INTELLIGENT ROBOT APPARATUS RESPONSIVE TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING AND RECONFIGURING INTELLIGENT ROBOT APPARATUS

• US 20130261796A1
• Filed: 04/03/2012
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Knu-Industry Cooperation Foundation
• Original Assignee: Knu-Industry Cooperation Foundation
• Inventors: PARK, Hong Seong
• Granted Patent: US 8,924,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/245
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1602 characterised by the control system, structure, architecture
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1617 Cellular, reconfigurable manipulator, e.g. cebot
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23304 Download program from host
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25064 Update component configuration to optimize program execution
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40302 Dynamically reconfigurable robot, adapt structure to tasks, cellular robot, cebot
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/008 based on physical entities controlled by simulated intelligence so as to replicate intelligent life forms, e.g. based on robots replicating pets or humans in their appearance or behaviour

Abstract

Provided is a robot apparatus and a method of reconfiguring a software component and an internal environment that may autonomously optimize and reconfigure a component execution program, execution environment settings, and the like, dynamically reconfigure components using a component included in the robot or a component downloaded from a server, or optimally configure an internal configuration of the robot, in response to the provided command so that the robot apparatus may perform a provided command in response to a change in an environment by dynamically recognizing the change in the environment when an environment in which the robot is used, although the external environment or the internal environment is changed while the robot is operated.

Claims

1. A method of dynamically reconfiguring an internal environment of a robot apparatus, the method comprising:

dynamically recognizing a change in an environment;

determining an internal component to be changed in the robot apparatus, based on the change in the environment recognized; and

verifying whether a component setting file and a component execution program optimally corresponding to the internal component to be changed are present in the robot apparatus.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting the change in the environment recognized to a parameter.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining comprises determining the internal component to be changed in the robot apparatus, based on the parameter.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

optimizing the internal component using a component setting file and a component execution program optimally corresponding to the internal component to be changed when the component setting file and the component execution program optimally corresponding to the internal component to be changed are present in the robot apparatus.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

operating the robot apparatus in a changed environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the changed environment corresponds to an external environment of the robot apparatus or an internal environment of the robot apparatus.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a parameter with respect to a change in the external environment of the robot apparatus corresponds to a value indicating a number of objects moving around the robot apparatus, or a value indicating a number of obstacles on a moving route of the robot apparatus.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein a parameter with respect to a change in the internal environment of the robot apparatus corresponds to a value indicating whether a software component or a hardware component included in the robot apparatus is normally operated, or a value indicating whether an available capacity of a battery is maintained at a predetermined level.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein

the internal component to be changed comprises at least one of a software component or a hardware component included in the robot apparatus,

the software component comprises a component setting file and an execution program for the hardware component that is executed by the software component, and

a power supplied to the hardware component is cut off when the hardware component is changed.

10. A method of controlling a command-adaptive intelligent robot apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving an execute command;

analyzing an expected motion of the robot apparatus based on the execute command; and

determining, based on the expected motion of the robot apparatus, a component setting file or a component execution program, to be used for optimally executing a component included in the robot apparatus.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining whether the determined component setting file or the determined component execution program is currently applicable to a target component of the robot apparatus.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a criterion for determining whether the determined component setting file or the determined component execution program is currently applicable to the target component of the robot apparatus is determined based on at least one of a program format, a central processing unit (CPU) type, and an operating system included in the determined component setting file or the determined component execution program.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

requesting, from a server, another component setting file or another component execution program, when the determined component setting file or the determined component execution program is currently inapplicable to the component of the robot apparatus; and

transmitting, by the server, the requested setting file or the requested component execution program to the robot apparatus, when the requested component setting file and the requested component execution program are present in the server.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting to the server, by the robot apparatus, input execute command information, state information, and environmental information of the robot apparatus, generated when the robot apparatus performs the execute command;

generating, by the server, a process command based on the received input execute command information, state information, and environmental information of the robot apparatus, and transmitting the generated process command to the robot apparatus; and

receiving, by the robot apparatus, the process command, and processing the execute command by executing a component of the robot apparatus,

wherein, when the requested component setting file and the requested component execution program are absent in the server, information indicating that the requested component setting file and the requested component execution program are absent in the server is reported to the robot apparatus.

15. A method of dynamically reconfiguring a software component in a robot, the method comprising:

dynamically detecting a change in an environment; and

extracting information about the change in the environment to reconfigure the software component included in the robot, based on the change in the environment detected.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating a reconfiguration plan for a software component corresponding to the change in the environment, based on the extracted information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the reconfiguration plan is generated based on an execution plan for a hardware component included in the robot.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

reconfiguring the software component of the robot based on the generated reconfiguration plan for the software component; and

operating the robot by reconfiguring a hardware component based on the reconfigured software component.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein information used for the reconfiguration plan for the software component comprises at least one of a location of the robot, a number of objects moving around the robot, a number of obstacles on a route the robot apparatus moves on, temperature, humidity, and brightness.