 900 is installed, that is, the contact part 111 may be made of a plastic material such as ABS or PC so as to form a capacitor together with a metal sheet 921 to be described later.

In this case, the dielectric coefficient of the plastic material of the contact part 111 may have a range of 3.2 ㎌ to 4.3 ㎌.

Meanwhile, the touch sensor module 900 is a touch sensor module 900 that detects whether a human body is touched, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, and includes a plurality of channels for sensing movement of an amount of charge. 910) and; It is attached to the inner surface of the contact part 111, has a conductive material, and may include one or more metal sheets 921 electrically connected to the sensor connection channel 911 as one of a plurality of channels.

The touch sensor controller 910 is an integrated circuit (Touch Sensor Controller) for performing control that detects whether a human body is touched by having a plurality of channels for sensing movement of an amount of charge, and a plurality of sensing movements of an amount of charge, such as STM32 Any configuration is possible as long as it is an integrated circuit having channels of

Meanwhile, since the touch sensor controller 910 is a microchip and has a very small size, it is generally mounted on a PCB (not shown) and connected to a metal sheet 921 to be described later.

The metal sheet 921 is attached to the inner surface of the contact part 111, has a conductive material, is one of a plurality of channels, and is electrically connected to the sensor connection channel 911, and various configurations are possible.

Specifically, the metal sheet 921 is a metal sheet having a thin thickness such as copper foil and having a conductive material, and is attached to the inner surface of the contact part 111 made of plastic to recognize human body touch such as a finger. It is a configuration that forms a capacitor.

In particular, the metal sheet 921 is preferably made of a copper material, and may have a thickness of 1 μm to 3 mm, preferably 2 mmm. Here, the thickness of the metal sheet 921 is determined in consideration of the sensing capability of the touch sensor while the shape can be changed, and the thickness is most preferably as thin as possible in consideration of the ease of shape change.

Samgi metal sheet 921, the principle of forming a capacitor of the contact portion 111 made of a plastic material is as follows.

First, a part constituting a part of a touch sensor module such as an artificial intelligence robot, and the contact part 111 is formed of a plastic material.

At this time, as the metal sheet 921 has a thin thickness, the outer shape of the contact part 111 may be freely formed.

That is, in configuring a touch sensing capacitor constituting a touch sensor module for detecting whether a human body is touched, a part constituting a part of the touch sensor module such as an artificial intelligence robot, the contact part 111 is formed of plastic, and A metal sheet 921 may be attached to the inner circumferential surface to form a touch sensing capacitor.

As an example, when the contact part 111 is provided with various parts of the artificial intelligence robot, that is, eyes, nose, mouth, arms, hands, legs, etc., the touch sensing capacitor may be formed regardless of the shape of the installed part. You will be able to.

Here, the metal sheet 921 coupled to the contact part 111 is grouped in a hand unit, a leg unit, etc., and constitutes the touch sensor module 900 in one unit together with the touch sensor controller 910 based on the grouping unit. I can.

In addition, the thickness (t) and area of the metal sheet 921, the thickness of the contact part 111, and the like may be determined according to the capacitance capacity of the touch sensing capacitor, implementation of a touch function, and the like.

In particular, since the metal sheet 921 is composed of a thin metal sheet, various touch sensing capacitors can be implemented by a simple structure according to capacitance capacity and realization of a touch function.

Here, the touch sensing capacitor formed by the combination of the contact part 111 and the metal sheet 921 may have a capacitance value of 47 nF to 1 uF.

Meanwhile, the metal sheet 921 may be attached or bonded to the contact part 111 by various bonding methods such as tape, adhesive, and adhesive material.

In addition, the contact part 111 constituting the touch sensing capacitor together with the metal sheet 921 is configured as a part of a body such as a robot or a plastic member exposed to the outer surface of a body such as a robot, etc. Yes is possible.

In addition, the metal sheet 921 is a sensor connection channel 911 of the touch sensor controller 910 described above by a wire 922 coupled by soldering, etc., on the rear surface of the coupling surface coupled to the contact part 111. And can be electrically connected.

