Robot

Abstract

To provide a robot which can appropriately execute a security operation even in a facility having a number of doors.SOLUTION: A robot has a robot arm, a type acquisition part which acquires information indicating the type of a door being an object for a security operation, and an arm control part which controls the robot arm on the basis of the type of the door and determines or changes the condition of the door.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a robot. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a robot that autonomously travels within a facility and performs security operations such as checking the lock status of doors or locking and unlocking doors. Patent Document 1 describes a robot control device that acquires a door identifier from a photographed image of the door and requests unlocking of the door by referring to the door identifier. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-130616 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a large facility with many doors, it is not easy to identify each individual door.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a robot that can appropriately perform security operations even in facilities with many doors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A robot according to an embodiment of the present invention has a robot arm, a type acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the type of door that is the target of security operations, and an arm control unit that controls the robot arm based on the type of door to determine or change the state of the door.

[0007] In addition, it is preferable that the arm control unit controls the robot arm to determine the lock state of the door.

[0008] In addition, it is preferable that the arm control unit determines that the door is locked when the robot arm cannot move to a position or direction based on the type of door while gripping the door gripping portion.

[0009] It is also preferable that the robot further has a determination unit that determines the security status of the area between the doors, and an alarm unit that notifies of an abnormality when the security status is in alert mode and the door is not locked.

[0010] In addition, it is preferable that the arm control unit acquires information indicating the locking status of the door from the door, and that the robot further has an alarm unit that alerts of an abnormality when the locking status indicated by the acquired information differs from the locking status determined by controlling the robot arm.

[0011] Preferably, the robot further has an imaging unit disposed on the robot arm, and the arm control unit controls the imaging unit to acquire an image of the door and determines the locking state of the door based on the image.

[0012] In addition, it is preferable that the robot further has a travel control unit that causes the robot to travel to an operating position based on the type of door, and that the arm control unit controls the robot arm to check or change the state of the door after the robot reaches the operating position.

[0013] Preferably, the robot further includes a determination unit that determines the security status of the area between the doors, and the arm control unit controls the robot arm further based on the security status.

[0014] Furthermore, when the security state is in the alert mode, the arm control unit preferably controls the robot arm after changing the security state to the release mode. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] The robot according to the present invention can appropriately perform security operations even in facilities with many doors. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a security system 1. FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the autonomous mobile robot 2. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the autonomous mobile robot 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of a control information table T1. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of security processing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Please note that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but extends to the inventions set forth in the claims and their equivalents.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a security system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The security system 1 includes an autonomous mobile robot 2, a sensor 3, a security device 4, and a server 5. The autonomous mobile robot 2 is placed in a travel area A1. The sensor 3 and security device 4 are placed in an adjacent area A2 connected to the travel area A1 via an entrance / exit E. The travel area A1 and the adjacent area A2 are separated by a wall W and a door D attached to the entrance / exit E. For example, the travel area A1 may be a shared area of ​​a facility, and the adjacent area A2 may be a private area of ​​the facility. The travel area A1 may be outdoors, and the adjacent area A2 may be indoors. The autonomous mobile robot 2, the sensor 3, the security device 4, and the server 5 communicate with each other via a network N, which may be the Internet or an intranet.

[0019] The door D is not limited to a single swing door as shown in FIG. 1 , but may be a door of any shape, such as a double swing door, a sliding door, a double sliding door, or a folding door. The door D may also be a door with a handle or pull of any shape (such as a knob, lever handle, or slide bar). The entrance / exit E is not limited to one provided for the purpose of pedestrian passage, but may be any opening through which pedestrians can pass, such as a window frame. In this case, the entrance / exit E is equipped with a window of any shape, such as a single swing window, a double swing window, or a sliding window. In this embodiment, such windows are also included in the door D.

[0020] The autonomous mobile robot 2 autonomously travels within the travel area A1 and performs a predetermined security operation. The security operation is an operation to determine the lock status of the door D (i.e., whether the door D is locked or not). In this case, the autonomous mobile robot 2 patrols the travel area A1 and sequentially determines the lock status of the doors of the entrances E of multiple adjacent areas A2.

[0021] The sensor 3 detects a person and generates information regarding the presence or absence of a person in the adjacent area A2. For example, the sensor 3 is a human presence sensor that detects a person using infrared rays. The sensor 3 may be a surveillance camera or a thermal imaging camera that captures images of the adjacent area A2. The sensor 3 may also be another sensor that detects sound, vibration, illuminance, etc. in the adjacent area A2. The sensor 3 transmits the generated information regarding the presence or absence of a person in the adjacent area A2 to the security device 4.

