Robot Growth Control Using Pseudo-Day Updates After Reboot
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robots that simulate growth through pseudo-days experience unnatural growth when powered off and then rebooted, causing user discomfort due to mismatched growth expectations.
Innovation Solution
A control device and method that updates pseudo-days elapsed after birth only upon reboot, using a processor to store and restart pseudo-day counts based on predetermined conditions, ensuring growth days are not incremented during power-off periods and using RTC and timers to synchronize with calendar time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot continuously updates pseudo-days elapsed after birth based on calendar time, then the growth simulation becomes more realistic, but the growth becomes unnatural when the robot is powered off and rebooted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the pseudo-day update mechanism adaptive rather than static. The system dynamically adjusts whether to update pseudo-days based on the robot's power state and elapsed time since power-off. When power-off duration exceeds a threshold, the system pauses pseudo-day accumulation; otherwise, it continues. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction by making the growth simulation realistic during normal operation while preventing unnatural growth jumps after power-off, thereby maintaining user comfort.
2Ease of operation
If the robot pauses pseudo-day updates during power-off periods, then user comfort is maintained, but the growth simulation continuity is broken
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the update condition parameter based on the power-off duration threshold. Instead of always updating or never updating pseudo-days, the system changes the update parameter dynamically: when power-off time is within the threshold, updates continue; when exceeding the threshold, updates pause. This parameter-based control resolves the contradiction between maintaining user comfort (pausing updates) and preserving growth continuity (conditional resumption), as the system smoothly transitions between states based on temporal parameters.
3Measurement precision
If the robot updates pseudo-days based on elapsed time since activation, then growth accuracy is improved, but complexity of the control system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-setting a power-off duration threshold that determines when to pause pseudo-day updates. This threshold is established in advance based on empirical data about user perception of unnatural growth. By pre-defining this critical parameter, the system avoids complex real-time calculations and decision-making logic, resolving the contradiction between achieving accurate growth measurement (through time-based updates) and maintaining simple control system architecture (through threshold-based predetermined conditions).
Data Source
AI summary
A control device of a robot including a processor which updates number of pseudo-days elapsed after birth of the robot, on condition that time elapsed from activation of the robot has satisfied a predetermined condition, stores the number of pseudo-days elapsed after the birth and acquired at power off timing of the robot, in response to power-off of the device, and restarts update of the number of pseudo-days elapsed after the birth with the stored number of pseudo-days elapsed after the birth as a starting point, in response to reboot of the device.