Abstract:
A large bipedal walking robot that a human can directly board and ride and that may be used as an amusement park ride, and to an amusement park system using the same includes a large bipedal walking robot capable of being boarded and ridden, a boarding vehicle to be coupled to the head or body of the robot, a safety cable and a safety rail that prevent the robot from falling, a safety vehicle that prevents the robot, but not the safety cable, from falling and makes the robot&#39;s bipedal walking steadier, connection means enabling the robot to be connected to a roller coaster (tram railway) in order to provide the effect of a flying robot, and a tunnel in which various villain robots are installed to provide an experience of the robot engaging in combat, and safety rails installed and connected in all areas where the robot moves.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2009/004706, filed on Aug. 24, 2009, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0082618, filed on Aug. 23, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Field 
         [0003]    The following description relates to a large rideable bipedal walking robot that a human can directly board and ride and that can be utilized as an amusement park ride like a roller coaster, and an amusement park system using the large rideable bipedal walking robot. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    With the rapid advancement of computers, artificial intelligence technologies and control engineering have been developed to allow bipedal walking robots to gently walk and move. Especially, a humanoid robot like “Asimo” made by Honda in Japan can run, and a robot like “Hubo” made by Kaist in Korea can walk and move naturally. 
         [0006]    As the robot technologies are generalized, further, robot kits with which bipedal walking robots are easily assembled and made like Lego blocks are supplied to general people and students. Also, various bipedal walking robot battle contests have been opened popularily. 
         [0007]    Actually, however, the bipedal walking robots have been developed just as helpers that provide the conveniences in everyday life, that is, clean the house or carry coffee, so that the heights of the robots are less than 1M like a robot vacuum cleaner and the heights of the humanoid robots like “Asimo” and “Hubo” are less than 1.5 m to 2 m. Accordingly, the bipedal walking robots cannot be ridden and moved directly by the manipulation of the human like automobiles, trucks, fork cranes and so on. 
         [0008]    In the meantime, large-sized humanoid bipedal walking robots like “Robot Taekwon V” and “Mazinger Z” appearing in SF movies or comic books have been not studied and developed at all up to now. The large bipedal walking robots have relatively low efficiencies in their movement and power when compared with four legs walking robots or large robots with wheels like a tank, providing a low degree of practicability. As a result, many studies on the large bipedal walking robots have been not proposed. 
         [0009]    However, such four legs walking robots or large robots with wheels look less friendly to humans when compared with the humanoid robots appearing in movies. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0010]    Other features and aspects may be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a front view showing a bipedal walking robot according to an embodiment. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a side view showing the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a rear view showing the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a boarding vehicle coupled to a body of the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a side view showing the coupling of the boarding vehicle of  FIG. 4  to the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is an example view showing a theme park composed of a walking road, a free riding road, a ride and/or a roller coaster, and a tunnel, along which the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . is moved. 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is an example view showing a boarding area where a pilot and riders board the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a rear view showing a state where a safety rail part is connected by means of a safety cable to the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a side view showing a state where the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . walks along the safety rails of the safety rail part. 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is an example view showing a state where a roller coaster is coupled to the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 11  is a front sectional view showing the coupled state of  FIG. 10 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 12  is an example view showing a state where the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1 . hits a villain robot in the tunnel. 
           [0023]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view showing a large rideable bipedal walking robot coupled to a safety vehicle according to another embodiment. 
           [0024]      FIG. 14  is a right side view showing the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13  and the safety vehicle. 
           [0025]      FIG. 15  is a plan view showing the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 16  is an example view showing the variations of the height of the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13  and the safety vehicle in accordance with the ages and tendency of the riders. 
           [0027]      FIG. 17  is an example view showing a state where the safety vehicle of  FIG. 13  is positioned on underground rails. 
           [0028]      FIG. 18  is an example view showing a state where the boarding space of the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1  is also formed in the robot body. 
           [0029]      FIG. 19  is an example view showing an example where the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13  is coupled to the safety vehicle. 
