Robot device and behavior control method for robot device

• US 6,718,232 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2002
• Issued: 04/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Minamino, Katsuki, Yokono, Jun, Fujita, Masahiro, Takagi, Tsuyoshi, Horinaka, Rika, Shimomura, Hideki, Costa, Gabriel
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Marc, McDieunel, Marc, McDieunel
• Application Number:
  US10/149,996
• Publication Number:
  US 20030060930A1
• Time in Patent Office: 560 Days
• Field of Search: 700/245, 700/246, 700/250, 700/253, 700/255, 700/257, 700/258, 700/259, 318/568.11, 382/153, 713/200, 180/170, 701/301, 701/23, 701/214, 340/436, 340/903
• US Class Current: 700/245
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1602 characterised by the control system, structure, architecture
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33053 Modular hardware, software, easy modification, expansion, generic, oop
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33056 Reinforcement learning, agent acts, receives reward, emotion, action selective
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35453 Voice announcement, oral, speech input
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39254 Behaviour controller, robot have feelings, learns behaviour
• 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

A robot apparatus causes the emotion in a feeling part (130) to be changed based on the information acquired by a perception part (120) to manifest the behavior of information acquisition as autonomous behavior. The robot apparatus includes a behavior control part for causing the robot apparatus to manifest a language acquisition behavior and a meaning acquisition part. The robot apparatus also includes a control part for performing the behavior control of pointing its object of learning. The robot apparatus causes changes in internal states, which are ascribable to the object, to be stored in a memory part in association with the object.

Claims

1. A robot apparatus performing autonomous behavior based at least on an internal state, comprising:

an information acquisition model having a parameter of a desire for information acquisition as a change factor of said internal state;

behavior control means for causing the robot apparatus to perform an information acquisition behavior as being among the autonomous behavior based on the constancy of the internal state, when the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is of a preset threshold value; and

wherein the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is changed with lapse of time.

2. A robot apparatus performing autonomous behavior based at least on an internal state, comprising:

an information acquisition model having a parameter of a desire for information acquisition as a change factor of said internal state;

behavior control means for causing the robot apparatus to perform an information acquisition behavior as being among the autonomous behavior based on the constancy of the internal state, when the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is of a preset threshold value; and

wherein the parameter of said desire for information acquisition represents a hungry feeling for learning.

3. A robot apparatus performing autonomous behavior based at least on an internal state, comprising:

an information acquisition model having a parameter of a desire for information acquisition as a change factor of said internal state;

behavior control means for causing the robot apparatus to perform an information acquisition behavior as being among the autonomous behavior based on the constancy of the internal state, when the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is of a preset threshold value; and

wherein the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is an amount of the acquired information.

4. A robot apparatus performing autonomous behavior based at least on an internal state, comprising:

an information acquisition model having a parameter of a desire for information acquisition as a change factor of said internal state;

behavior control means for causing the robot apparatus to perform an information acquisition behavior as being among the autonomous behavior based on the constancy of the internal state, when the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is of a preset threshold value; and

wherein the parameter of said desire for information acquisition is an amount of learning for new information.

5. The robot apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the amount of learning decreases with lapse of time;

and

wherein if said amount of learning is lower than a preset threshold value, said behavior control means manifests said information acquisition behavior.

6. A robot apparatus comprising:

speech inputting means;

a plurality of models characterizing a plurality of word sequences, said models having been classified based on characteristic values of said word sequences prevailing when the word sequences have been uttered;

speech input evaluating means for evaluating speech inputs, made by said speech inputting means, in accordance with said word sequence characterizing models; and

word sequence specifying means for specifying the word sequences of said speech input based on evaluation values of said speech input evaluating means.

7. The robot apparatus according to claim 6 wherein

said speech input evaluating means includes a characteristic value detecting means for detecting characteristic values pertinent to the word sequence of the speech input made by said speech inputting means and an evaluating means for evaluating the characteristic values of the speech input, as detected by said characterizing value detecting part, based on said word sequence characterizing models.

8. The robot apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising:

model registration means for registering a characteristic value of a word sequence of a speech input as detected by said characterizing value detecting means as a new speech sequence characterizing model when the evaluation of the characteristic value of said speech input is low.

9. The robot apparatus according to claim 6 wherein

said word sequence characterizing model has a characteristic value of a word sequence acquired by phoneme learning.

10. A behavior control method for a robot apparatus, said method comprising:

a speech inputting step;

a speech input evaluating step of evaluating speech inputs, made at said speech inputting step, in accordance with a plurality of models characterizing a plurality of word sequences, said models having been classified based on characteristic values of said word sequences prevailing when the word sequences have been uttered; and

a word sequence specifying step of specifying the word sequences of said speech input based on evaluation values obtained at said speech input evaluating step.

11. A robot apparatus, acting autonomously, comprising:

a sensor for detecting an object;

a perception evaluating means for evaluating input signals from said sensor;

an internal state management means fed with results of evaluation of said perception evaluating part for managing fake internal states changed based on said results; and

storage means for storing the relationship between said object and changes in said internal state which are based on said object.

12. The robot apparatus according to claim 11 further comprising:

an emotion means for generating a fake emotion based on changes in said internal state;

wherein

said object and the emotion-related information for the object are stored in said storage means.

13. The robot apparatus according to claim 11 further comprising:

a behavior generating means supervises said internal state so as to maintain constancy of said internal state, said internal state management means sends a first signal to said behavior generating part when the constancy is disturbed;

said behavior generating means generates a behavior to maintain said constancy based on said first signal.

14. The robot apparatus according to claim 13 wherein

changes in said internal state and the behavior for maintaining said constancy are associatively stored in said storage means.

15. The robot according to claim 13 wherein

said internal state management means has information acquisition desire variables and transmits a second signal to said behavior generating means based on the value of said information acquisition desire variables;

and wherein

said behavior generating means generates an information acquisition behavior based on said second signal.

16. A behavior control method for a robot apparatus, acting autonomously, comprising:

a perception evaluating step of evaluating input signals from a sensor which detects an object;

an internal state management step of managing fake internal states changed based on results of evaluation at said perception evaluating step; and

a storage step of storing the relationship between said object and changes in said internal state which are based on said object.