REMOTE CONTROLLER

• US 20100036527A1
• Filed: 10/07/2008
• Published: 02/11/2010
• 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: Takahashi, Kimio, Ogawa, Naohide, Matsunaga, Shinichi
• Granted Patent: US 9,592,610 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/264
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 13/06 Control stands, e.g. consoles, switchboards
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1676 Avoiding collision or forbidden zones
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0033 by having the operator tracking the vehicle either by direct line of sight or via one or more cameras located remotely from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/024 in combination with a laser lasers per se H01S
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0251 extracting 3D information from a plurality of images taken from different locations, e.g. stereo vision stereoscopic image analysis H04N13/00; depth recovery from images G06T7/593
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/027 comprising intertial navigation means, e.g. azimuth detector inertial navigation G01C21/16; inertial navigation combined with non-inertial navigation instruments G01C21/165
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0272 comprising means for registering the travel distance, e.g. revolutions of wheels measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, e.g. using odometers G01C22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2201/0217 Anthropomorphic or bipedal robot

Abstract

A remote controller enables a user to manipulate behavior of a robot so that the robot does not stray away from a given area and also avoids contact with an object. If a route designated by the user satisfies a stable movement requirement, a first command signal is transmitted from the remote controller to the robot. By doing so, it is possible to move the robot according to the designated route. On the other hand, if the route designated by the user does not satisfy the stable movement requirement, the first command signal is not transmitted from the remote controller to the robot. Therefore, it is possible to stop the robot from moving according to the designated route, and further to avoid the situation where the robot strays away from the designated region, or comes into contact with the object.

Claims

1. A remote controller for making a user remotely manipulate a robot moving autonomously, comprising:

a first manipulation processing element which recognizes a designated route input by the user via an input device, and which further recognizes a boundary of a designated region and a position and an external shape of an object existing in the designated region; and

a second manipulation processing element which determines whether or not the designated route satisfies a stable movement requirement, which is a requirement in which the robot is capable of moving without straying away from the designated region as well as in a condition having low possibility of coming into contact with the object, on the basis of the recognition result of the first manipulation processing element, and which transmits a first command signal to the robot for making the robot to move according to the designated route, on condition that the determination result is positive.

2. The remote controller according to claim 1, wherein the second manipulation processing element transmits a second command signal to the robot on condition that the determination result is negative, the second command signal makes the robot search for a route which has common terminal point or common starting and terminal points with the designated route and which satisfies the stable movement requirement as a target route, and makes the robot move according to the target route when the target route is retrieved, and on the other hand makes the robot stop or maintain the stopped state thereof when the target route is not retrieved.

3. The remote controller according to claim 2, wherein the second manipulation controlling element transmits the second command signal to the robot, the second command signal makes the robot decelerate or stop and thereafter search for the target route, when the robot is moving.

4. The remote controller according to claim 1, wherein the second manipulation processing element outputs the determination result in relation to the stable movement requirement, or a behavior mode of the robot defined by the second command signal via an output device.