Input unit, input device, and system

Abstract

To provide an input unit capable of detecting not only the bending and stretching motion of a finger of an operator but also a movement of the finger including the adduction and abduction motion of the finger.SOLUTION: An input unit 100 is a unit for a robot operation, and includes: a base 101; a contact part 102 which is provided rotatably with respect to the base and with which a finger 1 of an operator comes in contact; and a detection part 103 which detects a rotation amount of the contact part with respect to the base. The contact part 102 rotates around a first axis in a first direction D1 with respect to the base in response to the bending motion of the finger, rotates around the first axis in a second direction D2 with respect to the base in response to the stretching motion of the finger, rotates around a second axis in a third direction D3 with respect to the base in response to the adduction motion of the finger, and rotates around the second axis in a fourth direction D4 with respect to the base in response to the abduction motion of the finger. The detection part detects a rotation amount around the first axis of the contact part, a rotation amount around the second axis of the contact part, and a position of a finger tip of the finger on the contact part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an input unit for inputting information on finger movement, an input device having a plurality of such input units corresponding to the five fingers, a system for operating a robot using this input device, and a system for inputting information on upper limb movement that includes this input device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, input devices have been used to detect the movement of an operator's fingers or the like for robot operation, such as making an articulated robot, for example, a robot hand, perform the movement of the operator's fingers.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses, as an example of such an input device, a glove provided with optical fibers therein for detecting bending of fingers. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 4-210390 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the glove disclosed in Patent Document 1 detects the degree of bending of the fingers by the bending of the optical fiber that accompanies the bending of the fingers of the wearer, and detects the bending and stretching movement of the fingers when opening and closing the hand.

[0006] The present invention aims to provide an input unit that can detect finger movements including not only flexion and extension movements of an operator's fingers but also their inward and outward movements, and an input device that is equipped with a plurality of such input units corresponding to the five fingers.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to obtain a system for operating a robot using the input device of the present invention described above, and further to obtain a system equipped with the input device of the present invention as a system for detecting information on the movement of an operator's upper limbs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention provides the following items. (Item 1) An input unit for robot operation, comprising: A base and a contact portion that is rotatably provided with respect to the base portion and that comes into contact with an operator's finger; a detection unit that detects a rotation amount of the contact portion relative to the base; Equipped with The contact portion is The finger pivots in a first direction about a first axis relative to the base in response to a bending motion of the finger; rotates in a second direction around the first axis relative to the base in response to an extension movement of the finger; rotates in a third direction about a second axis relative to the base in response to an adduction movement of the finger; The finger is configured to rotate in a fourth direction around the second axis relative to the base in response to an abduction movement of the finger, The detection unit The touch panel is configured to detect the amount of rotation of the contact portion around the first axis, the amount of rotation of the contact portion around the second axis, and the position of the fingertip of the finger on the contact portion. Input unit. (Item 2) Item 1. The input unit according to item 1, further comprising a drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact portion around the axis. (Item 3) 3. The input unit according to item 2, wherein the drive unit is a second drive unit that generates a second reaction force that rotates the contact portion around the second axis. (Item 4) further comprising a second force detection unit for detecting the second reaction force; 4. The input unit according to item 3, wherein the second drive unit is controlled based on the second reaction force detected by the second force detection unit. (Item 5) 5. The input unit according to item 4, wherein the second force detection unit includes a strain gauge. (Item 6) 5. The input unit according to item 4, wherein the second force detection section includes an elastic body connected to the second drive section and the contact section. (Item 7) The input unit described in item 2 further comprises an elastic body connected to the drive unit and the contact unit, the elastic body being arranged around the axis so as to expand or contract in response to the drive unit driving the contact unit to rotate in one direction around the axis. (Item 8) further comprising an elastic body connected to the driving portion and the contact portion; the elastic body includes a first elastic member and a second elastic member, The input unit described in item 2, wherein the first elastic member and the second elastic member are arranged around the axis so that the first elastic member expands and the second elastic member contracts in response to the drive unit driving the contact portion to rotate in one direction around the axis. (Item 9) Item 1. The input unit according to item 1, further comprising a rotation stop mechanism that stops rotation of the contact portion. (Item 10) The rotation stopping mechanism includes: a rigid rotational member configured to be rotated about the axis by the drive; a rigid stationary member configured to prevent rotation of the rigid rotational member above a threshold angle; Equipped with 10. The input unit of item 9, wherein the rigid stationary member collides with the rigid rotating member to stop rotation of the contact portion when the rigid rotating member rotates by an angle equal to or greater than the threshold value. (Item 11) The input unit described in item 2, wherein the drive unit is configured to generate both a first reaction force that rotates the contact portion around the first axis and a second reaction force that rotates the contact portion around the second axis. (Item 12) The contact portion is a contact body; a fingertip holder configured to hold the fingertip of the finger; a movable body coupled to the fingertip holding portion; Equipped with The input unit according to item 1, wherein the movable body is configured to be movable along the extending direction of the contact portion main body in accordance with the movement of the fingertip held in the fingertip holding portion. (Item 13) Item 13. The input unit according to item 12, wherein the detection unit detects the position of the fingertip by detecting the position of the movable body. (Item 14) Item 13. The input unit according to item 12, wherein the fingertip holding portion is configured to hold the fingertip in a state in which the fingertip is fitted into the fingertip holding portion. (Item 15) Item 13. The input unit according to item 12, wherein the fingertip holding portion includes a cup-shaped housing into which the fingertip of the finger is fitted and a balloon member provided within the cup-shaped housing, the balloon member being configured to inflate within the cup-shaped housing. (Item 16) Item 13. The input unit according to item 12, wherein the fingertip holding portion and the movable body are connected by a universal joint. (Item 17) The contact portion is further configured to rotate relative to the base portion about a third axis; Item 13. The input unit according to item 12, wherein the third axis is an axis along a direction in which the contact portion body extends. (Item 18) Item 13. The input unit according to item 12, wherein the finger is a thumb. (Item 19) An input device for operating a robot, an input unit according to item 4 of item 1; an input unit according to item 12; An input device comprising: (Item 20) A robotic manipulation system, comprising: An input unit according to any one of items 1 to 18; an information processing device configured to estimate a posture of the operator's finger based on a rotation amount of the contact portion detected by the input unit and a position of the fingertip on the contact portion; a robot configured to be operated based on the estimated finger posture of the operator; Equipped with The rotation amount of the contact portion detected by the input unit is A rotation amount of the contact portion about the first axis; and the amount of rotation of the contact portion around the second axis; and Including, the system. (Item 21) A system for inputting an upper limb movement of an operator, An input unit according to any one of items 1 to 18; an arm motion input device for inputting arm motions of the operator; A system equipped with (Item 22) The arm movement input device a first joint connected to the input unit; a second joint fixedly disposed at a location different from the operator's body; a third joint connecting a first arm extending from the first joint and a second arm extending from the second joint; Equipped with Item 22. The system described in Item 21, which outputs the posture change of the first arm relative to the input unit, the posture change of the second arm relative to the first arm, and the posture change of the second joint relative to the location as information indicating the movement of the upper limb. (Item 23) The arm movement input device a force sensor that detects a force applied to the input device; a calculation means for integrating the force applied to the input device detected by the force sensor; Equipped with Item 22. The system according to item 21, configured to output an integral value of the force applied to the input device as information indicating the movement of the upper limb. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an input unit that can detect finger movements including not only flexion and extension movements of the operator's fingers but also inward and outward movements, and an input device that is equipped with a plurality of such input units corresponding to the five fingers.

[0010] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a system for operating a robot using the input device of the present invention described above, and further to obtain a system equipped with the input device of the present invention as a system for detecting the movement of the operator's upper limbs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of an input unit 100 of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the movement of the contact portion 102 in response to the flexion and abduction movements of the operator's fingers in the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 1, and shows the structure of the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the X direction and the Z direction shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the basic components of the input unit 100 of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a mechanism (reaction force generating mechanism) for generating a reaction force for force feedback in the input unit 100 of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of the reaction force generating mechanism shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the specific configuration of the reaction force generating mechanism shown in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a rotation stopping mechanism of the contact portion in the input unit 100 of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an input unit 100a according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the movement of the contact portion 102 in the input unit 100a shown in FIG. 8 in response to the bending motion of the operator's finger. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the movement of the contact portion 102 in response to the adduction movement of the operator's finger in the input unit 100a shown in FIG. [Figure 10A] FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an alternative configuration example of the rotation part in the input unit 100a shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of a thumb input unit 200 corresponding to a thumb as the basic configuration of an input unit of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the movement of the contact portion 202 in response to the bending motion of the operator's thumb in the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11, and is a view of the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11 as viewed from the X direction in FIG. 11(b). [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the movement of the contact portion 202 in response to the adduction movement of the operator's thumb in the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11, and is a view of the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11 as viewed from the Z direction of FIG. 11(b). [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a plan view showing the movement of the contact portion 202 in response to the inward twisting action of the operator's thumb in the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11, and is a view of the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11 viewed from the Y direction of FIG. 11(b). [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the basic components of a thumb input unit 200 of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a thumb input unit 200a according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16A]FIG. 16A is a diagram showing another configuration example (thumb holder 302c) of the thumb holder 202c in the thumb input unit 200a shown in FIG. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the input device 10 provided with the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11 and the input units 100 shown in FIG. 1 corresponding to the four fingers other than the thumb. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram of a system 1000 for causing a robot 1200 to perform finger movements, as a robot operation system equipped with the input device 10 shown in FIG. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a system 2000 that includes the input device 10 shown in FIG. 17 and detects the movement of the upper limbs of an operator and inputs the detected movement to another system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The present invention will be described below.Unless otherwise specified, it should be understood that the terms used in this specification are used in the meanings generally used in the relevant field.Therefore, unless otherwise defined, all technical terms and scientific terms used in this specification have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention belongs.In the event of any discrepancy, this specification (including definitions) shall prevail.

[0013] In this specification, the term "operator" refers to a person who provides information for operating a robot via the input unit or input device of the present invention.

[0014] In this specification, "distal" refers to the side of the two parts of the input unit (or the components that make up the input unit) of the present invention that is located farther away from the trunk of the human body, and "proximal" refers to the side of the two parts that is located closer to the trunk of the human body.

[0015] In this specification, the term "about" refers to a range of ±10% of the following number.

[0016] In this specification, the present invention will be explained by dividing it into the following items [1] to [5].

[0017] [1] The input unit 100 of the present invention (see FIGS. 1 to 7) and the input unit 100a of the first embodiment (see FIGS. 8 to 10 and 10A) will be described.

[0018] [2] The thumb input unit 200 of the present invention (see FIGS. 11 to 15) and the thumb input unit 200a of embodiment 2 (see FIGS. 16 and 16A) will be described. Here, the thumb input unit is an input unit suitable for detecting movement information of the thumb.

[0019] [3] An input device 10 (see FIG. 17) equipped with input units 100 and 200 corresponding to the five fingers will be described.

[0020] [4] As a system (robot operation system) that causes a robot to perform the finger movements of an operator, a system (see FIG. 18) that includes the input device 10 shown in FIG. 17 will be described.

[0021] [5] As a system for detecting the movement of a movable part such as an upper limb of a human body (upper limb movement detection system), a system including an input device 10 shown in FIG. 17 (see FIG. 19) will be described.

[0022] The present invention will be described below in the above order.

[0023] [1] The input unit 100 will be explained.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of an input unit 100 of the present invention, in which FIG. 1(a) shows a state in which a finger 1 is placed on the input unit 100, and FIG. 1(b) shows the rotation directions D1 to D4 of the contact portion 102 accompanying the movement of the finger 1.

[0025] The input unit 100 of the present invention detects the movement of an operator's finger 1 and transmits the detected movement to another device or system. Here, the information on the movement of the finger 1 detected by the input unit 100 is used for robot operation. Here, robot operation is not limited to robot operation in the real world, but also includes robot operation in a virtual space (metaverse) accessed using VR (Virtual Reality) (technology that allows you to experience a virtual world). Furthermore, the information on the movement of the finger 1 detected by the input unit 100 is used not only for robot operation in the metaverse, but also for operation of an avatar in the metaverse. It is also used for operation of an object in other simulated environments, such as an augmented reality world accessed using AR (Augmented Reality) (technology that allows you to experience a virtual world superimposed on the real world) or a mixed reality world realized using MR (Mixed Reality) (technology that combines the real world and the virtual world (VR)).

[0026] In this way, the information on the movement of finger 1 detected by the input unit 100 of the present invention can be used to operate an object to be operated in xR "Cross Reality," a world created by technology that makes it possible to perceive things that do not exist in reality by merging the real world and the virtual world.

[0027] In the following description of the input unit 100, it is assumed that finger 1 is the index finger of the right hand. However, finger 1 may be a finger other than the index finger of the right hand, or may be a finger of the left hand.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1(a), this input unit 100 includes a base 101, a contact portion 102 that comes into contact with an operator's finger 1, and a detection portion 103 that detects the amount of rotation of the contact portion 102 relative to the base 101.

[0029] (Base 101) The base 101 is the base of the input unit 100, and other configurations are not limited and may be any as long as it is a base on which the contact unit 102 and the detection unit 103 are attached. For example, the base 101 may be a plate or block that serves as the base of the input unit 100, and the material thereof is not limited and may be resin, metal, wood, ceramic, or the like. However, in the following description, the input unit 100 is assumed to be configured so that the surface of the base 101 is parallel to the surface on which the input unit is to be installed.

