ROBOT CONTROL SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM

Abstract

To provide a technique that allows verification of a robot operation without any cost for an additional robot or for a person entering a monitoring area.SOLUTION: A robot control system includes a monitored robot for which a monitoring area is set and a robot controller that controls the monitored robot in a plurality of modes including a first mode to change an operation of the monitored robot if an object detected to enter the monitoring area is a robot.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] In the factory automation market, technologies for ensuring the operational safety of robots installed in factories are being put to practical use. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technology for evaluating a safety program by comparing an output signal for an input signal for evaluation with an expected value in a system for evaluating the functional safety of a designed safety program. Patent Document 2 also proposes a technology for protecting the cooperative work of technical equipment, robots, and machines by having a pre-registered autonomously operating unit continue the operation of the technical equipment when a person enters a monitoring area around the technical equipment, and transition the technical equipment to a safe state when a person other than the unit enters a dangerous area. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-151866 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-069509 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in conventional technology, to verify the robot's operation, a person must manually enter the monitored area in order to check the robot's operation (continuing the current operation or transitioning to a safe state). Furthermore, to automatically verify the robot's operation, a measure such as adding a separate verification unit that enters the monitored area is required, and registering the added unit requires effort and cost.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned situation, and provides a technology that can verify the operation of a robot without incurring verification work such as human intrusion into a monitored area or costs associated with adding verification units. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.

[0007] A first aspect of the present invention is a robot control system comprising: a monitored robot having a monitoring area; and a robot control unit that controls the monitored robot in a plurality of modes including a first mode for changing the operation of the monitored robot when an object detected to have entered the monitoring area is a robot. The robot control unit may also control the monitored robot to continue the operation of the monitored robot in a second mode among the plurality of modes for operating the monitored robot. In this way, by using an operating robot to verify the operation of the monitored robot, there is no concern about the cost of adding a verification robot or of a human entering the monitoring area.

[0008] The robot control unit may further include a determination unit that determines whether to change the motion of the robot to be monitored or to continue the motion of the robot to be monitored according to designation information of the verification motion of the robot to be monitored, and the robot control unit may change or continue the motion of the robot to be monitored in the first mode according to the determination by the determination unit. When verifying the operation of the target robot, a robot other than the robot being monitored that regularly enters the monitored area during normal operation can be treated as a person, and a verification can be performed in which the operation of the monitored robot is changed based on the assumption that the robot that has entered the monitored area may come into contact with the robot being monitored (verification of whether monitoring is working), or a verification can be performed in which the operation of the monitored robot is continued based on the assumption that the robot that has entered the monitored area has no possibility of coming into contact with the robot being monitored, because the other robot described above will perform programmed tasks even if it enters the monitored area (verification of normal operation).

[0009] 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 a designation of at least one of the plurality of partial areas as a target of the first mode. The robot control unit may control the other robot to enter the at least one area related to the designation received by the reception unit. The monitoring area may further include a display unit that displays information indicating whether or not the monitoring area is an area in which verification of the operation of the monitored robot in the first mode has been performed. This is expected to improve the efficiency of the operation verification by changing conditions for each of the plurality of partial areas divided into the monitoring area and performing the operation verification of the monitored robot, or by performing the operation verification only on the necessary area.

[0010] A second aspect of the present invention is an information processing device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires an output signal indicating that an object has entered a monitoring area set for a robot to be monitored; and a robot control unit that controls the robot to be monitored in a plurality of modes including a first mode that changes the operation of the robot to be monitored when the object is a robot based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition unit. In this way, by reusing an operating robot to verify the operation of the robot to be monitored, there is no concern about the costs associated with adding a robot for verification or with a person entering the monitoring area.

