Robot control system, information processing device, information processing method, and computer program product

Abstract

The present invention provides a robot control system, an information processing device, an information processing method, and a recording medium storing a program, which can verify the actions of a robot without incurring the costs associated with adding robots or people entering the monitoring area. The robot control system includes: a monitored robot, which is set with a monitoring area; and a robot control unit, which controls the monitored robot in a plurality of modes including a first mode that includes changing the actions of the monitored robot when an object detected entering the monitoring area is a robot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for verifying the actions of a robot. Background Art

[0002] In the factory automation market, techniques for ensuring the safety of the actions of robots installed in factories have been put into practical use. For example, in Patent Document 1, a technique is proposed for evaluating the functional safety of a designed safety program by comparing the output signal for an input signal for evaluation with an expected value. In addition, in Patent Document 2, the following technique is proposed: a unit that works autonomously and is registered in advance continues the operation of the technical equipment when a person enters the monitoring area around the technical equipment, and when a person other than this unit or the like invades the danger area, the technical equipment is changed to a safe state, thereby protecting the coordinated operation of the technical equipment, the robot, and the machine.

[0003] Prior Art Documents

[0004] Patent Documents

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2018-151866

[0006] Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2019-069509 Summary of the Invention

[0007] Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] However, in the prior art, when verifying the actions of a robot, if a person does not manually enter the monitoring area, it is impossible to confirm the actions of the robot (continuing the current action or migrating to a safe state). Furthermore, in order to automatically verify the actions of a robot, it is necessary to take additional measures such as adding a unit for verifying intrusion into the monitoring area, and registering the additional unit takes time and cost.

[0009] The present invention has been completed in view of the above actual situation, and provides a technique capable of verifying the actions of a robot without incurring costs associated with verification operations such as a person invading the monitoring area and adding a verification unit.

[0010] Means for Solving the Problems

[0011] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following configuration.

[0012] A first aspect of the present invention is a robot control system, characterized by comprising: a monitored robot, which is set with a monitoring area; and a robot control unit, which, when detecting that an object entering the monitoring area is a robot, controls the monitored robot in a plurality of modes including a first mode for changing the actions of the monitored robot. Alternatively, in the second mode in which the monitored robot operates among the plurality of modes, the robot control unit may control the monitored robot to continue the actions of the monitored robot. Thus, by using an operating robot to verify the actions of the monitored robot, there is no need to worry about the costs associated with adding a verification robot or a person entering the monitoring area.

[0013] Alternatively, it may further include a determination unit that determines whether to change or continue the actions of the monitored robot based on the specified information of the verification actions of the monitored robot. In the first mode, the robot control unit changes or continues the actions of the monitored robot according to the determination of the determination unit. Thus, in the action verification of the monitored robot, it is possible to perform the following verifications: regarding a robot that is different from the monitored robot and stably intrudes into the monitoring area during normal operation as a person, and considering the verification that the robot entering the monitoring area may contact the monitored robot and change the actions of the monitored robot (verification of whether the monitoring works); and since the other robot performs the programmed operation even when it enters the monitoring area, it is possible to consider that there is no possibility of contact between the robot entering the monitoring area and the monitored robot and perform the verification of continuing the actions of the monitored robot (verification of normal operation).

[0014] Alternatively, the monitoring area may be composed of a plurality of partial areas, and the robot control system may further include a reception unit that receives the designation of at least one of the plurality of partial areas as the object of the first mode. Alternatively, the robot control unit may control the other robot to enter the at least one area designated by the reception unit. Alternatively, it may further include a display unit that displays information indicating whether the monitoring area is an area where the actions of the monitored robot have been verified in the first mode. Thus, by verifying the actions of the monitored robot according to the changed conditions of each of the divided plurality of partial areas of the monitoring area, or by taking only the necessary areas as the object for action verification, it is possible to expect the efficiency improvement of the action verification.