[0030] (contact portion 102) 1(b), the contact portion 102 is provided rotatably in first to fourth directions D1 to D4 relative to the base portion 101. The specific structure of the contact portion 102 is not limited, but for example, a thin plate-like member or a thin rod-like member can be used. The material of the contact portion 102 is also not limited, but resin, metal, wood, ceramic, or the like can be used.

[0031] Here, the contact portion 102 is configured to rotate in a first direction D1 around a first axis relative to the base 101 in response to a bending motion of the finger 1, to rotate in a second direction D2 around the first axis relative to the base 101 in response to an extension motion of the finger 1, to rotate in a third direction D3 around the second axis relative to the base 101 in response to an adduction motion of the finger 1, and to rotate in a fourth direction D4 around the second axis relative to the base 101 in response to an abduction motion of the finger 1.

[0032] Therefore, this input unit 100 essentially has at least a first rotating portion 110 that supports the contact portion 102 rotatably about a first axis relative to the base portion 101, and a second rotating portion 120 that supports the contact portion 102 rotatably about a second axis relative to the base portion 101. The first rotating portion 110 and the second rotating portion 120 are connected via a connecting portion 104 that is another member, and the second rotating portion 120 supports the first rotating portion 110 rotatably about the second axis relative to the base portion 101, and the first rotating portion 110 supports the contact portion 102 rotatably about the first axis relative to the base portion 101. Note that the first rotating portion 110 and the second rotating portion 120 may be directly connected without using another member.

[0033] Here, the specific configurations of the first rotating portion 110 and the second rotating portion 120 are not limited and can be any configuration.

[0034] For example, instead of having two rotation parts, namely, a first rotation part 110 that rotates the contact part 102 around a first axis relative to the base part 101 and a second rotation part 120 that rotates the contact part 102 around a second axis relative to the base part 101, the input unit 100 may have a single rotation part that can rotate the contact part 102 around both the first axis and the second axis.

[0035] In the following description of the rotation of the contact unit 102, three-dimensional coordinates are used to clarify the direction of the axis (rotation axis) when the contact unit 102 rotates. As shown in FIG. 1 , the X-axis is defined as an axis parallel to the width direction of the palm in the initial position of the input unit, the Z-axis is defined as an axis parallel to the normal direction of the palm in the initial position of the input unit, and the Y-axis is defined as an axis perpendicular to the Z-axis and X-axis in the initial position of the input unit. Here, the initial position refers to a state in which at least the tip of the operator's finger 1 is approximately placed on the contact unit 102 of the input unit 100, and the longitudinal axis of the contact unit 102 is held in a position parallel to the surface of the base 101 and perpendicular to the width direction of the palm. In addition to the initial position, the input unit 100 also has a standby state in which the tip of the operator's finger 1 is not placed on the contact unit 102 of the input unit 100. When a person moves their fingers, they may sometimes overextend (bend) them, and in order to allow the contact part to follow the movement of the finger in this case as well, in this input unit 100, the position of the contact part 102 in the standby state is tilted so that its tip faces diagonally upward relative to the surface of the base.

[0036] Therefore, in this input unit 100, the contact portion 102 is biased by the elastic force of a spring or the torque of a motor so that the contact portion 102 does not hang down under its own weight in the standby state or initial position.

[0037] In the initial posture of this input unit 100, the first axis (the axis along which the contact portion 102 rotates in response to the flexion and extension movements of the finger) is parallel to the X axis, the second axis (the axis along which the contact portion 102 rotates in response to the inward and outward movements of the finger) is parallel to the Z axis, and the longitudinal axis (longitudinal axis) La of the contact portion 102 is parallel to the Y axis.

[0038] However, when the contact portion 102 transitions from the initial posture to an operating state (abduction / alteration state) in which it rotates around the second axis, the first rotating portion itself rotates around the second axis, causing the first axis to become an axis inclined relative to the X-axis. However, even when transitioning from the initial posture to the operating state (abduction / alteration state), the second rotating portion itself does not rotate relative to the base, so the second axis remains parallel to the Z-axis.

[0039] Furthermore, when the contact portion 102 transitions from the initial posture to an operating state (bending and stretching state) in which it rotates around the first axis, the longitudinal axis La of the contact portion 102 becomes an axis inclined with respect to the Y axis. However, even when transitioning from the initial posture to the operating state (bending and stretching state), neither the first rotating portion itself nor the second rotating portion itself rotates with respect to the base, so the state in which the first axis is parallel to the X axis and the second axis is parallel to the Z axis is maintained.

[0040] That is, the rotation of the contact part accompanying the flexion and extension of the finger from the initial posture occurs around the X-axis because the first axis is parallel to the X-axis in the initial posture, and the rotation of the contact part accompanying the abduction and inversion of the finger from the initial posture occurs around the Z-axis because the second axis is parallel to the Z-axis in the initial posture.

[0041] On the other hand, if the contact portion 102 rotates around the first axis as the finger flexes and extends from the initial position, and then rotates around the second axis as the finger abducts and inwards, the second axis is parallel to the Z axis in this state, so the contact portion rotates around the Z axis. However, if the contact portion 102 rotates around the second axis as the finger flexes and extends from the initial position, and then rotates around the first axis as the finger flexes and extends, the first axis is not parallel to the X axis in this state, so the contact portion does not rotate around the X axis, but around the first axis that is inclined with respect to the X axis in the XY plane.

[0042] (Detection unit 103) The detection unit 103 is configured to detect the amount of rotation of the contact portion 102 around the first axis, the amount of rotation of the contact portion 102 around the second axis, and the position Pf of the fingertip of the finger 1 on the contact portion 102.

[0043] That is, the detection unit 103 is essentially configured as long as it has a position detection unit 103a that detects the position Pf of the fingertip of the finger 1 on the contact unit 102, a first rotation amount detection unit 131 that detects the amount of rotation of the contact unit 102 around a first axis, and a second rotation amount detection unit 132 that detects the amount of rotation of the contact unit 102 around a second axis, and is not limited to other components and may be any.

[0044] For example, the position detection unit 103a may be provided on the distal end side of the contact portion 102, or on the proximal end side of the contact portion 102. In particular, when a sensor such as a capacitance sensor or an optical sensor is used as the position detection unit 103a, the position detection unit 103a may include a configuration in which a plurality of capacitance sensors or a plurality of optical sensors are arranged on the contact portion 102 along the longitudinal direction thereof. Furthermore, the first rotation amount detection unit 131 may be incorporated within the first rotating unit 110, or may be provided outside the first rotating unit 110. Similarly, the second rotation amount detection unit 132 may be incorporated within the second rotating unit 120, or may be provided outside the second rotating unit 120. These rotation amount detection units may use magnetic encoders or optical encoders.

[0045] The input unit 100 of the present invention configured as described above can detect the movement of the operator's finger 1, including not only the bending and stretching movement of the finger 1 but also the inward and outward movement of the finger 1. The function of detecting such a movement of the finger 1 will be described below.

[0046] 2A and 2B are plan views for explaining the movement of the contact portion of the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 1, where FIG. 2A shows the structure of the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 1A as viewed from the X direction (direction parallel to the X axis) of FIG. 1B, and FIG. 2B shows the structure of the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 1A as viewed from the Z direction (direction parallel to the Z axis) of FIG. 1B.

[0047] For example, as shown in FIG. 2(a), when finger 1 is bent and changes from a state in which finger 1 is parallel to the surface of the palm to a state in which finger 1 is inclined relative to the surface of the palm, the rotation of contact portion 102 around the first axis causes the longitudinal axis La of contact portion 102 to rotate from a state in which it is parallel to the Y axis to a state in which it forms an angle α with the Y axis, becoming longitudinal axis La1.

[0048] In this case, the first rotation amount detection unit 131 detects this angle α, and the position detection unit 103a detects the position Pf of the finger 1 on the contact unit 102 as the distance d from the position detection unit 103a to the finger 1, and the first to third joint angles K1 to K3 of the finger 1 can be calculated from these detected values ​​based on inverse kinematics. However, it is assumed that the first joint (DIP joint) and the second joint (PIP joint) bend in conjunction with each other at the same joint angle (K1=K2).

[0049] Furthermore, by making the contact portion 102 structured so that it can rotate in accordance with the extension of the finger 1, it is possible to determine the first to third joint angles K1 to K3 of the finger 1 even when the finger 1 is extended (including when the finger is hyperextended and bent back), in the same way as when the finger 1 is bent.

[0050] Furthermore, when finger 1 is assumed to be the index finger of the right hand and is abducted as shown in FIG. 2(b) (when finger 1 is assumed to be the index finger of the left hand and is adducted), the rotation of contact portion 102 around the second axis causes the longitudinal axis La of contact portion 102 to rotate from a state parallel to the Y axis to a state forming an angle β with the Y axis, becoming longitudinal axis La2.

[0051] In this case, the second rotation amount detection unit 132 detects this angle β, and thus the second rotation amount (rotation amount around the second axis) of the contact portion 102 can be detected.

[0052] When the index finger 1a of the right hand is adducted, the second rotation amount of the contact portion 102 can be detected in the same way as when the index finger 1a is abducted.

[0053] Therefore, the input unit of the present invention has a base 101, a contact portion 102 that comes into contact with the operator's finger, and a detection portion 103 that detects the amount of rotation of the contact portion relative to the base, and as long as the detection portion detects the amount of rotation of the contact portion relative to the base in accordance with the flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction movements of the finger and at the same time detects the position Pf of the fingertip on the contact portion, the other configurations are not particularly limited and can be arbitrary.

[0054] In other words, by having such a configuration, the input unit of the present invention can estimate the posture of the fingers based on inverse kinematics from the amount of rotation of the contact part 102 relative to the base part 101 detected by the detection part 103 and the position of the fingertip of finger 1 on the contact part 102, and as a result, the movement of a part including multiple joints, such as the operator's fingers, can be detected from the rotation information of this part and the position information of the operator's fingers.

[0055] In this case, there is no need to provide a configuration for detecting the joint angle for each joint, and it is also easy to add a configuration for additional functions such as haptics that presents a sense of force to the operator (i.e., a function that gives the operator the feeling when the robot's fingers touch an object).

[0056] That is, the input unit of the present invention can have a haptic function by having a drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact portion 102 around either the first axis or the second axis.

[0057] The drive unit may be incorporated in the corresponding rotating unit, or may be provided outside the corresponding rotating unit.

[0058] The input unit of the present invention may have only a drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact unit 102 around one of the first and second axes described above, or may have one drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact unit 102 around the first axis and another drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact unit around the second axis. These drive units may also provide a sense of vibration or texture by rapidly switching the reaction force they generate. Alternatively, a belt driven by the drive unit may be disposed on the contact unit 102 to generate a reaction force in the longitudinal direction of the contact unit 102, providing a force sensation of the finger being pulled or pushed.

[0059] The input unit 100 of the present invention will now be further conceptually explained.

[0060] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the basic components of the input unit 100 of the present invention.

[0061] (Drive unit) For example, the input unit 100 preferably includes a drive unit (second drive unit) 121a that generates a reaction force (second reaction force) in the abduction / abduction direction to rotate the contact portion around a second axis, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. The second drive unit 121a may be built into the second rotation unit 120, or may be provided outside the second rotation unit 120.

[0062] In this case, a function (haptic function) that generates a second reaction force in response to the operator's finger abduction / abduction movement (i.e., the operator's movement of moving the finger from side to side along a plane approximately parallel to the palm) and transmits a force sensation to the operator's finger allows the operator to feel the sensation of the remotely controlled robot grasping an object by the adduction or abduction of the finger. However, such a haptic function is not necessarily required, and input unit 100 does not necessarily have to have drive unit (second drive unit) 121a that generates a second reaction force that rotates the contact portion around the second axis.

[0063] 1 and 3, the input unit 100 preferably further includes a drive unit (first drive unit) 111a that generates a reaction force (first reaction force) in the bending / stretching direction that rotates the contact unit around a first axis. Note that the first drive unit 111a may be built into the first rotation unit 110, or may be provided outside the first rotation unit 110. Note that a motor such as a servo motor can be used as the drive unit.

[0064] In this case, a function (haptic function) that generates a first reaction force in response to the operator's finger bending and straightening action (i.e., the operator's action of bending and straightening the finger along a plane approximately perpendicular to the palm) and transmits a force sensation to the operator's finger allows the operator to feel the sensation of the remotely controlled robot grasping an object by bending (or extending in some cases) the finger. However, such a haptic function is not necessarily required, and the input unit 100 does not necessarily have to have the first drive unit 111a that generates the first reaction force that rotates the contact unit 102 around the first axis.

[0065] Furthermore, the first and second reaction forces generated by the first and second drive units 111a and 121a described above vary depending on the strength with which the robot grips an object, and are preferably feedback-controlled so that the reaction forces correspond to the strength with which the robot grips an object. In this case, the reaction force is controlled by force-feedback bilateral control, but other types of reaction force feedback control are also available, such as symmetric, force-reverse, and acceleration bilateral controls, and such bilateral control may also be implemented.

[0066] The bilateral control here is a method of simultaneously performing posture control from the master to the slave and force control from the slave to the master by controlling the posture and force states to match between the input unit (master) 100 and the robot (slave) operated by it.