       
    
    
       [0030]    Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals should be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0031]    The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein. Accordingly, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the systems, apparatuses and/or methods described herein will be suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. The progression of processing steps and/or operations described is an example; however, the sequence of steps and/or operations is not limited to that set forth herein and may be changed as is known in the art, with the exception of steps and/or operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for increased clarity and conciseness. 
         [0032]    Hereinafter, an explanation on a large rideable bipedal walking robot according to an embodiment of the present invention will be in detail given with reference to the attached drawings. 
         [0033]      FIG. 1  is a front view showing a large rideable bipedal walking robot for an amusement park ride according to an embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a side view of the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 3  is a rear view of the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a boarding vehicle coupled to a body of the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 5  is a side view showing the coupling of the boarding vehicle of  FIG. 4  to the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 6  is an example view showing a theme park composed of a walking road, a free riding road, a ride and/or a roller coaster, and a tunnel, along which the bipedal walking robot is moved,  FIG. 7  is an example view showing a boarding area where a pilot and riders board the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 8  is a rear view showing a state where a safety rail part is connected by means of a safety cable to the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 9  is a side view showing a state where the robot walks along the safety rails of the safety rail part,  FIG. 10  is an example view showing a state where a roller coaster is coupled to the bipedal walking robot,  FIG. 11  is a front sectional view of  FIG. 10 ,  FIG. 12  is an example view showing a state where the bipedal walking robot hits a villain robot in the tunnel,  FIG. 13  is a perspective view showing a large rideable bipedal walking robot coupled to a safety vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 14  is a right side view showing the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13  and the safety vehicle,  FIG. 15  is a plan view showing the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13 ,  FIG. 16  is an example view showing the variations of the height of the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13  and the safety vehicle in accordance with the ages and tendency of the riders,  FIG. 17  is an example view showing a state where the safety vehicle of  FIG. 13  is positioned on underground rails,  FIG. 18  is an example view showing a state where the boarding space of the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 1  is also formed in the robot body, and  FIG. 19  is an example view showing an example where the bipedal walking robot of  FIG. 13  is coupled to the safety vehicle. 
         [0034]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a large rideable bipedal walking robot  1  of the invention includes two leg links  5 , an upper body  4  disposed on the top sides of the two leg links  5 , a head  2  disposed on the top side of the upper body  4 , and two arm links  3  connected to both sides of the upper body  4 . The head  2  has two headlights  10  and a speaker  11  mounted thereon. In the interior of the upper body  4  are provided a control unit like a computer, a motor (driving source) activating the links  3  and  5  of the robot  1 , and an engine source (such as an engine, batteries, power supply equipment and so on), which are not shown in the drawings. Also, the robot  1  as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3  has a cover mounted thereon so as to protect the internal structure thereof. 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the head  2  has a safety cable connector  6  adapted to connect a safety cable thereto and a head connector  7  adapted to connect a roller coaster thereto, and the upper body  4  has an upper body connector  8  adapted to connect the roller coaster thereto. 
         [0036]    The walking technology of the robot  1  as shown in  FIGS. 1 to 3  is adopted from that of the humanoid robots conventionally known. For example, it can be adopted freely from the walking technologies of the Honda robot “Asimo”, Kaist robot “Hubo”, and various humanoid robots appearing in robot game contests. 
         [0037]    Further, an explanation on the energy source and power housed in the upper body  4  of the robot  1  will be given. 
         [0038]    The power of the large bipedal walking robot includes the energy sources used for existing large fork cranes, cranes and industrial robots. For instance, the power is utilized with oil energy like gas and diesel, fuel cells, electricity and so on, and further, it is utilized with hybrid energy. In the meantime, so as to convert the energy of the robot  1  into energy to move the arms, legs, head, and upper body, an electric motor, a hydraulic pump, a hydraulic motor, an actuator, and a hydraulic cylinder are utilized. 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an explanation on the coupling structure between the robot  1  and the boarding vehicle  20  will be given. 
         [0040]    As shown, the boarding vehicle  20  has a front insertion protrusion  22  formed at the front surface thereof in such a manner as to be inserted into a front insertion groove  23  formed on the head  2  of the robot  1 . 
