Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7873448?dq=Wowio
Timestamp: 2015-05-28 20:11:05
Document Index: 45293689

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 130', 'art 120', 'art 120', 'art 130', 'art 130', 'art 130', 'art 131', 'art 131', 'art 131', 'art 131', 'art 131', 'art 131', 'art 131', 'art 140', 'art 140', 'art 120', 'art 112', 'art 113', 'art 114', 'art 111', 'art 120', 'art 130', 'art 112', 'art 112', 'art 113', 'art 120', 'art 130', 'art 113', 'art 130', 'art 135', 'art 110', 'art 110', 'art 113', 'art 160', 'art 162', 'art 131', 'art 110', 'art 160', 'art 162', 'art 111', 'art 110', 'art 160', 'art 162', 'art 110', 'art 113', 'art 110', 'art 160', 'art 161', 'art 162', 'art 112', 'art 113', 'art 160', 'art 162', 'art 110', 'art 110', 'art 113', 'art 160', 'art 110', 'art 113', 'art 160', 'art 162']

Patent US7873448 - Robot navigation system avoiding obstacles and setting areas as movable ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsThe content of the voice designation of a designator is recognized by a voice recognition part 130 at the time of controlling a robot, and the content of the indication of gesture or the like is recognized by an image recognition part 120. A movement destination and a map around the specific position...http://www.google.com/patents/US7873448?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7873448 - Robot navigation system avoiding obstacles and setting areas as movable according to circular distance from points on surface of obstaclesAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7873448 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/538,523PCT numberPCT/JP2003/015484Publication dateJan 18, 2011Filing dateDec 3, 2003Priority dateDec 10, 2002Fee statusPaidAlso published asEP1586423A1, EP1586423A4, EP1586423B1, US20060173577, WO2004052597A1Publication number10538523, 538523, PCT/2003/15484, PCT/JP/2003/015484, PCT/JP/2003/15484, PCT/JP/3/015484, PCT/JP/3/15484, PCT/JP2003/015484, PCT/JP2003/15484, PCT/JP2003015484, PCT/JP200315484, PCT/JP3/015484, PCT/JP3/15484, PCT/JP3015484, PCT/JP315484, US 7873448 B2, US 7873448B2, US-B2-7873448, US7873448 B2, US7873448B2InventorsMasanori Takeda, Taro YokoyamaOriginal AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (27), Non-Patent Citations (7), Referenced by (6), Classifications (14), Legal Events (2) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetRobot navigation system avoiding obstacles and setting areas as movable according to circular distance from points on surface of obstacles
US 7873448 B2Abstract
Although autonomously moving robot acting according to various purposes has been conventionally known, it is generally planned that the conventional robot moves as designated according to the designation due to a person (designator).
Even if the designator utters what the designator thinks, there may be a level difference beyond the capability in which the robot can move. In this case, similarly, the robot is disturbed by the level difference and cannot move. When a person usually designates, the person does not always specify a material minutely, and may designate using a reference term such as “that” and “this”. In this case, the robot which cannot precisely recognize the designation becomes the cause of malfunction. Even when the robot recognizes the designation, the movement of the robot may fail by the error of the designation due to the designator and the unsuitable designation, and the robot may not be able to move suitably by collision or the like with an obstruction. When the robot cannot move correctly if there are no frequent and fine movement designations such as “move x meters to the left, and y meters to the front” from the designator, the load of the designator is large and the robot is unsuitable for bilateral work of the person and the robot.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a robot control device for controlling a robot having a microphone, an imaging device and a self-position detection device as one illustrated aspect of the present invention. This robot control device includes: a voice recognition part for recognizing the designation content of a designator based on sounds collected by the microphone; an image recognition part for recognizing the designation content of the designator based on an image imaged by the imaging device; a self-position estimation part for estimating the current position of the robot based on an output from the self-position detection device; a map data base for retaining map data registering at least the position of an obstacle; a decision part for deciding whether the movement to a specific position is required based on the recognition result of the voice recognition part and image recognition part; a movement ease decision part for deciding movement ease to the specific position based on the current position estimated by the self-position estimation part and the map data when the decision part decides that the movement to the specific position is required; a behavior decision part for deciding the behavior according to the movement ease decided by the movement ease decision part; and a behavior control part for executing the behavior according to the decision of the behavior decision part.
