Autonomous Robot with Retractable Wheel Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robot technologies have not achieved a presence that acts as a companion like a pet, despite advancements, due to fixed design and control approaches that lack the warmth and intimacy of living creatures.
Innovation Solution
An autonomously acting robot with a body designed for physical intimacy, featuring a movement mechanism that can withdraw into a housing space, a lifting and hugging determination unit, and a drive mechanism to change posture when lifted and hugged, providing a sense of security and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot uses a fixed structural design and control approach, then the robot can maintain stability and reliability, but the robot lacks the warmth and intimacy of a living creature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the robot's structure changeable rather than fixed. The movement mechanism can transition between extended and retracted states, and the posture changes in response to user interaction. This dynamic adaptability allows the robot to provide both stability during normal operation and companion-like warmth through responsive physical changes when hugged or interacted with.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by modifying the robot's physical configuration parameters. The movement mechanism changes its extension state based on housing conditions, and the posture changes based on hugging detection. These parameter transformations enable the robot to adapt its physical characteristics to provide both reliability and emotional warmth.
2Ease of operation
If the robot maintains a constant posture and structure, then the robot is easy to control, but the robot cannot provide a sense of security and comfort through physical responsiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling the robot to automatically adjust its own posture and movement mechanism state based on detected conditions. The lifting and hugging determination unit detects user interaction, and the drive mechanism autonomously changes the robot's posture in response. This self-adjusting capability provides physical responsiveness without complicating the control system, as the robot serves its own adaptive needs.
3Speed
If the movement mechanism is always extended for mobility, then the robot can move freely, but the robot cannot provide a compact and huggable form factor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the movement mechanism into separable components that can be independently controlled. The movement mechanism can be extended when mobility is needed and retracted when compactness is desired. This segmented design allows the robot to transition between mobile and huggable states by controlling different portions of the movement mechanism independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the nesting principle by allowing the movement mechanism to be retracted into the housing space when not in use. The movement mechanism can be nested within the robot's body, providing a compact form factor for hugging while maintaining the capability for extension when mobility is required. This nested configuration enables the robot to switch between extended mobile state and compact huggable state.
Data Source
AI summary
A robot includes a body, a wheel having a ground contacting surface when moving, and a wheel drive mechanism that drives the wheel so as to advance from a housing space provided in the body to an exterior and withdraw. The wheel drive mechanism causes the wheel to withdraw to the housing space in a non-ground contacting state when a housing condition is satisfied. The body has a ground contacting bottom face that comes into contact with the ground when the wheel is housed in the housing space in a non-ground contacting state.