Vehicle control
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:
- receiving one or more instructions issued as speech;
analyzing the speech using speech recognition software to provide a sequence of words and a word confidence measure for each word so recognized;
analyzing the sequence of words to identify a semantic concept corresponding to an instruction based on the analysis, and a semantic confidence level for the identified semantic concept derived at least in part with reference to the word confidence measures of the words associated with the semantic concept;
providing a spoken confirmation of the semantic concept so identified based on the semantic confidence level and an indicated verbosity level, the spoken confirmation being provided with one of a speaking rate or a pitch that is increased as the indicated verbosity level decreases; and
using the semantic concept so identified to provide a control input for the vehicle;
wherein the step of providing the spoken confirmation of the semantic concept comprises indicating that the instruction was not understood when the semantic confidence level is below a threshold, or the step of using the semantic concept comprises providing the control input for the vehicle when the semantic confidence level exceeds the threshold.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to voice-activated vehicle control, and to the control of UAVs (unmanned air vehicles) using speech in particular. A method of controlling a vehicle is provided that includes receiving one or more instructions issued as speech and analyzing the speech using speech recognition software to provide a sequence of words and a word confidence measure for each word so recognized. The sequence of words is analyzed to identify a semantic concept corresponding to an instruction based on the analysis, and a semantic confidence level for the semantic concept identified derived at least in part with reference to the word confidence measures of the words associated with the semantic concept. A spoken confirmation of the semantic concept so identified based on the semantic confidence level is provided, and the semantic concept is used to provide a control input for the vehicle.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:
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receiving one or more instructions issued as speech; analyzing the speech using speech recognition software to provide a sequence of words and a word confidence measure for each word so recognized; analyzing the sequence of words to identify a semantic concept corresponding to an instruction based on the analysis, and a semantic confidence level for the identified semantic concept derived at least in part with reference to the word confidence measures of the words associated with the semantic concept; providing a spoken confirmation of the semantic concept so identified based on the semantic confidence level and an indicated verbosity level, the spoken confirmation being provided with one of a speaking rate or a pitch that is increased as the indicated verbosity level decreases; and using the semantic concept so identified to provide a control input for the vehicle; wherein the step of providing the spoken confirmation of the semantic concept comprises indicating that the instruction was not understood when the semantic confidence level is below a threshold, or the step of using the semantic concept comprises providing the control input for the vehicle when the semantic confidence level exceeds the threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for controlling a vehicle, comprising:
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an input arranged to receive one or more instructions issued as speech; a memory arranged to store the received speech; a speech recognition module arranged to analyze the speech to provide a sequence of words and a word confidence measure for each word recognized; a natural language understanding module arranged to receive the sequence of words and the word confidence measures, and analyze the sequence of words to identify a semantic concept corresponding to an instruction based on the analysis and a semantic confidence level for the identified semantic concept derived at least in part with reference to the word confidence measures of the words associated with the semantic concept; a response generation module arranged to provide a spoken confirmation of the identified semantic concept based on the semantic confidence level and an indicated verbosity level; and a command generation module arranged to use the identified semantic concept to provide a control input for the vehicle; wherein the response generation module is arranged to provide the spoken confirmation of the identified semantic concept to indicate that the instruction was not understood when the semantic confidence level is below a threshold, or the command generation module is arranged to use the identified semantic concept to provide a control input for the vehicle when the semantic confidence level exceeds the threshold, and the response generation module is arranged to provide the spoken confirmation of the identified semantic concept with at least one of a speaking rate or a pitch that is increased as the indicated verbosity level decreases. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-implemented method of controlling a vehicle, comprising:
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receiving one or more instructions issued as speech; analyzing the speech using speech recognition software to provide a sequence of words and a word confidence measure for each word so recognized; analyzing the sequence of words to identify a semantic concept corresponding to an instruction based on the analysis, and a semantic confidence level for the identified semantic concept derived at least in part with reference to the word confidence measures of the words associated with the semantic concept; providing a spoken confirmation of the semantic concept so identified based on the semantic confidence level, the spoken confirmation having one of a speaking rate or a pitch adjusted according to an indicated response length; and using the semantic concept so identified to provide a control input for the vehicle; wherein the step of providing the spoken confirmation of the semantic concept comprises indicating that the instruction was not understood when the semantic confidence level is below a threshold, or the step of using the semantic concept comprises providing the control input for the vehicle when the semantic confidence level exceeds the threshold. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification