Information processing device, control system, information processing method, control program, and recording medium

Abstract

To prevent a robot from becoming inoperable due to a communication delay without generating excessive robot control data. [Solution] An information processing device (1) according to one embodiment of the present invention is an information processing device (1) that generates control data for controlling a robot (2), and includes an acquisition unit (11) that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device (1) and the robot (2), a generation unit (12) that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality, and a communication processing unit (13) that transmits the generated control data to the robot (2).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, a control system, an information processing method, a control program, and a recording medium. [Background technology]

[0002] When generating control data for controlling a robot or the like, the time required to complete the generation fluctuates, so a process is known in the prior art that periodically generates control data for a time longer than the time required for the robot to operate. In this process, the control data that is not actually used in the robot's operation is discarded. Patent Document 1 discloses a guide robot that is not interrupted by interruptions such as children. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-144118 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the conventional technology described above, for example, if the server that generates the control data and the robot to be controlled are located in remote locations and a delay occurs in the communication of the control data, the control data required for the robot's operation may be insufficient, causing the robot to become temporarily inoperable.

[0005] On the other hand, if the size of the control data generated at regular intervals is increased in order to prevent the robot from becoming inoperable, there is a problem that the cost of generating the control data and the loss of the control data that is discarded will increase.

[0006] One aspect of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to prevent a robot from becoming inoperable due to communication delays, without generating excessive robot control data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, an information processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention is an information processing device that generates control data for controlling a robot, and includes an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot, a generation unit that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality, and a communication processing unit that transmits the generated control data to the robot.

[0008] A control system according to another aspect of the present invention is a control system comprising one or more robots and an information processing device that generates control data for controlling the robots, the information processing device comprising an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot, a generation unit that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality, and a communication processing unit that transmits the generated control data to the robot, and in response to receiving the control data from the information processing device, the robot performs an operation based on the control data.

[0009] An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention is an information processing method executed by an information processing device that generates control data for controlling a robot, and includes an acquisition step of acquiring information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot, a generation step of repeatedly generating control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality, and a communication step of transmitting the generated control data to the robot.

[0010] A control program for an information processing device that causes a computer to operate as each unit (software element) of the information processing device relating to each aspect of the present invention, thereby realizing the information processing device on a computer, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the same is recorded, also fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0011] The control program may use various machine learning techniques in the process of operating a computer as each of the units or other processes. In this case, the program using the machine learning technique may run on a server or on another device (for example, an edge computer or a cloud server). Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to prevent the robot from becoming unable to operate due to communication delays, without generating excessive control data for the robot. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is an example of a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a control system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is an example of a conceptual diagram illustrating a process performed by an existing control system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is an example of a conceptual diagram illustrating a process performed by an existing control system. [Figure 4] 1 is an example of a flowchart showing a process flow of a control system. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is an example of a conceptual diagram illustrating processing by a control system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0015] [1. Control system configuration example] 1 is an example of a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system 100 according to the present disclosure. The control system 100 includes a server 1, a robot 2, and a relay device 3, and is a system for controlling the robot 2 using control data generated by the server 1. The control data may include, for example, the gaze direction, joint angles, and speech content of the robot 2, the rotational speeds of the motor and tires, and command values ​​such as voltage.

[0016] The server 1 is a device that functions as a server for the robot 2, and includes a control unit 10, a storage unit 18, and a communication unit 19.

[0017] The control unit 10 is a control device that controls the entire server 1, and includes an acquisition unit 11, a generation unit 12, and a communication processing unit 13.

[0018] The acquisition unit 11 acquires information indicating the communication quality between the server 1 and the robot 2, for example, from the relay device 3. The acquisition unit 11 may acquire information indicating the communication quality calculated by the control unit 10 based on the communication speed via the communication unit 19. The acquisition unit 11 also acquires the sensing result of the sensor 20 provided in the robot 2.

[0019] The generating unit 12 repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality. Here, the "control time corresponding to the communication quality" may also have the meaning when read as "a control amount corresponding to the communication quality."

[0020] The communication processing unit 13 controls communication processing by the communication unit 19 .

[0021] The storage unit 18 is a storage device that stores various information, for example, information indicating a relationship between communication quality and a control time of a single piece of control data. The generating unit 12 may refer to the information when generating the control data.