[0067] In particular, the symmetric type is a method of controlling both the master and slave so that relative displacement between them is eliminated, while the force-reverse type is a method of controlling the positioning of the slave based on the relative displacement and reproducing the force acting on the slave in the master. The force-feedback type differs from the force-reverse type in that the reproduction of the force in the master is based on the difference between the force in the master and the force in the slave. Furthermore, the acceleration type is a method of controlling the posture and generated force in the master and slave using the acceleration of the posture change and the change in the generated force as the control amount.

[0068] Note that bilateral control does not necessarily present a reaction force, and some bilateral control does not present a reaction force. For example, the force-projection type is a method in which the positioning control of the master is performed based on relative displacement, and the force acting on the master is reproduced by the slave. In the force-projection type, force information is sent from the master (input unit) to the slave (robot), and position information (i.e., angle information of the contact point) is received by the master, and no reaction force is generated (force sensation is not presented).

[0069] (Force detection unit) 1 and 3, the input unit 100 includes a force detection unit (second force detection unit) 121b that detects a second reaction force generated by the second drive unit 121a, and the second drive unit 121a may be feedback-controlled so that the second reaction force detected by the second force detection unit 121b becomes a reaction force corresponding to information from the robot indicating the force with which the robot grips an object. Note that the second force detection unit 121b may be built into the second rotation unit 120, or may be provided outside the second rotation unit 120.

[0070] 1 and 3, the input unit 100 may further include a force detection unit (first force detection unit) 111b that detects a first reaction force generated by the first driving unit 111a, and the first driving unit 111a may be feedback-controlled so that the first reaction force detected by the first force detection unit 111b corresponds to information from the robot indicating the force with which the robot grasps an object. Note that the first force detection unit 111b may be built into the first rotating unit 110, or may be provided outside the first rotating unit 110.

[0071] However, in some cases, feedback control of the first and second reaction forces is not necessary, and the first and second driving units 111a and 121a may always generate a constant reaction force.

[0072] Furthermore, in one embodiment, second force detection unit 121b may include a strain gauge as a member for detecting the reaction force, or in another embodiment, second force detection unit 121b may include an elastic body connected to second drive unit 121a and contact unit 102 as a member for detecting the reaction force. In either case, the second force detection unit can detect the magnitude of the reaction force based on the extension rate of the strain gauge or elastic body when the corresponding reaction force is applied.

[0073] Similarly, in one embodiment, the first force detection unit 111b may include a strain gauge as a member for detecting the reaction force, or in another embodiment, the first force detection unit 111b may include an elastic body connected to the first drive unit 111a and the contact unit 102 as a member for detecting the reaction force.

[0074] The drive unit and the contact unit may be connected via an elastic body that serves as a member for generating a reaction force. In this case, the elastic body is arranged around an axis so as to expand or contract in response to the drive unit driving the contact unit to rotate in one direction around the axis.

[0075] In addition, the elastic body for generating a reaction force connected between the drive unit and the contact unit may include a first elastic member and a second elastic member, and the first elastic member and the second elastic member may be arranged around an axis so that the first elastic member expands and the second elastic member contracts in response to the drive unit driving the contact unit to rotate in one direction around the axis.

[0076] Specifically, in one embodiment, an elastic body (first elastic body) connected to the first driving unit 111a and the contact portion 102 may be arranged around a first axis so as to expand or contract in response to the first driving unit 111a driving the contact portion 102 to rotate in a second direction D2 (the opposite direction to the direction in which the contact portion rotates when the finger is bent).

[0077] Alternatively, in another embodiment, the elastic body (first elastic body) connected to the first driving unit 111a and the contact portion 102 may be arranged around a first axis so as to expand or contract in response to the first driving unit 111a driving the contact portion 102 to rotate in a first direction D1 (the opposite direction to the direction in which the contact portion rotates when the finger is extended).

[0078] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the reaction force generating mechanism that generates a reaction force for force sensation presentation in the input unit 100 of the present invention, where FIG. 4(a) shows a state in which no reaction force is generated, and FIG. 4(b) shows a state in which a reaction force is generated.

[0079] The first force detection unit 111b has an elastic body 112 connected to the first drive unit 111a and the contact unit 102, and a first displacement amount detection unit 111c that measures the amount of displacement of this elastic body, and is configured to control the first drive unit 111a so that the torque applied to the contact unit 102 corresponds to the force information obtained from the robot hand.

[0080] In this first force detection unit 111b, one end of the first elastic member 112 is connected to the movable member 10a of the first rotation unit 110, which rotates together with the contact member 102, and the other end of the first elastic member 112 is connected to the rotation shaft 11a of the first drive unit 111a, which rotates the contact member 102. The rotation of the rotation shaft 11a causes the elastic member 112 to expand, generating a reaction force F at the contact member 102. Furthermore, in the first force detection unit 111b, the magnitude of the generated reaction force is calculated based on Hooke's law from the displacement ΔL of the elastic body detected by the first displacement detection unit 111c. The first force detection unit 111b controls the first drive unit 111a so that the calculated magnitude of the reaction force corresponds to the force sense information acquired from the robot hand.

[0081] Furthermore, the arrangement and configuration of the elastic body connected to the second driving unit 121a and the connecting unit 104, like the elastic body connected to the first driving unit 111a and the contact unit 102, are not limited and can be arbitrary.

[0082] Specifically, in one embodiment, the elastic body connected to the second driving unit 121a and the connecting unit 104 (or the first rotating unit 110) may be arranged around the second axis (around the Z-axis) so as to expand or contract in response to the second driving unit 121a rotating the contact unit 102 in a fourth direction D4 (the direction opposite to the direction in which the contact unit rotates when the finger is adduced). Alternatively, in another embodiment, the elastic body connected to the second driving unit 121a and the connecting unit 104 (or the first rotating unit 110) may be arranged around the second axis (around the Z-axis) so as to expand or contract in response to the second driving unit 121a rotating the contact unit 102 in a third direction D3 (the direction opposite to the direction in which the contact unit rotates when the finger is abducted).

[0083] (Specific configuration of the elastic body in the reaction force generating mechanism) The reaction force generating mechanism will hereinafter also be referred to as a haptic mechanism.

[0084] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a specific configuration of the haptic mechanism shown in Figure 4, where Figure 5(a) shows the structure of the first rotating part 110 incorporating the haptic mechanism, Figure 5(b) shows the inoperative state of the haptic mechanism, and Figure 5(c) shows the operative state of the haptic mechanism.

[0085] 5A, in the first rotating unit 110 including the haptics mechanism shown in Fig. 5, a rotating shaft 11a of a first driving unit 111a is disposed within a movable unit (movable housing) 10a of the first rotating unit 110, and two elastic members (a first elastic member 112a and a second elastic member 112b) are disposed in series around the rotating shaft 11a between the movable housing 10a and the rotating shaft 11a. Note that a housing-side fixing portion 10b for fixing these elastic members 112a and 112b is formed on the inner surface of the movable housing 10a, and a shaft-side fixing portion 11b for fixing these elastic members 112a and 112b is formed on the rotating shaft 11a.

[0086] When the rotating shaft 11a rotates relative to the housing 10a from its reference position (the position where no reaction force is generated as shown in FIG. 5(b)), one of the two elastic members 112a and 112b expands and the other contracts depending on the direction of rotation, so that the torque caused by the rotation of the rotating shaft 11a acts as a reaction force on the contact portion 102.

[0087] For example, as shown in FIG. 5(c), when the rotating shaft portion 11a rotates clockwise from the rotational position of the rotating shaft portion 11a relative to the housing 10a shown in FIG. 5(a), the first elastic member 112a is stretched by being pulled by the housing side fixed portion 10b and the shaft side fixed portion 11b, and the second elastic member 112b is contracted by being compressed by the housing side fixed portion 10b and the shaft side fixed portion 11b.

[0088] In this way, the elastic body 112 (see Figure 4) connected to the first driving unit 111a and the contact unit 102 may, for example, comprise a first elastic member 112a and a second elastic member 112b, and the first elastic member 112a and the second elastic member 112b may be arranged around a first axis so that the first elastic member 112a expands (or contracts) and the second elastic member 112b contracts (or expands) in response to the first driving unit 111a driving the contact unit 102 to rotate in the second direction D2 (or in the first direction D1).

[0089] In addition, an elastic body is connected to a rotation shaft portion (not shown) of second drive portion 121a and a movable housing (not shown) in second rotating portion 120. Note that here, the movable housing is a portion of second rotating portion 120 that rotates together with connecting portion 104 (a portion that connects second rotating portion 120 and first rotating portion 110), and the elastic body includes a first elastic member and a second elastic member.

[0090] Even in the second rotating portion 120 having such a configuration, the first elastic member and the second elastic member may be arranged around the second axis so that one of the first elastic member and the second elastic member expands and the other contracts in response to the second driving portion 121a driving the contact portion 102 (more directly, the connecting portion 104 between the second rotating portion 120 and the first rotating portion 110) to rotate in the fourth direction D4 (or in the third direction D3).

[0091] (Alternative examples of specific configurations of haptic functions) Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing alternative examples of the specific configuration of the haptic function shown in Figure 5, where Figure 6(a) shows one alternative example using a ball plunger 112d and a compression spring 112c, and Figure 6(b) shows another alternative example using a torsion spring 112e.

[0092] In a first rotating unit 1101 including a haptics mechanism shown in FIG. 6(a), a rotating shaft 11a of a first driving unit 111a is disposed within a movable housing 10a1 of the first rotating unit 1101, and two elastic members (a compression spring 112c and a spring ball plunger 112d) are disposed in series around the rotating shaft 11a between the movable housing 10a1 and the rotating shaft 11a. A movable inter-spring piece is disposed between one end of the compression spring 112c and one end of the spring ball plunger 112d, the other end of the compression spring 112c is fixed to the housing 10c by a spring fixture, and the other end of the spring ball plunger 112d abuts against the rotating shaft 11a. Here, the spring ball plunger 112d is a softer spring than the compression spring 112c.

[0093] In such a first rotating part 1101, when the rotating shaft part 11a rotates relative to the movable housing 10a1 from the reference position of the rotating shaft part 11a relative to the movable housing 10a1 (i.e., a position where no reaction force is generated), a reaction force is generated by the two elastic members, and in this case, the action of the soft spring ball plunger 112d can improve the resolution in the low load range of the reaction force.

[0094] 6(b), the first rotating unit 1102 including the haptics mechanism has a rotating shaft 11a of a first driving unit 111a disposed within a movable housing 10a2 of the first rotating unit 1102, and a torsion spring 112e disposed between the movable housing 10a2 and the rotating shaft 11a. One end of the torsion spring 112e is fixed to the movable housing 10a2 by a spring fixture, and the other end of the torsion spring 112e is connected to the rotating shaft 11a.

[0095] In such a first rotation part 1102, when the rotation shaft part 11a rotates relative to the movable housing 10a2 from the reference position of the rotation shaft part 11a relative to the movable housing 10a2 (i.e., a position where no reaction force is generated), the torsion spring 112e generates a reaction force due to the rotation. In this case, since the torsion spring 112e is optimized for rotational operation, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems such as spring buckling.

[0096] (Rotation stop mechanism for contact part) 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams for explaining the rotation stopping mechanism 113 of the contact portion in the input unit 100 of the present invention, where FIG. 7A shows the rotation stopping mechanism in an inoperative state, and FIG. 7B shows the rotation stopping mechanism in an operative state.

[0097] (Rotation stop mechanism) The input unit 10 may further include another haptic function, a function for conveying to the operator the sensation (hard reaction force) of when the robot hand grasps a hard object. Specifically, this function can be realized by a rotation stop mechanism 113 that stops the rotation of the contact portion 102. Here, the specific configuration of the rotation stop mechanism 113 is not limited and can be any configuration. In one embodiment, the input unit 100 includes the rotation stop mechanism 113 that stops the rotation of the contact portion 102, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7.

[0098] 7, the rotation stopping mechanism 113 may include a rigid rotation member 113a configured to be rotated around a first axis together with the contact portion 102 by a first drive portion 111a, and a rigid stationary member 113b configured to prevent the rigid rotation member 113a from rotating through an angle equal to or greater than a threshold value, and may be configured such that when the rigid rotation member 113a rotates through an angle equal to or greater than the threshold value, the rigid stationary member 113b collides with the rigid rotation member 113a, thereby stopping the contact portion 102. The angle equal to or greater than the threshold value is, for example, an angle in the range of approximately 5 degrees to approximately 25 degrees, and more specifically, approximately 15 degrees.

[0099] Here, the rigid rotating member 113a is, for example, a member fixed to the rotating shaft portion 11a of the first driving portion 111a so as to rotate together with the rotation of the contact portion 102 around the first axis, and has a movable main body portion 13a and a locking piece 13b formed on the outer periphery of the movable main body portion 13a.

[0100] The rigid stationary member 113b also has, for example, a stationary main body portion 13c that does not rotate even when the rotating shaft portion 11a of the first driving portion 111a rotates, and an abutment piece 13d formed on a part of the stationary main body portion 13c so as to be able to abut against the locking piece 13b of the movable main body portion 13a.