         [0041]    Also, the boarding vehicle  20  has a back insertion groove connector  24  mounted at the back surface thereof, and the head  2  of the robot  1  has a back insertion groove  26  formed thereon, such that the back insertion groove connector  24  and the back insertion groove  26  are fixed to each other by means of a back insertion screw  25 , allowing the boarding vehicle  20  to be rigidly fixed to the head  2  of the robot  1 . 
         [0042]    Additionally, the boarding vehicle  20  is provided with a rotatable safety leg bar  21  so as to allow the riders to board the boarding vehicle safely. 
         [0043]    Further, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the head  2  of the robot  1  has an entrance door  9  formed to be opened and closed at the back surface thereof, through which the boarding vehicle  20  goes and comes. 
         [0044]    Of course, if the inside (of the head  2 ) of the robot  1  has a boarding space, seats and safety belts formed therein under the circumstances, it is possible to allow riders to directly board the boarding space of the robot  1 , without using the boarding vehicle  20 . 
         [0045]    If the boarding vehicle  20  is coupled to the head  2  of the robot  1  or if the riders directly board the robot  1 , the robot  1  is moved under the manipulation of a pilot of the robot  1 . Of course, the robot  1  walks and moves by himself by utilizing his artificial intelligence or is controlled remotely in his movement. As the robot  1  walks, the riders can obtain new experiences, while seeing surrounding views, and when the robot  1  takes dynamic action of running or jumping, they can enjoy very exciting experiences. 
         [0046]    Referring next to  FIG. 6 , an explanation on the robot utilized as an amusement park ride will be given. 
         [0047]    As shown, a variety of amusement park instruments are installed around the robot  1 . For example, there is provided an amusement park system including a robot walking road  100  along which the robot  1  walks or runs, a robot free riding section  150  in which the robot  1  dances or takes various action, a roller coaster  200  to which the robot  1  is connected and flies, a tunnel  300  for theme parks adapted to provide a variety of theme experiences to the riders, and a boarding area and an elevator  101  connected to the boarding area. 
         [0048]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , an example of a boarding area prepared for the robot boarding of the pilot (or a steward) and riders is described. 
         [0049]    The elevator  101  for the boarding area has a lower entrance door  102  and an upper entrance door  103  to permit people to reach easily the head  2  of the robot  1 . After their arrival, they enter the head  2  of the robot  1  by using the boarding vehicle  20  or directly board the boarding space formed in the head  2  of the robot  1 . 
         [0050]    Referring next to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , a system allowing the robot  1  to walk and operate safely will be described. 
         [0051]    As noted above, the walking technologies of the bipedal walking robot have been brilliantly developed. However, since safety should be most importantly observed in amusement parks, there is a definite need for the installation of a device for preventing safety accidents to occur. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the safety cable connector  6  is disposed on the back surface of the head  2  of the robot  1 , to which a safety cable  502  is rigidly connected. 
         [0052]    The safety cable  502  is connected to a safety rail moving wheel  512  by means of a safety cable rotary shaft  511  preventing the twisting of the safety cable  502 . The safety rail moving wheel  512  is mounted at upper and lower rails  510 A and  510 B located on a safety rail part  500  and is moved naturally together with the movement of the robot  1 . The safety rail part  500  is rigidly supported by means of safety rail support posts  501 . The safety cable  502 , which is made of a super strong material resisting the weight of the robot  1 , is designed to such a length that it is possible to prevent the head  2  of the robot  1  from colliding directly against the ground. That is, even though the robot  1  loses his balance and falls down, the safety cable  502  serves to prevent the head  2  of the robot  1  from colliding directly against the ground, completely ensuring the safety of the riders. 
         [0053]    Referring to  FIGS. 10 and 11 , next, a method of allowing the robot  1  coupled to a roller coaster to be moved safely will be explained. 
