ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND VOICE COMMAND PROCESSING METHOD THEREOF

• US 20170206900A1
• Filed: 01/20/2017
• Published: 07/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: CHO, Chi Hyun, HEO, Chang Ryong, JOO, Jae Seok, LEE, Yo Han, YANG, Jin Gil
• Granted Patent: US 10,229,681 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/08 Speech classification or search
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/088 Word spotting
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/028 associated with devices performing functions other than acoustics, e.g. electric candles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/406 microphones
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2201/401 2D or 3D arrays of transducers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/20 Processing of the output signals of the acoustic transducers of an array for obtaining a desired directivity characteristic H04R2203/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/005 for combining the signals of two or more microphones specially adapted for hearing aids H04R25/407

Abstract

An electronic robot device is provided which includes a body, a rotatable head physically connected with the body, a plurality of microphones arranged in the body or the head, a processor electrically connected with the plurality of microphones and a memory electrically connected with the processor, wherein the processor is configured to control the head to face a first direction in response to a first wakeup signal received from the first direction, if a second wakeup signal is received from a second direction while a first command received from the first direction is processed, store information on the second direction in the memory, if the first command is completely processed, control the head to face the second direction, and process a second command received from the second direction.

Claims

1. An electronic robot device comprising:

a body;

a rotatable head physically connected with the body;

a plurality of microphones arranged in the body or the head;

a memory; and

a processor electrically connected with the plurality of microphones and configured to;

control the head to face a first direction in response to a first wakeup signal received from the first direction,

if a second wakeup signal is received from a second direction while a first command received from the first direction is processed, store information on the second direction in the memory,

if the first command is completely processed, control the head to face the second direction, and

process a second command received from the second direction.

2. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect a sound wave using at least some of the plurality of microphones,

determine whether the sound wave corresponds to a wakeup signal, and

if the sound wave corresponds to the wakeup signal, obtain information on a direction of the wakeup signal based on at least one of a detection time and a waveform of the wakeup signal.

3. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the first command using one or more microphones, which are selected based on the information on the first direction, of the plurality of microphones.

4. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive the second command using one or more microphones, which are selected based on the information on the second direction, of the plurality of microphones.

5. The electronic robot device of claim 3, wherein the processor is further configured to:

while the first command is being processed, amplify a signal received from the first direction using two or more of the plurality of microphones.

6. The electronic robot device of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to:

while the second command is being processed, amplify a signal received from the second direction using two or more of the plurality of microphones.

7. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein some of the plurality of microphones are arranged in the body and the remaining microphones of the plurality of microphones are arranged in the head, and

wherein the processor is further configured to:

detect a wakeup signal using the microphones arranged in the body,

while the first command is being processed, control rotation of the head such that the microphones arranged in the head face the first direction, and

while the second command is being processed, control rotation of the head such that the microphones arranged in the head face the second direction.

8. The electronic robot device of claim 7, wherein the microphones arranged in the head are directional microphones.

9. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

if a stop command is received from the first direction or a command is not received from the first direction for a specific time period, control the head to face the second direction and process the second command received from the second direction.

10. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

store information on the second direction in the memory using a first-in/first-out (FIFO) scheme.

11. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

if a third wakeup signal is received from a third direction while the first command is being processed after the information on the second direction is stored in the memory, store information on the third direction in the memory,

if the first command is completely processed, control the head to face the second direction and process the second command received from the second direction, and

if the second command is completely processed, control the head to face the third direction and process a third command received from the third direction.

12. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

store information on a user'"'"'s voice of the second wakeup signal with the information on the second direction in the memory,

if a third wakeup signal is received from a third direction while processing the first command after the information on the second direction is stored in the memory, store information on a user'"'"'s voice of the third wakeup signal with information on the third direction in the memory,

if the first command is completely processed when a priority of a user providing the third wakeup signal is higher than a priority of a user providing the second wakeup signal, control the head to face the third direction and process a third command received from the third direction, and

if the third command is completely processed, control the head to face the second direction and process the second command received from the second direction.

13. The electronic robot device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

if the second command is received while the first command is being processed and the second command is a specific command that is immediately processed, process the second command before the first command is completely processed.

14. The electronic robot device of claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit arranged to surround a side wall of the body and exposed through the side wall of the body,

wherein the processor is further configured to;

if the second wakeup signal or the second command is received while the first command is being processed, output an indication of a state of a progress of the second wakeup signal or the second command using the display unit.

15. An electronic device comprising:

a housing;

an array of microphones exposed through at least a portion of the housing and arranged and configured to receive sounds from different directions;

a speaker exposed through the housing;

a volatile memory;

a processor located within the housing and electrically connected with the array of microphones, the speaker, and the volatile memory; and

a nonvolatile memory electrically connected with the processor,

wherein the nonvolatile memory stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to;

receive a first voice command that triggers a first voice recognition using at least some of the array of microphones,

perform at least a portion of the first voice recognition;

store a result of the first voice recognition in the volatile memory,

while performing the at least a portion of the first voice recognition, receive a second voice command that triggers a second voice recognition using the at least some of the array of microphones,

determine a direction from which the second voice command is delivered, and

perform at least a portion of the second voice recognition based on the determined direction.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the stored instructions further cause the processor to:

determine the direction from which the second voice command is delivered based on at least one of a detection time and a waveform of the second voice command.

17. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the stored instructions further cause the processor to:

perform at least a portion of the second voice recognition by using some microphones, which are arranged in the determined direction, of the array of microphones.

18. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the stored instructions further cause the processor to:

if performing the first voice recognition is completed, perform at least a portion of the second voice recognition.

19. The electronic device of claim 15, further comprising:

a display unit surrounding a side wall of the housing and exposed through the side wall of a body of the electronic device,

wherein the stored instructions further cause the processor to;

if receiving the second voice command while performing the at least a portion of the first voice recognition, output an indication of a state of progress of the second voice command using the display unit.

20. A voice command processing method of an electronic robot device that comprises a body and a rotatable head physically connected with the body, the method comprising:

controlling the head to face a first direction in response to a first wakeup signal received from the first direction,

if a second wakeup signal is received from a second direction while a first command received from the first direction is being processed, storing information on the second direction;

if the first command is completely processed, controlling the head to face the second direction; and

processing a second command received from the second direction.