[0101] In this rotation stopping mechanism 113, when the rigid rotating member 113a attempts to rotate by more than a predetermined angle (see Figure 7(b)) from a reference position (see Figure 7(a)) relative to the rigid stationary member 113b, the locking piece 13b of the rigid rotating member 113a abuts against the abutting piece 13d of the rigid stationary member 113b, thereby stopping the rotation of the rigid rotating member 113a and generating a hard reaction force against the contact portion 102.

[0102] In addition, the rotation stop mechanism 113 may be provided with a rigid rotating member and a corresponding rigid stationary member configured to be rotated around a second axis by a second driving unit 121a, instead of or in addition to the rigid rotating member 113a and the corresponding rigid stationary member 113b configured to be rotated around a first axis by the first driving unit 111a.

[0103] The rotation stopping mechanism 113 shown in FIG. 7 is configured so that when the rigid rotating member 113a rotates by an angle equal to or greater than a threshold, the rigid stationary member 113b collides with the rigid rotating member 113a, thereby generating a hard reaction force at the contact portion 102. However, the rotation stopping mechanism 113 shown in FIG. 7 may also be configured so that when the rigid rotating member 113a rotates by an angle equal to or greater than a threshold, frictional resistance is generated between the rigid stationary member 113b and the rigid rotating member 113a, thereby generating a hard reaction force at the contact portion 102.

[0104] As described above, the input unit of the present invention has a base 101, a contact portion 102 that comes into contact with the operator's finger 1, and a detection portion 103 that detects the amount of rotation of the contact portion 102 relative to the base 101. The detection portion 103 detects the amount of rotation of the contact portion 102 relative to the base 101 in accordance with the flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction of the finger 1, and at the same time detects the position of the fingertip of the finger 1 on the contact portion 102. However, other configurations are not particularly limited, and an example of a specific configuration of the input unit of the present invention will be described below using the input unit 100a of embodiment 1.

[0105] (Embodiment 1) 8A and 8B are schematic diagrams for explaining the input unit 100a according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 8A is a perspective view and FIG. 8B shows the cross-sectional structure of the R-plane of the contact portion shown in FIG. 8A.

[0106] This input unit 100a detects information for operating the index finger of a robot hand 1200 (see FIG. 18) from the movement of the operator's index finger 1a. As shown in FIG. 8(a), this input unit 100a includes a base 101 that serves as the base for each part, a contact part 102 that is rotatable relative to the base 101, and a detection part 103 that detects the amount of rotation of the contact part 102 relative to the base 101. The configuration of each part of the input unit 100a will be described in detail below, but the above-mentioned three-dimensional coordinates will be used in describing the movement of the contact part 102, etc.

[0107] (Base 101) Here, the base 101 is a base portion on which the input unit 100a is placed, and a reference direction B is set on the base 101 as shown in FIG. 8(a). When an operator places his / her index finger 1a on the contact portion 102 of the input unit 100a to use the input unit 100a, the reference direction B of the base 101 coincides with the width direction of the operator's palm (i.e., the direction in which the four fingers other than the thumb are aligned). While the input unit 100a is being used, that is, while the index finger 1a is being placed on the contact portion 102 to use the input unit 100a, the reference direction B and the width direction of the operator's palm are maintained in a state of being coincident with each other, and further, the surface of the base 101 is maintained in a state parallel to the surface on which the input unit 100a is placed. Here, the reference direction B is a direction parallel to the width direction of the palm in the initial position. As described above, the initial posture is a state in which the operator's finger 1 is placed on the contact portion 102, and even when the finger is in contact with the contact portion 102, the finger extends straight from the palm, so that the contact portion 102 is maintained in a posture parallel to the surface of the base 101.

[0108] (contact portion 102) In this input unit 100a, the contact portion 102 is provided with respect to the base portion 101 so as to be rotatable about a first axis (around an axis along the width direction of the contact portion 102) and a second axis (around an axis along the normal direction of the palm in the initial posture) as shown in FIG.

[0109] The contact portion 102 is the portion that comes into contact with the tip of the operator's index finger 1a, and is structured such that a linear groove 102a is formed along the longitudinal direction of the top surface of an elongated plate member (the surface on the upper side of the paper in FIG. 8(a)). In the contact portion 102 having such a structure, when the operator places the index finger 1a on the top surface of the contact portion 102, the tip of the index finger 1a fits into the linear groove 102a, and the contact portion 102 rotates in a first direction D1 in response to the bending motion of the index finger 1a, and the tip of the index finger 1a slides within the linear groove 102a as shown by the arrow M1 (see FIG. 9(b)). Furthermore, when the tip of the index finger 1a is fitted into the linear groove 102a, the contact portion 102 rotates in the second direction D3 in response to the inward / outward movement (e.g., adduction) of the index finger 1a, and the tip of the index finger 1a slides within the linear groove 102a (see Figure 10(b)).

[0110] Furthermore, a position detection unit 103a is attached to the distal end (tip) of the contact unit 102. This position detection unit 103a is a sensor that detects the distance d from the position detection unit 103a to the tip position Pf of the index finger 1a. A non-contact sensor that does not interfere with the force feedback is preferably used, for example, an infrared TOF (Time of Flight) sensor. However, the position detection unit 103a may be a position sensor other than an infrared TOF (Time of Flight) sensor. Furthermore, in some cases, the position detection unit 103a may be a contact type sensor instead of a non-contact type sensor. Here, the position sensor used in the position detection unit is not limited to an infrared TOF but may be another optical sensor, or a capacitance sensor may be used instead of an optical sensor. For example, a plurality of optical sensors or capacitance sensors may be arranged on the contact unit 102 along its longitudinal direction.

[0111] 9, the input unit 100a has a configuration in which the contact portion 102 is rotatable about a first axis (an axis along the width direction of the contact portion 102) and about a second axis (an axis along the normal direction of the palm) relative to the base portion 101. This configuration is essentially realized by the input unit 100a having a first rotation portion (first actuator) 110 that supports the contact portion 102 rotatably about the first axis relative to the base portion 101, and a second rotation portion (second actuator) 120 that supports the contact portion 102 rotatably about the second axis relative to the base portion 101. This will be described in detail below.

[0112] (First rotating portion (first actuator) 110) Here, the first actuator 110 has a first movable part 10a that rotates around a first rotation axis parallel to the surface of the base part 101, and a first drive part 111a that rotates the first movable part 10a. Here, the first axis is an axis along the width direction of the operator's palm in an initial position where the index finger 1a is placed on the contact part 102 so as to use this input unit 100a.

[0113] A rotating shaft portion of a first driving portion 111a is attached to the first movable portion 10a, the first movable portion 10a is rotatable around a first axis as a central axis, and one end (proximal end) of the contact portion 102 is fixed to the first movable portion 10a. In other words, the rotating shaft portion 11a of the driving portion 111a of the first rotating portion 110 coincides with the first axis, and the first rotating portion 110 rotates the contact portion 102 around the first axis.

[0114] Here, the first driving unit 111a is a driving source for generating a reaction force in the contact portion 102, and the rotating shaft portion 11a of the first driving unit 111a is connected to the first movable portion 10a via an elastic member 112, as shown in Figure 4, and the driving force of the first driving unit 111a is transmitted to the first movable portion 10a via the elastic member 112, so that a reaction force in the bending and stretching directions (first and second directions D1 and D2) is generated in the contact portion 102 connected to the first rotating portion 110.

[0115] In addition, a first rotation amount detection unit 131 and a first force detection unit 111b are incorporated into the first movable unit 10a.

[0116] The first rotation amount detection unit 131 detects the angle α by which the contact portion 102 rotates around a first axis (an axis parallel to the X-axis in the initial position) as the rotation amount of the contact portion 102 when the operator bends the index finger 1a (see FIG. 9(b)) from the initial position (FIG. 9(a)) in which the index finger 1a is extended. Here, a magnetic encoder is used, but an optical encoder may also be used.

[0117] The first force detection unit 111b has a configuration including an elastic member 112 as shown in FIG. 4, and here, the elastic member includes a first elastic member 112a and a second elastic member 112b as shown in FIG. 5.

[0118] The input unit 100a has such a first force detection section 111b, and thus is capable of feedback control of the reaction force generated when the index finger 1a of the operator bends and stretches.

[0119] (Rotation stop mechanism 113) Furthermore, the input unit 100a is equipped with the above-mentioned rotation stop mechanism 113, and is configured so that when the rotation of the contact part 102 around the first axis due to the finger movement at the first rotation part 110 reaches a certain amount, the rotation stop mechanism 113 stops the rotation of the contact part 102 due to the finger movement, thereby generating a hard reaction force on the contact part 102 (the feeling when a robot hand grasps something hard).

[0120] (Second rotating portion (second actuator) 120) The second rotation unit 120 has a second movable unit 20a that supports the contact unit 102 so as to be rotatable around a second axis, and a second drive unit 121a that drives the movable unit 20a. Here, the second axis is an axis along the normal direction of the palm of the operator in the initial position, that is, with the index finger 1a placed on the contact unit 102 so as to use the input unit 100a.

[0121] A rotation shaft portion of a second driving portion 121a is attached to the second movable portion 20a, so that the second movable portion 20a can rotate around the second axis as a central axis, and the first rotating portion 110 is supported by a connecting portion 140 fixed to the second movable portion 20a. In other words, the center of the rotation shaft portion of the driving portion 121a of the second rotating portion 120 coincides with the second axis, and the second rotating portion 120 rotates the contact portion 102 around the second axis.

[0122] Here, the second drive unit 121a is a drive source for generating a reaction force in the contact unit 102, and the rotation axis portion of the second drive unit 121a is connected to the second movable unit 20a via an elastic member 112 (see Figure 4).The drive force of the second drive unit 121a is transmitted to the second movable unit 20a via the elastic member 112, so that a reaction force in the abduction and abduction directions is generated in the contact unit 102 connected to the second rotating unit 120 via the first rotating unit 110.

[0123] Additionally, a second rotation amount detection unit 132 and a second force detection unit 121b are incorporated into the second movable unit 20a.

[0124] The second rotation amount detection unit 132 detects the angle β by which the contact portion 102 rotates around the second axis when the operator adducts the index finger 1a (see FIG. 10(b)) from the initial position (FIG. 10(a)) in which the index finger 1a is extended, as the second rotation amount of the contact portion 102. Here, a magnetic encoder is used, but an optical encoder may also be used.

[0125] Here, the second force detection unit 121b has a configuration including an elastic member 112 as shown in FIG. 4, and the elastic member includes a first elastic member 112a and a second elastic member 112b as shown in FIG.

[0126] The input unit 100a has such a second force detection unit 121b, and thus is capable of feedback control of the reaction force generated when the index finger 1a of the operator makes an abduction / abduction movement.

[0127] Next, the operation of the input unit 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 8 will be described.

[0128] First, the operation of detecting the bending motion of the index finger 1a will be described.

[0129] 9A and 9B are diagrams for explaining the movement of the contact portion 102 in response to the bending motion of the operator's finger in the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 8, where FIG. 9A shows the state in which the finger 1 is extended (initial posture), and FIG. 9B shows the state in which the finger 1 is bent (operating state).

[0130] In an initial position where the operator's finger (specifically, index finger) 1 is extended, even if the operator's finger 1 is placed on the contact portion 102, the contact portion 102 does not rotate downward by the finger 1, and therefore the contact portion 102 is held horizontally on the surface of the base 101. In this state, a downward force due to its own weight acts on the contact portion 102, so the first drive unit 111a generates torque in the first direction D1 so that the contact portion 102 is held in a horizontal reference position (a position in which the longitudinal axis La is parallel to the surface of the base 101). The contact portion 102 may be held in the horizontal reference position (a position parallel to the surface of the base 101) by a biasing force of a spring rather than by a torque generated by the first drive unit 111a.

[0131] 9(b), when the operator bends the finger 1, the fingertip of the finger 1 presses downward against the contact portion 102, causing the contact portion 102 to rotate in the first direction D1 around the first axis. As a result, the longitudinal axis La of the contact portion 102 in the initial position becomes the longitudinal axis La1 after the bending operation, which is inclined relative to the horizontal. Furthermore, the operator's finger 1 moves in the direction of the arrow M1 on the contact portion 102.

[0132] At this time, the first rotation amount detection unit (magnetic encoder) 131 detects the rotation angle α (the angle between the longitudinal axis La and the longitudinal axis La1) of the contact unit 102 rotated from the reference posture (the posture of the initial posture) as the first rotation amount, and further, the position detection unit 103a detects the distance d from the position detection unit 103a to the position Pf of the fingertip of the operator's finger 1 as the position Pf of the finger 1. The detection unit 103 calculates angles K1 to K3 (see FIG. 2) of each joint of the finger 1 based on the distance d and the rotation angle α based on inverse kinematics. Note that the angle information of each joint of the finger 1 calculated in this manner is transmitted from the input unit 100a to the robot hand 1200 (see FIG. 18) as movement information of the operator's finger 1.

[0133] When the robot hand 1200 is not grasping anything, no information for force feedback is provided from the robot hand 1200 to the input unit 100a, and the first drive unit 111a does not generate torque for generating a reaction force. Therefore, no reaction force is applied to the operator's finger 1 from the contact unit 102, and the contact unit 102 rotates downward (in the first direction D1) in accordance with the bending of the operator's finger 1.

[0134] On the other hand, when the robot hand grasps an object by rotating the contact portion 102, force sense information is transmitted from the robot hand to the input unit 100a.