[0022] The communication unit 19 performs communication processing with an external device such as a robot 2 under the control of the communication processing unit 13. As shown in FIG. 1, in one embodiment, communication between the server 1 and the robot 2 is performed via a relay device 3.

[0023] The robot 2 is a device that operates based on control data received from the server 1. The robot 2 is not limited to a humanoid robot as illustrated in Fig. 5 and the like, which will be described later, but may be a vehicle-type robot, a machine tool provided at a specific location, or the like.

[0024] The robot 2 also includes one or more types of sensors 20. The sensors 20 may include an image sensor, a sound sensor, a force sensor, etc. At least a part of the sensing results by the sensors 20 is transmitted to the server 1.

[0025] Furthermore, the generation unit 12 may generate control data instructing an operation according to the sensing result of the sensor 20 acquired by the acquisition unit 11. Furthermore, for example, the generation unit 12 may be configured to generate the control data using a machine learning model that receives the sensing result as an input and outputs the operation content of the robot 2. In the above configuration, the storage unit 18 may store a parameter set that defines the machine learning model, and the control unit 10 may perform learning of the machine learning model.

[0026] The relay device 3 is a device that relays communication between devices connected to the relay device itself, for example, a device that relays communication between the server 1 and the robot 2. A plurality of relay devices 3 may be provided between the server 1 and the robot 2. In other words, the communication between the server 1 and the robot 2 may be realized via a plurality of relay devices 3. The relay device 3 may include a base station device, etc., in addition to devices such as a router.

[0027] Note that the function of a single component included in the control system 100 may be realized by a plurality of other components, and the functions of a plurality of components included in the control system 100 may be realized by a single other component.

[0028] Also, a configuration may be used in which a single server 1 is connected to multiple relay devices 3 and robots 2, or a configuration may be used in which a single relay device 3 is connected to multiple robots 2. In these configurations, even if the communication quality is the same, the control times corresponding to a single control data for each robot 2 may be different from each other.

[0029] Furthermore, some or all of the functions of the server 1 may be realized by cloud computing, or may be realized by edge computing such as MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing). In the latter configuration, some or all of the functions of the server 1 may be realized by a device integrated with the relay device 3. In other words, one of the server 1 and the relay device 3 may be configured to include the other. Furthermore, the control system 100 may be configured to include a plurality of the integrated devices that operate as edge servers and perform distributed processing. The server 1 and the relay device 3 are examples of information processing devices in the present disclosure.

[0030] [2. Additional information] Next, an existing control system that controls a robot by control data generated by a server will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is an example of a conceptual diagram showing processing by the existing control system. In FIG. 2, the control data shows a single piece of control data transmitted to the robot at one time. Each control data portion shows data constituting the control data, and data corresponding to control for a unit time. In this embodiment, the unit time is described as 1 second for ease of explanation, but is not limited to this and may be 0.1 seconds or the like. In other words, each control data portion is described as data corresponding to control for 1 second, but is not limited to this and may be data corresponding to control for 0.1 seconds or the like. In addition, the sensing results of the sensor equipped in the robot are transmitted to the server at any time or at predetermined intervals.

[0031] 2, the single control data includes control data portions for N+1 seconds (N+1 blocks). From another perspective, the robot can operate for up to N+1 seconds by sequentially executing operations corresponding to each control data portion using the single control data.

[0032] The server repeats the process of generating control data and transmitting it to the robot in a cycle of x seconds. In other words, the robot operates in a cycle of x seconds using each control data. In the example of FIG. 2, the x is a value less than N. As a result, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 2, the robot performs an operation for x seconds (t(+0) seconds to t+x-1 seconds) using certain control data, and then repeats the process of performing the subsequent operation using the next received control data. Here, t corresponds to any current time. In the above process, the control data portion for N-x+1 seconds (t+x to t+N seconds) of each control data is not used for the robot's operation and is discarded.

[0033] Fig. 3 is an example of a conceptual diagram showing a process in a configuration in which a server and a robot communicate with each other via a relay device in an existing control system. Fig. 3 also shows an example of a case in which a communication delay occurs in the transmission of control data from the server to the robot.