[0022] The security device 4 issues an alarm based on the presence or absence of a person in the adjacent area A2. The security device 4 is set to either an alert mode or a deactivation mode by operation of a user in the adjacent area A2. The security device 4 acquires information regarding the presence or absence of a person in the adjacent area A2 from the sensor 3. If a person is present in the adjacent area A2 while the security device 4 is set to the alert mode, the security device 4 issues an alarm to the server 5. The security device 4 may issue an alarm by sound or light. Note that in this embodiment, the setting of the security device 4 installed in the adjacent area A2 to the alert mode or deactivation mode may be simply referred to as the security status of the adjacent area A2 being the alert mode or deactivation mode.

[0023] The server 5 is an information processing device equipped with a memory and a processor. The server 5 acquires information from the security device 4 indicating whether the security device 4 is set to the alert mode or the deactivation mode, and transmits the information to the autonomous mobile robot 2.

[0024] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the autonomous mobile robot 2, and Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of the autonomous mobile robot 2. The autonomous mobile robot 2 has a robot arm 21, tires 22, memory 23, a communication interface 24, sensors 25, an arm driving unit 26, a tire driving unit 27, and a processor 28. The memory 23, the communication interface 24, the sensors 25, the arm driving unit 26, the tire driving unit 27, and the processor 28 are housed in a housing H.

[0025] The robot arm 21 has an arm unit 211, a hand unit 212, and an imaging unit 213. The arm unit 211 connects the housing H and the hand unit 212 and changes the position and posture of the hand unit 212. The hand unit 212 grasps an object. The imaging unit 213 is provided on the hand unit 212 and captures an image of the vicinity of the hand unit 212. The robot arm 21 checks or changes the state of a door. For example, the robot arm 21 checks the lock state of the door by moving the hand unit 212 while the hand unit 212 is gripping a door handle or pull tab. Alternatively, for example, the robot arm 21 may check or change the lock state of the door by moving the hand unit 212 while the hand unit 212 is gripping a door thumb turn. Alternatively, for example, the robot arm 21 may change the open / close state of the door by moving the hand unit 212 while the hand unit 212 is gripping a door handle or pull tab. Furthermore, for example, the robot arm 21 may change the locking state of the door after confirming the locking state of the door, or change the open / closed state of the door. Hereinafter, grasping the door handle or pull tab may be expressed as "grasping the door."

[0026] The tires 22 are arranged on the bottom surface of the autonomous mobile robot 2 and rotate to make the autonomous mobile robot 2 move.

[0027] The memory 23 stores data and programs. The memory 23 is a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like. The memory 23 stores an operating system program, a driver program, an application program, data, and the like used for processing by the processor 28. Programs may be installed into the memory 23 from a computer-readable, non-transitory, portable storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory).

[0028] The memory 23 stores a control information table T1, which will be described later, as data.

[0029] The communication interface 24 enables the autonomous mobile robot 2 to communicate with the server 5. For example, the communication interface 24 is an interface for wireless communication such as mobile communication or wireless LAN (Local Area Network). The communication interface 24 transmits data supplied from the processor 28 to the server 5, and supplies data received from the server 5 to the processor 28.

[0030] The sensor 25 generates information about the environment of the surrounding space of the autonomous mobile robot 2. For example, the sensor 25 may include a camera such as a visible camera or an infrared camera that captures the surrounding space and generates an image. The sensor 25 may also include a proximity sensor or a thermal imaging camera that generates information about moving objects in the surrounding space. The sensor 25 may also include a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that measures the distance to an object in the surrounding space and outputs it as point cloud information. Note that the "imaging unit" of the present invention includes not only a visible camera or an infrared camera but also a LiDAR, and the "image" includes the point cloud information output by the LiDAR. The sensor 25 may also include other sensors that generate information about the temperature, humidity, noise, vibration, illuminance, etc. of the surrounding space. The sensor 25 supplies the generated information about the environment of the surrounding space to the processor 28.

[0031] The arm driving unit 26 drives the robot arm 21. The arm driving unit 26 includes a motor, an actuator, and a control circuit. The motor and actuator are connected to the arm unit 211 and hand unit 212 of the robot arm 21. The control circuit controls the motor and actuator in accordance with instructions from the processor 28 to cause the robot arm 21 to perform security operations.