[0135] When the input unit 100a receives the haptic information, the first driver 111a drives the first movable part 10a to generate a reaction force that rotates the contact part 102 in the second direction D2. At this time, as described in FIG. 4, in the first force detector 111b, the first displacement detector 111c detects the displacement ΔL of the elastic member 112 based on the rotation amount of the servo motor serving as the first driver 111a, and calculates the magnitude of the reaction force generated at the contact part 102 from the displacement ΔL in accordance with Hooke's law. The first displacement detector 111c feedback-controls the first driver 111a so that the calculated magnitude of the reaction force matches the magnitude of the reaction force indicated by the received haptic information. The reaction force may be adjusted by calculating it as a torque depending on the position of the finger on the contact part 102.

[0136] As a result, with the input unit 100a, the operator can clearly feel the reaction force generated at the contact portion 102 when the robot hand grasps an object.

[0137] Then, when the contact part 102 further rotates by a certain amount due to the bending motion of the finger 1, the rigid stationary member 113b collides with the rigid rotating member 113a, thereby stopping the contact part 102. This gives the operator the feeling that the robot hand has grasped something hard.

[0138] Next, the operation of detecting the adduction movement of the finger 1 will be described.

[0139] 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining the movement of the contact unit 102 in response to an adduction motion of the operator's finger in the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 8. Fig. 10A shows an initial posture in which the finger 1 is parallel to the palm and extends straight from the palm (i.e., parallel to the Y-axis), and Fig. 10B shows a state in which the finger 1 has been adduced by a predetermined angle β from the initial posture. In the figure, La indicates the longitudinal axis of the contact unit 102 in the initial posture, and La2 indicates the longitudinal axis of the contact unit 102 after the adduction motion. Furthermore, La' is a line parallel to the longitudinal axis La and passing through the second axis, and La2' is a line parallel to the longitudinal axis La' and passing through the second axis.

[0140] In the initial posture (FIG. 10(a)) in which the operator's finger 1 is extended, even if the operator's finger 1 is placed on the contact portion 102, the contact portion 102 is not pushed by the finger 1 and swings left and right, so the finger 1 is held in the direction protruding from the palm (in the direction parallel to the Y axis).

[0141] In this state, when the operator adducts finger 1 as shown in FIG. 10(b), the tip of finger 1 presses contact portion 102 in the adducted direction, and contact portion 102 moves in third direction D3 around the second axis.

[0142] At this time, in the detection unit 103, the second rotation amount detection unit (magnetic encoder) 132 detects the rotation angle β (the angle between the line La' and the line La2') of the contact unit 102 rotated in the adduction direction from the initial posture as the second rotation amount. Information on the adduction angle of the finger 1 detected in this way is transmitted to the robot hand 1200 (see FIG. 18) as movement information of the operator's finger 1.

[0143] When the robot hand 1200 is not grasping anything, the robot hand 1200 does not provide information for force feedback to the input unit 100a, and the second drive unit 121a does not generate torque for generating a reaction force. Therefore, no reaction force is applied to the operator's finger 1 from the contact unit 102, and the contact unit 102 rotates in the adduction direction (third direction D3) in accordance with the adduction of the operator's finger 1, as shown in FIG. 10(b).

[0144] When the robot hand grasps an object by rotating the contact portion 102 in the adduction direction in this way, force sense information in the adduction is transmitted from the robot hand to the input unit 100a.

[0145] When the input unit 100a receives force sense information for adduction, the second driver 121a drives the second movable part 20a to generate a reaction force that rotates the contact part 102 in the D4 direction. At this time, in the second force detector 121b, similar to the first force detector 111b described above, a second displacement detector (not shown) detects a displacement ΔL of the elastic member based on the amount of rotation of the servo motor serving as the second driver 121a, and calculates the magnitude of the reaction force in the fourth direction D4 generated at the contact part 102 from this displacement ΔL in accordance with Hooke's law. The second displacement detector (not shown) feedback-controls the second driver 121a so that the magnitude of the calculated reaction force matches the magnitude of the reaction force indicated by the received force sense information.

[0146] As a result, with the input unit 100a, the operator can clearly feel the sensation of the robot hand grasping an object by the adduction of the fingers 1 as a reaction force of the adduction movement generated at the contact portion 102.

[0147] Then, when the contact portion 102 rotates further by a certain amount due to the adduction movement of the finger 1, the rigid stationary member (not shown) included in the second rotating portion 120 collides with the rigid rotating member (not shown), as in the case of the bending movement of the finger 1, and a hard reaction force (the feeling of the robot hand grasping something hard) is generated in the contact portion 102 during the adduction movement.

[0148] The input unit 100 of embodiment 1 has a mechanism for rotating the contact portion 102 around the first axis and the second axis, which includes a first rotating portion 110 that rotates the contact portion 102 around the first axis relative to the base portion 101, and a second rotating portion 120 that rotates the contact portion 102 around the second axis relative to the base portion 101. However, instead of these two rotating portions, a single rotating portion that can rotate the contact portion 102 around both the first axis and the second axis may be used.

[0149] FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an alternative configuration example of the rotation part in the input unit 100 of embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 8, where FIG. 10A(a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 10A(b) and FIG. 10A(c) are plan views showing the structure of the operating state of the drive part shown in FIG. 10A(a) as viewed from the X1 direction and the Z1 direction, respectively.

[0150] 8, input unit 100b includes a single rotating part (actuator) 50 that supports contact part 102 rotatably about both a first axis and a second axis relative to base part 101. Here, the first axis is an axis parallel to the width direction of contact part 102 of input unit 100b, and the second axis is an axis parallel to the normal direction of the surface of contact part 102 of input unit 100b.

[0151] Note that this input unit 100b also uses a three-dimensional coordinate system including the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis to clarify the direction of the axis (rotation axis) when the contact portion 102 rotates. In the initial position, the first axis is parallel to the X-axis (the axis that is parallel to the width direction of the palm when the index finger 1 is placed on the contact portion 102), the second axis is parallel to the Z-axis (the axis that is parallel to the normal direction of the palm when the index finger 1 is placed on the contact portion 102), and the longitudinal axis of the contact portion 102 is parallel to the Y-axis.

[0152] The rotating unit 50 includes a base block 51, a first slide block 52a and a second slide block 52b attached to both sides of the base block 51 so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction, and a support body 56 that supports the contact unit 102. The support body 56 is connected to the tip of the base block 51 via a universal joint 55, and the first and second slide blocks 52a and 52b are connected to the support body 56 via first and second connecting rods 56a and 56b. The connections between the support body 56 and the first and second connecting rods 56a and 56b, and between the first and second connecting rods 56a and 56b and the first and second slide blocks 52a and 52b, are such that the position of the connecting rods relative to the support body 56 and the position of the connecting rods relative to the slide blocks can be changed. Furthermore, the connection positions of the first connecting rod 56a, the second connecting rod 56b, and the universal joint 55 on the support 56 are preferably, but not limited to, the vertices of an isosceles triangle with the connection position with the universal joint 55 as the vertex. However, if the connection position between the universal joint 55 and the support 56 is the same in the Z direction as the connection positions of the connecting rods 56a and 56b and the support 56, rotation of the contact portion 102 about the X axis becomes impossible, and this should be avoided. Furthermore, in relation to the positional relationship between the two connecting rods 56a and 56b, the moment the connecting rods 56a and 56b become parallel, that is, the moment the force acting on the support 56 from the connecting rod 56a and the force acting on the support 56 from the connecting rod 56b balances, the force holding rotation about the Z axis (the force maintaining rotation of the contact portion 102 about the Z axis) decreases, and this situation should be avoided as much as possible.

[0153] In addition, this rotating part 50 has a first ball screw 54a that screws into the first slide block 52a, a second ball screw 54b that screws into the second slide block 52b, a first motor 53a that rotates the first ball screw 54a, a second motor 53b that rotates the second ball screw 54b, and a support member 57 attached to the other end (proximal end) of the base block 51.

[0154] Here, the first and second motors 53a and 53b are attached to the base block 51 so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction, and are connected to a support member 57 via corresponding biasing springs 58a and 58b.

[0155] In addition, the rotating portion 50 is configured such that, in the initial position, the two slide blocks 52a and 52b are located at the same reference position in the Y-axis direction relative to the base block 51.

[0156] Furthermore, this input unit 100b has a slide amount detection section (not shown) that detects the amount of slide of the two slide blocks 52a, 52b from a reference position in the Y-axis direction, instead of the first and second rotation amount detection sections in the input unit 100. This slide amount detection section may be built into the rotation section 50, or may be provided outside the rotation section 50. Furthermore, an optical or mechanical distance sensor can be used as the slide amount detection section.

[0157] In the rotation unit 50 configured as described above, when the support body 56 rotates around the first axis with the universal joint as a fulcrum due to the movement of the contact unit 102 around the first axis in response to the bending motion of the operator's finger in the initial posture, the two slide blocks 52a and 52b slide simultaneously in the same direction. The amount of rotation of the contact unit 102 around the first axis can be detected by detecting the amount of sliding of these two slide blocks with the slide amount detection unit. Furthermore, the position detection unit 103a can detect the position of the finger 1 on the contact unit 102, similar to the input unit 100a shown in FIG. 8. Therefore, from these detection results, the angle at each joint of the finger 1 can be calculated, similar to the input unit 100a shown in FIG. 8.

[0158] 10A(b), by simultaneously pushing the first and second slide blocks 52a and 52b forward by driving the first and second motors 53a and 53b, a reaction force in a second direction D2, which is the opposite direction to the bending direction D1, can be generated in the contact portion 102. In this case, in this input unit 100b, as with the first force detection unit 111b of the input unit 100a, the magnitude of the reaction force is detected and feedback control is performed based on force sense information from the robot hand, so that the generated reaction force can be adjusted to a magnitude corresponding to the force sense information.

[0159] Furthermore, in the rotating unit 50, when the support 56 rotates about the second axis with the universal joint 55 as a fulcrum due to the movement of the contact unit 102 about the second axis in association with the adduction of the operator's finger, the first slide block 52a slides away from the fingertip, and the second slide block 52b slides toward the fingertip. The amount of rotation of the contact unit 102 about the second axis can be detected by detecting the amount of sliding of the two slide blocks with the slide amount detection unit. From this detection result, the adduction angle can be calculated in the same way as with the input unit 100a shown in FIG. 8.

[0160] In this case, by driving the first and second motors 53a and 53b to push the first slide block 52a forward and pull the second slide block 52b backward, a reaction force in the fourth direction D4 can be generated at the contact portion 102, as shown in Figure 10A(c).

[0161] In this case, in this input unit 100b, as in the second force detection unit 121b of the input unit 100a, the magnitude of the reaction force is detected and feedback control is performed based on the force sense information from the robot hand, making it possible to adjust the magnitude of the generated reaction force to correspond to the force sense information.

[0162] The input unit 100 of the present invention described above is intended for fingers other than the thumb, and when applied to the thumb, it is preferable that the input unit 100 has a configuration suitable for the movement of the thumb in addition to the configuration of the input unit 100 shown in Figure 1 in order to detect the unique movement of the thumb 2.

[0163] This is because, unlike other fingers, the thumb typically applies force in a direction that lifts the contact part 102 when grasping an object, and in addition to flexion and extension and abduction and abduction, the thumb can also rotate around an axis along the direction in which the thumb extends (twisting of the finger).

[0164] [2] The thumb input unit 200 will be explained.

[0165] Therefore, the following describes the thumb input unit 200 as an input unit of the present invention. In this description, the three-dimensional coordinate system used in the description of the input unit in FIG. 1 is used to clarify the axial direction when the contact portion 202 rotates.

[0166] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of a thumb input unit 200 corresponding to a thumb 2 as the basic configuration of the input unit of the present invention, in which FIG. 11(a) shows the state in which the thumb 2 is placed on the thumb input unit 200, and FIG. 11(b) shows the rotation directions D1 to D6 of the contact portion 202 in accordance with the movement of the thumb 2.

[0167] As shown in Figures 11(a) and (b), this thumb input unit 200 has a thumb contact part 202 that is suitable for thumb movement instead of the contact part 102 in the input unit 100 shown in Figure 1, and further has a third rotation part 230 in addition to the first rotation part 110 and the second rotation part 120 in the input unit 100, and has a detection part 203 instead of the detection part 103 in the input unit 100.

[0168] (Third rotating part) Here, the third rotation unit 230 is an actuator that enables rotation of the thumb contact unit 202 about a third axis corresponding to the twisting motion of the thumb. Here, the third axis is an axis (longitudinal axis La) parallel to the extension direction of the thumb contact unit 202. This third axis is an axis parallel to the Y axis of the three-dimensional coordinate system described in FIG. 1 in the initial posture. Note that the X and Z axes of this three-dimensional coordinate system are as defined in the description of FIG. 1. Here, when the thumb contact unit 202 transitions from the initial posture to a motion state in which it has rotated about the first axis (flexion / extension state), the third axis becomes an axis inclined in the YZ plane with respect to the Y axis. When the thumb contact unit 202 transitions from the initial posture to a motion state in which it has rotated about the second axis (abduction / alversion state), the third axis becomes an axis inclined in the XY plane with respect to the Y axis.

[0169] That is, the rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 accompanying the twisting motion of the thumb from the initial position is performed around the Y axis because the third axis is parallel to the Y axis in the initial position.