Here, the wire 922 is not directly connected to the sensor connection channel 911 of the touch sensor controller 910, but rather, a terminal formed on the PCB on which the touch sensor controller 910 is mounted, and soldering, fitting, etc. Accordingly, it may be indirectly electrically connected to the sensor connection channel 911 of the touch sensor controller 910.

Meanwhile, the operation of the touch sensor module 900 having the above configuration will be described.

Specifically, the touch sensor controller 910 detects the number of charge transfers based on a preset period, that is, a detection frequency through a sensor connection channel 911 connected to the metal sheet 921.

In addition, the touch sensor controller 910 may detect whether or not there is a touch of a human body connected to the metal sheet 921 and a touch time according to a change in the detected number of charge transfers.

In this case, the touch sensor module 900 has one end of one of the plurality of channels 911 and is electrically connected through the sampling channel 912, the other end of which is grounded, and one or more sampling capacitors 930 having a preset capacitance value. It is preferable to include ).

In addition, the touch sensor controller 910 detects the number of charge transfers between the sampling capacitor 930 and the metal sheet 921 with a preset detection period, and when the detected charge transfer frequency is within a preset reference range, the contact part ( It is determined that there is contact of the human body to 111), and if it is smaller than the reference value, it may be determined that there is no contact of the human body to the contact part 111.

Here, when the human body comes into contact with the contact part 111, electric charges are accumulated in the metal sheet 921, and accordingly, the flow of electric charges through the sensor connection channel 911 is generated, thereby increasing the number of charge transfers. Accordingly, the metal sheet 921 It can be detected that there is a human body contact with the contact portion 111 coupled to ).

In addition, when the human body falls from the contact part 111, the accumulated charge is reduced. In this case, the flow of electric charge through the sensor connection channel 911 is generated and the number of charge transfer increases. It can be detected that the human body's contact with the contact part 111 has been released.

Specifically, in the touch sensor controller 910 according to the present invention, a change in the amount of charge occurs in the touch sensing capacitor formed together with the metal sheet 921 according to whether the human body is in contact with the contact part 111. By sensing the flow of the electric charge through the sensor connection channel 911 connected to the 921, it is determined whether the human body is in contact with the contact part 111.

-Examples

1. When the capacitance of the touch sensing capacitor does not operate at the preset reference value C (reference charge transfer frequency), the register obtains the charge transfer frequency in advance.

2. When a human body such as a hand touches the contact part 111 made of a plastic material, a touch state is formed, and the change in Cs (real-time sensing charge transfer frequency) is measured at a preset cycle.

3. If the measured Cs in real time is greater than 0.8C and less than 0.95C, it is determined that the touch is touched, otherwise, it is determined that the touch is released.

Meanwhile, the touch sensor module 900 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 is a combination of a contact sensing member 940 that changes the amount of charge by contact with the metal sheet 921 constituting the touch sensor module 900. The configuration of the impact sensor unit 800 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B.

First, the impact detection sensor unit 800 using the touch sensor module 900 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 includes a touch sensor controller 910 having a plurality of channels for sensing movement of an amount of charge; One or more metal sheets 921 that are attached to the inner surface of the contact part 111 forming at least a part of the outer surface of the robot body 100, have a conductive material, and are electrically connected to the sensor connection channel 911 as one of a plurality of channels. )Wow; It may include a contact sensing member 940 that changes the amount of electric charge by contact with the metal sheet 921.

Here, since the touch sensor controller 910 and the metal sheet 921 are substantially the same as or similar to the configurations described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9, detailed descriptions will be omitted.

On the other hand, the amount of electric charge of the metal sheet 921 is changed by contact with the contact sensing member 940 to be described later, and contact with an obstacle in a portion of the robot body 100 composed of one or more housings in which the metal sheet 921 is installed. Upon installation, a part of the robot body 100 is elastically deformed to come into contact with the contact sensing member 940.

In addition, when a part of the robot body 100 in which the metal sheet 921 is installed is in contact with an obstacle, a part of the robot body 100 is elastically deformed so that the metal sheet 921 and the contact sensing member 940 contact each other. The configuration can be various embodiments.