[0032] The tire driving unit 27 drives the tires 22. The tire driving unit 27 includes a motor and a control circuit. The motor is connected to the tires 22. The control circuit controls the motor in accordance with instructions from the processor 28 to drive the tires 22, thereby causing the autonomous mobile robot 2 to travel.

[0033] The processor 28 comprehensively controls the operation of the autonomous mobile robot 2. For example, the processor 28 is at least one CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 28 may be an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. The processor 28 executes processing based on a program stored in the memory 23.

[0034] The processor 28 has a detection unit 281, a type acquisition unit 282, a determination unit 283, a traveling control unit 284, an arm control unit 285, and a notification unit 286. Each of these units is a functional module realized by the processor 28 executing a program. Each of these units may be implemented in the autonomous traveling robot 2 as a dedicated processing circuit.

[0035] 4 is a diagram showing the data structure of the control information table T1 stored in the memory 23. The control information table T1 stores door types, security states, and control information in association with each other.

[0036] Doors are classified into multiple types based on the action for determining the locked state. That is, doors that require the same action for determining the locked state are the same type of door, while doors that require different actions for determining the locked state are different types of door. For example, a single-wing door and a sliding door are different types of door because they require different directions to move the door to open it. Two sliding doors with different handle positions are also different types of door because they require different positions to grip to open the door. Furthermore, doors with different shapes of handles or handles (knobs, lever handles, etc.) are also different types of door because they require different actions for determining the locked state. The information indicating the door type is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 4 , and for example, information indicating the action for determining the locked state may be stored. The security state is information indicating whether the security devices 4 in the adjacent areas across the door are set to the alert mode or the unlocked mode. The control information is information for causing the autonomous mobile robot 2 to perform an action for determining the locked state of the door. By associating the control information with the type of door and the security status of the adjacent area, the autonomous mobile robot 2 can appropriately determine the locking status of the door depending on the type of door and the security status of the adjacent area, as will be described later.

[0037] In the example shown in FIG. 4, the control information includes an operating position, a gripping position, and a target position. The operating position is the position of the autonomous mobile robot 2 (for example, the position of the tires 22) when the autonomous mobile robot 2 attempts to determine the lock status of the door. The operating position may be set so that the open door does not come into contact with the autonomous mobile robot 2. The gripping position is the position of the hand unit 212 of the robot arm 21 when the hand unit 212 attempts to grip a gripping unit, which is a door handle or pull tab (coordinates indicating a predetermined position in the spatial coordinate system that defines the space surrounding the autonomous mobile robot 2). The target position is a position (coordinates indicating a predetermined position in the spatial coordinate system that defines the space surrounding the autonomous mobile robot 2) to which the hand unit 212 gripping the door should be moved until the lock status of the door can be confirmed. If the hand unit 212 can move to the target position while gripping the door, it is determined that the door is unlocked; if it cannot move, it is determined that the door is locked. The operating position, gripping position, and target position may be indicated by relative positions with a predetermined position (for example, the edge of the door panel, the door frame, etc.) as the reference. The gripping position and target position may be determined appropriately by image recognition processing of an image acquired by a camera equipped in the autonomous mobile robot 2, without being stored as control information. In this case, the control information may specify an operation for lock confirmation, for example, the operation (direction and amount of movement) of moving the handle in the direction to open the door.

[0038] The data in the control information table T1 is set in advance according to the doors that the facility has.

[0039] 5 is a flow diagram showing an example of the flow of security processing executed by the autonomous mobile robot 2. The security processing is executed regularly or irregularly while the autonomous mobile robot 2 is autonomously traveling within the facility's travel area A2. The security processing is realized by the processor 28, which executes a program, working in cooperation with other components of the autonomous mobile robot 2.

[0040] First, the detection unit 281 detects a door that is the target of the security operation (step S11). The security operation is an operation for determining the lock state of a door. The door that is the target of the security operation may be a door in the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2. In this case, the detection unit 281 detects the door that appears in an image of the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2 generated by the sensor 25 as the target of the security operation. For example, the detection unit 281 detects the door by applying template matching to the image of the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2. The detection unit 281 may detect the door by inputting the image of the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2 to a trained model, which is an object detection model. Furthermore, the detection unit 281 may detect the door in the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2 as the target of the security operation based on point cloud information generated by the sensor 25, such as LiDAR.