[0170] On the other hand, when the thumb contact portion 202 rotates around the first axis as the thumb flexes and straightens from the initial position, and then rotates around the third axis as the thumb twists, the third axis is not parallel to the Y axis in this state, so the thumb contact portion does not rotate around the Y axis, but around the third axis that is inclined with respect to the Y axis in the YZ plane. When the thumb contact portion 202 rotates around the second axis as the thumb abducts and abducts from the initial position, and then rotates around the third axis as the thumb twists, the thumb contact portion does not rotate around the Y axis, but around the third axis that is inclined with respect to the Y axis in the XY plane, because the third axis is not parallel to the Y axis in this state.

[0171] In the thumb input unit 200, the first rotating part 110 and the second rotating part 120 are connected by a connecting part 104, and the second rotating part 220 and the third rotating part 230 are connected by another connecting part 205. However, the configuration for connecting adjacent rotating parts is not limited, and the first rotating part 110 and the second rotating part 120 may be directly connected, and the second rotating part 120 and the third rotating part 230 may be directly connected.

[0172] With this configuration, the thumb contact portion 202 is configured to rotate relative to the base 101 around a first axis (around an axis parallel to the width direction of the thumb contact portion 202), a second axis (around an axis parallel to the normal to the surface of the base of the thumb contact portion 202), and a third axis (around the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202) in response to the flexion and extension, abduction and twisting movements of the thumb 2.

[0173] Here, it is assumed that thumb 2 is the thumb of the right hand.

[0174] (Detection unit) The detection unit 203 is configured to detect the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 around the first axis, the amount of rotation of the contact portion 202 around the second axis, the amount of rotation of the contact portion 202 around the third axis, and the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 on the contact portion main body 202a of the thumb contact portion 202.

[0175] That is, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the detection unit 203 essentially includes a position detection unit 103a that detects the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 on the contact unit 202, a first rotation amount detection unit 131 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact unit 202 around a first axis (around an axis parallel to the width direction of the thumb contact unit 202), a second rotation amount detection unit 132 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact unit 202 around a second axis (an axis parallel to the normal to the surface of the base 101), and a third rotation amount detection unit 233 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact unit 202 around a third axis (around the longitudinal axis of the thumb contact unit 202). Here, the third rotation amount detection unit 233, like the first rotation amount detection unit 131 and the second rotation amount detection unit 132, may be incorporated within the third rotation unit 230, or may be provided outside the third rotation unit 230.

[0176] (Thumb contact part 202) As shown in FIG. 11(a), the thumb contact portion 202 includes a contact main body 202a, a fingertip holding portion 202c configured to hold the fingertip of the thumb 2, and a movable body 202b coupled to the fingertip holding portion 202c, and is configured so that the movable body 202b can move along the direction in which the contact main body 202a extends (the direction of the longitudinal axis La) in accordance with the movement of the fingertip held by the fingertip holding portion 202c.

[0177] Here, the fingertip holding portion 202c is, for example, a thumb holder configured to hold the fingertip in a state where the fingertip is fitted into the thumb holder.

[0178] The movable body 202b is a slider slidably attached to the contact portion main body 202a, and the movable body 202b and the fingertip holding portion 202c are connected by a ball joint 202d (see FIG. 12(a)). Here, the movable body 202b and the fingertip holding portion 202c may be connected by a universal joint instead of the ball joint 202d.

[0179] In this way, in the thumb input unit 200, the movable body 202b can move on the contact portion main body 202a of the thumb contact portion 202 together with the thumb 2, and therefore the position detection section 203a may detect the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 by detecting the position of the movable body 202b moving on the contact portion main body 202a of the thumb contact portion 202. However, the position detection section 203a may also detect the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 by directly measuring it.

[0180] The input unit 200 of the present invention configured as described above can accurately detect the movement of the operator's thumb 2, including not only the flexion and extension and abduction / inversion movements of the thumb 2, but also the twisting movement of the thumb 2. The function of detecting such a movement of the thumb 2 will be described below.

[0181] Figures 12 to 14 are plan views showing the movement of the contact portion of the thumb input unit 200 shown in Figure 11, with Figure 12(a) showing the structure of the thumb input unit 200 in the state (initial position) shown in Figure 11(a) as seen from the X direction shown in Figure 11(b), and Figure 12(b) showing a state in which the thumb 2 has been rotated by a predetermined angle α1 in a first direction (bending direction) D1 from the initial position shown in Figure 12(a). In the figures, La indicates the longitudinal axis of the thumb contact portion 202 in the initial position, and La1 indicates the longitudinal axis of the thumb contact portion 202 after the thumb 2 has been bent.

[0182] In this thumb input unit 200, as shown in FIG. 12, when the thumb 2 is bent and the tip of the thumb 2 moves downward on the paper, the longitudinal axis La of the contact portion main body 202a of the contact portion 202 rotates from a state parallel to the Y axis to a state forming an angle α1 with respect to the Y axis, becoming the longitudinal axis La1.

[0183] Therefore, by detecting the angle α1 between the longitudinal axis La and the longitudinal axis La1 using the first rotation amount detection unit 131 and detecting the position Pf of the thumb 2 on the contact portion main body 202a using the position detection unit 203a as the distance d2 from the position detection unit 103a to the movable body 202b, the angles of the first joint and the second joint of the thumb 2 can be obtained from these detected values ​​based on inverse kinematics.

[0184] Fig. 13(a) shows the structure of the thumb input unit 200 in the state (initial posture) shown in Fig. 11(a) as viewed from the Z direction shown in Fig. 11(b), and Fig. 13(b) shows a state in which the thumb 2 has been rotated a predetermined angle β1 in a fourth direction (adduction direction) D4 from the initial posture shown in Fig. 13(a). In the figure, La indicates the longitudinal axis of the thumb contact portion 202 in the initial posture, and La2 indicates the longitudinal axis of the thumb contact portion 202 after the thumb 2 has been adduced. La' is a line parallel to the longitudinal axis La and passing through the second axis, and La2' is a line parallel to the longitudinal axis La2 and passing through the second axis.

[0185] In this thumb input unit 200, when the thumb 2 is adducted as shown in FIGS. 13(a) and 13(b), the second rotation amount detection unit 132 detects the angle β1 formed by the line La2' and the line La' as the angle formed by the longitudinal axis La of the contact portion main body 202a in the initial position and the longitudinal axis La2 of the contact portion main body 202a after adducted, thereby making it possible to detect the second rotation amount (rotation amount around the second axis) of the thumb contact portion 202.

[0186] Fig. 14(a) shows the structure of the thumb input unit 200 in the state (initial position) shown in Fig. 11(a) when viewed from the Y direction shown in Fig. 11(b), and Fig. 14(b) shows a state in which the thumb 2 has been rotated by a predetermined angle γ1 in a fifth direction (inward twisting direction) D5 from the initial position shown in Fig. 14(a). In the figure, Vd indicates the normal to the top surface of the contact main body 202a in the initial position, and Vd' indicates the normal to the top surface of the contact main body 202a after the twisting motion of the thumb 2.

[0187] In this thumb input unit 200, when the thumb 2 is twisted inward as shown in Figures 14(a) and (b), the third rotation amount detection unit 233 detects the angle γ1 formed by the normal Vd to the upper surface of the contact main body 202a in the initial position and the normal Vd' to the upper surface of the contact main body 202a after the thumb 2 has twisted, thereby making it possible to detect the third rotation amount of the thumb contact portion 202 (the rotation amount around the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202).

[0188] Therefore, the thumb input unit 200 of the present invention has a base 101, a thumb contact portion 202 that comes into contact with the operator's thumb, and a detection portion 203 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101, and as long as the detection portion 203 detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101 in accordance with the flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, and left and right twisting movements of the finger, and at the same time detects the position of the thumb's fingertip on the thumb contact portion, the other configurations are not particularly limited and can be arbitrary.

[0189] That is, by having such a configuration, the input unit of the present invention can estimate the posture of the thumb based on inverse kinematics from the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101 detected by the detection portion 203 and the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 on the thumb contact portion 202, and as a result, it is possible to detect the movement of a part including multiple joints, such as the operator's thumb, from the rotation information of this part and the position information of the operator's thumb.

[0190] In this case, it is not necessary to provide a configuration for detecting the flexion angle of each joint, and it is easy to add a configuration for additional functions such as haptics.

[0191] The thumb input unit 200 of the present invention will now be conceptually further explained.

[0192] FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating the basic components of an input unit 200 of the present invention.

[0193] It is preferable that the thumb input unit 200 further includes a drive unit that generates a reaction force in the thumb contact portion 202 against rotation around at least one of the first axis, the second axis, and the third axis.

[0194] That is, as shown in FIG. 15, the first rotating unit 110, the second rotating unit 120, and the third rotating unit 230 may each have a driving unit that generates a reaction force and a force detecting unit that controls the magnitude of the reaction force, or at least one of the three rotating units may have a driving unit that generates a reaction force and a force detecting unit that controls the magnitude of the reaction force.

[0195] Here, the drive unit that generates a reaction force in each of the first to third rotation units may have the same configuration as or a different configuration from that in the input unit 100 shown in Fig. 1 (first drive unit 111a or second drive unit 121a). Also, the force detection unit that controls the magnitude of the reaction force in each of the first to third rotation units may have the same configuration as or a different configuration from that in the input unit 100 shown in Fig. 1 (first force detection unit 111b or second force detection unit 121b).

[0196] (Rotation stop mechanism) The configuration of the thumb input unit 200 may further include one or more rotation stopping mechanisms having the same configuration as the rotation stopping mechanism 113 that stops the rotation of the contact portion in the input unit 100 as another haptic function, that is, a function for conveying to the operator the feeling (hard reaction force) when the robot hand grasps a hard object, as shown in Fig. 15. In this case, the one or more rotation stopping mechanisms include at least one of a mechanism that stops the rotation of the thumb contact portion about a first axis, a mechanism that stops the rotation of the thumb contact portion about a second axis, and a mechanism that stops the rotation of the thumb contact portion about a third axis.

[0197] The fingertip holding portion may be a thumb holder 202c configured to hold the tip of the thumb 2 in a fitted state, or may be a binding member such as Velcro (registered trademark) that holds the thumb 2.

[0198] Furthermore, the configuration of the fingertip holder is not limited to this, and other configurations may be used.

[0199] For example, the fingertip holding portion may include a cup-shaped housing into which the fingertip of the finger is fitted, and a balloon member provided within the cup-shaped housing, and the balloon member may be configured to expand within the cup-shaped housing.

[0200] As described above, the thumb input unit 200 of the present invention has a base 101, a thumb contact portion 202 that is held in contact with the operator's thumb 2, and a detection portion 203 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101. The detection portion 203 detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101 in accordance with the flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction of the thumb 2, as well as the left and right twisting of the thumb 2, and at the same time detects the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 on the thumb contact portion 202. Other configurations are not particularly limited, but in the following second embodiment, an example of a specific configuration of the thumb input unit 200 of the present invention will be described.

[0201] (Embodiment 2) FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram for explaining a thumb input unit 200a having a specific configuration as a second embodiment of the input unit of the present invention, where FIG. 16(a) is a perspective view and FIG. 16(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 16(a).

[0202] This thumb input unit 200a detects information for operating the thumb of the robot hand 1200 (see FIG. 18) from the movement of the operator's thumb 2. As shown in FIG. 16(a), this thumb input unit 200a includes a base 101, a thumb contact part 202 that comes into contact with the operator's thumb 2, and a detection part 203 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact part 202 relative to the base 101. The configuration of each part will be described in detail below, but the above-mentioned three-dimensional coordinates will be used in describing the movement of the thumb contact part 202, etc.

[0203] (Base 101) A reference direction B is set on the base 101 as shown in FIG. 16(a), and when an operator attaches the thumb input unit 200 to the contact portion 202 of the thumb input unit 200 with the thumb 2 extended in order to use the input unit, the reference direction B of the base 101 coincides with the width direction of the operator's palm (i.e., the direction in which the four fingers other than the thumb are lined up), and while the input unit 200 is being used, that is, while the thumb 2 is attached to the thumb contact portion 202 in order to use the input unit 200, the reference direction B and the width direction of the operator's palm are maintained in coincidence.

[0204] (Thumb contact part 202) 12 to 14, the thumb contact portion 202 is supported rotatably around three axes with respect to the base portion 201. In the following description, it is assumed that the thumb 2 is the thumb of the right hand.

[0205] That is, the thumb contact portion 202 is configured to rotate in a first direction D1 around a first axis (around an axis parallel to the width direction of the thumb contact portion 202) relative to the base 101 in response to a bending motion of the thumb 2, as shown in FIG. 12(a), rotate in a second direction D2 around the first axis relative to the base 101 in response to an extension motion of the thumb 2, rotate in a fourth direction D4 around a second axis (around an axis parallel to the normal direction of the surface of the thumb contact portion 202) relative to the base 101 in response to an adduction motion of the thumb 2, as shown in FIG. 13(a), and rotate in a third direction D3 around the second axis relative to the base 101 in response to an abduction motion of the thumb 2.

[0206] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, the thumb contact portion 202 is configured to rotate in a fifth direction D5 about a third axis (about the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202) relative to the base 101 in response to a twisting motion of the thumb 2 (a motion of twisting the thumb clockwise as seen by the operator), and to rotate in a sixth direction D6 about the third axis (about the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202) relative to the base 101 in response to a twisting motion of the thumb 2 in the opposite direction.