[0015] In addition, a second aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires an output signal indicating that an object has been detected entering a monitoring area set for a monitored robot; and a robot control unit that, based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition unit, controls the monitored robot in a plurality of modes including a first mode in which the actions of the monitored robot are changed when the object is a robot. Thus, by using an operating robot to verify the actions of the monitored robot, there is no need to worry about costs associated with adding a verification robot or having a person enter the monitoring area.

[0016] In addition, the present invention can also be understood as an information processing method including at least a part of the above processing, a program for causing a computer to execute these methods, or a computer-readable recording medium that non-temporarily records such a program. As long as there are no technical contradictions, the above structures and processes can be combined with each other to form the present invention.

[0017] Advantages of the Invention

[0018] According to the present invention, it is possible to verify the actions of a robot without incurring costs associated with verification operations such as a person entering the monitoring area or adding verification units. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 Figure 1 FIG. is a diagram schematically showing a structural example of a security system to which the present invention is applied.

[0020] Figure 2 Figure 2 FIG. is a block diagram showing a structural example of a security system according to an embodiment.

[0021] Figure 3 Figure 3 FIG. is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow of a security controller according to an embodiment.

[0022] Figure 4 Figure 4 FIG. is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow of a security controller according to Modification 1.

[0023] Figure 5 Figure 5 FIG. is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow of a security controller according to Modification 2.

[0024] Figure 6 Figure 6 FIG. is a diagram schematically showing a specific example of a display screen according to Modification 2.

[0025] Reference Signs

[0026] ​​​​​​​​​​​100: Safety system; 101: Industrial robot; 102: Monitoring sensor; 120: Control unit; 300: Autonomous mobile robot. Detailed implementation

[0027] <Application example>

[0028] An application example of the present invention will be described. In the prior art, when an object enters the monitoring area of a robot disposed in a factory, in order to verify whether the robot appropriately operates according to the entered object (continue the current operation or transfer to a safe state), it is necessary for a person to enter the monitoring area to confirm the actual operation. In addition, in order to automatically verify the operation of the robot, adding a unit that enters the monitoring area may cause trouble and cost in registering the unit.

[0029] Figure 1FIG. 0 is a diagram schematically showing a structural example of a safety system 100 to which the present invention is applied. The safety system 100 includes an industrial robot 101 for work, a monitoring sensor 102, a safety controller 103, a robot controller 104, and a PC (Personal Computer) 105. In addition, the safety system 100 corresponds to the robot control system of the present invention. The industrial robot 101 for work is, for example, an industrial robot installed in a factory for monitoring. The industrial robot 101 for work corresponds to a monitored robot in which a monitoring area of the present invention is set. In addition, the industrial robot 101 for work is not limited to a robot with a fixed position, and may be a robot configured to be movable, such as being installed on a rack. The monitoring sensor 102 is a sensor that monitors a monitoring area 106 including the movable range of the industrial robot 101 for work. In the following description, the monitoring sensor 102 is a three-dimensional sensor, and as an example, a TOF (Time of Flight) sensor (TOF camera) using infrared light is used. The monitoring sensor 102 detects a worker 200 and an autonomous mobile robot 300 that enter the monitoring area 106. The autonomous mobile robot 300 is, for example, a movable robot that autonomously operates in a factory. The autonomous mobile robot 300 corresponds to a robot that enters the monitoring area of the present invention. In addition, the robot that enters the monitoring area of the industrial robot 101 for work is not limited to the autonomous mobile robot 300, and other industrial robots for work without an autonomous driving function may be configured to enter the monitoring area instead of the autonomous mobile robot 300. The safety controller 103 performs the processes described below and sends an instruction for verifying the operation of the industrial robot 101 in the safety system 100 to the robot controller 104. The robot controller 104 controls the operation of the industrial robot 101 according to the instruction from the safety controller 103, or controls the operation mode of the industrial robot 101 when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106. The PC 105 creates a program required to verify the operation of the industrial robot 101 and displays the verification result. In addition, the safety controller 103 corresponds to the information processing device of the present invention.