[0041] The detection unit 281 may detect a door near the autonomous mobile robot 2 based on the current position of the autonomous mobile robot 2. For example, the detection unit 281 identifies the current position of the autonomous mobile robot 2. The current position may be identified by detecting a predetermined marker from an image of the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2, or may be identified based on information identifying an access point of a wireless LAN with which the communication interface 24 communicates. The current position may also be identified based on 2D map information (or 3D map information) of the surrounding space that is pre-stored by the autonomous mobile robot 2 and point cloud information acquired by the sensor 25 (LiDAR). The detection unit 281 detects a door near the autonomous mobile robot 2 based on the relationship between the current position and the pre-stored door positions.

[0042] If no door that is the target of the security operation is detected (step S11-No), the security process ends.

[0043] If a door that is the target of security operation is detected (step S11-Yes), the type acquisition unit 282 acquires information indicating the type of door that is the target of security operation (step S12). The type of door may be acquired based on an image of the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2. For example, the type acquisition unit 282 may acquire the result of template matching in step S11 or the output of a trained model as information indicating the type of door.

[0044] Next, the determination unit 283 determines the security status of the adjacent area across the door (step S13). The determination unit 283 determines the security status of the adjacent area by obtaining, from the server 5, information indicating whether the security device 4 arranged in the adjacent area is set to the alert mode or the deactivation mode.

[0045] Next, the traveling control unit 284 causes the autonomous mobile robot 2 to travel based on the door type and the security status of the adjacent area (step S14). For example, the traveling control unit 284 obtains, in the control information table T1, an operation position included in the control information associated with the door type obtained in step S12 and the security status of the adjacent area determined in step S13. The traveling control unit 284 controls the tire drive unit 27 to cause the autonomous mobile robot 2 to travel to the obtained operation position.

[0046] When the security status of the adjacent area is in the deactivated mode, the traveling control unit 284 may cause the autonomous mobile robot 2 to travel so as to prevent contact with a person in the adjacent area. For example, when the security status of the adjacent area is in the deactivated mode, the arm control unit 285 sets the operating position to a position farther from the door than when the adjacent area is in the alert mode. This prevents contact between the person and the autonomous mobile robot 2 even if the person in the adjacent area comes out through the door.

[0047] Next, after the autonomous mobile robot 2 reaches the operation position, the arm control unit 285 controls the robot arm 21 to determine the lock status of the door based on the type of door and the security status of the adjacent area (step S15). For example, the arm control unit 285 acquires, in the control information table T1, the gripping position and the target position included in the control information associated with the type of door acquired in step S12 and the security status of the adjacent area determined in step S13. The arm control unit 285 controls the arm driving unit 26 so that the hand unit 212 reaches the gripping position. The arm control unit 285 controls the arm driving unit 26 so that the hand unit 212 grips the door and moves to the target position while holding the door. The arm control unit 285 determines that the door is unlocked if the hand unit 212 can move to the target position, and determines that the door is locked if the hand unit 212 cannot move to the target position.

[0048] When the security status of the adjacent area is in the alert mode, the arm control unit 285 may control the robot arm 21 so that the sensor 3 does not detect the opening or closing of the door. For example, when the security status of the adjacent area is in the alert mode, the arm control unit 285 moves the hand unit 212 to a target position closer to the gripping position than when the security status is in the release mode. That is, when the security status of the adjacent area is in the alert mode, the arm control unit 285 controls the robot arm 21 so that the door opens less than when the security status is in the release mode. When the security status of the adjacent area is in the alert mode, the arm control unit 285 may move the hand unit 212 to the target position at a slower speed than when the security status is in the release mode. When the security status of the adjacent area is in the alert mode, the arm control unit 285 may not need to determine the lock status of the door. This prevents the sensor 3 from erroneously detecting the door opening or closing action by the robot 2 as a person appearing, causing the security device 4 to issue a false alarm.

[0049] When the security status of the adjacent area is in the release mode, the arm control unit 285 may control the robot arm 21 to prevent contact with a person in the adjacent area. For example, when the security status of the adjacent area is in the release mode, the arm control unit 285 has the hand unit 212 knock on the door to notify a person in the adjacent area that the autonomous mobile robot 2 is performing security operation. This prevents contact between a person coming out of the adjacent area and the autonomous mobile robot 2 performing security operation. The arm control unit 285 may also notify a person that the autonomous mobile robot 2 is performing security operation by sound.

