Operation device, operation method, and program

Abstract

An operation device according to the present invention applies, to a human motor control model, information representing movements by an operator operating an actuation device for carrying out mechanical actions, thereby estimates information representing target movements intended by an operator, and, in order to control operation of the actuation device, outputs the estimated information representing the target movements.

Description

Operating device, operating method, and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for operating an operating device that performs a mechanical operation.

[0002] There are known devices (hereinafter referred to as "operation devices") that perform mechanical operations in response to the movements of an operator. For example, a remote-controlled robot performs mechanical operations in response to the movements of an operator when the operator operates an operation device connected to the remote-controlled robot (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] It is desirable for the movement of the movement device to accurately follow the operation of the operator without delay (hereinafter referred to as "movement tracking ability"). However, as a result of movement, a part of the movement device (movement part) may come into contact with a surrounding object (e.g., a person or an object). In such a case, if the force exerted by the movement part on the object is large, it may damage the object (e.g., injury or breakage). Therefore, it is desirable to control the movement of the movement part so that the force exerted by the movement part on the object does not become too large. In other words, it is desirable for the movement part to move flexibly so that the reaction force received from the object does not become too large even if the movement part collides with the object (hereinafter referred to as "movement flexibility").

[0004] Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method for providing a remote-controlled robot with information specifying the positions of an operator's body parts and the flexibility of their movements, and controlling the movements of the remote-controlled robot based on this information. This ensures a certain degree of flexibility in the movements. Non-Patent Document 2 discloses a method for achieving tracking and flexibility in the movements of a remote-controlled robot by combining feedforward and feedback.

[0005] Ajoudani, A., Tsagarakis, N. and Bicchi, A., October 31, 2012, "Tele-impedance: Teleoperation with impedance regulation using a body-machine interface", The International Journal of Robotics Research, Volume 31, Issue 13, pp. 1642-1656.Mahvash, M., & Okamura, A, December 18, 2007, "Friction Compensation for Enhancing Transparency of a Teleoperator With Compliant Transmission", IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Volume 23, Issue 6, pp. 1240-1246.

[0006] However, in the past, it was difficult to achieve both the followability and flexibility of the operation of the operating device in a general implementation.

[0007] For example, in the method of Non-Patent Document 1, improving motion flexibility results in a decrease in motion tracking, and vice versa. The method of Non-Patent Document 2 achieves both motion tracking and flexibility, but this method requires a sophisticated modeling of the motion of the remote-controlled robot and accurate estimation of its nonlinear dynamics, friction parameters, and the like. However, modeling the motion of a remote-controlled robot is not easy, and estimating nonlinear dynamics, friction parameters, and the like is also difficult. Therefore, it is generally difficult to implement the method of Non-Patent Document 2. This problem is not limited to remote-controlled robots, but applies to any operating device that performs mechanical motion in response to the operator's movements.

[0008] In the present invention, in a general implementation, both the followability and flexibility of the operation of the operating device are achieved.

[0009] The operating device estimates information representing the movement of a target intended by the operator by applying information representing the movement of an operator operating an operating device that performs mechanical operations to a human movement control model, and outputs this estimated information representing the movement of the target to control the operation of the operating device.

[0010] This allows both the ability to follow the operation of the operating device and flexibility to be achieved in a general implementation.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an operation system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2A is a conceptual diagram illustrating the configuration of an input device. FIG. 2B is a conceptual diagram illustrating the configuration of a movement device. FIGS. 3A and 3B are graphs illustrating the tracking and flexibility of movement in conventional technology. FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the tracking and flexibility of movement in an embodiment. FIG. 5A is a graph illustrating the relationship between a change in stiffness parameter and a position error between a body part of an operator and a movement part of a movement device in conventional technology. FIG. 5B is a graph illustrating the relationship between a change in stiffness parameter and a position error between a body part of an operator and a movement part of a movement device in an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the relationship between a stiffness parameter and a position error between a body part of an operator and a movement part of a movement device in conventional technology and an embodiment. FIG. 7A is a graph illustrating the position error between a body part of an operator and a movement part of a movement device when no delay occurs in the movement device relative to the input device in conventional technology. Fig. 7B is a graph illustrating the positional error between the operator's body part and the operating part of the operating device when there is no delay in the operating device relative to the input device in an embodiment. Fig. 8A is a graph illustrating the positional error between the operator's body part and the operating part of the operating device when there is a delay (100 ms) in the operating device relative to the input device in the conventional technology. Fig. 8B is a graph illustrating the positional error between the operator's body part and the operating part of the operating device when there is a delay (100 ms) in the operating device relative to the input device in an embodiment. Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the operating device of the embodiment.

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. <Configuration> As illustrated in Fig. 1, an operation system 1 of this embodiment has an input device 11, operation devices 12 and 13, and an operation device 14. The operation device 14 is a device that performs mechanical operations, and an operator 100 operates the operation device 14 using the input device 11.