[0030] According to the safety system 100 of the present invention, a technique for verifying the operation of a robot can be provided without incurring the cost of verification operations such as a person entering the monitoring area and registration of additional units for verification.

[0031] <First Embodiment>

[0032] The first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0033] Figure 2It is a block diagram showing a schematic structural example of the safety system 100 according to the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that an industrial robot 101 is installed on a unit line in a factory or the like, and the safety system 100 verifies the operation of the industrial robot 101 when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106 of the monitoring sensor 102.

[0034] In addition, in the first embodiment, the autonomous mobile robot 300 may be an AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) that autonomously travels on an automatically calculated route, or an AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) that travels guided on a pre-specified route, or other industrial robots.

[0035] In addition, in the first embodiment, the installation location of the PC 105 is not particularly limited. For example, the PC 105 may be a cloud computer.

[0036] The safety controller 103 includes an input unit 110, a control unit 120, a storage unit 130, and an output unit 140. The control unit 120 includes a determination unit 121 and a data generation unit 122. In addition, the input unit 110, the monitoring sensor 102, and the control unit 120 respectively correspond to the acquisition unit, the monitoring unit, and the robot control unit of the present invention.

[0037] In the present embodiment, when an object such as the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, the monitoring sensor 102 outputs a signal indicating that the object has entered the monitoring area 106 to the safety controller 103. The input unit 110 acquires the output signal of the monitoring sensor 102. The output signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired by the input unit 110 is stored in the storage unit 130 through the control unit 120. In addition, the output signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired by the input unit 110 is data indicating the position and shape of the detected object in the monitoring area 106.

[0038] The control unit 120 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and controls each part in the safety controller 103 and performs various information processes.

[0039] Here, as an example of the operation mode of the work robot 101, a robot operation verification mode and a normal robot operation mode can be cited. The robot operation verification mode is a mode for confirming whether the operation of the work robot 101 is appropriately controlled when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106. More specifically, in the robot operation verification mode, when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, since there is a possibility that the work robot 101 may come into contact with the autonomous mobile robot 300, it is confirmed whether the operation of the work robot 101 can be appropriately stopped. Thus, when the work robot 101 is operated, in the safety system 100, it can be verified whether the operation of the work robot 101 stops when an object enters the monitoring area 106 and contact between the work robot 101 and the object can be avoided. In addition, the robot operation verification mode corresponds to the first mode of the present invention. Further, in the robot operation verification mode, instead of controlling the work robot 101 in a manner that stops its operation, the work robot 101 can be controlled in a manner that changes to various operations such as deceleration for avoiding contact with an object.

[0040] In addition, the normal robot operation mode is a mode during the operation of performing the original functions (such as operations and handling) of the work robot 101. In the normal robot operation mode, when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, the operation of the work robot 101 continues. The autonomous mobile robot 300 travels on a route preset so as not to come into contact with the work robot 101. Therefore, in the normal robot operation mode, when the work robot 101 is operated, even if the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, it does not come into contact with the work robot 101, and thus the operation of the work robot 101 continues. However, even in the normal robot operation mode, when an unwanted operation (such as an abnormality of the device) occurs and there is a possibility that the autonomous mobile robot 300 may come into contact with the work robot 101, the autonomous mobile robot 300 is controlled to decelerate or stop, or by avoiding the route of the work robot 101, or instead of or in addition to that, the work robot 101 is controlled to decelerate or stop. In addition, the normal robot operation mode corresponds to the second mode of the present invention. Further, the first mode and the second mode correspond to multiple modes of the present invention.

[0041] The determination unit 121 determines whether the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is the autonomous mobile robot 300 based on the signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired by the input unit 110. In addition, the determination unit 121 determines the operation mode of the work robot 101. Based on the determination of the object and the determination of the operation mode performed by the determination unit 121, the control unit 120 performs the operation verification of the work robot 101 corresponding to the operation mode of the work robot 101 when the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is the autonomous mobile robot 300. In addition, when the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is not the autonomous mobile robot 300, the control unit 120 causes the data generation unit 122 to generate a control signal for stopping the operation of the work robot 101 in order to avoid contact between the work robot 101 and the entered object.

[0042] The data generation unit 122 generates a control signal for the operation of the work robot 101, or generates data indicating the processing results of each unit of the control unit 120. The control signal and data generated by the data generation unit 122 are output from the output unit 140, or stored in the storage unit 130.

[0043] In addition to storing the above data, the storage unit 130 also stores the identification information of the work robot 101 and the autonomous mobile robot 300, the program executed by the control unit 120, various data used by the control unit 120, etc. For example, the storage unit 130 is an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive or a solid state drive. The output unit 140 outputs the control signal for the operation of the work robot 101 generated by the data generation unit 122. In addition, the data generated by the data generation unit 122 can also be stored in the storage unit 130 and output from the output unit 140 to an external display device, storage device, etc. at an arbitrary timing.

[0044] Figure 3 It is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of the safety controller 103. As an example, after the power is turned on, the safety controller 103 starts Figure 3 the processing flow. In addition, before the start of the following processing flow, based on the designation by the user of the safety system 100 through a switch operation or the like (not shown), the operation mode of the robot 101 (robot operation verification mode or robot operation normal mode) is preset in advance by the robot controller 104.

[0045] In step S301, the monitoring sensor 102 detects an object that has entered the monitoring area 106. And the input unit 110 acquires the output signal output from the monitoring sensor 102 that has detected the object entering the monitoring area 106.

[0046] Next, in step S302, the determination unit 121 determines whether the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is the autonomous mobile robot 300 based on the output signal of the monitoring sensor 102 obtained in step S301 and using the identification information stored in the storage unit 130. When the determination unit 121 determines that the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is the autonomous mobile robot 300, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S303. On the other hand, when the determination unit 121 determines that the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is not the autonomous mobile robot 300, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S306.

[0047] In step S303, the determination unit 121 determines whether the operation mode of the work robot 101 is the robot motion verification mode or the normal robot motion mode. When the determination unit 121 determines that the operation mode of the work robot 101 is the robot motion verification mode, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S304. In addition, when the determination unit 121 determines that the operation mode of the work robot 101 is the normal robot motion mode, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S305.

[0048] In step S304, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal to stop the operation of the work robot 101 and sends the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls to stop the operation of the work robot 101 according to the received control signal. Thus, in the motion verification before operating the work robot 101, when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, the autonomous mobile robot 300 is regarded as an object that may come into contact with the work robot 101, and it is possible to confirm the situation where the operation of the work robot 101 can be appropriately stopped.

[0049] In step S305, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal to continue the operation of the work robot 101 and sends the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls to continue the operation of the work robot 101 according to the received control signal. Thus, when the work robot 101 is in operation, even if the autonomous mobile robot 300 traveling on a route preset not to come into contact with the work robot 101 enters the monitoring area 106, the operation of the work robot 101 can be continued. Therefore, different from the motion verification mode in step S304, the operation of the work robot 101 is not unnecessarily stopped.

[0050] In step S306, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal for stopping the operation of the work robot 101, and sends the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls to stop the operation of the work robot 101 according to the received control signal. Thus, since the object detected by the monitoring sensor 102 is an object other than the autonomous mobile robot 300, there is a possibility that this object may come into contact with the work robot 101. Therefore, the operation of the work robot 101 is stopped. After the processing of step S304 or S305 or S306 is completed, the control unit 120 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0051] Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the autonomous mobile robot 300 used during the operation of the work robot 101 can be regarded as an object that may come into contact with the work robot 101 within the monitoring area 106, and it is verified whether the operation of the work robot 101 stops when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106. Thus, there is no need to worry about the time and cost of using operators or other objects, and the operation verification of the work robot 101 can be performed.