[0050] If the hand unit 212, while gripping the door, fails to move to the target position included in the control information, the arm control unit 285 may move the hand unit 212 to the target position again. That is, the arm control unit 285 may cause the hand unit 212 to repeatedly execute an action to open the door, similar to the action of a person trying to open a door. In this case, the arm control unit 285 determines that the door is locked if the hand unit 212 fails to move to the target position even after repeating the action a predetermined number of times. This allows the autonomous mobile robot 2 to accurately determine whether the door is locked.

[0051] Next, the notification unit 286 determines whether the notification condition is satisfied (step S16). The notification condition may be a condition based on the security status of the adjacent area across the door and the lock status of the door. For example, the notification condition is that the security status of the adjacent area across the door is in the alert mode and the door is unlocked. In this case, the notification unit 286 obtains information via the server 5 indicating whether the security device 4 located in the adjacent area across the door is set to the alert mode or the unlock mode. The notification unit 286 determines whether the notification condition is satisfied based on the information obtained from the server 5 and the result of the determination in step S15.

[0052] If the notification condition is not satisfied (step S16-No), the security process ends.

[0053] If the notification condition is met (step S16-Yes), the notification unit 286 notifies the abnormality (step S17). For example, the notification unit 286 notifies the abnormality to the server 5 via the communication interface 24. The notification unit 286 may notify the abnormality by sound or light. This completes the security processing.

[0054] As described above, the autonomous mobile robot 2 has a type acquisition unit 282 that acquires information indicating the type of door to be operated, and an arm control unit 285 that determines the lock state of the door by controlling the robot arm 21 based on the door type associated with the acquired door type. Because the autonomous mobile robot 2 controls the robot arm 21 based on the door type, there is no need to identify each door in the facility, and security operations can be performed appropriately even in facilities with many doors.

[0055] In the above-described embodiment, the security operation is an operation for determining the locking state of the doors. The security operation is not limited to this example, and may be an operation for changing the open / closed state of the doors. The operation for changing the open / closed state of the doors may include an operation for closing all the doors and an operation for opening all the doors. The security operation may be an operation for changing the locking state of the doors. The operation for changing the locking state of the doors may include an operation for locking all the doors and an operation for unlocking all the doors. The security operation is not limited to these examples, and may be any operation for determining or changing the state of the doors.

[0056] In the above-described embodiment, the control information is associated with the type of door and the security status of the adjacent area. However, this is not limiting, and the control information may be associated only with the type of door. In other words, the arm control unit 285 may control the robot arm 21 based only on the type of door, without based on the security status of the adjacent area.

[0057] In the above-described embodiment, the control information includes the operating position, the gripping position, and the target position. However, the control information is not limited to this example and may include other information for causing the robot arm 21 to determine the lock state of the door. For example, the control information may include multiple target positions. In this case, the hand unit 212, while gripping the door, moves along a trajectory that passes through multiple target positions in sequence. The control information may include information on the force applied to the door in the movement direction when the hand unit 212 grips the door and moves from the gripping position to the target position. In this case, the door is determined to be locked if the hand unit 212 does not reach the target position even when the force indicated in the control information is applied to the door. The force applied to the door may be determined by the torque of the motor of the arm driver 26. Alternatively, the force applied to the door may be determined by a force sensor, such as a torque sensor, mounted on the actuator of the arm.

[0058] In the above-described embodiment, in step S15 of the security processing, the arm control unit 285 determines the lock state of the door based on whether the hand unit 212 has been able to move to the target position. However, this is not a limitation. The arm control unit 285 may control the imaging unit 213 of the robot arm 21 to acquire an image of the door and determine the lock state of the door based on the image of the door. In this case, the arm control unit 285 moves the hand unit 212 to the imaging position included in the control information and controls the imaging unit 213 to acquire the image of the door. The imaging position is set in advance depending on the type of door so that the image capture range includes a lock indicator or thumb turn indicating the lock state of the door. The imaging position may also be set so that the deadbolt between the door and the door frame is included in the image capture range. The arm control unit 285 extracts predetermined feature amounts from the image of the door and determines the lock state of the door based on the feature amounts. For example, the arm control unit 285 determines the lock state of the door by extracting the color of the lock indicator based on the pixel values ​​of each pixel constituting the image. The arm control unit 285 may determine the locking state of the door by extracting the shape of the thumb turn or deadbolt using SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) features, etc. The arm control unit 285 may also determine the locking state of the door based on a combination of whether the hand unit 212 has been able to move to the target position and an image of the door.