[0207] Furthermore, here, the thumb contact portion 202 that holds the thumb 2 has a different configuration from the contact portion 102 in the input unit 100 of the first embodiment that is intended for fingers other than the thumb 2.

[0208] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16(a), the thumb contact portion 202 comprises a contact portion main body 202a on which the thumb is placed, a fingertip holding portion 202c configured to hold the fingertip of the thumb 2, a movable body 202b attached so as to be slidable relative to the contact portion main body 202a, and a connecting member 202d connecting the movable body 202b and the fingertip holding portion 202c, and is configured so that the movable body 202b moves along the direction of the longitudinal axis La along which the contact portion main body 202a extends in accordance with the movement of the fingertip held by the fingertip holding portion 202c.

[0209] Here, fingertip holding section 202c is, for example, a thumb holder configured to hold the fingertip with the fingertip fitted in. Movable body 202b is a slider slidably attached to contact section main body 202a, and connecting member 202d is a two-axis hinge member (universal joint) that connects movable body 202b and fingertip holding section 202c so that they can rotate relatively around two orthogonal axes.

[0210] 16(b), the slider 202b has a linear protrusion 202b1 that fits into a linear recess 202a2 formed in the linear groove 202a1 of the contact portion main body 202a, and the slider 202b is supported so as to be slidable relative to the contact portion main body 202a in the direction of its longitudinal axis La by the linear protrusion 202b1 engaging with the linear recess 202a2 of the contact portion main body 202a. The connecting member 202d may be a ball joint instead of a universal joint.

[0211] (3 rotating parts) The configuration for supporting the thumb contact portion 202 so that it can rotate about three axes is realized by first to third rotation portions (actuators) 110, 120, and 230 provided between the thumb contact portion 202 and the base portion 201.

[0212] Here, the first rotation section (first actuator) 110 and the second rotation section (second actuator) 120 each have the same configuration as those in the input unit 100a described in embodiment 1, and are connected by a connecting section.

[0213] The third rotation unit (third actuator) 230 has a third movable unit 30a that supports the thumb contact unit 202 so that it can rotate around a third axis (the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact unit 202), and a third drive unit 231a that drives this movable unit 30a.

[0214] Here, the third axis (longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202) is an axis parallel to the palm of the operator and perpendicular to its width direction in the initial position where the thumb 2 is attached to the thumb contact portion 202 and all five fingers are extended together to use the thumb input unit 200a. One end (proximal end) of the thumb contact portion 202 is fixed to the movable portion 30a of the third rotation portion 230. A position detection unit 103a is attached to the other end (distal end) of the thumb contact portion 202.

[0215] (Detection unit 203) The detection unit 203 is configured to detect the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 around the first axis, the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 around the second axis, the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 around the third axis, and the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 on the thumb contact portion 202.

[0216] That is, the detection unit 203 essentially includes the position detection unit 103a, the first rotation amount detection unit 131, and the second rotation amount detection unit 132 in the input unit 100a shown in FIG. 8, as well as a third rotation amount detection unit 233 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 around a third axis (around the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202).

[0217] The thumb input unit 200a of the second embodiment having such a configuration can detect finger movements including twisting movements in addition to bending and extending movements and abduction and inversion movements of the operator's thumb 2.

[0218] Next, the operation of this thumb input unit 200a will be described.

[0219] For example, as shown in FIG. 12(a), in an initial posture in which the rotation axis (first axis) of the first rotation portion 110 of the thumb input unit 200 is parallel to the X-axis and the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202 is parallel to the Y-axis, when the thumb 2 is bent in a first direction D1 indicated by the arrow in FIG. 12(a), causing the thumb contact portion 202 to rotate around the first axis and causing the movable body 202b to slide relative to the contact portion main body 202a, the first rotation amount detection portion 131 detects the angle α1 formed by the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202 after bending with respect to the longitudinal axis La (axis parallel to the Y-axis) in the initial posture, and the position detection portion 203a detects the position of the thumb 2 on the thumb contact portion 202 as a distance d2 from the position detection portion 203a to the thumb holder 202c. This makes it possible to determine the angles of each joint of the thumb 2 based on inverse kinematics from these detected values. Note that even when the thumb 2 is extended in a second direction D2, which is the opposite direction to the first direction D1 indicated by the arrow in Figure 12(a), the angles of each joint of the thumb 2 can be determined in the same way as when the thumb 2 is bent in the first direction D1.

[0220] 13(a), when the thumb 2 is the thumb of the right hand, in an initial posture in which the first axis of the thumb input unit 200 (the axis along the width direction of the thumb contact portion 202) is parallel to the X axis and the second axis (the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202) is parallel to the Y axis, when the thumb 2 is adducted and the thumb contact portion 202 rotates around the second axis in a fourth direction D4, the second rotation amount detection unit 132 detects the angle β1 formed by the longitudinal axis La2 of the thumb contact portion 202 after adduction with respect to the Y axis (the longitudinal axis La in the initial posture). This makes it possible to detect the second rotation amount (the amount of rotation around the second axis) of the thumb contact portion 202. In addition, when the thumb 2 moves in the third direction D3, which is the opposite direction to the first direction D4 indicated by the arrow in Figure 13(a) (i.e., when it is abducted), the second rotation amount (rotation amount around the second axis) of the thumb contact portion 202 can be detected in the same way as when the thumb 2 moves in the fourth direction D4.

[0221] 14(a), when the thumb 2 is twisted in the direction D5 indicated by the arrow in the initial position where the first axis of the thumb input unit 200 is parallel to the X axis and the third axis is parallel to the Y axis, the thumb contact portion 202 rotates around its longitudinal axis La, and the third rotation amount detection portion 233 detects the angle γ1 formed by the normal line Vd' after the twisting of the thumb contact portion 202 with respect to the Z axis (the normal line Vd to the surface of the thumb contact portion 202 in the initial position). This makes it possible to detect the third rotation amount (rotation amount around the third axis) of the thumb contact portion 202. In addition, even when the thumb 2 is twisted in a sixth direction D6, which is the opposite direction to the fifth direction D5 indicated by the arrow in Figure 14(a), the third rotation amount (rotation amount around the third axis) of the thumb contact portion 202 can be detected in the same way as when the thumb 2 is twisted in the fifth direction D5.

[0222] As described above, the thumb input unit 200a of the second embodiment of the present invention has a base 101, a thumb contact portion 202 that comes into contact with the operator's thumb 2, and a detection portion 203 that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101. The detection portion 203 detects the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion relative to the base in accordance with the flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, and twisting movements of the finger, and at the same time detects the position of the fingertip of the finger on the thumb contact portion. Therefore, the posture of the thumb can be estimated based on inverse kinematics from the amount of rotation of the thumb contact portion 202 relative to the base 101 and the position of the fingertip of the thumb 2 on the thumb contact portion 202 detected by the detection portion 203, and as a result, the movement of the operator's thumb 2 can be detected with high accuracy.

[0223] Furthermore, similar to the first rotation unit 110 and the second rotation unit 120, the third rotation unit 230 is also equipped with a configuration for generating a reaction force (a configuration for realizing a haptic function) as described in the input unit 100 of embodiment 1, so that a reaction force can be presented to the operator's operation of the thumb input unit 200 during flexion and extension, abduction and abduction, and twisting of the thumb 2, thereby providing the operator with the feeling of the robot hand grasping an object.

[0224] In the second embodiment, the thumb input unit 200a is shown as one in which the thumb contact portion 202 has a thumb holder 202c. However, it is preferable that the thumb holder 202c not only holds the attached thumb but also eliminates variations in adhesion due to differences in the size of the fingers of the operators wearing it, and a thumb holder 302c with such a configuration will be described below.

[0225] FIG. 16A is a schematic diagram for explaining a thumb holder 302c that replaces the thumb holder 202c in the thumb input unit 200a shown in FIG. 16, where FIG. 16A(a) shows a state in which the thumb 2 is not attached to the thumb holder 302c, and FIG. 16A(b) shows a state in which the thumb 2 is attached to the thumb holder 302c.

[0226] The thumb holder 302c shown in FIG. 16A addresses variations in fit due to differences in the size of the fingers of the operators wearing the holder.

[0227] That is, this thumb holder 302c includes a cup-shaped housing 31 into which the tip of the thumb is fitted, and a balloon member 32 provided inside the cup-shaped housing 31, and is configured so that the balloon member 32 expands inside the cup-shaped housing. Here, the cup-shaped housing 31 is made of a metal such as resin or stainless steel, and the balloon member 32 is made of an elastic body such as rubber, but the constituent materials are not limited to these.

[0228] Here, a contact switch 31a is provided on the bottom or side of the cup-shaped housing 31, and one end of an air supply tube 33 that supplies air to the balloon member 32 is connected to the balloon member 32, and the other end of the air supply tube 33 is connected to a gas supply source provided in the input unit.

[0229] In the thumb holder 302c having this balloon member 32, when the operator's thumb 2 is fitted into the cup-shaped housing 31 and the operator's thumb comes into contact with the contact switch 31a, air is supplied from the gas supply source of the input unit to the balloon member 32 via the air supply tube 33, causing the balloon member 32 to inflate.

[0230] Alternatively, the thumb holder 302c may inflate the balloon member 32 according to the current position (twist state) of the thumb contact portion 202 around the third axis. For example, considering the positional relationship between the thumb and the palm, the thumb contact portion 202 always rotates in the D5 direction in FIG. 14 around the third axis (the longitudinal axis La of the thumb contact portion 202) when in use. Therefore, the balloon member 32 may be deflated by detecting that the thumb contact portion 202 is rotating around the third axis in the D6 direction, which is opposite to the D5 direction, and may be inflated by detecting that the thumb contact portion 202 is rotating in the D5 direction. Here, the condition for inflating and deflating the balloon is shown as the rotation range of the thumb contact part around the third axis as an example, but the condition for inflating and deflating the balloon may also be set as the rotation range of the thumb contact part around another axis.

[0231] In the thumb holder 302c configured as above, even if the size of the operator's thumb is smaller than the size of the cup-shaped housing 31, the balloon member 32 can be inflated to bring the thumb into close contact with the cup-shaped housing 31.

[0232] Furthermore, the above-mentioned input unit 100 and thumb input unit 200 can be used individually as devices for detecting the movement of each of the five fingers, but when operating a robotic hand or the like, it is desirable to detect the movement of all the fingers of the hand with a single device.

[0233] Therefore, in a situation where an actual robot hand is operated, an input device that can detect the movements of all five fingers is required. Hereinafter, such an input device will be described.

[0234] [3] An input device 10 that supports five fingers will be described.

[0235] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the input device 10 provided with the thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 11 and the input units 100 shown in FIG. 1 corresponding to the four fingers other than the thumb.

[0236] This input device 10 is an input device for a robot hand, and inputs motion information of the five fingers into the robot hand.

[0237] Specifically, this input device 10 has a base 101, a palm rest 101a, a thumb input unit 200, and four input units 100 corresponding to the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. On the base 101, one thumb input unit 200 and four input units 100 are arranged along the reference direction B of the base 101, and a palm rest 101a is fixed to the base 101 on the rear side of these input units 100 and 200 by a support wall 101b. A palm fixing belt 101c is attached to the palm rest 101a. Here, the thumb input unit 200 is the one shown in FIG. 11, and the four input units 100 are the input units shown in FIG. 1. It goes without saying that the specific configuration of the input unit 100 can be the configuration of the input unit 100a shown in FIG. 8, and the specific configuration of the thumb input unit 200 can be the configuration of the thumb input unit 200a shown in FIG. 16.

[0238] In such an input device 10, when the thumb 2 of the operator's hand is attached to the thumb holder 202c of the thumb input unit 200 and the index finger, middle finger, ring finger and little finger of the operator's hand are placed on the contact parts 102 of the four input units 100, respectively, the movements of all fingers can be detected.

[0239] In such an input device 10, when the operator moves a finger other than the thumb, the posture of the moved finger (angle of each joint) is detected based on the amount of rotation of the contact part 102 in the input unit 100 corresponding to the moved finger and the position of the finger on the contact part 102. Also, when the operator moves the thumb, the posture of the thumb is detected from the amount of rotation of the contact part 202 in the thumb input unit 200 and the position of the finger on the contact part 202 (position of the movable body 202b).

[0240] Therefore, such an input device 10 can be used as a device for detecting the movement of each finger in a system that drives the fingers of a robot hand based on the movement of each finger of an operator, and a system equipped with the input device 10 will be described below.

[0241] This system is a robot operation system and includes at least one of the input unit 100 shown in FIG. 1 and one thumb input unit 200 shown in FIG. 12. The robot operation system further includes an information processing device configured to estimate the posture of an operator's finger based on the amount of rotation of the contact part detected by the input unit and the position of the fingertip on the contact part, and a robot configured to be operated based on the estimated posture of the operator's finger. Here, the amount of rotation of the contact part detected by the input unit includes the amount of rotation of the contact part about a first axis and the amount of rotation of the contact part about a second axis. Furthermore, the amount of rotation of the contact part detected by the thumb input unit includes the amount of rotation of the contact part about a third axis of the connection part in addition to the amount of rotation of the contact part about the first axis and the amount of rotation of the contact part about the second axis.

