Robot Outer Skin Fluid Layer Heating System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robots lack the ability to provide warmth, which is essential for eliciting a user's affection and creating a sense of security, as they primarily focus on external appearance and functions resembling those of a living being.
Innovation Solution
A robot structure that includes a frame, a surface skin, a heat source that heats a fluid, and a pressurizing unit to form a fluid layer on the inner side of the surface skin, providing uniform warmth to the robot's body surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a robot focuses on external appearance and functions resembling those of a living being, then the robot's resemblance to a living being is improved, but the robot's ability to provide warmth is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The robot's body is divided into multiple heating zones with independent heating elements, allowing different body parts to be warmed separately to create a more natural and comfortable thermal profile that resembles living beings
Solution Approach 2:
A thermal management system acts as an intermediary between the robot's internal components and its outer skin, regulating heat distribution to maintain appropriate body surface temperature that enhances the perception of warmth without compromising the external appearance
2Reliability
If cooling systems are added to prevent overheating of internal parts, then the reliability of internal parts is improved, but the robot's ability to provide warmth is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the robot body have different thermal characteristics - internal areas near heat-generating components are cooled while external body surfaces are heated, creating localized thermal zones that simultaneously protect internal parts and provide warmth to the touch
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling and heating systems are merged into a single thermal management system that can dynamically switch between cooling internal components and heating external surfaces, optimizing both reliability and warmth provision
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The robot's body surface is maintained at an appropriate temperature, allowing users to feel warmth when touching it, promoting physical contact and affection towards the robot.
Implementation Method 1
a heat source that heats a fluid
Implementation Method 2
a pressurizing unit that pressurizes a space enclosed by the frame
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a structure that is effective in providing a robot with appropriate warmth. A robot includes a frame, a surface skin that covers the frame, a heat source that heats a fluid, and a pressurizing unit that pressurizes a space enclosed by the frame. A heated fluid flows out from the space owing to the space being pressurized. A fluid layer is formed on an inner side of the surface skin covering the frame by the fluid that has flowed out from the space.