As an example, the metal sheet 921 is attached to the inner surface of the contact portion 111 forming at least a part of the outer surface of the robot body 100. At this time, the portion to which the metal sheet 921 is attached is configured to be elastically deformed together with the metal sheet 921 when in contact with an obstacle.

For example, a portion of the robot body 100 to which the metal sheet 921 is attached may be configured to be elastically deformed or elastically moved.

And the contact sensing member 940, when the portion to which the metal sheet 921 is attached is elastically deformed together with the metal sheet 921 when the metal sheet 921 is in contact with the obstacle of the robot body 100 so as to be in contact with the metal sheet 921 It is fixed inside.

At this time, the contact sensing member 940 is preferably made of a conductive material capable of inducing a change in the amount of electric charge on the metal sheet 921 when in contact with the metal sheet 921.

On the other hand, the portion of the outer surface of the robot body 100 on which the metal sheet 921 is installed, when configured as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, is deformed when contacting an obstacle along with detection of contact with the human body It can detect contact with obstacles.

Here, whether the user's hand, etc., is in contact with the human body and the obstacles are in contact with the human body and the obstacles. Whether it is in contact with or not can be determined.

Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the touch sensor module 900 described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 may be configured as an independent touch sensor module.

On the other hand, the artificial intelligence robot having the above configuration can be controlled autonomously as follows.

Specifically, the autonomous driving method of the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention receives the image acquired by the camera 500 and measurement data on the obstacle from the lidar sensor unit 600 as shown in FIG. 4. A first data processing step (S10) of calculating the distance, height, and position of the obstacle; A second data processing step (S20) of extracting second data including distance data for an obstacle measured by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and contact presence data detected by the impact sensor unit 800; Driving to extract the control value for the driving unit 130 by inputting the first data processed in the first data processing step (S10) and the second data processed in the second data processing step (S20) into the artificial intelligence platform A control value extraction step (S30); The driving control signal extraction step S30 may include a driving control step S40 of controlling the driving unit 130 according to the control value for the driving unit 130 extracted in the driving control signal extraction step S30.

The first data processing step (S10) is a step of calculating the distance, height, and position of the obstacle by receiving the image acquired by the camera 500 and measurement data about the obstacle from the lidar sensor unit 600 As, it may be performed by the main control unit 300 described above.

In the second data processing step (S20), the second data including distance data for the obstacle measured by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and the contact presence data detected by the impact sensor unit 800 are extracted. As a step, it may be performed by the drive control unit 400 described above.

In the second data processing step (S20), the front ultrasonic sensor 710 installed in the front part of the robot body 100 and the front ultrasonic wave sensor 710 installed in the rear part of the robot body 100 are installed lower than the installation position of the front ultrasonic sensor 710. Distance data for an obstacle may be measured by the rear left ultrasonic sensor 720 and the rear right ultrasonic sensor 730.

As described above, the installation position of the front ultrasonic sensor 710 is different from that of the rear left ultrasonic sensor 720 and the rear right ultrasonic sensor 730 to enable three-dimensional recognition of an obstacle.

In addition, the second data processing step (S20) detects contact with an obstacle by a left collision detection sensor 8a and a right collision detection sensor 8b installed on the left and right portions of the robot body 100 can do.

In the driving control value extraction step (S30), the first data processed in the first data processing step (S10) and the second data processed in the second data processing step (S20) are input to the artificial intelligence platform to As the step of extracting the control value for 130, it may be performed by the driving control unit 400.

Meanwhile, the control value extracted by the driving control value extraction step S30 may include a movement path of the robot body 100 calculated based on the first data and the second data.

Here, the movement path of the robot body 100 may be variously set, such as set according to a preset autonomous driving mode, set according to self-learning, or the like.

The driving control step (S40) is a step of controlling the driving unit 130 according to a control value for the driving unit 130 extracted in the driving control signal extraction step (S30), and is performed by the driving control unit 400 Can be.

In particular, the second data processing step (S20) and the driving control value extraction step (S30) are performed by the driving control unit 400 that directly controls the driving control unit 400, so that the driving unit 130 can be controlled more quickly and accurately. I can.

