Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Robot control
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-24
2004-04-06
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Robot control
C700S094000, C379S088030, C446S141000, C446S142000, C446S268000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06718231
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an authoring system and an authoring method for supporting creation and editing of data in accordance with a preset scenario and, more particularly, to an authoring system and an authoring method for supporting creation and editing of a sequence of commands/data stating a preset operating pattern of a robot.
More particularly, it relates to an authoring system and an authoring method for supporting creation and editing of an operating pattern using a set of components prescribing the operating states of a robot, and to an authoring system and an authoring method for arraying the respective components on a computer display for supporting creation and editing of the operating pattern.
BACKGROUND ART
A mechanical apparatus for performing movements simulating the movement of the human being, using electrical or magnetic operation, is termed a “robot”. The etymology of the term robot is said to be “ROBOTA” (slave machine) of the Slavic language. The robots started to be used widely in this country towards the end of the sixtieth. Most of the robots used were industrial robots, such as manipulators or transporting robots, aimed at automation or unmanned operations in plants.
In recent years, researches and development in legged mobile robots, including pet type robots, simulating the bodily mechanism or movements of animals, such as quadruples, e.g., dogs or cats, or so-called humanoid robots, simulating the bodily mechanism or movements of animals erected and walking on feet, such as human being, are progressing, and expectations are made of practical utilization of these types of robots. The legged mobile robots, while being unstable and difficult to control as to their orientation or walking, as compared to crawler or tire type robots, are superior in their performance in climbing up and down a ladder or a staircase, in riding over obstacles or walking or in running flexibly on a leveled or non-leveled terrain.
The standstill type robots, installed and used at a fixed place, such as armed robots, are in operation only in a stationary or local working space, such as for assembling or sorting of component parts. On the other hand, the mobile robots are not limited as to working space and are movable on a preset or undefined path in an unrestricted fashion to perform operations to take the place of human operators or to offer variegated services to take the place of the human being, dogs or other living organisms.
One of the usages of the legged mobile robot is substitution of a variety of operations dangerous or difficult to perform in industrial or productive activities. Examples of these usages include substitution of a variety of operations dangerous or difficult to perform, such as maintenance operations in nuclear power plants, thermal power plants or petrochemical plants, transporting or assembling operations in manufacturing plants, cleaning in high-rise buildings or rescuing e.g., on the site of conflagrations.
Another usage of the legged mobile robot is life-related usage, such as co-living with or rendering entertainment for the human being, rather than acting as the operational support described above. This sort of robot emulates a rich feeling expression exploiting the four limbs or an operation mechanism of the legged walking animal of high intellect, such as human being or dog (pet). Moreover, this sort of the robot is requested not only to execute the pre-set operating pattern measly faithfully, but also to realize vivid expressions dynamically responding to the language or behavior of a counterpart operator, such as ‘praising’, ‘scolding’ or ‘patting’.
With a conventional toy machine, the relationship between the user operation and the responsive operation is fixed, such that the toy's movements cannot be changed to suit to the user's liking. The result is that the user gets tired of the toy, simply repeating only the same sort of the operations, sooner or later.
Conversely, an intellectual robot owns a behavioral or learning model, emanating from movements, and determines its movements as it varies the model based on the input information from outside, such as speech, image or tactile feeling, to realize autonomous thinking or operation control. The feeling or the autonomous behavior of the robot itself can be represented by providing the robot with the feeling or instinct model. By the robot owning a picture inputting device or with a speech input/output device and executing the processing of picture or speech recognition, it is possible to realize realistic communication between the robot and the human being on a higher intellectual level.
In addition, by affording the possibility of changing the model responsive to the detection of a stimulus from outside, such as user's actuation, that is the ‘learning effect’, it is possible to present to the user a movement pattern which is not tiresome to the user or which adapts itself more satisfactorily to the user's liking.
Nowadays, the legged mobile robot owns a high information processing capability, such that the robot itself may be thought of as a sort of a computing system. Consequently, the sequence of the highly advanced sophisticated operations, constructed by the operating pattern, realized on the robot, or by the combination of plural basic operating patterns, may be constructed by an operation similar to that performed in the computer programming.
In near future, it may be anticipated that the robot becomes more popular to become more diffused not only in industrial circles but also in households and in our everyday life. In particular, as concerns products which pursue entertainment aspects, it may be anticipated that consumers at large, not having profound knowledge in computer or computer programming, purchase and use the robot. It may be thought to be desirable to provide the users at large with a tool which helps create and edit the operating sequence of the robot relatively readily and efficiently by interactive processing, that is with a so-called authoring system.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an excellent authoring system and method which are able to help create and edit a sequence of command/data stating a preset operating pattern of the robot.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an excellent authoring system and method which are able to help create and edit an operating pattern using a set of components prescribing the operating states of a robot.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an excellent authoring system and method which allow to array various components on a computer display to help create and edit an operating pattern for the robot.
An authoring system according to the present invention is such a system supporting the creation and editing of an action of a multi-joint structure comprised of a combination of a plurality of chronological data, including a user inputting unit for inputting commands or data from a user, a user presenting unit for presenting an editing area in which chronological data making up the action are arrayed chronologically along the time axis, and a chronological data editing unit provided for each chronological data making up the action. The chronological data editing unit creates or edits relevant chronological data based on a user input through the user presenting unit.
The ‘system’ herein means a logical assembly of plural devices or functional modules realizing specified functions, without regard to whether or not the individual devices or functional modules are enclosed in one casing.
The multi-joint structure is a legged robots having two legs, four legs and so forth and which are constructed from plural joint actuators. Alternatively, the multi-joint structure may be other types of multi-joint robots, or a character for producing an animation, based on joint movements, as a result of computer graphics.
The chronological data making up the action may be motion data stating the chronological movem
Konno Reizo
Ogure Satoko
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Frommer William S.
Frommer & Lawrence & Haug LLP
Marc McDieunel
Sony Corporation
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