[0013] <Input Device 11> The input device 11 is a device that receives an input operation from the operator 100 and outputs information M representing the movement of the operator 100 associated with the input operation. The input operation is for controlling the movement of the motion device 14 and is based on the movement of the body parts of the operator 100 (e.g., fingers, hands, arms, legs, head, etc.). That is, the input device 11 is a device that detects the movement of the body parts of the operator 100 (movement of the operator 100) for operating the motion device 14 and outputs information M representing the detected movement (information representing the movement of the operator 100). The movement detected by the input device 11 is based on at least one or a combination of, for example, position, velocity, acceleration, angle, angular velocity, angular acceleration, force, torque, etc. The input device 11 includes at least one or a combination of, for example, a joystick, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, a GPS sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a body sensor, an infrared sensor, a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, a sonar sensor, a magnetometer, etc. FIG. 2A shows an example of the input device 11. The input device 11 shown in FIG. 2A includes a base 111, an arm 112, and a grip 113. The operator 100 grasps the grip 113 with his / her hand 101 (body part) and can move the grip 113 in three dimensions to control the movement of the operating device 14. The movement of the grip 113 is detected by sensors provided on the grip 113 and / or the arm 112 and / or the base 111. The base 111 outputs information representing the detected movement of the grip 113 as information M representing the movement of the operator 100 (information representing the operation content). M may be three-dimensional information, two-dimensional information, or one-dimensional information. The three-dimensional information M is a three-dimensional vector, the two-dimensional information M is a two-dimensional vector, and the one-dimensional information M is a scalar. Note that this is merely an example and does not limit the present invention.

[0014] 1, the operation device 12 has an input unit 121, a storage unit 122, an estimation unit 123, and an output unit 124. The input unit 121 is electrically connected to the input device 11, and the output unit 124 is configured to be able to communicate with the input device 11 via a network. The processing content of the operation device 12 will be described later.

[0015] 1, the operation device 13 has an input unit 131, a storage unit 132, a control unit 133, and an output unit 134. The input unit 131 is configured to be capable of communicating through a network. The output unit 134 is electrically connected to the operation device 14. The processing content of the operation device 13 will be described later.

[0016] <Operation Device 14> The operation device 14 is a device that performs mechanical operations. Mechanical operations refer to, for example, the movement of a physical object in real space. The mechanical operations performed by the operation device 14 may be of any type. For example, the operating portion of the operation device 14 may move, rotate, or deform, or may perform a combination of at least any of these operations. The operation device 14 may be, for example, a remote-controlled robot (e.g., an industrial robot or a medical robot), a remote-controlled vehicle, an arm or end effector that moves in accordance with remote control, or the like. FIG. 2B shows an example of the operation device 14. The operation device 14 illustrated in FIG. 2B includes a base 141, an arm 142, and a tip 143. Control information for controlling the mechanical operation of the operation device 14 is input to the operation device 14. The arm 142 moves relative to the base 141 in accordance with the input control information, thereby changing the position of the tip 143 provided at the tip of the arm 142. Note that this is merely an example and does not limit the scope of the present invention.

[0017] <Preprocessing> In this embodiment, as preprocessing, information representing mechanical properties is stored in the storage unit 122 of the operating device 12 and the storage unit 132 of the operating device 13. The information representing mechanical properties is information representing mechanical properties. Examples of mechanical properties include information representing rigidity, viscosity, elasticity, plasticity, hardness, stress, and strain. The information representing mechanical properties is, for example, a parameter (e.g., scalar, vector, matrix, etc.) or a mathematical expression representing the mechanical property. The mechanical properties are, for example, the mechanical properties of a body part (e.g., finger, hand, arm, foot, head, etc.) that operates the operation device 14. As an example, in this embodiment, a parameter K representing rigidity and a parameter D representing viscosity are stored in the storage units 122 and 132 as information representing mechanical properties. K may represent three-dimensional rigidity, two-dimensional rigidity, or one-dimensional rigidity. K, which represents three-dimensional stiffness, is a 3-by-3 matrix, K, which represents two-dimensional stiffness, is a 2-by-2 matrix, and K, which represents one-dimensional stiffness, is a scalar. Similarly, D may represent three-dimensional viscosity, two-dimensional viscosity, or one-dimensional viscosity. D, which represents three-dimensional viscosity, is a 3-by-3 matrix, D, which represents two-dimensional viscosity, is a 2-by-2 matrix, and D, which represents one-dimensional viscosity, is a scalar. Note that if information representing mechanical properties is already stored in the storage units 122 and 132, this preprocessing may be omitted.

