Robot

• US 8,463,437 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2008
• Issued: 06/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ohno, Nobuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): BEHNCKE, CHRISTINE M
• Application Number:
  US12/329,101
• Publication Number:
  US 20090149992A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,649 Days
• Field of Search: 701/41, 701/26, 701/300, 701/23, 701/301, 701/302, 340/431, 340/437, 340/435, 700/258, 700/253, 700/245, 700/250, 700/255, 318/568.12, 180/271, 180/14.1, 901/1
• US Class Current: 700/253
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1664 characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1674 characterised by safety, monitoring, diagnostic
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39246 Control position and orientation of handled object
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40517 Constraint motion planning, variational dynamic programming
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40629 Manipulation planning, consider manipulation task, path, grasping

Abstract

A robot that is capable of traveling while moving an object such that the object and the robot itself will not step out of a predetermined area is provided. If a traveling requirement that the robot and the object remain within a pathway area is not met, then an action scheme of the robot is corrected so as to meet the traveling requirement. Then, the robot travels while moving the object according to the corrected action scheme, thus enabling the robot to travel while moving the object such that both the object and the robot do not step out of the pathway area.

Claims

1. A robot comprising a body, arms extended from the body, hands provided on distal ends of the arms, and a controller, wherein motions of the robot are controlled by the controller according to an action scheme when the robot travels while moving an object in a state of gripping the object by the hands and the object being in contact with a floor surface, wherein

the controller comprises:

a first processing element which recognizes a predicted position and a predicted azimuth in the future of the robot according to the action scheme, and defines a predicted position and a predicted azimuth in the future of the object based on each of the predicted position and the predicted azimuth of the robot, and which also recognizes a pathway area;

a second processing element which determines, based on a result of recognition by the first processing element, a spatial broadening of the robot, and a spatial broadening of the object, whether a traveling requirement that the whole object and the whole robot will remain within the pathway area in the future is met; and

a third processing element which corrects the action scheme on condition that the second processing element has determined that the traveling requirement is not met.

2. A robot according to claim 1, wherein the third processing element corrects the action scheme of the robot so as to change a traveling direction of the robot.

3. A robot according to claim 2,

wherein the second processing element determines whether the traveling requirement will be satisfied by changing the traveling direction of the robot, and

the third processing element corrects the action scheme of the robot to reduce a traveling speed of the robot on condition that the second processing element has determined that the traveling requirement will not be met after the traveling direction of the robot is changed.

4. A robot according to claim 2, wherein

the first processing element recognizes a corrected predicted position and a corrected predicted azimuth in the future of the robot according to the action scheme corrected by the third processing element, and defines a corrected predicted position and a corrected predicted azimuth in the future of the object based on each of the corrected predicted position and the corrected predicted azimuth of the robot, and

the second processing element determines, based on a result of recognition by the first processing element according to the action scheme corrected by the third processing element, the spatial broadening of the robot, and the spatial broadening of the object, whether the traveling requirement will be satisfied by changing the traveling direction of the robot.

5. A robot according to claim 4, wherein

the third processing element corrects the action scheme of the robot to reduce a traveling speed of the robot on condition that the second processing element has determined that the traveling requirement will not be met after the traveling direction of the robot is changed.