According to the robot control device having such a composition, when the designation necessary for the movement to the specific position is given to the robot, the decision part decides the necessity for movement, and the movement ease decision part decides the movement ease to the specific position based on the current position estimated by the self-position estimation part and map data. The behavior decision part decides the behavior according to the movement ease. Therefore, when the movement ease is low (difficult), the robot can be safely moved by inquiry of the designator, stopping the movement and approaching and stopping to the specific position. The designation which should be moved means the case where the designation for moving to the specific position like “Please go to Mr. A” is performed. In addition, the designation which should be moved includes a designation which is not the movement designation itself like “Please take data from a desk”, but designation which should be moved. The current position of the robot estimated by the self-position estimation part may be referred if needed when judging whether the movement to the specific position is required.
According to such a robot control device, even when the designator performs a movement designation by reference terms such as “there”, “this”, “that” and “that way”, the specific position can be easily and correctly recognized by narrowing the designating area shown by the reference term. In this case, a more exact position can be recognized by recognizing the specific position from the area of the logical product of the designating area narrowed by the reference term and the designating area recognized in the image recognition part. When designation due to voice and designation due to gesture have inconsistency, the area remaining as a result of the logical product is lost, and thereby the designator can notice the inconsistency.
According to such a robot control method, even when the designator performs movement designation by reference terms such as “there”, “this”, “that way”, the specific position can be easily and correctly recognized by narrowing the area shown by the reference term. In this case, a more exact position can be recognized by recognizing the specific position from the area of the logical product of the designating area narrowed by the reference term and designating area recognized by the image recognition step. When the designation due to voice and the designation due to gesture have inconsistency, the area remaining as a result of the logical product is lost, and thereby the designator can notice the inconsistency.
When this configuration is employed, a total of twelve freedom degrees can be imparted to the right and left feet of the legs R1. A desired movement can be imparted to the whole leg by driving the twelve (6�2) joints at a proper angle during a walk, and the robot can walk around three-dimensional space arbitrarily (herein, “�” means multiplication). Seven freedom degrees can also be respectively given to the left and right arms R3, and the desired work can be performed by driving these joints at a proper angle.
The CCD camera 43 is equivalent to “imaging device” described in Disclosure of the Invention, and the GPS receiver 46, the gyro sensor 47 and the terrestrial magnetism sensor 48 are equivalent to “self-position detection device”. The self-position detection device is not limited thereto, and it is unnecessary to be provided with all of them. For example, only the gyro sensor 47 may be provided, and conversely the other device may be further provided.
The image recognition part 120 is equivalent to “image recognition means” described in Disclosure of the Invention, and the voice recognition part 130 is equivalent to “voice discriminating means”.
The voice recognition part 130 has a function for recognizing a voice signal from the microphone 44 to recognize the command and intention of a human, with reference to the vocabulary previously registered. The voice recognition part 130 has a designating range specification part 131 (designating range specifying means). The designating range specification part 131 has a function for narrowing the area specified by the reference term such as “here” and “that way”.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the designator M says “here”, “this”, “this way” and “this one” or the like in the state where the designator M is sufficiently distanced from the robot R, the designator M usually specifies a location and object near the designator M, and thereby “here”, “this”, “this way” and “this one” mean the distance near the designator M, for example, an area a1 (shadow area) where the range having the radius of 1 m centering on the designator M is narrowed.
The designating range specification part 131 recognizes as the term for recognizing the location when the designator says “here”. When the designator says “this one”, the designating range specification part 131 recognizes as the term recognizing the object. When the designator says “here” and “this” or the like vaguely, the designating range specification part recognizes synonymously with “here” and “this one”, and recognizes as the term (this way) showing the direction. Although the deciding method of the specific position is described below, when the position of an object Ta is decided as the specific position, an arrow νa1 directing to the object Ta from the robot R, and an arrow νat directing to the object Ta from the designator M can be recognized as the direction designated by “this” or “this way”. When the object is not particularly found, since the designator M designates the circumference vaguely, the specific position is the position of the designator M. The meaning of “this” or “this way” can be recognized as an arrow va3 directing to the designator M.
As shown in FIG. 6, when the designator M says “there”, “that,” “that way” and “that one” or the like in the state where the designator M is sufficiently distanced from the robot R, the designator M usually specifies a location and object located at some distance from the designator M, and thereby “there”, “that”, “that way” and “that one” mean a far distance than one designated by “here”, “this”, “this way” and “this one” and the circumference in which a partner is present usually. Then, for example, an area b1 (shadow area) of a circle having a radius of 1 m to 3 m centering on the designator M, and an area b2 (shadow area) of a circle having a radius of 3 m centering on the robot R becomes the area narrowed.
The designating range specification part 131 recognizes “there” as the term for recognizing the location when “there” is said. The designating range specification part 131 recognizes “that” as the term for recognizing the object when “that” is said. The designating range specification part 131 recognizes “that way” and “that one” or the like as being synonymous with “there” and “that”, and recognizes as the term showing the direction. Although the deciding method of the specific position is described below, when the positions of the object Tb1 and object Tb2 are decided as the specific position, an arrow νb1 and arrow νb2 directing to the object Tb1 and the object Tb2 from Robot R, and an arrow νb3 and arrow νb4 directing to the object Tb1 and the object Tb2 from the designator M can be recognized as the direction designated. When the object is not particularly found, the position distant to some extent vaguely is shown, and for example, the specific position may be recognized as the position of the robot R. In this case, the “that way” and “that one” can be recognized as an arrow νb5 directing to the robot R.
In a cultural sphere using languages such as Japanese, since there are languages such as “there”, “that”, “that way” and “that one” (containing “farther down there” and “over there” in English) indicating a more distant area than the latter as reference terms corresponding to “here”, “this”, “this way” and “this one” or the like, a third area is set by the same method as described above using these reference terms.
That is, when “there”, “that”, “that way” and “that one” or the like are said (when the reference term containing “farther down there” and “over there” or the like is used), an area more distant than the area designated by “there” and “that one” is usually designated. The area outside the areas b1 and b2 shown in FIG. 6 becomes the area narrowed. For example, the area is the outside of a circle centering on the designator M and having a radius of 3 m, and is the outside of a circle centering on the robot R and having a radius of 3 m.
How to decide the area designated by the above reference term is changed according to the distance between the designator M and the robot R. For example, when the designator M and the robot R are in a large gymnasium and a large playground or the like, and the distance to each other is 20 m or 100 m or more, the distance as the reference so as to indicate by “this” and “that” or the like is naturally set to a long distance. Even if the designator M is greatly separated from the robot R, the object between the designator M and the robot R is not said as “over there, etc.”, and the object is usually said as “that”. How to narrow the area corresponding to the reference term is not restricted to the one described above with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, and how to narrow can be performed by other methods. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the reference term of “this or this way” can also be recognized as an area a3 of a sector shown by two dotted lines viewed from the robot R and spreading with a predetermined angle behind the designator M. When the robot R is near the designator M, the side near the designator M than the equidistant boundary line from the robot R and the designator M can also be set as the area shown by “here, this” (not shown).
When the designator M is near the robot R, the area narrowed by the reference term “here” and the area narrowed to the reference term “there” overlap. When the overlapping area is designated by any reference term, it means that the object (direction and location) in the area can be recognized.
The self-position estimation part 140 has a function for presuming the direction directing the self position based on the signals of the above sensors 46 to 48. The self-position estimation part 140 is equivalent to “self-position estimation means” described in the Disclosure of the Invention. When the robot moves within a small room, the self-position in the map of the room from the movement distance calculated from the gyro sensor 47 may be estimated as a method for estimating the self position. At the time of moving outdoors, the detection results of the information of the latitude and longitude detected by the GPS receiver 46, and the direction detected by the terrestrial magnetism sensor 48 may be estimated as the self position as it is. The self-position can also be estimated with high precision by combining the sensors 46 to 48. The self-position can be estimated with high precision by referring to the information of the object recognized by the image recognition part 120 and the map data read from the map data base 150 and by collating the self-position capable of being estimated from the information and the self-position estimated from the sensors 46 to 46.
The movement ease decision part 112 is equivalent to “movement ease decision means” described in the Disclosure of the Invention, and the behavior decision part 113 is equivalent to “behavior decision means”. The decision part 114 is equivalent to “decision means”.
The specific position decision part 111 has a function for deciding the specific position designated by the designator as the target area of movement from the designating area (hereinafter, referred to as “image recognition designating area”) of the designator recognized by the image recognition part 120, and the area (hereinafter, referred to as “voice recognition designating area”) designated by the designator narrowed by the voice recognition part 130.
Second, when the object is in the area narrowed by the logical product of the image recognition designating area and voice recognition designating area, the position of the object is decided as the specific position. If the designation regards “object” like “Please take the ball”, the object as applicable is always searched from the narrowed area. As a result of searching, when a plurality of objects, for example, balls exist, a suitable object may be selected from the balls, and may be inquired to the designator. When the object is not found, it is decided that the specific position cannot be recognized.
The warning area set part 112 b (warning area set means) has a function for setting the area which may interfere with an obstacle as the warning area PR if the robot exists from the intersection group obtained by the obstacle recognition part 112 a. So as to set the warning area PR, the entire surface of the obstacle is not necessarily restricted to the straight line (plane) shown in FIG. 7A, and the map data may not reflect the actual condition correctly by irregularity and “gap” or the like of the obstacle.