In the driving control step S40, the movement of the robot body 100 may be controlled through the driving unit 130 according to a preset autonomous driving mode.

-Example of driving control

Meanwhile, an embodiment of autonomous driving of an artificial intelligence robot having the above configuration is as follows.

First, the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 includes a front ultrasonic sensor 710 installed in front of the robot body 100 and a left rear ultrasonic sensor installed in the rear left of the robot body 100 to detect the distance between the front obstacles. 720 and a right rear ultrasonic sensor 730 installed on the rear right side of the robot body 100.

The distance to the left and/or rear obstacles and the distance L between the left and right obstacles may be detected by the left rear ultrasonic sensor 720 and the right rear ultrasonic sensor 730.

The impact detection sensor unit 800 includes a left contact sensor 810 and a right contact sensor 820 at each of the front left and right front of the robot body 100 to detect whether the robot body 100 collides with an obstacle. Is installed

The main control unit 300 performs serial communication (serial communication) with the driving control unit 400 to obtain data of the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and the impact detection sensor unit 800, and transmits the data to the ultrasonic sensor unit 700. The data measured by this indicates the distance between the obstacle and the robot body 100, and the data measured by the impact sensor unit 800 detects whether the robot body 100 collides with the obstacle.

These two data, as second data, may be transmitted to the driving control unit 400 at a specific frequency (period). For example, the specific frequency may be set to 20hz.

For example, if data is not transmitted to the driving control unit 400 within 3 seconds, the serial communication initialization procedure may be restarted.

Meanwhile, the main control unit 300 acquires information on surrounding obstacles from the lidar sensor unit 600 through a network port.

The data transmitted from the lidar sensor unit 600 is mainly information about the angle and distance of the obstacle, and the transmission frequency of the lidar sensor unit 600 may be 15hz.

Meanwhile, the main controller 300 obtains information from the depth camera 500 through USB. The data D1 transmitted from the depth camera 500 is mainly information about the height, angle, and distance of the obstacle.

Referring to FIG. 5, a flowchart of an obstacle avoidance method of an artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention is shown. The main control unit 300 acquires data of the depth camera 500, the laser lidar sensor unit 600, and the driving control unit 400.

After obtaining the data, the main control unit 300 first converts the distance, angle, and height information of the obstacles of the radar sensor and the depth camera sensor into information on whether there are obstacles in the front, left, and right fronts.

In artificial intelligence robots, the real world is generally represented by a grid map, and each grid has grid coordinates and information about obstacles and obstacles. For example, the size of each grid may be 0.05m×0.05m.

And in the upper obstacle avoidance, the obstacle avoidance effect can be achieved by adding an obstacle to the grid map.

In the range of 3m from the artificial intelligence robot, if the processed depth camera data or lidar data (D2) indicates an obstacle from 0 to 1m, the grid map, grid will be at a position around 1m with respect to the artificial intelligence robot.

At this time, if it is updated to have an obstacle, the grid at all locations less than 1m is updated so that it is not disturbed.

In addition, the grid coordinates in front of the artificial intelligence robot are divided into front, left, and right front areas to determine whether there are obstacles in these areas, and to obtain information about whether there are obstacles in these areas.

Next, step S1 in FIG. 5 is performed to determine whether there is an obstacle in front of the robot, and if there is an obstacle, it is determined whether there is an obstacle in the front left or right front of the robot, and moves in the direction without the obstacle. The command is modified, and if there is an obstacle, the driving control of the robot body 100 is performed on the movement path.

If it is determined in step S1 that there are no obstacles in front of the robot, step S2 is performed to determine if there are obstacles in the front left and right, otherwise, the command is corrected to progress (go straight), otherwise the distance between obstacles It is determined whether is less than a preset distance.

The robot's preset width L3 (if less than L3, the command is modified to stop), otherwise the control command is modified to go straight (go straight).

Next, in step S3, when it is detected that the ultrasonic sensors 710, 720, and 730 are smaller than the second distance L2 from the obstacle, the traveling speed (moving speed) of the robot is lowered below a preset value (set value).