[0034] A communication delay may occur between when the robot receives one control data and when it receives the next control data, and the control data required for the robot's operation may be insufficient.

[0035] For example, the right diagram in Figure 3 shows that, although a certain control data contains a control data portion for N+1 seconds, it took longer than N+1 seconds for the robot to receive the next control data after receiving the control data due to a communication delay. As a result, the robot is unable to operate from N+2 seconds until it receives the next control data. From another perspective, x, which indicates the time it takes for the robot to operate using a single control data, temporarily becomes a value larger than N.

[0036] Thus, in existing control systems, when a communication delay in control data occurs, there is a problem that the control data required for the robot's operation may be insufficient, causing the robot to become temporarily unable to operate.

[0037] [3. Example of control system processing] Next, an example of the flow of processing executed by the control system 100 according to the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 4 is an example of a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the control system 100. In parallel with the processing shown in Fig. 4, a process of transmitting the sensing result of the sensor 20 provided in the robot 2 to the server 1 from the robot 2 is executed as needed or at predetermined time intervals.

[0038] In S101 (step S101), the acquisition unit 11 of the server 1 acquires information indicating the communication quality between the server 1 and the robot 2 from the relay device 3 or the like, and stores the information in the storage unit .

[0039] In S102, the generation unit 12 generates control data for a control time period according to the communication quality indicated by the information most recently acquired by the acquisition unit 11.

[0040] Fig. 5 is an example of a conceptual diagram showing the processing by the control system 100. If the transmission of control data from the server 1 to the robot 2 and the processing in which the robot 2 operates using each control data are repeated in a cycle of x seconds, the generation unit 12 generates control data for N+1 seconds (t to t+N seconds) as shown in the left diagram of Fig. 5. Here, N is a value larger than x, and the lower the communication quality described above, the larger the value becomes.

[0041] Moreover, the N+1 seconds, which is the control time corresponding to a single control data, is an example of the first time in the present disclosure, and the period of x seconds is an example of the second time in the present disclosure. That is, the generation unit 12 performs a process of generating control data for the first time according to the communication quality every time the process of step S102 is performed. Moreover, the first time is longer than the second time and is longer as the communication quality becomes lower.

[0042] In one embodiment, when the control system 100 is a QoS (Quality of Service) system in which the robot 2 does not become inoperable for each operation cycle of the robot 2 that corresponds to a single control data, the generation unit 12 may use as N a value obtained by multiplying a, which satisfies the following formula 1, by a unit time.

[0043]

number

[0044] In this way, the generation unit 12 may generate the control data using an equation that includes a probability for each control data portion contained in the control data, and that includes the probability that the next control data generated by the generation unit 12 will reach the robot 2 during the time that the robot 2 is performing an action corresponding to that control data portion.

[0045] Alternatively, the robot 2 may transmit information indicating that it has executed an action corresponding to a certain control data portion as a response to the server 1 at any time, and the generating unit 12 of the server 1 may generate the control data by referring to the information. i Regarding the parentheses in, iThis means that the probability that there is a non-response in the 0th to i-1th steps, that is, a non-response in the 0th to i-1th control data portions, and a response in the i-th step.

[0046] In S103, the communication processing unit 13 transmits the control data generated by the generation unit 12 to the robot 2 via the communication unit 19. The process of this step S103 is repeated every second hour. That is, the communication processing unit 13 transmits the control data to the robot 2 every second hour.

[0047] In S104, in response to receiving the control data from the server 1, the robot 2 performs an operation based on the control data. The robot 2 receives the control data every x seconds, which is the second time. Therefore, as shown in the right diagram of FIG. 5, the robot 2 does not use and discards the control data portion for N-x+1 seconds (t+x to t+N seconds) of the previously received control data, and repeats the process of performing the operation from t+x seconds onwards based on the newly received control data. In other words, the robot 2 repeats the process of overwriting the control data for t+x to t+N seconds of each control data referenced during the operation with the newly received control data.

[0048] In S105, the control unit 10 of the server 1 determines whether a predetermined condition is satisfied. Here, the predetermined condition is a condition that is satisfied when, for example, a "NO" determination is made in S105 a predetermined number of times in succession, including the most recent determination.

[0049] If the control unit 10 determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied (S105: YES), the process from S101 is repeated. If the control unit 10 determines that the predetermined condition is not satisfied (S105: NO), the process from S102 is repeated.

