ROBOT AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20160214263A1
• Filed: 07/29/2014
• Published: 07/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: TERADA, Koji
• Granted Patent: US 10,232,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 19/06 Safety devices
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a robot that can improve safety even when the robot is operated in an unobserved region and a method of controlling the robot. The robot according to the present invention operates while observing a surrounding environment. The robot includes environmental information obtaining means for obtaining environmental information on the environment around the robot and control means for reducing a driving force of the robot when the robot is operated in the unobserved region, in which region the environmental information thereof has not been obtained by the environmental information obtaining means.

Claims

1. :

A robot operating while observing a surrounding environment comprising;

environmental information obtaining means for obtaining environmental information on the environment around the robot; and

control means for reducing a driving force of the robot when the robot is operated in an unobserved region, the environmental information on the unobserved region not being obtained by the environmental information obtaining means.

2. :

The robot according to claim 1, wherein

when the robot is operated in a prohibited region in which the environmental information on the prohibited region has already been obtained by the environmental information obtaining means and it has been determined that an obstacle is present based on the environmental information, the control means reduces the driving force of the robot, so that the driving force of the robot will be lower than the driving force of the robot when the robot is operated in a region in which the environmental information of the region has not been obtained.

3. :

The robot according to claim 2, wherein

the control means does not reduce the driving force of the robot when the robot is operated in a free region in which the environmental information of the free region has been obtained by the environmental information obtaining means and it has been determined that no obstacle is present based on the environmental information.

4. :

The robot according to claim 3, wherein

the robot comprises storage means for storing region information, the region information indicating to which one of the unobserved region, the prohibited region, and the free region each region around the robot 1 belongs,

the control means determines to which one of the unobserved region, the prohibited region, and the free region the region around the robot belongs based on the environmental information obtained by the environmental information obtaining means and updates the region information according to a result of the determination, and

the control means determines to which one of the unobserved region, the prohibited region, and the free region a region in which the robot operates belongs based on the region information.

5. :

The robot according to claim 1, wherein

when the robot is operated in the unobserved region, the control means reduces the driving force of the robot in such a way that the greater a volume of the robot included in the unobserved region, the greater a degree of a reduction in the driving force of the robot.

6. :

The robot according to claim 2, wherein

when the robot is operated in the unobserved region, the control means reduces the driving force of the robot in such a way that the shorter a distance between the prohibited region and the robot, the greater a degree of a reduction in the driving force of the robot.

7. :

The robot according to claim 1, wherein

the robot further includes an arm,

a case in which the robot is operated indicates a case in which the arm included in the robot is operated, and

a driving force of the arm included in the robot is reduced as the driving force of the robot.

8. :

The robot according to claim 1, wherein

the robot is a movable robot,

a case in which the robot is operated is a case in which the robot is moved, and

the driving force for moving the robot is reduced as the driving force of the robot.

9. :

The robot according to claim 1, wherein

the control means reduces a speed of the robot so as to reduce the driving force of the robot.

10. :

The robot according to claim 1, wherein

the robot operates by feedback control, and

the control means reduces a gain of the feedback so as to reduce the driving force of the robot.

11. :

A method of controlling a robot that operates while observing a surrounding environment, the method comprising the steps of;

obtaining environmental information on the environment around the robot;

determining as to whether or not the robot is operating in an unobserved region, the environmental information on the unobserved region not being obtained; and

reducing a driving force of the robot when it is determined that the robot is operating in the unobserved region.