ROBOT DEVICE, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND PROGROM FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20170129103A1
• Filed: 01/24/2017
• Published: 05/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: KOKUBO, Wataru, FUKUSHIMA, Tetsuharu, NAGANO, Masakuni, SHIMIZU, Satoru
• Granted Patent: US 10,293,484 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1666 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40298 Manipulator on vehicle, wheels, mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40475 In presence of moving obstacles, dynamic environment

Abstract

Provided is a robot device including a drive unit including a plurality of links and joints connecting the links, a task instruction input unit for inputting an instruction of a task, a drive control unit for controlling an operation of the drive unit on the basis of the input task and determining a restricted area including a space necessary for the operation of the drive unit, and an area display unit for displaying the restricted area.

Claims

1. A movable device, comprising:

a drive unit including a plurality of movable parts;

a communication unit configured to receive an instruction related to the plurality of movable parts;

one or more processors configured to;

control an operation of the drive unit based on the received instruction;

calculate a trajectory of the movable device based on the instruction of the task for a determined time period, wherein the determined time period includes a plurality of determined time intervals;

calculate, a restricted area in which the movable device is configured to move based on the received instruction; and

determine an operation space along the calculated trajectory based on the calculated restricted area that corresponds to a respective time interval.

2. The movable device according to claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to predict a space necessary for a determined time so as to implement the received instruction, and determine the restricted area based on the prediction.

3. The movable device according to claim 2, wherein:

the drive unit further includes a moving unit to move a position of the movable device, wherein

the one or more processors are configured to predict the space necessary at a moving position at each time until the determined time has elapsed, and determine the restricted area based on the prediction.

4. The movable device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a recognition unit configured to recognize a human or obstacle within a work environment, and

an area display unit configured to display the restricted area based on the human or obstacle recognized by the recognition unit located within the restricted area.

5. The movable device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a recognition unit configured to a human or obstacle within a work environment,

wherein the one or more processors are configured to operate upon the received instruction until after a certain time has elapsed when the human or obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is absent within the restricted area.

6. The robot device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a recognition unit configured to recognize a human or animal within a work environment; and

a warning unit configured to issue a warning so that the human or animal recognized by the recognition unit leaves the restricted area when the human or animal is located within the restricted area.

7. The robot device according to claim 6, wherein the warning unit is configured to issue the warning based on one of a message audio output, blank shot, smell, or hot air or a combination of two or more thereof.

8. A method of controlling a movable device, comprising:

inputting an instruction of a task;

calculating a trajectory of the movable device based on the instruction of the task for a determined time period, wherein the determined time period includes a plurality of determined time intervals;

calculating, a restricted area in which the movable device is configured to move based on the received instruction; and

determining an operation space along the calculated trajectory based on the calculated restricted area that corresponds to a respective time interval.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute operations, the operations comprising:

inputting an instruction of a task;

calculating a trajectory of the movable device based on the instruction of the task for a determined time period, wherein the determined time period includes a plurality of determined time intervals;

calculating, a restricted area in which the movable device is configured to move based on the received instruction; and

determining an operation space along the calculated trajectory based on the calculated restricted area that corresponds to a respective time interval.