In examples of the following items (1) to (9), the cases where the movement ease is “difficulty”, “caution required” and “safety” can be respectively corresponded with the warning area PR, the margin area MG and the safety area SF when the circumference of the specific position is classified into the above three areas. That is, when the designation that the robot R moves to the warning area PR is given by the designator, the movement ease is set to “difficulty”. When the designation that the robot moves to the margin area MG is given, the movement ease is set to “caution required”. When the designation that the robot moves to the safety area SF is given, the movement ease is decided to be “safety”.
The margin area MG may be made to correspond with “difficulty”.
(1) When the movement ease is decided to be “difficulty”, behavior for reconfirming the designation is taken to the designator. For example, the robot utters “Since the movement is difficult, the robot does not move”, “Can the robot move there really” or “Please designate once again”, and “An obstacle is discovered on the course” or the like to the designator,
(2) The robot moves toward the specific position designated in the meantime when the movement ease is decided to be “difficulty”, and gradually reduces the movement speed as the robot approaches to the low area of safety of the margin area MG and warning area PR from the safety area SF. A method for making a step small as a method for reducing movement speed can be used as an example.
(3) If the robot approaches to the specific position designated at once and approaches to a certain distance when the movement ease is decided to be “difficulty”, the robot stops and confirms with the designator. For example, the robot utters “Is this good?”, “May I move?” and “An obstacle is discovered on the course” or the like. The robot may be stopped at the boundary of the warning area PR and margin are a MG, and in the safety area SF nearest to the designation position or the margin area MG instead of “Approaching to a certain distance”.
When a predetermined time designator does not respond to the inquiry of the robot R, the robot R may ask again, or the robot may utter “Since there is no response, the robot stops in this location”. Or the robot may be configured so that the reset behavior of returning to the original position is taken.
(4) When the movement ease is decided to be “caution required”, the robot assumes the behavior explained in the items (2) or (3).
(5) When the movement ease is decided to be “difficulty”, the robot corrects the specific position used as the movement destination automatically to the area of “caution required”, and moves subsequently.
(6) When the movement ease is decided to be “caution required”, the robot corrects the specific position used as the movement destination automatically to the area of “safety”, and moves subsequently.
(7) When the movement ease is decided to be “difficulty” or “caution required”, the robot designates the choices of the operations to a designator and waits for the designation. For example, the robot utters “Which would you select from stop, one-step movement, automatic correction and continuation” or the like.
(8) When the movement ease is decided to be “difficulty” or “caution required”, the robot changes into the secure method of the operation of legs. For example, even if the robot usually performs the operation of legs due to dynamic walking, the robot changes into the operation of legs due to static walking.
(9) When the movement ease is decided to be “safety”, the robot moves to the designated specific position.
When the behavior decision part 113 compares the designation recognized by the image recognition part 120 with the designation recognized by the voice recognition part 130, and the designation content is contradictory (for example, the image recognition designating area and the voice recognition designating area do not overlap at all), the behavior decision part 113 decides the behavior or the like of inquiry to the designator. In such a case, it is decided to utter, for example, “please designate once again” or the like.
When the designator designates using the voice and gesture to the robot R, the voice is inputted from the microphone 44 (Step S101). The voice is recognized as language by the voice recognition part 130, and the position of the sound source (designator) is recognized in the sound source locating part 135 (Step S102). Next, as a result of the recognition of the designation content due to the voice, the main control part 110 decides whether the contents whose the meaning is understood is recognized (Step S103). Since a listening mistake occurs when the meaning is not understood (Step S103, No), the main control part 110 (behavior decision part 113) decides to ask back to the designator, and the response of confirmation is performed by the voice to the designator from the speaker 45 through the behavior control part 160 and the utterance generation part 162. For example, “say once again” is uttered (Step S104).
The range designated by the voice reference term is narrowed by the designating range specification part 131 (Step S106, designating range specification step). For example, if the designation is “please pick up the ball there”, the designating range is narrowed to the range shown by C1 of FIG. 5C by extracting the reference term “there”.
Next, it is decided whether the designation due to the image is recognized in Step S108 (Step S109). When the designator is too close to the robot R, and the designation cannot be recognized for motion or the like of the hand of the designator overflowing from the imaging range (Step S109, No), for example, the main control part 110 decides that “please separate slightly” and “please designate once again” are uttered. According to the decision, the utterance is uttered from the speaker 45 via the behavior control part 160 and the utterance generation part 162 (Step S110).