[0059] In the above-described embodiment, the notification condition is based on the security status of the adjacent area and the lock status of the door. However, the notification condition is not limited to this example. The notification condition may be based on the lock status indicated by the information acquired from the door and the lock status determined by controlling the robot arm 21. For example, in step S17 of the security processing, the notification unit 286 notifies an abnormality when the lock status indicated by the information acquired from the door differs from the lock status determined by controlling the robot arm. The lock status acquired from the door may be the lock status determined based on an image of the door, as described above. The lock status acquired from the door may be the lock status acquired from a sensor (not shown) disposed on the door via the communication interface 24. The lock status acquired from the door may be the lock status acquired from an access control device (e.g., an IC card reader) (not shown) disposed near the door via the communication interface 24. This allows the autonomous mobile robot 2 to notify the administrator that the door is not functioning properly.

[0060] In the above-described embodiment, the type acquisition unit 282 acquires information indicating the type of door based on an image of the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2. This example is not limiting, and the information indicating the type of door may be acquired based on the position information of the robot 2 and the position information (installation position) of the door. That is, the autonomous mobile robot 2 may associate and pre-store information indicating the type of door with the position information of the door, determine whether or not a door is present in the vicinity of the autonomous mobile robot 2 based on the current position of the autonomous mobile robot 2, and, if it is determined that a door is present in the vicinity, acquire information indicating the type of door based on the pre-stored information associated with the information. Alternatively, the patrol route of the autonomous mobile robot 2, lock confirmation points on the patrol route, and information indicating the type of door for each lock confirmation point may be pre-stored, and when the autonomous mobile robot 2 checks locking at a predetermined lock confirmation point, the autonomous mobile robot 2 may read information indicating the type of door corresponding to the lock confirmation point at which the autonomous mobile robot 2 performs security operations.

[0061] Some of the functions of the autonomous mobile robot 2 described above may be realized by the server 5. For example, in step S12 of the security processing, the type acquisition unit 282 may send an image of the area near the autonomous mobile robot 2 to the server 5, and receive information indicating the type of door generated by the server 5 from the server 5. The control information may also be stored in the memory of the server 5. Some or all of the functions of the server 5 described above may also be realized by the autonomous mobile robot 2. For example, the determination unit 283 may determine the security status of the adjacent area by receiving information indicating the security status from the security device 4 without going through the server 5.

[0062] It should be understood that those skilled in the art can make various changes, substitutions, and alterations to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The above-described embodiments and modifications may be appropriately combined and implemented within the scope of the present invention.

[0063] The autonomous mobile robot according to one embodiment of the present invention can contribute to solving social issues such as a declining labor force and long working hours. In addition, the autonomous mobile robot according to one embodiment of the present invention can contribute to achieving Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations, "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and promote innovation and resilience." [Explanation of symbols]

[0064] 2. Autonomous robots 21 Robotic Arm 281 Detector 282 Type Acquisition Department 283 Judgment Department 284 Travel control unit 285 Arm control unit 286 Information Department

Claims

1. A robotic arm, a type acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the type of door that is the target of the security operation; an arm control unit that controls the robot arm based on the type of the door to determine or change the state of the door; A robot having:

2. the arm control unit controls the robot arm to determine the lock state of the door. The robot of claim 1 .

3. the arm control unit determines that the door is locked when the robot arm cannot move to a position or direction based on the type of door while gripping the gripper of the door; The robot according to claim 2.

4. a determination unit that determines the security status of the area between the doors; The security system further includes a notification unit that notifies an abnormality when the security state is in the alert mode and the door is not locked. The robot according to claim 2.

5. the arm control unit acquires information indicating a lock state of the door from the door, The locking state determination unit may further include a notification unit that notifies an abnormality when the locking state indicated by the acquired information differs from the locking state determined by controlling the robot arm. The robot according to claim 2.

6. further comprising an imaging unit disposed on the robot arm; The arm control unit controls the imaging unit to acquire an image of the door, and determines a lock state of the door based on the image. The robot according to claim 2.

7. a travel control unit that causes the robot to travel to an operating position based on the type of door; the arm control unit controls the robot arm to check or change the state of the door after the robot reaches the operating position; The robot of claim 1 .

8. The system further includes a determination unit for determining a security status of an area between the doors, The arm control unit controls the robot arm further based on the security state. The robot of claim 1 .

9. When the security state is an alert mode, the arm control unit changes the security state to a release mode and then controls the robot arm. The robot according to claim 8.

Images