[0052] <Other>

[0053] The above-described embodiment is merely an illustrative example of the structural example of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of its technical idea. Hereinafter, modification examples of the above embodiment will be described. In addition, in the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same structures as those in the above embodiment, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted. In addition, the structures and processes of the above-described embodiment and each of the following modification examples can also be appropriately combined with each other.

[0054] <Modification Example 1>

[0055] In Modification Example 1, in the above processing performed by the safety controller 103, when the operation mode of the work robot 101 is the robot operation verification mode, when the autonomous mobile robot enters the monitoring area 106, the processing of controlling to stop the operation of the work robot 101 or the processing of controlling to continue the operation of the work robot 101 is executed. In this modification example, the user of the safety system 100 designates which of these operations is to be verified, and the designation information of the verification operation is stored in the storage unit 130.

[0056] Figure 4 It is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow executed by the safety controller 103 in this modification example. Here, mainly the processing different from the Figure 3 processing flow will be described.

[0057] In step S303, when the determination unit 121 determines that the operation mode of the work robot 101 is the robot operation verification mode, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S307. In step S307, the determination unit 121 determines the operation of the work robot 101 to be verified based on the specified information of the verification operation specified by the user and stored in the storage unit 130. Here, as an example, the operations to be verified are the stop operation and the continue operation of the work robot 101. When the determination unit 121 determines that the operation to be verified is the stop operation of the work robot 101, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S304. Further, when the determination unit 121 determines that the operation to be verified is the continue operation of the work robot 101, the control unit 120 causes the process to proceed to step S308.

[0058] In step S304, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal for stopping the operation of the work robot 101, and sends the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls to stop the operation of the work robot 101 according to the received control signal. Further, in step S308, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal for continuing the operation of the work robot 101, and sends the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls to continue the operation of the work robot 101 according to the received control signal.

[0059] In this way, in the robot operation verification mode of the work robot 101 of this modification example, the autonomous mobile robot 300 that has entered the monitoring area 106 can be regarded as an object that may come into contact with the work robot 101, and the situation where the operation of the work robot 101 is stopped can be confirmed, or the autonomous mobile robot 300 that has entered the monitoring area 106 can be regarded as an object that has no possibility of coming into contact with the work robot 101, and the situation where the operation of the work robot 101 is continued can be confirmed. After the processing in step S304 or S305 or S306 is completed, the control unit 120 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0060] According to this modification example, not only can it be verified whether the operation of the work robot 101 can be stopped, but also it can be verified whether the operation of the work robot 101 can be continued. Therefore, the operation of the work robot 101 during operation can be verified more appropriately.

[0061] <Modification Example 2>

[0062] In Modification 2, in the above processing of the safety controller 103, the monitoring area 106 can be divided into a plurality of partial areas, a partial area for performing motion verification of the work robot 101 is specified from the divided partial areas, and the motion of the work robot 101 is verified for each of the divided partial areas.

[0063] Figure 5 FIG. is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow executed by the safety controller 103 in this modification. Here, mainly, the processing different from the Figure 3 processing flow will be described.

[0064] In step S501, the data generation unit 122 of the control unit 120 generates a screen of an area for performing motion verification of the work robot 101 specified from the divided areas of the monitoring area 106. The data of the generated screen is sent to the PC 105, and the screen is displayed on the display unit of the PC 105. Figure 6 FIG. schematically shows an example of a screen displayed on the PC 105 that specifies an area for performing motion verification of the work robot 101. Here, the monitoring area 106 is divided into four areas A to D when viewed from above on the layer where the work robot 101 is installed. Areas A to D correspond to partial areas of the monitoring area of the present invention. In addition, the method of dividing the monitoring area 106 is not limited to the example shown in the figure. For example, it may be an area divided as a three-dimensional area, and the display method of each area may be appropriately changed according to the division method.