[0050] The above description of S105 means that the information indicating the communication quality that the generating unit 12 refers to when generating the control data is updated at regular intervals or at intervals of a certain degree. Note that the determination in S105 may not be executed, and the process from S101 may be repeated every time following the process in S104.

[0051] The information processing method executed by the device has been described above, and includes an acquisition step (S101), a generation step (S102), and a communication step (S103).

[0052] According to the method of this example, the server 1 can generate control data for a suitable control time according to the communication quality and transmit it to the robot 2. In particular, when the robot 2 is mobile, the server 1 can dynamically generate control data for a suitable control time in accordance with changes in communication quality and transmit it to the robot 2. This makes it possible to prevent the robot 2 from becoming inoperable due to a communication delay without excessively generating control data for the robot 2.

[0053] 4. Modifications The generating unit 12 of the server 1 may be configured to repeatedly generate control data for a control time according to both the sensing result of the sensor 20 acquired by the acquiring unit 11 and the communication quality. For example, when the sensing result indicates that the number of people in the room where the robot 2 is present is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the generating unit 12 may be configured to estimate in advance that communication will be more likely to be interrupted and to lengthen the control time corresponding to a single control data.

[0054] Alternatively, the acquisition unit 11 may acquire an image of a person positioned around the robot 2 as a sensing result of the sensor 20, and the generation unit 12 may repeatedly generate control data for a control time corresponding to the estimated posture of the person. For example, when the generation unit 12 estimates that a person around the robot 2 is staring at a smartphone, the generation unit 12 may be configured to lengthen the control time corresponding to a single piece of control data, assuming that the communication traffic of the person is greater than the communication traffic of a simple pedestrian.

[0055] The generating unit 12 may be configured to use a machine learning model when determining a control time corresponding to a single piece of control data. For example, in the above-mentioned configuration in which control data for a control time according to the posture of a person around the robot 2 is generated, a machine learning model may be used in which the position information of a smartphone or the posture of a person carrying the smartphone is used as an explanatory variable and the traffic of communication by the smartphone is used as an objective variable. The generating unit 12 may determine the time according to the estimated traffic as the control time corresponding to a single piece of control data.

[0056] The present disclosure also includes an embodiment in which the control system 100 does not include the relay device 3 and the server 1 and the robot 2 directly perform communication processing.

[0057] In addition, when the control data portion required for the operation of the robot 2 is insufficient and the robot 2 becomes temporarily inoperable, the robot 2 may transmit a notice of this to the server 1, and the generation unit 12 may extend the control time corresponding to a single piece of control data.

[0058] Also, the robot 2 may be configured to transmit information indicating up to what control time of the control data portion of the received control data has been used to the server 1. In the above configuration, the generation unit 12 may be configured to lengthen the control time corresponding to the single control data when the amount of the control data portion discarded on the robot 2 side is equal to or less than a certain standard, and to shorten the control time corresponding to the single control data when the amount of the discarded control data portion is equal to or more than another standard.

[0059] Furthermore, in a configuration in which a single server 1 controls multiple robots 2, the generation unit 12 may generate each control data so that the total control time corresponding to a single control data for each robot 2 falls within a certain range. For example, the generation unit 12 may be configured to shorten the control time corresponding to control data for a certain robot 2 when the control time corresponding to the control data for another robot 2 is lengthened. This contributes to keeping fluctuations in the processing load in the entire control system 100 within a certain range.

[0060] [5. Software implementation example] The functions of the server 1 and the robot 2 (hereinafter referred to as the "device") can be realized by a program for causing a computer to function as the device, and a program for causing a computer to function as each control block of the device (particularly each part included in the control unit 10).

[0061] In this case, the device includes a computer having at least one control device (e.g., a processor) and at least one storage device (e.g., a memory) as hardware for executing the program. The control device and storage device execute the program to realize each function described in each of the above embodiments.

[0062] The program may be non-transitory and may be recorded in one or more computer-readable recording media. The recording media may or may not be included in the device. In the latter case, the program may be provided to the device via any wired or wireless transmission medium.