Next, when designation is recognized from the image (Step S109, Yes), the specific position decision part 111 decides whether the designation content has been recognized by the voice and coincides (conflict) with the designation content recognized by the image (Step S111). When the designation content does not coincide (Step S111, No), the main control part 110 decides that “please designate once again” and “the designation content of the voice and does not coincide with that of the gesture” are uttered. According to the decision, the utterance is uttered from the speaker 45 via the behavior control part 160 and the utterance generation part 162 (Step S112). When the designation content coincides (Step S111, Yes), the response processing to the designation recognized in FIG. 10 is performed. To perform the voice recognition processing and the image recognition processing simultaneously may be decided, and the image recognition processing may be performed first.
The main control part 110 (behavior decision part 113) decides to judge whether the content of the designation recognized is the movement designation or the movement is the necessary designation (Step S201). When the designation recognized is not the movement designation (Step S201, No), the main control part 110 decides the behavior corresponding to the designation. The designation of the behavior is sent out to the behavior control part 160, the movement control part 161, and the utterance control part 162 or the like, and the robot R operates (Step S202). For example, when the designator shakes the hand and says “hello”, the robot performs the movement or the like shaking the hand toward the designator.
Next, the area around the specific position is classified into three areas of “warning area PR”, “margin area MG” and “safety area SF” as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 according to the movement ease decision part 112 (Step S206, obstacle recognizing step, warning area setting step, margin area setting step, safety area setting step).
Next, whether the specific position is “safety area SF” is decided (Step S207, movement ease deciding step). When the specific position is not “safety area SF” (Step S207, No), that is, the specific position is “warning area PR” or “margin area MG”, the main control part (behavior decision part 113) decides that the corresponding behavior is performed (Step S208, behavior deciding step). For example, it is decided that “since the movement is difficult, the robot cannot move” or the like is uttered to the designator. According to the decision, it is uttered from the speaker 45 through the behavior control part 160 and the utterance generation part 162.
When the specific position is “safety area SF” (Step S207, Yes), the main control part 110 refers to the formed area data shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, and plans the movement route (Step S209, behavior deciding step) and it is confirmed whether the movement route has a problem or not (Step S210, behavior deciding step). For example, it is confirmed whether there is an obstacle which does not exist on the map in the middle of the movement route, or there is a level difference. As a result of the confirmation, when there is a problem (Steps S210, No), the main control part 110 (behavior decision part 113) decides that the corresponding behavior is performed, and controls the robot R. For example, the movement route is replanned once again, or the designator is inquired after moving to a movable position.
When the control unit 100 designates the behavior to the behavior control part 160, the main control part 110 may have the behavior schedule transmission part (behavior schedule transmission means) which designates so as to utter the schedule in which the robot R will act from now on and is not shown. Thus, the behavior of the robot R is decided by the behavior decision part 113, and it is decided that the behavior schedule is outputted by the behavior schedule transmission part (behavior schedule transmission means), and the behavior (movement or the like) and output (utterance or the like) are designated to the behavior control part 160. The destination to which the robot R will move is projected on a monitor (not shown), or for example, “the robot will move to a point of 5 m of the front and of 3 m of the right” is uttered by the speaker 45 via an utterance generation part 162. At this time, the designator may point at the destination simultaneously. Therefore, the designator or a third person can confirm whether the robot R will move as designated. When movement that the designator does not mean is planned, the designation is sent out again or the stop of movement is ordered. The output of such a behavior schedule may be performed by inquiry of the designator. The computer provided outside of the robot R has the control unit 100, and some or all of the processing of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 may be executed by the computer based on the information acquired from the robot R by wireless communications. Each function shown in FIG. 4 may be configured by hardware, and may be configured by software.
As described in detail above, the present invention can provide the robot control device, the robot control method and robot control program which can precisely recognize the designation content of the designator based on the voice and image, and can perform the behavior according to the situation. In particular, the robot of the present invention can take the correspondence according to the movement ease and can attain the improvement in the safety of the robot. The area is set according to the distance from the obstacle, and the robot acts according to the area including the designated specific position. Thereby the suitable correspondence can be performed. Suitable correspondence can be carried out by classifying the circumference of the robot into three areas of the warning area, the margin area and the safety area according to the specific position by which the robot is designated. Since the shape of an artificial material is taken into consideration, the robot can take safer behavior. The robot can take the suitable behavior according to the area in which the robot exists. Whether the designation of the designator is appropriate can be recognized in detail by recognizing the reference term, and the designated specific position can be recognized easily and correctly. The necessity that the designator provides a detailed designation is eliminated, and the burden of the designator becomes light. Since the person around the robot can know the behavior schedule of the robot, it is understood whether the designation is correctly transmitted.
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