[0065] In the screen 610 for specifying an area for performing motion verification displayed on the PC 105, a pointer 601 for the user of the safety system 100 to specify an area, the divided area A 602, area B 603, area C 604, and area D 605 are displayed. In addition, on the screen 610, an OK button 606 for executing operation verification of the selected area and an end button 607 for ending operation verification are displayed. Further, in the screen 610, it is displayed whether the motion of the work robot 101 has been verified for each area, and the area being selected as the area for performing motion verification is displayed. In the example of the figure, for areas A 602, B 603, and C 604, the motion of the work robot 101 has not been verified, and for area D 605, the motion of the work robot 101 has been verified. In addition, the figure shows a state where the user of the safety system 100 has selected area A 602 as the area for performing motion verification of the work robot 101.

[0066] Next, in step S502, the user of the safety system 100 operates the PC 105, designates the area for performing the motion verification of the work robot 101 and presses the OK button, or presses the END button to end the motion verification of the work robot 101. The signal indicating the area designated by the user, the OK button or the END button being pressed is sent from the PC 105 to the safety controller 103. When the OK button is pressed, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S503, and when the END button is pressed, the process of this flowchart is ended.

[0067] Next, in step S503, the control unit 120 receives the designation of the monitoring area for performing the motion verification of the work robot 101 by the user of the safety system 100 in step S502. In addition, the control unit 120 in step S503 corresponds to a reception unit that receives the designation of at least one of a plurality of areas as the monitoring area. Next, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S504.

[0068] In step S504, the control unit 120 sends a control signal to the autonomous mobile robot 300 via the output unit 140 and a network (not shown) to cause the autonomous mobile robot 300 to move to the designated monitoring area received in step S503. The autonomous mobile robot 300 moves so as to enter the designated monitoring area based on the control signal. In addition, the method of causing the autonomous mobile robot 300 to enter the monitoring area is not limited to the above method. Next, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S505.

[0069] In step S505, the monitoring sensor 102 monitors the area designated in step S502. Then, the input unit 110 of the safety controller 103 acquires the output signal output from the monitoring sensor 102 that has detected an object entering the area. When the process of step S505 is completed, the control unit 120 executes the processes of steps S302 to S306 based on the output signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired in step S505. When the processes of steps S304, S305 or S306 are completed, the control unit 120 returns the process to step S501 and repeats the above processes. When step S501 is executed again, in the screen 610, the motion verification status of each of the areas A to D is updated and displayed. In addition, the information indicating whether the motion of the work robot 101 in each area is unverified or verified can be stored by the control unit 120 in the storage unit 123.

[0070] According to this modification example, the user of the safety system 100 can perform the action verification of the work robot 101 for each area after dividing the monitoring area 106 of the monitoring sensor 102. Therefore, for each divided area, the user can change the situation during the action verification such as the entry method of the autonomous driving robot 300 into the area and the actions of the work robot 101, and perform the action verification of the work robot 101 in more detail. In addition, the user of the safety system 100 can perform the action verification by only specifying the area that needs action verification among areas A to D after the monitoring area 106 is divided. Therefore, the efficiency of the action verification of the work robot 101 can also be expected to be improved.

[0071] <Appendix 1>

[0072] A robot control system (100), characterized by comprising:

[0073] A monitored robot (101) with a set monitoring area; and

[0074] A robot control unit (120) that, when detecting that an object entering the monitoring area is a robot (300), controls the monitored robot in multiple modes including a first mode that includes changing the actions of the monitored robot.

[0075] <Appendix 2>

[0076] An information processing device (103), characterized by comprising:

[0077] An acquisition unit (110) that acquires an output signal indicating that an object entering the monitoring area set for the monitored robot is detected; and

[0078] A robot control unit (120) that, when the object is a robot (300) based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition unit, controls the monitored robot in multiple modes including a first mode that includes changing the actions of the monitored robot.