[0018] <Operation Processing> The operator 100 performs an input operation on the input device 11. That is, the operator 100 performs an input operation on the input device 11 using a body part, and the input device 11 detects the movement of the body part (movement of the operator 100) and outputs information M representing the detected movement of the operator 100. For example, in the case of the input device 11 illustrated in FIG. 2A , the operator 100 grasps a gripping unit 113 with his / her hand 101 (body part) and can freely move the gripping unit 113 of the input device 11 in three dimensions to control the movement of the operation device 14. For example, the operator 100 can move the gripping unit 113 of the input device 11 in three-dimensional directions to control the movement of a tip end 143 of the operation device 14 illustrated in FIG. 2B . That is, the tip end 143 of the operation device 14 moves in accordance with the movement of the gripping unit 113 of the input device 11 (i.e., the movement of the hand 101 of the operator 100). Examples of the information M representing the movement of the operator 100 are as described above. For example, M may include three-dimensional information x=(x1, x2, x3) representing the position (e.g., the position of the gripping unit 113) of a body part (e.g., the hand 101) of the operator 100, or may include two-dimensional information x=(x1, x2) representing the position of the body part, or may include one-dimensional information x=x1 representing the position of the body part. Here, three coordinate values ​​in the three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system are represented as x1, x2, and x3, respectively. For example, M may include three-dimensional information x=(x1, x2, x3) representing the speed of a body part (e.g., the speed of the gripping unit 113) of the operator 100. ・ =(x1 ・ ,x2 ・ ,x3 ・ ) or two-dimensional information x ・ =(x1 ・ ,x2 ・ ) or one-dimensional information x ・ =x1 ・ where x ・ The superscript "・" should be written directly above the "x", but for convenience of writing, it is sometimes written to the upper right of the "x". x1 ・ ,x2 ・ ,x3 ・ The same is true for x1 ・ represents the differential value of x1, and x2 ・represents the differential value of x2, and x3 ・ represents the differential value of x3. For example, M may include three-dimensional information F=(F1, F2, F3) representing a force (force applied to the gripping unit 113) applied by a body part (e.g., the hand 101) of the operator 100, two-dimensional information F=(F1, F2) representing the force applied by the body part, or one-dimensional information F=F1 representing the force applied by the body part. Here, the three force components of the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system are represented as F1, F2, and F3, respectively. The input device 11 outputs information M representing the movement of the operator 100, and this information M is input to the input unit 121 of the operation device 12 and sent to the estimation unit 123 (step S11).

[0019] The estimation unit 123 receives input of information M representing the motion of the operator 100 (information representing the motion of the operator 100 operating the operating device 14 that performs mechanical operations). The estimation unit 123 applies at least the information M to a human motion control model to estimate and output information MI representing a target motion intended by the operator 100. For example, the estimation unit 123 of this embodiment extracts a parameter K representing stiffness and a parameter D representing viscosity (information representing mechanical properties) from the storage unit 122, and applies the information M and the parameters K and D to the motion control model to estimate and output information MI. That is, the motion control model of this embodiment is a model that estimates information M representing a target motion intended by the operator 100 based on, for example, at least the information M representing the motion of the operator 100 and the information K and D representing mechanical properties. Here, the information MI representing the target motion intended by the operator 100 is a motion predicted based on at least the information M representing the motion of the operator 100. For example, information MI representing a target movement intended by the operator 100 is a movement predicted based on at least information M representing the movement of the operator 100 and information representing mechanical properties. The predicted movement is, for example, a predicted future movement of the operator 100. For example, information MI may be a predicted position of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted velocity of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted acceleration of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted angle of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted angular velocity of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted angular acceleration of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted force of a body part of the operator 100, a predicted torque of a body part of the operator 100, or a combination of at least any of these. For example, the estimation unit 123 estimates and outputs information MI representing the movement of the target intended by the operator 100 by applying information M and parameters K and D to the movement control model, as shown in the following equation (1). Here, information x representing the position of a body part (for example, hand 101) of the operator 100, information The force F exerted by the body part may be included in the information M or may be calculated from the information (e.g., x) included in the information M. Furthermore, K represents stiffness, and K # represents the inverse, inverse matrix, or pseudo-inverse matrix of K, D represents viscosity, and α, β, and γ are real constants. α, β, and γ are, for example, positive values. An example of α, β, and γ is α=β=γ=1 (step S12).

[0020] The information MI representing the movement of the operator 100 estimated by the estimation unit 123 is sent to the output unit 124. The output unit 124 outputs (transmits) the information MI to control the operation of the operation device 14. The information MI is transmitted to the operation device 13 via the network (step S13).

[0021] The information MI is input to (received by) the input unit 131 of the operation device 13. The information MI is sent to the control unit 133 (step S14).

