Adjustable Robot Arm Segment Lengths for Human Motion Mimicry
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling robot arms struggle to replicate human-like motion, especially when the robot's arm length differs from a human's, as they either focus solely on posture or interaction, leading to dissimilar postures.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that utilize a three-dimensional image of a user to generate a user model, then create a target model with varying segment lengths, allowing the robot's arm to mimic the user's motion by adjusting segment lengths based on distance and operation time, ensuring the robot's arm follows the user's joint positions and angles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the robot maps joint angles by analyzing user posture, then the robot can replicate user posture, but the robot cannot reconstruct interaction motion with subjects
Solution Approach 1:
The arm is divided into multiple segments (upper arm and lower arm) with adjustable lengths. The control system independently controls each segment's length and joint angles, allowing the robot to first match user posture (improving shape similarity) and then adjust segment lengths to reconstruct interaction motions with subjects, thereby resolving the contradiction between posture replication and interaction capability
2Adaptability or versatility
If the robot maps end position by analyzing user interaction, then the robot can focus on interaction with subjects, but the robot produces dissimilar postures when arm segment lengths differ from human arms
Solution Approach 1:
The segment lengths of the robot arm are made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. The control system varies the length of each segment based on the target motion model, allowing the robot to adapt its arm configuration to match human-like postures during interaction tasks, thus simultaneously achieving interaction focus and posture similarity
3Device complexity
If the robot uses fixed segment lengths, then the robot structure is simple, but the robot cannot adapt to different arm length requirements for various motions
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm segments are equipped with adjustable length mechanisms that allow dynamic modification during operation. This enables the robot to adapt segment lengths to different motion requirements (e.g., reaching tasks vs. posture tasks) while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and motion adaptability
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for controlling a robot capable of controlling the motion of the arm of the robot, and a control method thereof, the apparatus including an image obtaining unit configured to obtain a three-dimensional image of a user, a driving unit configured to drive an arm of the robot that is composed of a plurality of segments, and a control unit configured to generate a user model that corresponds to a motion of the joint of the user based on the three-dimensional image, to generate a target model having a length of the segment that varies based on the user model, and to allow the arm of the robot to be driven based on the target model.