         [0054]    A roller coaster  200  is safely fixed by means of roller coaster support posts  201 . The roller coaster  200  has a roller coaster moving vehicle  230  provided thereon in such a manner as to be ascended and descended by the movement of roller coaster wheels  231  along roller coaster rails  233 , providing various riding. The roller coaster moving vehicle  230  has connection arm connectors  234  mounted at the lower end portion thereof in such a manner as to allow head and body connection arms  210  and  220  to be located thereon, and thus, the robot  1  is connected to the head and body connection arms  210  and  220  of the roller coaster  200 , as shown in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0055]    The head connection arm  210  is coupled to the head connector  7  of the robot  1  by means of a head connection arm fixing protrusion  211  and a head connection arm fixing nut  212 . The body connection arm  220  is coupled to the upper body connector  8  disposed on the back surface of the upper body  4  of the robot  1  by means of a body connection arm fixing protrusion  221  and a body connection arm fixing nut  222 . The robot  1  is coupled to the roller coaster  200  by means of the head connection arm  210  and the body connection arm  210 , and thus, as the roller coaster moving vehicle  230  is moved, the robot  1  can fly in the sky, providing exciting and safe flying to the riders. 
         [0056]    Also, the roller coaster  200  has the safety rail part  500  mounted thereon so as to provide another safety device for preventing safety accidents to occur. 
         [0057]    As shown in  FIG. 11 , the safety rail part  500  is mounted along the lower portion of the roller coaster  200  and has the safety rail moving wheel  512  mounted at the inside thereof in such a manner as to be moved along the upper and lower safety rails  510 A and  510 B thereof, the safety rail moving wheel  512  being connected to the robot  1  by means of the safety cable  502 . 
         [0058]    Further, the coupling process of the robot  1  to the roller coaster  200  is carried out by directly connecting the head connection arm  210  and the body connection arm  220  to the head connector  7  and the upper body connector  8  by means of the arms and hands of the robot  1  utilizing his artificial intelligence, and alternatively, the coupling process can be carried out in a manually operating manner for the safety thereof. At this time, a safety supervisor should check or approve whether the connection is safely achieved. 
         [0059]    Referring to  FIG. 12 , next, an explanation on the experiences of the riders as the robot  1  is passed through the tunnel  300  for theme parks will be given. 
         [0060]    Of course, the safety rail part  500  is installed along the tunnel  300  for theme parks so as to allow the robot  1  to walk and move safely. If a villain robot  310  that stands by or is installed in the tunnel  300  appears and takes action to threaten the robot  1 , the robot  1  takes action to threat the robot  1 , the robot  1  takes action to emit virtual laser to the villain robot  310  or hit him with his fist so as to drive the villain robot  310  away in accordance with control programs previously inputted. At this time, if a variety of sound effects, illumination facilities, and video play are provided in the tunnel  300 , more exciting experiences can be provided to the riders. 
         [0061]    Referring next to  FIGS. 13 to 15 , a method for coupling the robot  1  to a safety vehicle  30 , not to the safety cable  500  will be described. 
         [0062]    The robot  1  has a safety vehicle connector  12  disposed on the body thereof, to which a part of heavy equipment such as a fork crane is connected. Since this is well known in the art, and the detailed description is avoided. 
         [0063]    The safety vehicle  30  is coupled to the robot  1  at the back of the robot, and even though the robot  1  loses his balance, the safety vehicle  30  serves to prevent the robot  1  from falling down. In one example, further, the installation of the safety rail part  500  is not needed, reducing the installation cost. 
         [0064]    As shown in  FIG. 16 , next, the height of the robot  1  is varied in accordance with the tendency and ages of the riders boarding the robot  1 . 
         [0065]    That is, in an example of the robot being used for children, it may have a height in a range of 1.5 m to 3 m, so that they can enjoy riding without a mental burden and the riding for one child is possible. 
         [0066]    In an example of the robot being used for family members, e.g., including children, adults and old people, it may have a height in a range of 3 m to 7 m is provided, such that the entire family may enjoy riding. 