[0022] The control unit 133 uses at least information MI (information representing a target movement intended by the operator 100, which is estimated by applying information representing the movement of the operator 100 operating the operation device 14 that performs a mechanical movement to a human movement control model) to generate control information F for controlling the mechanical movement of the operation device 14. f For example, the control unit 133 of this embodiment further extracts a parameter K representing stiffness and a parameter D representing viscosity (information representing mechanical properties) from the storage unit 132, and uses the information MI and the parameters K and D to obtain control information F f That is, the control information F f is information based on information MI representing the target movement intended by the operator 100 and information K and D representing the dynamic properties. f may be information representing the position of the operating part of the operating device 14, information representing the speed, information representing the acceleration, information representing the angle, information representing the angular velocity, information representing the angular acceleration, information representing the force, information representing the torque, or at least any combination thereof.f is the three-dimensional information F f =(F f1 ,F f2 ,F f3 ) or two-dimensional information F f =(F f1 ,F f2 ) or one-dimensional information F f =F f1 Here, the three pieces of control information F f The components of F f1 ,F f2 ,F f3 For example, the control unit 133 calculates the control information F using the information MI and the parameters K and D as shown in the following formula (2). f and output it. Here, the control information F in equation (2) f represents the force that moves the operating part of the operating device 14. f represents the position of the operating part of the operating device 14, represents the velocity of the operating part of the operating device 14. f is the three-dimensional information x f =(x f1 ,x f2 ,x f3 ) or two-dimensional information x f =(x f1 ,x f2 ) or one-dimensional information x f =x f1 Here, the three pieces of control information x f The components of x f1 ,x f2 ,x f3 Similarly, x f ・ is the three-dimensional information x f ・ =(x f1 ・ ,x f2 ・ ,x f3 ・ ) or two-dimensional information x f ・ =(x f1 ・ ,xf2 ・ ) or one-dimensional information x f ・ =x f1 ・ Here, the three pieces of control information x f ・ The components of x f1 ・ ,x f2 ・ ,x f3 ・ In addition, κ, λ, and μ are real constants. κ, λ, and μ are, for example, positive values. An example of κ, λ, and μ is κ=λ=μ=1. That is, the control information F f means that the moving part of the moving device 14 is moved with the information MI representing the target movement intended by the operator 100 or a constant multiple thereof as the target (step S15).

[0023] Control Information F f is sent to the output unit 134. The output unit 134 outputs the control information F f The operating device 14 sends the control information F f For example, the operating part of the operating device 14 operates based on the control information F f For example, the control information F f is information representing a position, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f For example, the control information F f is information representing the speed, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f For example, the control information F f is information representing acceleration, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f For example, the control information F f is information representing an angle, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f For example, the control information F f is information representing angular acceleration, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f For example, the control information Ff is information representing a force, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f For example, the control information F f is information representing torque, the operating part of the operating device 14 is f (Step S16).

[0024] The series of processes from steps S11 to S16 may be repeated continuously, may be repeated discretely at predetermined time intervals, or may be repeated continuously or discretely only while the operator 100 is performing an input operation on the input device 11. In any case, as a result of repeating the series of processes from steps S11 to S16, information M representing the movement of the operator 100, information MI representing the movement of a target intended by the operator 100, and control information F f The operating device 14 receives control information F f The action at each point is performed according to the

[0025] <Features of this embodiment> The estimation unit 123 of the operation device 12 (FIG. 1) of this embodiment estimates information MI representing a target movement intended by the operator 100 by applying information M representing the movement of the operator 100 operating the operation device 14 that performs mechanical movement to a human motion control model, and outputs the estimated information MI to control the operation of the operation device 14. This makes it possible to control the operation of the operation device 14 based on the information MI representing the target movement intended by the operator 100. That is, the control unit 133 of the operation device 13 uses information MI representing the target movement intended by the operator 100 to generate control information F for controlling the mechanical operation of the operation device 14. f The operation of the operating device 14 is controlled by this control information F fIn this case, the movement of the operation device 14 is based on the movement of a target intended by the operator 100, and therefore the movement of the operation device 14 has higher tracking ability than when it is controlled simply based on the current position of the operator 100. In other words, the future movement of the operator 100 is estimated and the movement of the operation device 14 is controlled based on the estimated movement, and therefore the movement of the operation device 14 has high tracking ability. In this way, by performing control based on the movement of a target intended by the operator 100, the movement of the operation device 14 can be maintained with tracking ability even if a delay occurs between the operation device 12 and the operation device 13. In other words, in this embodiment, the adverse effect of delay on the operation can be reduced. Furthermore, since control is performed based on the movement of a target intended by the operator 100, the movement of the operation device 14 can be maintained with tracking ability even if the operating parts of the operation device 14 are flexibly moved so as not to receive a large reaction force from an external object. Furthermore, compared to highly sophisticated modeling of the motion of a remote-controlled robot (corresponding to the operating device 14) as in Non-Patent Document 2, modeling the target motion intended by the operator 100 as in this embodiment is easier (e.g., Equation (1)), and is therefore easier to implement in any operating device 14. For example, this embodiment can also be introduced into the operation of robots that are commercially available and meet certain conditions (such as being equipped with a force sensor or being capable of torque control). In this way, this embodiment can achieve both the tracking ability and flexibility of the motion of the operating device 14 in a general implementation.