[0011] The present invention can also be understood as an information processing method including at least a part of the above-mentioned processing, a program for causing a computer to execute the method, or a computer-readable recording medium on which such a program is non-temporarily recorded. The above-mentioned configurations and processing can be combined with each other to constitute the present invention as long as no technical contradiction occurs. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to verify the operation of a robot without incurring verification work such as human intrusion into a monitored area or costs associated with adding a verification unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a safety system to which the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a safety system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow of a safety controller according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow of a safety controller according to the first modification. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow of a safety controller according to the second modification. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a display screen according to the second modification. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] <Application Examples> An application example of the present invention will be described. In the conventional technology, when an object enters the monitoring area of ​​a robot placed in a factory, in order to verify whether the robot behaves appropriately (continues its current operation or transitions to a safe state) in response to the entering object, a person must enter the monitoring area to check the actual operation. In addition, to automatically verify the robot's operation, a unit that enters the monitoring area must be added, which may result in the effort and cost of registering the unit.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a safety system 100 to which the present invention is applied. The safety system 100 includes a working robot 101, a monitoring sensor 102, a safety controller 103, a robot controller 104, and a PC (Personal Computer) 105. The safety system 100 corresponds to the robot control system of the present invention. The working robot 101 is, for example, an industrial robot that is installed and monitored in a factory. The working robot 101 corresponds to a robot to be monitored in which a monitoring area is set in the present invention. The working robot 101 is not limited to a robot whose position is fixed, but may be a robot that is installed on a rack or the like and configured to be movable. The monitoring sensor 102 is a sensor that monitors a monitoring area 106 that includes the movable range of the working robot 101. In the following description, the monitoring sensor 102 is a three-dimensional sensor, and an infrared TOF (Time of Flight) sensor (TOF camera) is used as an example. The monitoring sensor 102 detects a worker 200 or an autonomous mobile robot 300 that enters the monitoring area 106. The autonomous mobile robot 300 is, for example, a mobile robot that operates autonomously in a factory. The autonomous mobile robot 300 corresponds to a robot that enters a monitoring area of ​​the present invention. The robot to be entered into the monitoring area of ​​working robot 101 is not limited to autonomous mobile robot 300, and a configuration may be adopted in which another working robot without an autonomous mobile function is used to enter the monitoring area instead of autonomous mobile robot 300. Safety controller 103 executes the process described below and transmits instructions to robot controller 104 to verify the operation of working robot 101 in safety system 100. Robot controller 104 controls the operation of working robot 101 according to instructions from safety controller 103, and controls the operation mode of working robot 101 when autonomous mobile robot 300 enters monitoring area 106. PC 105 creates programs required to verify the operation of working robot 101 and displays the verification results. The safety controller 103 corresponds to the information processing device of the present invention.

[0016] The safety system 100 of the present invention can provide a technology for verifying the operation of a robot without incurring costs associated with preparations such as verification work such as human intrusion into the monitored area or registration of units added for verification purposes.

[0017] <First embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0018] 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a safety system 100 according to the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that a working robot 101 is installed in a cell line of a factory or the like, and the safety system 100 is used to verify the operation of the working robot 101 when an autonomous mobile robot 300 enters a monitoring area 106 of a monitoring sensor 102.

[0019] In the first embodiment, the autonomous robot 300 may be an AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) that autonomously travels along an automatically calculated route, or may be a robot that travels along a route that is specified in advance. The robot may be an AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) or other industrial robot that is guided along a predetermined route.

[0020] In the first embodiment, there is no particular limitation on the location of the PC 105. For example, the PC 105 may be a computer on the cloud.

[0021] Safety controller 103 has an input unit 110, a control unit 120, a storage unit 130, and an output unit 140. Control unit 120 has a determination unit 121 and a data generation unit 122. Note that input unit 110, monitoring sensor 102, and control unit 120 correspond to an acquisition unit, a monitoring unit, and a robot control unit of the present invention, respectively.

[0022] In this embodiment, when an object such as the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitored area 106, the monitoring sensor 102 outputs a signal indicating that the object has entered the monitored 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 by the control unit 120. The output signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired by the input unit 110 is data indicating the position and shape of the object detected in the monitored area 106.

[0023] Control unit 120 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and controls each unit in safety controller 103 and performs various information processing.

[0024] Here, examples of the operation modes of the working robot 101 include a robot operation verification mode and a normal robot operation mode. The robot operation verification mode is a mode for verifying whether the operation of the working robot 101 is appropriately controlled when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitored area 106. More specifically, in the robot operation verification mode, it is verified whether the operation of the working robot 101 can be appropriately stopped when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitored area 106, assuming that the working robot 101 may come into contact with the autonomous mobile robot 300. This makes it possible to verify whether, when the working robot 101 is operated, the safety system 100 can stop the operation of the working robot 101 when an object enters the monitored area 106, thereby preventing the working robot 101 from coming into contact with the object. The robot operation verification mode corresponds to the first mode of the present invention. Also, in the robot operation verification mode, instead of controlling the working robot 101 to stop its operation, the working robot 101 may be controlled to change its operation to various operations, such as decelerating, to avoid contact with objects.

[0025] The normal robot operation mode is a mode during operation in which the working robot 101 performs its original role (such as work and transportation). In the normal robot operation mode, when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, the operation of the working robot 101 continues. The autonomous mobile robot 300 travels along a route set in advance so as not to come into contact with the working robot 101. Therefore, in the normal robot operation mode, when the working robot 101 is operated, even if the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitoring area 106, it does not come into contact with the working robot 101, so the operation of the working robot 101 continues. However, even in the normal robot operation mode, if an unintended operation (such as an abnormality in the device) occurs and there is a possibility that the autonomous mobile robot 300 and the working robot 101 may come into contact with each other, the autonomous mobile robot 300 is controlled to decelerate or stop, or to take a route that avoids the working robot 101, or instead or in addition, the working robot 101 is controlled to decelerate or stop. The normal robot operation mode corresponds to the second mode of the present invention, and the first and second modes correspond to the multiple modes of the present invention.

[0026] The determination unit 121 determines whether or not the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is an autonomous mobile robot 300 based on the signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired by the input unit 110. 21 determines the operation mode of working robot 101. If the object that has entered monitored area 106 is an autonomous mobile robot 300, control unit 120 performs operation verification of working robot 101 according to the operation mode of working robot 101 described above, based on the object determination and operation mode determination by determination unit 121. Furthermore, if the object that has entered monitored area 106 is not an autonomous mobile robot 300, control unit 120 causes data generation unit 122 to generate a control signal that stops the operation of working robot 101 in order to avoid contact between working robot 101 and the entering object.

[0027] The data generation unit 122 generates control signals for the operation of the working robot 101, and generates data indicating the results of processing by each unit of the control unit 120. The control signals and data generated by the data generation unit 122 are output from the output unit 140, or stored in the storage unit 130.

[0028] In addition to the above data, the memory unit 130 stores identification information for the working robot 101 and the autonomous mobile robot 300, programs executed by the control unit 120, various data used by the control unit 120, and the like. For example, the memory unit 130 is an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive or a solid state drive. The output unit 140 outputs a control signal for the operation of the working robot 101 generated by the data generation unit 122. Note that the data generated by the data generation unit 122 may be stored in the memory unit 130 and output from the output unit 140 to an external display device or storage device at any timing.

[0029] Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow of the safety controller 103. As an example, the safety controller 103 starts the process flow of Fig. 3 after the power is turned on. Note that, before the process flow below starts, it is assumed that the operation mode of the robot 101 (robot operation verification mode or normal robot operation mode) is set in advance by the robot controller 104 based on a designation by the user of the safety system 100 through a switch operation (not shown) or the like.

[0030] In step S301, the monitoring sensor 102 detects an object that has entered the monitoring area 106. Then, the input unit 110 acquires an output signal output from the monitoring sensor 102 that has detected the object that has entered the monitoring area 106.

[0031] Next, in step S302, the determination unit 121 determines whether or not the object that has entered the monitoring area 106 is the autonomous mobile robot 300, using the identification information stored in the storage unit 130, based on the output signal of the monitoring sensor 102 acquired in step S301. If 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 advances the process to step S303. On the other hand, if 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 advances the process to step S306.

[0032] In step S303, the determination unit 121 determines whether the operation mode of the working robot 101 is the robot operation verification mode or the normal robot operation mode. If the determination unit 121 determines that the operation mode of the working robot 101 is the robot operation verification mode, the control unit 120 proceeds to step S304. On the other hand, if the determination unit 121 determines that the operation mode of the working robot 101 is the normal robot operation mode, the control unit 120 proceeds to step S305.

[0033] In step S304, the data generator 122 generates a control signal for stopping the operation of the working robot 101, and transmits the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls the working robot 101 in accordance with the received control signal. In this way, in an operation verification before operating the working robot 101, if the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitored area 106, it is possible to confirm that the autonomous mobile robot 300 can be regarded as an object that may come into contact with the working robot 101, and the operation of the working robot 101 can be appropriately stopped.