And, it is determined whether the impact detection sensor unit 800 detects whether a collision has occurred or whether the obstacle distance measured by the ultrasonic sensor is smaller than the first distance L1, and according to the result, the command proceeds without change. It can be (no change), a certain distance forward, a certain distance backward, or a stop.

Meanwhile, after executing the above command, it is determined whether a preset time, for example, 100ms has elapsed, and when 100ms elapses, it can be restarted to the first stage.

On the other hand, the measurement of the distance between two obstacles, as shown in FIG. 6, obtains data D1 and D2 including distance and angle information from the obstacle using the depth camera 500 or the lidar sensor unit 600 Thus, the obstacle can be performed through detection of the presence or absence of the front left and right front of the robot.

On the other hand, the main feature of the autonomous driving control method of the artificial intelligence robot according to the present invention is the presence, location, and size of obstacles by using the depth camera 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600 in the case of more than a preset distance DS. , Height, the angle based on the front of the robot body 100 can be measured first.

At this time, the preset distance DS is set to a distance that does not interfere with the traveling of the robot body 100 even though an obstacle is detected.

On the other hand, the artificial intelligence robot, when it is recognized that there is an obstacle less than a preset distance (DS) during the driving process, the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and the impact sensor unit in parallel to the depth camera 500 and the lidar sensor unit 600 The distance to the obstacle is measured using the unit 800.

In particular, the robot body 100 at a short distance to the obstacle by detecting the obstacle by the ultrasonic sensor unit 700 and the impact sensor unit 800 directly connected to the driving control unit 400 that controls the driving of the driving unit 130 The autonomous driving control of the vehicle can be performed more effectively and quickly.

Since the above has been described only with respect to some of the preferred embodiments that can be implemented by the present invention, the claims of the present invention as well known should not be construed as being limited to the above embodiments, the present invention described above It will be said that both the technical idea and the technical idea that accompany the fundamental are included in the scope of the present invention.

900: touch sensor module 911: sensor connection channel
930: metal sheet 910: touch sensor controller

Claims (6)

delete delete delete delete delete As a shock sensor installed in the robot body 100 of the artificial intelligence robot having one or more contact portions 111 made of plastic material to check whether there is contact with an obstacle,
A touch sensor module 900 installed in the robot body 100 of the artificial intelligence robot;
And a contact sensing member 940 that changes electrostatic force by contact with the contact portion 111 of the touch sensor module 900,
The touch sensor module 900,
A touch sensor controller 910 having a plurality of channels for sensing movement of the amount of charge;
At least one metal sheet 921 attached to the inner surface of the contact part 111 and having a conductive material and electrically connected to the sensor connection channel 911 as one of the plurality of channels;
One end is electrically connected through the sampling channel 912 as one of the plurality of channels, the other end is grounded and includes one or more sampling capacitors 930 having a preset capacitance value,
The touch sensor controller 910 detects a flow of an amount of electric charge through a sensor connection channel 911 connected to the metal sheet 921 to determine whether a human body is in contact with the contact part 111,
The touch sensor controller 910,
Detecting the number of times of charge transfer between the sampling capacitor 930 and the metal sheet 921 with a preset detection period,
When the detected number of charge transfers is within a preset reference range, it is determined that there is a human body contact with the contact part 111, and when it is less than a reference value, it is determined that there is no human body contact with the contact part 111,
In the part of the robot body 100 on which the metal sheet 921 is installed, a part of the robot body 100 is elastic so that the metal sheet 921 and the contact sensing member 940 contact each other when contacting an obstacle. Transformed,
The contact sensing member 940 is the metal sheet 921 when the portion of the robot body 100 to which the metal sheet 921 is attached is elastically deformed together with the metal sheet 921 when in contact with an obstacle. It is fixedly installed inside the robot body 100 so as to contact with,
The metal sheet 921 has a copper material,
The metal sheet 921 is a shock sensor installed in an artificial intelligence robot, characterized in that having a thickness of 1㎛ ~ 3mm.

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