Companion Robot Emotion Simulation via Digital Twin Copying

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current child education robots lack the ability to emotionally interact with children and adaptively select content based on their interests and preferences, limiting their effectiveness in facilitating child growth and development.

Innovation Solution

A companion robot that uses sensor modules to detect and analyze emotional and behavioral data from children, generating simulated object data to interact with them, allowing for adaptive content selection and emotional simulation of caregivers or objects of interest, such as parents or cartoon figures, to enhance interaction and education.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If current child robots perform simple voice or behavior interaction, then the device complexity is low, but the adaptability and emotional interaction capability are insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadaptability to child's interests and preferencesVSAvoidcomplexity of learning and interaction system

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The robot creates a digital twin (simulated object data) of the child's companion object (parent or guardian), copying their appearance, personality, and interaction patterns. This digital twin is then used to simulate and interact with the child, enabling the robot to adapt to the child's interests without requiring complex real-time analysis of the actual companion object.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of the sensor module, data processing unit, and simulated object data as mediators between the robot and the child's companion object. This intermediary layer processes and transforms complex real-world data into simplified simulated representations, reducing the direct complexity burden on the robot while maintaining high adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the robot learns about child's interest through long-time learning, then the adaptability improves, but the time required for initial learning increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecapability to learn child's preferencesVSAvoidtime for initial learning and data collection

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and storing companion object data (appearance, personality, interaction patterns) in the simulated object data before actual interaction begins. This preliminary data preparation allows the robot to immediately start interacting with the child using pre-loaded information, reducing the initial learning time requirement.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The robot continuously collects and updates child reaction data during interaction, maintaining continuous learning and adaptation. This continuous action ensures that the simulated object data is constantly refined and updated, allowing the robot to improve adaptability over time without requiring lengthy initial learning periods, as learning occurs concurrently with interaction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

3Adaptability or versatility

If the robot simulates companion object to interact with child, then the emotional interaction capability improves, but the data processing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveemotional interaction capabilityVSAvoidcomplexity of data processing and simulation

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The robot creates a simplified digital copy (simulated object data) of the companion object's key characteristics (appearance, personality, interaction patterns) rather than processing all complex real-world data. This selective copying approach maintains emotional interaction capability while significantly reducing data processing complexity, as only essential features need to be captured and simulated.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts and isolates the essential emotional and interaction-related features from the complex companion object data, separating these key elements from unnecessary details. By taking out only the essential features for simulation, the robot achieves effective emotional interaction while minimizing data processing complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS11858118B2Robot, server, and human-machine interaction method

Publication Date: 2024.01.02 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD

AI summary

Embodiments of the present invention provide a human-machine interaction method, including: detecting and collecting, by a robot, sensing information of a companion object of a target object and emotion information of the target object that is obtained when the target object interacts with the companion object; extracting, by the robot, an emotion feature quantity based on the emotion information, determining, based on the emotion feature quantity, an emotional pattern used by the target object to interact with the companion object, determining, based on the emotional pattern, a degree of interest of the target object in the companion object, extracting behavioral data of the companion object from the sensing information based on the degree of interest, and screening the behavioral data to obtain simulated object data; and simulating, by the robot, the companion object based on the simulated object data.