         [0067]    In an example of the robot being used for adults, being older than middle school students (e.g., older than 14), it may have a height in a range of 7 m to 15 m, such that they can enjoy riding with more excitement and thrill. Also, in an example of the robot being used for adults having extreme interests in robots or more experience riding such robots, it may have a height greater than 15 m, such that they can enjoy riding with extreme excitement and thrill. 
         [0068]    As mentioned above, the degrees of thrill and excitement may be varied in accordance with the heights of the robots and boarding spaces. 
         [0069]    Referring next to  FIG. 17 , a method for coupling the robot  1  to the safety vehicle located on underground rails will be described. In this method, the safety cable or the safety vehicle helping the safe bipedal walking of the robot  1  is located under the ground, and it is not exposed to the outside, enhancing the visual effects. 
         [0070]    As shown in  FIG. 18 , next, the seats for riders are additionally provided into the body of the robot  1 , especially, into the front portion of the chest, increasing the number of riders for the robot  1 . 
         [0071]    Next,  FIG. 19  is an air view showing an example wherein the robot  1  is coupled to the safety vehicle. 
         [0072]    While the embodiments have been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of embodiments. 
         [0073]    According to embodiments, there is provided the large bipedal walking robot that a human can directly board and ride and that can be utilized as an amusement park ride, wherein the robot can walk, run and fly with the connection of a safety device, providing the effects of really experiencing the ride like a roller coaster and also providing entertainment effects obtained through the experience of beating villain robots. 
         [0074]    With the development of computer graphic, especially, various robot movies appear with the real-like pictures, and the technologies of the bipedal walking robots such as humanoid robots “Asimo” and “Hubo” have been developed, so that many interests on the robots have been shown recently. 
         [0075]    In this case, a theme park, “Robot Land” is being constructed by Incheon and Masan cities according to national promoting business in Korea. Therefore, embodiments give experiences of really seeing and directly boarding the large bipedal walking robots, providing new exciting amusement park rides to riders and improving their imagination on the robots. 
         [0076]    Additionally, embodiments provide fun and theme different from existing amusement park instruments, having differential advantages when compared with the existing amusement park instruments and giving industrial attraction to the amusement park having the robot and ride system installed therein. 
         [0077]    Embodiments include a large rideable bipedal walking robot that humans can directly board and ride like amusement park rides, while adopting the walking technologies of existing humanoid robots having human-like sizes, and therefore, a large heavy equipment technology, that is, an actuator using hydraulic cylinders is needed. Accordingly, embodiments can be a technology proposed for the first time in the world, which is completely different from the robot fields suggested conventionally. 
         [0078]    Accordingly, embodiments have been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of embodiments to provide a large rideable bipedal walking robot that a human can directly board and ride and that can be utilized as an amusement park ride, wherein the bipedal walking robot is coupled to a ride like a roller coaster to provide a novel amusement park system, allowing riders to enjoy the riding and also allowing them to really experience the riding to satisfy their scientific imagination on the robot. 
         [0079]    According to embodiments, there is provided the large rideable bipedal walking robot that the human can directly board and ride and that can be utilized as an amusement park ride, wherein the robot can walk, run and fly with the connection to various safety devices, providing the effects of really experiencing the ride like a roller coaster and also providing entertainment effects obtained through the experience of beating villain robots. 
         [0080]    Also, the scientific utilization value of the bipedal walking robot defined as helper robots cleaning house and carrying coffee is extended to amusement park rides providing visual fun and experiences in theme parks or travel famous places. 
         [0081]    Therefore, embodiments give experiences of new rides to riders and provides chances of really seeing and directly boarding the large bipedal walking robots seen just in animations or SF movies, improving imagination on the robots and growing their dream for science. 
         [0082]    Further, users of the amusement park where the large bipedal walking robots are prepared can have more excitement and experiences through the special movements and grand sizes of the robots, which are not obtained in existing amusement park rides and roller coasters. 
         [0083]    Additionally, embodiments provide fun and theme different from existing amusement park rides to riders, having differential advantages when compared with the existing amusement park rides and giving industrial attraction to the amusement park having the robot and ride system installed therein. 
         [0084]    A number of examples have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.