[0026] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is a modification of the first embodiment, and differs from the first embodiment in that information representing mechanical properties can be updated. The following description will focus on differences from the matters described so far, and the same reference numerals will be used to simplify the description of parts that are common to the matters already described.

[0027] <Configuration> As shown in FIG. 1, an operation system 2 according to this embodiment includes an input device 11, operation devices 22 and 23, and an operation device 14.

[0028] 1 , the operation device 22 has an input unit 221, a storage unit 122, an estimation unit 223, and an output unit 224. The input unit 221 is electrically connected to the input device 11 and is configured to allow input of information representing mechanical properties. The output unit 224 is configured to be capable of communication via a network.

[0029] 1, the operation device 23 includes an input unit 231, a storage unit 132, a control unit 133, and an output unit 134. The input unit 231 is configured to be capable of communicating via a network.

[0030] <Pretreatment> The same as in the first embodiment.

[0031] <Operation Processing> In the operation processing of this embodiment, the same processing as steps S11 to S16 described in the first embodiment is executed. As described above, the series of processing from steps S11 to S16 may be repeated continuously, may be repeated discretely at predetermined time intervals, or may be repeated continuously or discretely only while the operator 100 is performing an input operation on the input device 11. However, the processing of step S11 is executed by the input unit 221 instead of the input unit 121, the processing of step S12 is executed by the estimation unit 223 instead of the estimation unit 123, and the processing of step S14 is executed by the input unit 231 instead of the input unit 131. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in addition to steps S11 to S16 of the first embodiment, the following processing can be executed at any timing.

[0032] The operator 100 can input the information representing the mechanical properties (e.g., parameters K and D) described above to the input unit 221 of the operation device 22 at any timing. The input information representing the mechanical properties is stored in the storage unit 122, and updates the information representing the mechanical properties stored in the storage unit 122. Examples of the information representing the mechanical properties are as exemplified in the first embodiment. Thereafter, the estimation unit 223 uses the information representing the updated mechanical properties (e.g., K and D) until it is updated again (step S21).

[0033] The estimation unit 123 estimates and outputs information MI representing the target movement intended by the operator 100, for example, based on the information representing the mechanical properties (e.g., parameters K and D) stored in the storage unit 122 and information M representing the movement of the operator 100 (step S12). In this case, the estimation unit 123 also outputs information representing the mechanical properties (e.g., parameters K and D) used to estimate the information MI (step S22).

[0034] The information MI representing the movement of the operator 100 and the information representing the mechanical properties used to estimate the information MI are sent to the output unit 224. The output unit 224 outputs (transmits) the information MI and the information representing the mechanical properties used to estimate the information MI (e.g., parameters K and D) in order to control the movement of the operation device 14. The information MI and the information representing the mechanical properties used to estimate the information MI are transmitted to the operation device 23 via the network (step S23).

[0035] The information MI and the information representing the mechanical properties used to estimate the information MI are input to the input unit 231 of the operation device 23 (received by the input unit 231). The information MI is sent to the control unit 133. Meanwhile, the information representing the mechanical properties used to estimate the information MI is stored in the storage unit 132, and the information representing the mechanical properties stored in the storage unit 132 is updated. Thereafter, the control unit 133 uses the information representing the updated mechanical properties (e.g., K, D) until it is updated again (step S24).

[0036] <Characteristics of this embodiment> In this embodiment, in a general implementation, it is possible to achieve both the tracking ability and flexibility of the motion of the operating device 14. Furthermore, in this embodiment, it is possible to update the information representing the mechanical properties at any timing, and it is also possible to change the balance between the tracking ability and flexibility of the motion of the operating device 14.

[0037] [Experimental Results] Below, experimental results are exemplified to demonstrate the effects of each embodiment. The operating device 14 in this experiment is a remote-controlled robot. In the experiment, Panda (manufactured by Franka Emika GmbH, Germany) was used as both the input device 11 and the operating device 14. Panda has seven rotation axes, and a force sensor is provided inside the joint of each rotation axis, so it can be used as both the operating device 14 and the input device 11. In addition, in this experiment, a communication delay of 100 ms was generated between the operating device 12 and the operating device 13.