[0079] <Appendix 3>

[0080] An information processing method, characterized by comprising the following steps:

[0081] An acquisition step (S301) of acquiring an output signal indicating that an object entering the monitoring area set for the monitored robot is detected; and

[0082] A step (S304, S305) of controlling the monitored robot in multiple modes including a first mode that includes changing the actions of the monitored robot when the object is a robot based on the output signal acquired through the acquisition step.

Claims

1. A robot control system, characterized in that, The robot control system has: A monitored robot, which is set with a monitoring area; A detection unit that detects the entry of an object into the monitoring area; A determination unit that determines whether the object detected by the detection unit is an autonomous mobile robot; And A robot control unit that controls the monitored robot according to the determination of the determination unit. When the determination unit determines that the object is not the autonomous mobile robot, the robot control unit controls to stop the monitored robot. When the determination unit determines that the object is the autonomous mobile robot, the determination unit determines whether the action mode of the monitored robot is the robot action verification mode or the normal robot action mode. When the determination unit determines that the action mode of the monitored robot is the normal robot action mode, the robot control unit controls to continue the action of the monitored robot. When the determination unit determines that the action mode of the monitored robot is the robot action verification mode, the determination unit determines whether to change the action of the monitored robot or continue the action of the monitored robot according to the specified information of the verification action of the monitored robot. The robot control unit controls to change or continue the action of the monitored robot according to the determination made by the determination unit according to the specified information.

2. The robot control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The monitoring area is composed of a plurality of partial areas. The robot control system further has a reception unit that receives a designation of setting at least one of the plurality of partial areas as an object of the robot action verification mode.

3. The robot control system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The robot control unit controls the autonomous mobile robot to enter the at least one area designated by the reception unit.

4. The robot control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The robot control system further has a display unit that displays the following information: the information indicating whether the monitoring area is an area where the action of the monitored robot in the robot action verification mode has been verified.

5. An information processing device, characterized in that, The information processing device has: An acquisition unit that acquires an output signal indicating that the detection unit has detected an object entering the monitoring area set for the monitored robot; A determination unit that determines whether the object is an autonomous mobile robot based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition unit; And A robot control unit that controls the monitored robot according to the determination of the determination unit. When the determination unit determines that the object is not the autonomous mobile robot, the robot control unit controls to stop the monitored robot. When the determination unit determines that the object is the autonomous mobile robot, the determination unit determines whether the action mode of the monitored robot is the robot action verification mode or the normal robot action mode. When the determination unit determines that the action mode of the monitored robot is the normal robot action mode, the robot control unit controls to continue the action of the monitored robot. When the determination unit determines that the operation mode of the monitored robot is the robot operation verification mode, the determination unit determines whether to change the operation of the monitored robot or continue the operation of the monitored robot according to the specified information of the verification operation of the monitored robot. The robot control unit controls to change or continue the operation of the monitored robot according to the determination made by the determination unit according to the specified information.

6. An information processing method, characterized in that, The information processing device performs the following steps: An acquisition step of acquiring an output signal indicating that the detection unit has detected an object entering the monitored area set for the monitored robot; A determination step of determining whether the object is an autonomous driving robot based on the output signal acquired in the acquisition step; And A control step of controlling the monitored robot according to the determination made in the determination step. When it is determined in the determination step that the object is not the autonomous driving robot, control is performed in the control step to stop the monitored robot. When it is determined in the determination step that the object is the autonomous driving robot, it is determined in the determination step whether the operation mode of the monitored robot is the robot operation verification mode or the robot operation normal mode. When it is determined in the determination step that the operation mode of the monitored robot is the robot operation normal mode, control is performed in the control step to continue the operation of the monitored robot. When it is determined in the determination step that the operation mode of the monitored robot is the robot operation verification mode, it is determined in the determination step whether to change the operation of the monitored robot or continue the operation of the monitored robot according to the specified information of the verification operation of the monitored robot. In the control step, control is performed to change or continue the operation of the monitored robot according to the determination made according to the specified information in the determination step.

7. A computer program product comprising a computer program which causes a computer to execute the steps of the information processing method according to claim 6.

Images