[0034] In step S305, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal for continuing the operation of the working robot 101, and transmits the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls the working robot 101 to continue its operation in accordance with the received control signal. This allows the working robot 101 to continue its operation even if the autonomous mobile robot 300, which travels along a route set in advance so as not to come into contact with the working robot 101, enters the monitoring area 106 while the working robot 101 is in operation. Therefore, unlike the operation verification mode in step S304, the operation of the working robot 101 is not unnecessarily stopped.

[0035] In step S306, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal to stop the operation of the working robot 101, and transmits the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls the operation of the working robot 101 to stop in accordance with the received control signal. As a result, since the object detected by the monitoring sensor 102 is an object other than the autonomous mobile robot 300 and there is a possibility that the object may come into contact with the working robot 101, the operation of the working robot 101 is stopped. Upon completing the processing of step S304, S305, or S306, the control unit 120 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0036] Therefore, according to this embodiment, the autonomous mobile robot 300 used when the working robot 101 is in operation can be regarded as an object that may come into contact with the working robot 101 within the monitored area 106, and verification can be performed as to whether the operation of the working robot 101 will stop when the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the monitored area 106. This makes it possible to verify the operation of the working robot 101 without concerns about the effort and cost involved in using people such as workers or other objects.

[0037] <Other> The above embodiment merely exemplifies the configuration of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the above specific form, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea. Modifications of the above embodiment are described below. In the following description, the same reference numerals are used for configurations similar to those of the above embodiment, and detailed description is omitted. In addition, the configurations and processes of the above embodiment and each of the modifications described below may be appropriately combined with each other.

[0038] <Variation 1> In the above process by the safety controller 103 in the first modification, when the operation mode of the working robot 101 is the robot operation verification mode, when an autonomous mobile robot enters the monitored area 106, the safety controller 103 executes a process of controlling the working robot 101 to stop its operation or a process of controlling the working robot 101 to continue its operation. In this modification, the user of the safety system 100 designates which of these operations to verify, and the designation information for the verification operation is stored in the memory unit 130.

[0039] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow executed by safety controller 103 in this modified example. Here, the process different from the process flow in FIG. 3 will be mainly described.

[0040] In step S303, if the determination unit 121 determines that the operation mode of the working robot 101 is the robot operation verification mode, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S307. In step S307, the determination unit 121 determines the operation of the working robot 101 to be verified based on the designation information of the verification operation designated by the user and stored in the storage unit 130. Here, as an example, the operation to be verified is the stopping operation and continuing operation of the working robot 101. If the determination unit 121 determines that the operation to be verified is the stopping operation of the working robot 101, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S304. On the other hand, if the determination unit 121 determines that the operation to be verified is the continuing operation of the working robot 101, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S308.

[0041] In step S304, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal to stop the operation of the working robot 101, and transmits the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls the working robot 101 to stop the operation in accordance with the received control signal. In addition, in step S308, the data generation unit 122 generates a control signal to continue the operation of the working robot 101, and transmits the generated control signal to the robot controller 104 via the output unit 140. The robot controller 104 controls the working robot 101 to continue the operation in accordance with the received control signal.

[0042] In this way, in the robot operation verification mode of the working robot 101 of this modified example, it is possible to confirm that the autonomous mobile robot 300 that has entered the monitored area 106 is an object that may come into contact with the working robot 101 and to stop the operation of the working robot 101, or to confirm that the autonomous mobile robot 300 that has entered the monitored area 106 is an object that is not likely to come into contact with the working robot 101 and to continue the operation of the working robot 101. When the process of step S304, S305, or S306 is completed, the control unit 120 ends the process of this flowchart.

[0043] According to this modified example, it is possible to not only verify whether the operation of the work robot 101 can be stopped, but also to verify whether the operation of the work robot 101 can be continued, so that the operation of the work robot 101 during operation can be more appropriately verified.

[0044] <Variation 2> In the second variant, in the above processing by the safety controller 103, the monitoring area 106 is divided into a plurality of partial areas, and from the divided partial areas, a partial area for verifying the operation of the work robot 101 is specified, and the operation of the work robot 101 can be verified for each divided partial area.

[0045] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow executed by safety controller 103 in this modified example. Here, the process different from the process flow in FIG. 3 will be mainly described.

