Artificial intelligence apparatus and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12555576-B2
Application number	US-202218052745-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2022
Priority date	Nov 4, 2021
Publication date	Feb 17, 2026
Grant date	Feb 17, 2026

Abstract

A method of controlling an artificial intelligence device may include receiving an operation command at a plurality of artificial intelligence devices; determining a first artificial intelligence device closest to a point-of-origin of an operation command based on the operation command being received at the plurality of artificial intelligence devices; outputting a response corresponding to the operation command through the first artificial intelligence device; determining a second artificial intelligence device that will perform an operation corresponding to the operation command, and transmitting a control command corresponding to the operation command to the second artificial intelligence device; and performing, by the second artificial intelligence device, an operation corresponding to the operation command based on the control command.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of controlling a plurality of artificial intelligence devices, the method comprising:
receiving an operation command at the plurality of artificial intelligence devices; based on the operation command being received at the plurality of artificial intelligence devices, identifying a first artificial intelligence device of the plurality of artificial intelligence devices as being closest to a point-of-origin of the operation command; outputting a response corresponding to the operation command through the first artificial intelligence device; identifying a second artificial intelligence device of the plurality of artificial intelligence devices that will perform an operation corresponding to the operation command; transmitting a control command corresponding to the operation command to the second artificial intelligence device; and performing, by the second artificial intelligence device, the operation corresponding to the operation command based on the control command, wherein outputting the response corresponding to the operation command through the first artificial intelligence device comprises outputting the response corresponding to the operation command even when the operation corresponding to the operation command is an operation for the second artificial intelligence device that is different from the first artificial intelligence device, wherein: the first artificial intelligence device is closest to a speaker who uttered the operation command, detects the operation command with a loudest volume, and outputs information to the speaker notifying that the second artificial intelligence device has performed an operation when the second artificial intelligence device performs the operation corresponding to the operation command; and the second artificial intelligence device performs the operation according to the operation command transmitted from the first artificial intelligence device, and detects the operation command with a lower volume than the first artificial intelligence device as it is further away from the speaker than a distance between the speaker and the first artificial intelligence device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of artificial intelligence devices comprises a sensor configured to sense a distance to the point-of-origin of the operation command, and
wherein identifying the first artificial intelligence device comprises identifying the first artificial intelligence device as being closest to the point-of-origin of the operation command based on the sensor of the first artificial intelligence device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the second artificial intelligence device comprises:
determining, by the first artificial intelligence device closest to the point-of-origin of the operation command, whether an artificial intelligence device capable of performing the operation corresponding to the operation command is present; and identifying the second artificial intelligence device as being capable of performing the operation corresponding to the operation command, and wherein transmitting the control command comprises transmitting, by the first artificial intelligence device, the control command to the second artificial intelligence device.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the second artificial intelligence device comprises:
identifying, by the plurality of artificial intelligence devices, respectively, artificial intelligence devices that will perform the operation corresponding to the operation command; and identifying the second artificial intelligence device based on a preset algorithm in response to the artificial intelligence devices identified by the plurality of artificial intelligence devices being different from one another.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the preset algorithm identifies the second artificial intelligence device based on at least one of a majority vote or a result determined by the first artificial intelligence device closest to the point-of-origin of the operation command.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the second artificial intelligence device comprises:
determining whether a plurality of second artificial intelligence devices capable of performing the operation corresponding to the operation command are present; and based on the plurality of second artificial intelligence devices being present, selecting the second artificial intelligence device from among the plurality of second artificial intelligence devices based on at least one of a distance to the point-of-origin of the operation command, an execution history of the operation command, a priority, or a reception of an additional command.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing, by the second artificial intelligence device, the operation corresponding to the operation command comprises outputting a notification sound to notify an utterer that the control command has been received when the second artificial intelligence device receives the control command.

8 . An artificial intelligence device comprising:
a microphone configured to receive an operation command uttered by a user; a transceiver configured to communicate with another artificial intelligence device; an audio output device configured to output a response corresponding to the operation command; and a processor configured to: identify a first artificial intelligence device of a plurality of artificial intelligence devices as being closest to a point-of-origin of the operation command based on the operation command being received at the plurality of artificial intelligence devices; and based on the artificial intelligence device being the first artificial intelligence device: output the response corresponding to the operation command through the first artificial intelligence device; identify a second artificial intelligence device of the plurality of artificial intelligence devices that will perform an operation corresponding to the operation command; and transmit a control command corresponding to the operation command to the second artificial intelligence device, wherein even when the operation corresponding to the operation command is an operation for the second artificial intelligence device rather than the first artificial intelligence device, the response corresponding to the operation command is output through the first artificial intelligence device, wherein: the first artificial intelligence device is closest to a speaker who uttered the operation command, detects the operation command with a loudest volume, and outputs information to the speaker notifying that the second artificial intelligence device has performed an operation when the second artificial intelligence device performs the operation corresponding to the operation command; and the second artificial intelligence device performs the operation according to the operation command transmitted from the first artificial intelligence device, and detects the operation command with a lower volume than the first artificial intelligence device as it is further away from the speaker than a distance between the speaker and the first artificial intelligence device.

9 . The artificial intelligence device of claim 8 , wherein based on the artificial intelligence device being the second artificial intelligence device, the processor is further configured to perform the operation corresponding to the operation command based on the control command.

10 . The artificial intelligence device of claim 8 , further comprising:
a sensor configured to sense a distance to the point-of-origin of the operation command, wherein the processor is

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Jeon Yuyong
• Park Heewan
• Yi Donghoon

Classifications

• G10L15/30

  Distributed recognition, e.g. in client-server systems, for mobile phones or network applications · CPC title

• G10L2015/223

  Execution procedure of a spoken command · CPC title

• G06F3/167

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G06N20/00 Primary

  Machine learning · CPC title

• G10L15/22 Primary

  Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue · CPC title