[0242] [4] This robot operation system will now be described in detail.

[0243] FIG. 18 is a conceptual diagram showing a robot operation system 1000 for making a robot 1200 perform finger movements, as a system including the input device 10 shown in FIG.

[0244] This system 1000 includes an input device 10 that detects the movements of the fingers (five fingers) of an operator, a computer device 1100, and a robot 1200.

[0245] In this system 1000, the input device 10 detects information related to the movement of the operator's fingers, and the computer device 1100 generates a control signal for moving the robot 1200 based on the information detected by the input device 10 and outputs the signal to the robot 1200. The robot 1200 performs an action that reproduces the movement of the operator's fingers in accordance with the control signal output from the computer device 1100.

[0246] The computer device 1100 may be, for example, a dedicated computer device or a general-purpose computer device. The computer device 1100 may be, for example, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone computer, or the like. The computer device 1100 may be connected to, for example, the input device 10 and / or the robot 1200 via a wired or wireless connection. For example, the input device 10 and the computer device 1100 may be connected via a network (e.g., the Internet, a LAN, etc.). Furthermore, the computer device 1100 may be implemented as a computer device separate from the input device 10, or may be installed within the input device 10.

[0247] In the example shown in FIG. 18, the computing device 1100 is shown as a laptop computing device.

[0248] Here, when the operator's moving parts are fingers, the robot 1200 is shown as having parts corresponding to the operator's fingers. However, the parts of the robot 1200 corresponding to the operator's moving parts do not necessarily have to have the same shape and structure (e.g., length, width, thickness, number of joints, degree of freedom of the joints, etc.) as the operator's moving parts. The parts may differ in shape and structure from the operator's moving parts as long as the robot 1200 can perform the desired movement. When the parts of the robot 1200 have the same shape and structure as the corresponding parts of the operator, the robot 1200 can faithfully reproduce the operator's movement. On the other hand, when the parts of the robot 1200 have the minimum shape and structure necessary to achieve the desired movement, the amount of calculation required to determine the movement of the robot 1200 can be reduced, thereby preventing a delay in the reaction of the robot 1200.

[0249] The input device 10 may also be used in a system for detecting the movement of the operator's upper limbs, and such a system will be described below.

[0250] [5] A system 2000 for upper limb movement information is described.

[0251] This system detects the movement of an operator's upper limbs, and includes at least one input unit shown in Fig. 1 and an upper limb motion input device for inputting the movement of the operator's upper limbs. Here, the upper limb motion input device includes a first joint connected to the input unit, a second joint fixedly disposed at a location different from the operator's body, and a third joint connecting a first arm extending from the first joint to a second arm extending from the second joint.

[0252] The system 2000 for detecting the movement of the upper limbs will now be described in detail.

[0253] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing a system 2000 for inputting the movement of the upper limbs of an operator, as a system including the input device 10 shown in FIG.

[0254] This system 2000 includes an upper limb motion input device 20 for inputting the motion of the upper limbs of an operator, and the input device 10 described above.

[0255] In this system 2000, the upper limb motion input device 20 includes a first joint 2100 connected to the base 101 of the input device 10, a second joint 2200 fixedly disposed at a location (base) 2001 different from the operator's body, and a third joint 2300 connecting a first arm 2010 extending from the first joint 2100 to a second arm 2020 extending from the second joint 2200. In this system 2000, the operator's hand Uh is fixed to the input device 10.

[0256] In such a system 2000, when the operator Us moves the hand Uh to which the input device 10 is fixed, the posture of the first arm 2010 relative to the base 101 of the input device 10 changes at the first joint 2100, the posture of the second arm 2020 relative to the base 2001 changes at the second joint 2200, and the posture of the second arm 2020 relative to the first arm 2010 changes at the third joint 2300.

[0257] Therefore, in this system 2000, the upper limb motion input device 20 detects the change in posture between the members joined at each of these joints (i.e., the change in posture of one member relative to the other member), thereby obtaining information on the movement of the upper limbs.

[0258] In addition, in this system 2000, when the operator moves the fingers of the hand fixed to the input device 10, the input device 10 detects the movement of the operator's fingers, and information on the movement of the fingers is obtained.

[0259] In this way, in system 2000 equipped with input device 10 and upper limb motion input device 20, when an operator moves his / her hand (arm), upper limb motion input device 20 detects the movement of the operator's upper limb, and when the operator moves his / her finger, input device 10 detects the movement of the operator's finger. As a result, this system 2000 outputs information on the movement of the operator's upper limb and the movement of the operator's finger to a robot, making it possible for the robot to simultaneously reproduce the movement of the upper limb and the movement of the finger, and making it possible for the robot to perform movements that are closer to the movements of a human body.

[0260] Note that, although the information indicating the movement of the upper limbs is obtained from the changes in posture between the members joined at each joint, the information indicating the movement of the upper limbs is not limited to this and may be, for example, a value obtained by integrating the force applied to the entire input device 10. In this case, the upper limb motion input device 20 includes a six-axis force sensor that detects the force applied to the input device 10 and a calculation means that integrates the force applied to the input device 10 detected by the force sensor. The force sensor is provided, for example, on the bottom of the input device 10. The upper limb motion input device 20 is also configured to output a value obtained by integrating the force applied to the input device 10 detected by the force sensor as information indicating the movement of the upper limbs.

[0261] As described above, the present invention has been illustrated using preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention should not be construed as being limited to these embodiments. It is understood that the scope of the present invention should be interpreted only by the claims. It is understood that a person skilled in the art can implement an equivalent scope based on the description of the present invention and common general technical knowledge from the description of specific preferred embodiments of the present invention. It is understood that the contents of the documents cited in this specification should be incorporated by reference into this specification as if the contents themselves were specifically set forth in this specification. [Industrial Applicability]

[0262] The present invention is useful in that it provides an input unit that can detect finger movements including not only flexion and extension movements of the operator's fingers but also inward and outward movements, and an input device that uses multiple such input units corresponding to the five fingers.

[0263] Furthermore, the present invention is useful in that it can provide a system for operating a robot using the input device of the present invention, and further, it can provide a system equipped with the input device of the present invention as a system for detecting the movement of an operator's upper limbs. [Explanation of symbols]

[0264] 1 finger (index finger) 2 thumb 10 Input Devices 50 Rotating part (actuator) 51 Base Block 52a First slide block 52b Second slide block 53a First motor 53b Second motor 54a First ball screw 54b Second ball screw 55 Universal Joint 56 Support 100 input units 101 Base 101a Palm rest part 101b Supporting wall 101c Palm Fixation Belt 102 Contact part 102a Linear groove 103 Detector 103a Position detection unit 131 first rotation amount detection unit 132 second rotation amount detection unit 110, 1101, 1102 First rotating part (first actuator) 10a, 10a1, 10a2 First movable part 10b Housing side fixing part 11a Rotating shaft 11b Shaft side fixed part 111a first drive unit 111b First force detection unit 111c First displacement amount detection unit 112 Elastic member 112a first elastic member 112b second elastic member 112c compression spring 112d Spring Ball Plunger 112e Torsion spring 113 Rotation stop mechanism 113a Rigid rotating member 13a Movable body part 13b Locking piece 113b Rigid stationary member 13c Stationary main body 13d Contact piece 120 Second rotating portion (second actuator) 20a Second moving part 121a Second drive unit 121b Second force detection unit 200 Thumb Input Unit 202 Contact part 202a Contact body 202b Movable body (slider) 202c Thumb holder 202d Connecting member 203 Detection unit 233 Third rotation amount detection unit 230 third rotating part (third actuator) 30a Third moving part 231a Third Drive 231b Third force detection unit 1000, 2000 systems 1100 Computer equipment 1200 Robot Hand 2001 Base 2010 First Arm 2020 Second Arm 2100 First Joint 2200 Second Joint 2300 Third Joint D1 First direction D2 Second direction D3 The third direction D4 The Fourth Direction D5 The fifth direction D6 Sixth Direction

Claims

1. An input unit for robot operation, comprising: A base and a contact portion having a surface that is in contact with an operator's finger and is substantially horizontal with the surface of the base portion; a detection unit that detects a rotation amount of the contact portion relative to the base; Equipped with the contact portion rotates in a first direction about a first axis relative to the base portion in response to a bending motion of the finger without a wrist rotation; rotates in a second direction about the first axis relative to the base in response to an extension movement of the finger without wrist rotation; rotates in a third direction about a second axis relative to the base in response to an adduction movement of the finger without wrist rotation; The finger is configured to rotate about the second axis relative to the base in a fourth direction in response to an abduction movement of the finger without wrist rotation, The detection unit a rotation amount of the contact portion about the first axis, a rotation amount of the contact portion about the second axis, and a position of the fingertip of the finger on the contact portion; Input unit.

2. The device is provided with a second rotating part that is rotatable around a second axis provided on the base and that is approximately perpendicular to the base, and a first rotating part that is rotatable around a first axis provided on the second rotating part and that is approximately perpendicular to the second axis. The input unit according to claim 1 , wherein the contact portion is connected to the first rotation portion.

3. The input unit according to claim 1 , further comprising a drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact portion around the first axis or the second axis.

4. The input unit according to claim 3 , wherein the drive section is a second drive section that generates a second reaction force that rotates the contact section around the second axis.

5. further comprising a second force detection unit for detecting the second reaction force; The input unit according to claim 4 , wherein the second drive section is controlled based on the second reaction force detected by the second force detection section.

6. The input unit according to claim 5 , wherein the second force detection section includes a strain gauge.

7. The input unit according to claim 5 , wherein the second force detection section includes an elastic body connected to the second drive section and the contact section.

8. 4. The input unit according to claim 3, further comprising an elastic body connected to the drive unit and the contact unit, the elastic body being arranged around the axis so as to expand or contract in response to the drive unit driving the contact unit to rotate in one direction around the axis.

9. further comprising an elastic body connected to the driving portion and the contact portion; the elastic body includes a first elastic member and a second elastic member, 4. The input unit according to claim 3, wherein the first elastic member and the second elastic member are arranged around the axis so that the first elastic member expands and the second elastic member contracts in response to the drive unit driving the contact portion to rotate in one direction around the axis.

10. The input unit according to claim 1 , further comprising a rotation stopping mechanism that stops rotation of the contact portion.

11. The rotation stopping mechanism includes: a drive unit that generates a reaction force that rotates the contact unit around the first axis or the second axis; a rigid rotational member configured to be rotated about the axis by the drive; a rigid stationary member configured to prevent rotation of the rigid rotational member above a threshold angle; Equipped with The input unit according to claim 10, wherein the rigid stationary member is configured to stop rotation of the contact portion by colliding with the rigid rotating member when the rigid rotating member rotates by an angle equal to or greater than the threshold value.

12. 4. The input unit according to claim 3, wherein the drive unit is configured to generate both a first reaction force that rotates the contact portion about the first axis and a second reaction force that rotates the contact portion about the second axis.

13. The contact portion is a contact body; a fingertip holder configured to hold the fingertip of the finger; a movable body coupled to the fingertip holding portion; Equipped with The input unit according to claim 1 , wherein the movable body is configured to be movable along an extending direction of the contact portion body in accordance with movement of the fingertip held by the fingertip holding portion.

14. The input unit according to claim 13 , wherein the detection section detects the position of the fingertip by detecting the position of the movable body.

15. The input unit according to claim 13 , wherein the fingertip holding portion is configured to hold the fingertip in a state in which the fingertip is fitted therein.

16. 14. The input unit according to claim 13, wherein the fingertip holding portion includes a cup-shaped housing into which the fingertip of the finger is fitted, and a balloon member provided within the cup-shaped housing, the balloon member being configured to inflate within the cup-shaped housing.

17. The input unit according to claim 13 , wherein the fingertip holding portion and the movable body are connected by a universal joint.

18. the contact portion is configured to further rotate about a third axis relative to the base portion; The input unit according to claim 13 , wherein the third axis is an axis along a direction in which the contact body extends.

19. The input unit of claim 13 , wherein the finger is a thumb.

20. An input device for operating a robot, an input unit according to claim 4; an input unit according to claim 13; An input device comprising:

21. A robotic manipulation system, comprising: an input unit according to any one of claims 1 to 19; an information processing device configured to estimate a posture of the operator's finger based on a rotation amount of the contact portion detected by the input unit and a position of the fingertip on the contact portion; a robot configured to be operated based on the estimated finger posture of the operator; Equipped with The rotation amount of the contact portion detected by the input unit is a rotation amount of the contact portion about the first axis; and the amount of rotation of the contact portion about the second axis; and Including, the system.

22. A system for inputting an upper limb movement of an operator, an input unit according to any one of claims 1 to 19; an arm motion input device for inputting arm motions of the operator; A system equipped with

23. The arm movement input device a first joint connected to the input unit; a second joint fixedly disposed at a location different from the operator's body; a third joint connecting a first arm extending from the first joint and a second arm extending from the second joint; Equipped with The system of claim 22, wherein a change in posture of the first arm relative to the input unit, a change in posture of the second arm relative to the first arm, and a change in posture of the second joint relative to the location are output as information indicating the movement of the upper limb.

24. The arm movement input device a force sensor that detects a force applied to the input device; a calculation means for integrating the force applied to the input device detected by the force sensor; Equipped with The system according to claim 22 , configured to output an integral value of the force applied to the input device as information indicating the movement of the upper limb.

Images