[0038] First, for comparison, Figures 3A and 3B illustrate the relationship between the position and force of the body parts of the operator 100 and the moving parts of the moving device 14 when controlling the moving device 14 using the conventional technology of Non-Patent Document 1. Here, the horizontal axis represents time (s), the vertical axis of the upper graph represents position (cm), and the vertical axis of the lower graph represents the force (reaction force) (N) received by the moving parts of the moving device 14. The solid waveform represents the position of the body parts of the operator 100, and the dashed waveform represents the position of the moving parts of the moving device 14. Furthermore, P represents the position of an object (e.g., a table) that exists outside the moving device 14. In the conventional technology of Non-Patent Document 1, the control information F of the following equation (3) f The operating portion of the operating device 14 is operated by the That is, the control information F fmeans that the operating part of the operating device 14 is operated with the position x of the body part of the operator 100 as the target. FIG. 3A shows the relationship when K = 1000 N / m in Equation (3) (high rigidity, i.e., hard), and FIG. 3B shows the relationship when K = 150 N / m in Equation (3) (low rigidity, i.e., soft). The operator 100 operated the operating part of the operating device 14 so that it quickly moved up and down and then contacted the object. As illustrated in the upper graph of FIG. 3A , increasing the rigidity in the prior art improves the tracking ability of the operating device 14 to the operator 100. However, in this case, as illustrated in the lower graph of FIG. 3A , once the position of the operating part of the operating device 14 reaches position P of the object (after A), the force that the operating part of the operating device 14 receives from the object increases rapidly. This indicates that the operating part of the operating device 14 is applying a large force to the object, indicating low flexibility in the operation of the operating device 14. As illustrated in the lower graph of FIG. 3B , when the rigidity is reduced in the conventional technology, the force that the operating part of the operating device 14 receives from the object does not increase significantly even after the position of the operating part of the operating device 14 reaches position P of the object (after B). This indicates that the operating device 14 has high flexibility in its operation. However, as illustrated in the upper graph of FIG. 3B , when the rigidity is reduced in the conventional technology, the operating device 14's ability to follow the operator 100 decreases. As such, it is difficult to achieve both followability and flexibility in the operation of the operating device 14 with the conventional technology.

[0039] Next, Fig. 4 illustrates the relationship between the position and force of the body parts of the operator 100 and the operating parts of the operating device 14 when controlling the operating device 14 using the method of the embodiment. Here again, the horizontal axis represents time (s), the vertical axis of the upper graph represents position (cm), and the vertical axis of the lower graph represents the force (reaction force) (N) received by the operating parts of the operating device 14. The solid waveform represents the position of the body parts of the operator 100, and the dashed waveform represents the position of the operating parts of the operating device 14. Furthermore, P represents the position of an object (e.g., a table) that exists outside the operating device 14. In the embodiment, the control information F in the following formula (2) fThe operating portion of the operating device 14 is operated by the That is, the control information F in equation (2) f means that the moving parts of the operating device 14 are operated with the information MI, which represents the target movement intended by the operator 100, or a constant multiple thereof, as the target. In the experiment, κ = λ = μ = 1. Figure 4 shows the relationship when K = 150 N / m in equation (2) (low rigidity, i.e., softness). Here, the operator 100 also operated the moving parts of the operating device 14 so that they quickly moved up and down and then contacted the object. As illustrated in the upper graph of Figure 4, in this embodiment, even when the rigidity is low, the operating device 14 has high tracking ability with respect to the operator 100. Furthermore, as illustrated in the lower graph of Figure 4, even after the position of the moving parts of the operating device 14 reaches position P of the object (after C), the force applied to the moving parts of the operating device 14 from the object does not increase significantly. This indicates high flexibility in the operation of the operating device 14. As such, in this embodiment, both tracking ability and flexibility in the operation of the operating device can be achieved.

[0040] Next, Figure 5A illustrates the relationship between the parameter K, which represents stiffness, and the position error between the body part of the operator 100 and the operating part of the operating device 14 when the operating device 14 is controlled using the conventional technology described in Non-Patent Document 1. The horizontal axis of the upper graph in Figure 5A represents time (s), and the vertical axis represents the parameter K (N / m). The horizontal axis of the lower graph in Figure 5A represents time (s), and the vertical axis represents the position error (m) between the body part of the operator 100 and the operating part of the operating device 14. Note that this position error represents the difference between the displacement of the body part relative to the reference point of the operator 100 and the displacement of the operating part relative to the reference point of the operating device 14. The operator 100 performed an input operation by tracing a circle with a radius of 7 cm with the body part at a frequency of 1 Hz. The parameter K was automatically controlled to a value of 30-1400 N / m using a sine wave at 0.3 Hz. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, in the conventional technology of Non-Patent Document 1, when the parameter K representing the rigidity, i.e., the flexibility of the movement of the movement device 14, is changed, the position error between the body part of the operator 100 and the movement part of the movement device 14 changes accordingly.

[0041] FIG. 5B illustrates the relationship between the parameter K representing stiffness and the positional error between the body part of the operator 100 and the operating part of the operating device 14 when the operating device 14 is controlled according to this embodiment. The horizontal axis of the upper graph in FIG. 5B represents time (s), and the vertical axis represents the parameter K (N / m). The horizontal axis of the lower graph in FIG. 5B represents time (s), and the vertical axis represents the positional error (m) between the body part of the operator 100 and the operating part of the operating device 14. Here, the operator 100 again performed an input operation in which the body part traced a circle with a radius of 7 cm at a frequency of 1 Hz. The parameter K was automatically controlled to a value of 30-1400 N / m using a sine wave at 0.3 Hz. As illustrated in FIG. 5B , in this embodiment, even if the parameter K representing stiffness, i.e., the flexibility of the operation of the operating device 14, is changed, the positional error between the body part of the operator 100 and the operating part of the operating device 14 does not change significantly. This also shows that the embodiment can achieve both the followability and flexibility of the operation of the operating device.