[0063] In addition, some or all of the functions of each of the control blocks can be realized by a logic circuit. For example, an integrated circuit in which a logic circuit that functions as each of the control blocks is formed is also included in the scope of the present invention. In addition, the functions of each of the control blocks can be realized by, for example, a quantum computer.

[0064] Furthermore, each process described in each of the above embodiments may be executed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). In this case, the AI ​​may be executed by the control device or another device (for example, an edge computer or a cloud server).

[0065] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 1. Server (information processing device) 2. Robot 3. Relay device (information processing device) 10 Control section 11 Acquisition Department 12 Generation part 13 Communication processing unit 18 Storage section 19 Communications Department 20 Sensors 100 Control System

Claims

1. An information processing device that generates control data for controlling a robot, an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot; a generating unit that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality; a communication processing unit that transmits the generated control data to the robot; Equipped with The acquisition unit is acquiring a sensing result of a sensor provided in the robot; The generation unit is (1) repeatedly generating control data for a control time period according to the number or posture of people around the robot, which is indicated by the sensing result, and (2) the communication quality; Information processing device.

2. The generation unit is repeatedly generating control data for a first period of time according to the communication quality; The communication processing unit: transmitting the control data to the robot every second time; The first time period is longer than the second time period and is longer as the communication quality becomes lower. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. An information processing device for generating control data for controlling a robot, an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot; a generating unit that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality; a communication processing unit that transmits the generated control data to the robot; Equipped with the control data includes a plurality of control data portions; The robot executes the operations corresponding to the respective control data portions in sequence; The generation unit is The control data is generated using an equation including a probability for each control data portion included in the control data, the probability that the next control data generated by the generation unit will reach the robot during the time the robot is performing an action corresponding to the control data portion. Information processing device.

4. A control system including one or more robots and an information processing device that generates control data for controlling the robots, The information processing device includes: an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot; a generating unit that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality; a communication processing unit that transmits the generated control data to the robot; the control data includes a plurality of control data portions; The generation unit is generating the control data using an equation including a probability for each control data portion included in the control data, the probability that the next control data generated by the generation unit will reach the robot during a time when the robot is performing an action corresponding to the control data portion; The robot comprises: In response to receiving the control data from the information processing device, an operation based on the control data is performed, and the operation corresponding to each part of the control data is executed in order. Control system.

5. The information processing device includes a plurality of edge servers that perform distributed processing.

5. The control system of claim 4.

6. An information processing method executed by an information processing device that generates control data for controlling a robot, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring information indicating a communication quality between the information processing device and the robot; a generating step of repeatedly generating control data for a control time period corresponding to the communication quality; a communication step of transmitting the generated control data to the robot; Including, the control data includes a plurality of control data portions; The robot executes the operations corresponding to the respective control data portions in sequence; In the generating step, The control data is generated using an equation including a probability for each control data portion included in the control data, the probability that the next control data generated in the generating step will reach the robot during a time when the robot is performing an action corresponding to the control data portion. Information processing methods.

7. 2. A control program for causing a computer to function as the information processing device according to claim 1, the control program causing a computer to function as the acquisition unit, the generation unit, and the communication processing unit.

8. A computer-readable recording medium having the control program according to claim 7 recorded thereon.

9. A control system comprising one or more robots and an information processing device that generates control data for controlling the robots, The information processing device includes: an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating communication quality between the information processing device and the robot; a generating unit that repeatedly generates control data for a control time corresponding to the communication quality; a communication processing unit that transmits the generated control data to the robot; The acquisition unit is acquiring a sensing result of a sensor provided in the robot; The generation unit is (1) repeatedly generating control data for a control time period according to the number or posture of people around the robot, as indicated by the sensing results, and (2) the communication quality; The robot comprises: In response to receiving the control data from the information processing device, an operation based on the control data is performed. Control system.

10. An information processing method executed by an information processing device that generates control data for controlling a robot, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring information indicating a communication quality between the information processing device and the robot; a generating step of repeatedly generating control data for a control time period corresponding to the communication quality; a communication step of transmitting the generated control data to the robot; Including, In the obtaining step, acquiring a sensing result of a sensor provided in the robot; In the generating step, (1) repeatedly generating control data for a control time period according to the number or posture of people around the robot, which is indicated by the sensing result, and (2) the communication quality; Information processing methods.

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