[0046] In step S501, data generation unit 122 of control unit 120 generates a screen for specifying an area for operational verification of working robot 101 from the divided areas of monitoring area 106. Data of the generated screen is transmitted to PC 105, and the screen is displayed on the display unit of PC 105. FIG. 6 shows a schematic example of a screen displayed on PC 105 for specifying an area for operational verification of working robot 101. Here, it is assumed that monitoring area 106 is divided into four areas A to D in a top view of the floor on which working robot 101 is installed. Areas A to D correspond to partial areas of the monitoring area of ​​the present invention. Note that the method of dividing monitoring area 106 is not limited to the example shown in the figure, and may be a region divided into three-dimensional areas, for example, and the display method of each area may be changed appropriately depending on the division method.

[0047] The screen 610 for using the area for performing the operation verification displayed on the PC 105 includes a pointer 601 for the user of the safety system 100 to specify the area, a divided area A 6. In the example shown in the figure, the operations of the working robot 101 have been verified for area A 602, area B 603, area C 604, and area D 605 are displayed. Furthermore, screen 610 displays a confirm button 606 for executing operation verification of the selected area, and an end button 607 for ending the operation verification. Screen 610 also displays whether or not the operation of the working robot 101 has been verified for each area, and displays the area selected as the area for which operation verification will be performed. In the example shown in the figure, the operations of the working robot 101 have been verified for area A 602, area B 603, and area C 604, and the operation of the working robot 101 has been verified for area D 605. The figure also shows a state in which the user of safety system 100 has selected area A 602 as the area for which operation verification of the working robot 101 will be performed.

[0048] Next, in step S502, the user of the safety system 100 operates the PC 105 to designate an area for operational verification of the working robot 101 and presses the decision button, or presses the end button to end operational verification of the working robot 101. A signal indicating the area designated by the user or the press of the decision button or end button is transmitted from the PC 105 to the safety controller 103. If the decision button is pressed, the control unit 120 proceeds to process step S503, and if the end button is pressed, the control unit 120 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0049] Next, in step S503, the control unit 120 accepts the designation of a monitoring area for verifying the operation of the working robot 101 by the user of the safety system 100 in step S502. Note that the control unit 120 in step S503 corresponds to a receiving unit that accepts the designation of at least one area of ​​the multiple areas as the monitoring area. Next, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S504.

[0050] In step S504, the control unit 120 transmits 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 into the monitoring area related to the designation accepted in step S503. The autonomous mobile robot 300 moves so as to enter the designated monitoring area based on the control signal. Note that the method of causing the autonomous mobile robot 300 to enter the monitoring area is not limited to the above. Next, the control unit 120 advances the process to step S505.

[0051] In step S505, the monitoring sensor 102 monitors the area specified in step S502. Then, the input unit 110 of the safety controller 103 acquires an output signal output from the monitoring sensor 102 that has detected an object that has entered 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 process of step S304, S305, or S306 is completed, the control unit 120 returns the process to step S501 and repeats the above process. When step S501 is executed again, the status of the operation verification of each of the areas A to D is updated and displayed on the screen 610. Note that information indicating whether the operation of the working robot 101 in each area is unverified or verified may be stored in the storage unit 123 by the control unit 120.

[0052] According to this modification, the user of the safety system 100 can verify the operation of the working robot 101 for each area divided from the monitoring area 106 monitored by the monitoring sensor 102, and can therefore verify the operation of the working robot 101 in more detail while changing the situation in the operation verification, such as the way in which the autonomous mobile robot 300 enters the area and the operation of the working robot 101, for each divided area. Since it is possible to specify only the area that requires operational verification among the divided areas A to D and perform the operational verification, it is expected that the operational verification of the working robot 101 will become more efficient.

[0053] <Appendix 1> A robot (101) to be monitored, in which a monitoring area is set; a robot control unit (120) for controlling the robot to be monitored in a plurality of modes including a first mode for changing the operation of the robot to be monitored when the object detected to have entered the monitoring area is a robot (300); A robot control system (100) comprising:

[0054] <Appendix 2> an acquisition unit (110) that acquires an output signal indicating that an object has been detected entering a monitoring area set for a robot to be monitored; a robot control unit (120) for controlling the robot to be monitored in a plurality of modes including a first mode for changing the operation of the robot to be monitored, when the object is a robot (300) based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition unit; An information processing device (103) comprising:

[0055] <Appendix 3> A step of acquiring an output signal indicating that an object has been detected entering a monitoring area set for a robot to be monitored (S301); a step of controlling the robot to be monitored in a plurality of modes including a first mode for changing an operation of the robot to be monitored based on the output signal acquired by the acquiring step, when the object is a robot (S304, S305); 13. An information processing method comprising: [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 100: Safety system 101: Working robot 102: Monitoring sensor 120: Control unit 300: Autonomous robot

Claims

1. A monitored robot having a monitoring area set thereon; A detection unit that detects an object entering the monitoring area; a determination unit that determines whether the object detected by the detection unit is an autonomous robot; a robot control unit that controls the robot to be monitored in accordance with the determination by the determination unit; A robot control system having: When the determination unit determines that the object is not the autonomous robot, the robot control unit controls the monitored robot to stop; When the determination unit determines that the object is the autonomous mobile robot, the determination unit determines whether the operation mode of the monitored robot is a robot operation verification mode or a normal robot operation mode; When the determination unit determines that the operation mode of the monitored robot is the normal robot operation mode, the robot control unit controls the monitored robot to continue operating, When the determination unit determines that the operation mode of the robot to be monitored is the robot operation verification mode, the determination unit determines whether to change the operation of the robot to be monitored or to continue the operation of the robot to be monitored according to designation information of a verification operation of the robot to be monitored; In response to the determination made by the determination unit according to the designation information, the robot control unit controls the robot to change or continue the operation of the robot to be monitored. A robot control system comprising:

2. the monitoring area is made up of a plurality of sub-areas, The robot control system further includes a reception unit that receives a designation of at least one of the plurality of partial areas as a target of the robot operation verification mode.

2. The robot control system according to claim 1 .

3. The robot control system according to claim 2 , wherein the robot control unit controls the autonomous mobile robot to enter the at least one area related to the designation accepted by the acceptance unit.

4. The robot control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a display unit that displays information indicating whether the monitoring area is an area in which verification of the operation of the monitored robot in the robot operation verification mode has been performed.

5. an acquisition unit that acquires an output signal indicating that the detection unit has detected an object that has entered a monitoring area set for the robot to be monitored; a determination unit that determines whether the object is an autonomous robot based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition unit; a robot control unit that controls the robot to be monitored in accordance with the determination by the determination unit; An information processing device having When the determination unit determines that the object is not the autonomous robot, the robot control unit controls the monitored robot to stop; When the determination unit determines that the object is the autonomous mobile robot, the determination unit determines whether the operation mode of the monitored robot is a robot operation verification mode or a normal robot operation mode; When the determination unit determines that the operation mode of the monitored robot is the normal robot operation mode, the robot control unit controls the monitored robot to continue operating, When the determination unit determines that the operation mode of the robot to be monitored is the robot operation verification mode, the determination unit determines whether to change the operation of the robot to be monitored or to continue the operation of the robot to be monitored according to designation information of a verification operation of the robot to be monitored; In response to the determination made by the determination unit according to the designation information, the robot control unit controls the robot to change or continue the operation of the robot to be monitored.

23. An information processing apparatus comprising:

6. An information processing device comprising: An acquisition step of acquiring an output signal indicating that the detection unit has detected an object that has entered a monitoring area set for the robot to be monitored; a determination step of determining whether or not the object is an autonomous mobile robot based on the output signal acquired by the acquisition step; a control step of controlling the robot to be monitored in accordance with the determination made in the determination step; An information processing method for performing When it is determined that the object is not the autonomous robot by the determination step, the control step controls the robot to be monitored to stop, When the object is determined to be the autonomous mobile robot by the determination step, the determination step determines whether the operation mode of the monitored robot is a robot operation verification mode or a normal robot operation mode; When it is determined in the determination step that the operation mode of the robot to be monitored is the normal robot operation mode, the control step controls the robot to be monitored to continue operating, When it is determined that the operation mode of the robot to be monitored is the robot operation verification mode by the determination step, the determination step determines whether to change the operation of the robot to be monitored or to continue the operation of the robot to be monitored according to designation information of a verification operation of the robot to be monitored; In response to the determination made in the determining step according to the designation information, the control step controls the robot to be monitored so as to change or continue the operation of the robot.

23. An information processing method comprising:

7. 7. A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the information processing method according to claim 6.

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