[0042] FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the parameter K, which represents stiffness, and the positional error between the body part of the operator 100 and the moving part of the movement device 14, in the conventional technology and the method of the embodiment. The horizontal axis of FIG. 6 represents the parameter K (N / m), and the vertical axis represents time (s). The dashed line represents the conventional technology, and the solid line represents the embodiment. From FIG. 6, it can be seen that in the conventional technology, increasing the flexibility of the movement of the movement device 14 increases the positional error between the body part of the operator 100 and the moving part of the movement device 14, whereas in the embodiment, changing the flexibility of the movement of the movement device 14 does not change the error significantly. This also shows that the embodiment can achieve both tracking ability and flexibility of the movement of the movement device.

[0043] Figures 7A, 7B, 8A, and 8B illustrate the effect of delay (communication delay) between the operating device 12 and the operating device 13. Figure 7A illustrates a case where the delay is 0 ms for the conventional technology, Figure 7B illustrates a case where the delay is 0 ms for the embodiment, Figure 8A illustrates a case where the delay is 100 ms for the conventional technology, and Figure 8B illustrates a case where the delay is 100 ms for the embodiment. The horizontal axis represents time (s), and the vertical axis represents position (m). The solid line represents the position of the body part of the operator 100, and the dashed line represents the position of the operating part of the operating device 14. In all cases, K = 500 N / m. The operator 100 performed an input operation to displace the body part 50 cm to the left and right at a frequency of approximately 0.4 Hz. As illustrated in these figures, in the prior art, as the delay increases, the delay in the position of the operating part of the operating device 14 relative to the position of the body part of the operator 100 increases, whereas in the embodiment, even if the delay increases, the delay in the position of the operating part of the operating device 14 relative to the position of the body part of the operator 100 does not increase significantly. This shows that in this embodiment, even if there is a communication delay, it is possible to achieve tracking of the operation of the operating device.

[0044] [Hardware Configuration] The operation devices 12, 13, 22, and 23 in each embodiment are configured by a general-purpose or dedicated computer having a processor (hardware processor) such as a central processing unit (CPU) and memories such as random-access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM) executing a predetermined program. That is, the operation devices 12, 13, 22, and 23 in each embodiment have, for example, a processing circuit configured to implement each of the respective units. This computer may have one processor and memory, or multiple processors and memories. This program may be installed on the computer or may be pre-recorded in a ROM or the like. Furthermore, some or all of the processing units may be configured using electronic circuits that independently realize processing functions, rather than electronic circuits that realize functional configurations by loading a program, such as a CPU. Furthermore, the electronic circuits constituting a single device may include multiple CPUs.

[0045] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the operation devices 12, 13, 22, and 23 in each embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the operation devices 12, 13, 22, and 23 in this example include a central processing unit (CPU) 10a, an input unit 10b, an output unit 10c, a random access memory (RAM) 10d, a read-only memory (ROM) 10e, an auxiliary storage device 10f, a communication unit 10h, and a bus 10g. The CPU 10a in this example includes a control unit 10aa, a calculation unit 10ab, and a register 10ac, and executes various calculation processes according to various programs loaded into the register 10ac. The input unit 10b is an input terminal, keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc., through which data is input. The output unit 10c is an output terminal, display, etc., through which data is output. The communication unit 10h is a LAN card, etc., controlled by the CPU 10a that has loaded a predetermined program. The RAM 10d may be a static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and includes a program area 10da where predetermined programs are stored and a data area 10db where various data are stored. The auxiliary storage device 10f may be a hard disk, magneto-optical disc (MO), semiconductor memory, or the like, and includes a program area 10fa where predetermined programs are stored and a data area 10fb where various data are stored. The bus 10g connects the CPU 10a, input unit 10b, output unit 10c, RAM 10d, ROM 10e, communication unit 10h, and auxiliary storage device 10f so that information can be exchanged. The CPU 10a writes the program stored in the program area 10fa of the auxiliary storage device 10f to the program area 10da of RAM 10d in accordance with the loaded OS (Operating System) program. Similarly, the CPU 10a writes various data stored in the data area 10fb of the auxiliary storage device 10f to the data area 10db of the RAM 10d. The addresses in the RAM 10d where the programs and data are written are then stored in the register 10ac of the CPU 10a.The control unit 10aa of the CPU 10a sequentially reads out these addresses stored in the register 10ac, reads out programs and data from the areas on the RAM 10d indicated by the read addresses, causes the calculation unit 10ab to sequentially execute the calculations indicated by the programs, and stores the calculation results in the register 10ac. With this configuration, the functional configuration of the operation devices 12, 13, 22, and 23 is realized.

[0046] The functions performed by the components described herein may be implemented in circuitry or processing circuitry, including general-purpose processors, application-specific processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), a CPU (a Central Processing Unit), conventional circuits, and / or combinations thereof, programmed to perform the described functions. A processor includes transistors and other circuits and is considered to be circuitry or processing circuitry. A processor may also be a programmed processor that executes programs stored in memory.

[0047] In this specification, a circuitry, unit, or means is hardware that is programmed to realize or performs the described functions, which may be any hardware disclosed herein or any hardware known to be programmed to realize or perform the described functions.

[0048] If the hardware is a processor considered to be a type of circuitry, the circuitry, means, or unit is a combination of the hardware and software used to configure the hardware and / or processor.

[0049] The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, which may be, for example, a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any other suitable recording medium.

[0050] The program may be distributed by, for example, selling, transferring, lending, etc. portable recording media such as DVDs and CD-ROMs on which the program is recorded. Furthermore, the program may be stored in a storage device of a server computer, and then transferred from the server computer to other computers via a network, thereby distributing the program.

[0051] A computer that executes such a program may first temporarily store the program recorded on a portable recording medium or transferred from a server computer in its own storage device. Then, when executing a process, the computer reads the program stored on its own recording medium and executes the process in accordance with the read program. Alternatively, the computer may read the program directly from a portable recording medium and execute the process in accordance with the program. Furthermore, the computer may execute the process in accordance with the program each time a program is transferred from a server computer to the computer. Alternatively, the server computer may not transfer the program to the computer, but may instead execute the process through a so-called ASP (Application Service Provider) service, which realizes the processing function by issuing an execution instruction and obtaining the results. Furthermore, the server computer may execute the process at the terminal using a so-called SaaS (Software as a Service) service, which allows users to use part of a server computer along with the program. In this embodiment, the program includes information used for processing by an electronic computer that is equivalent to a program (such as data that is not a direct instruction to a computer but has properties that dictate computer processing).

[0052] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the device is configured by executing a predetermined program on a computer, but at least a part of the processing contents may be realized by hardware.

[0053] [Modifications, etc.] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the operation devices 12 and 13 may be integrated rather than communicating with each other via a network. Similarly, the operation devices 22 and 23 may be integrated rather than communicating with each other via a network.

[0054] Instead of the motion control model expressed by equation (1), other motion control models may be used. For example, a motion control model may be obtained by machine learning that outputs information MI representing a target motion intended by the operator 100 in response to input of at least information M representing the motion of the operator 100. For example, a motion control model may be obtained by machine learning that outputs information MI representing a target motion intended by the operator 100 in response to input of at least information M representing the motion of the operator 100 and information representing mechanical properties (e.g., K, D). In this case, the estimation units 123 and 223 may use the motion control model obtained in this manner.

[0055] Similarly, other models may be used instead of the model expressed by equation (2). For example, by machine learning, the control information F f For example, a model may be obtained by machine learning that outputs control information F in response to input of at least information MI representing the target movement intended by the operator 100 and information representing dynamic properties (e.g., K, D). f In this case, the control unit 133 may use the model thus obtained.

[0056] Furthermore, the various processes described above may not only be executed in chronological order as described, but may also be executed in parallel or individually depending on the processing capabilities of the devices that execute the processes or as necessary. Needless to say, other modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the claims.

[0057] 1, 2 Operation system 11 Input device 12, 13, 22, 23 Operation device 14 Operation device

Claims

1. An operating device having: an estimation unit that estimates information representing a target movement intended by an operator by applying information representing the movement of an operator operating an operating device that performs a mechanical operation to a human motion control model; and an output unit that outputs the information representing the target movement estimated by the estimation unit in order to control the operation of the operating device.

2. An operating device according to claim 1, wherein the motion control model is a model that estimates information representing the movement of the target based on at least information representing the movement of the operator and information representing mechanical properties.

3. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the information representing the movement of the target is x represents the position of the operator's body part; represents the velocity of the body part, F represents the force exerted by the body part, K ​​represents the stiffness, and K # represents the inverse or inverse matrix or pseudoinverse matrix of K, D represents viscosity, and α, β, and γ are real constants.

4. An operating device having a control unit that uses information representing the target movement intended by an operator operating an operating device that performs mechanical operation, which is estimated by applying information representing the movement of the operator to a human motion control model, and obtains and outputs control information for controlling the mechanical operation of the operating device.

5. An operating device according to claim 4, wherein the control information is based on information representing the movement of the target and information representing the dynamic properties of the target.

6. The operating device according to claim 4, wherein the control information is: represents the information representing the movement of the target, and x f represents the position of the operating part of the operating device, represents the velocity of the operating part of the operating device, D represents viscosity, K represents stiffness, and K # represents the inverse, inverse matrix, or pseudoinverse matrix of K, and κ, λ, and μ are real constants.

7. An operating method executed by the operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A program for causing a computer to function as the operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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