Moving body and control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022095786-A1
Application number	US-202017310502-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 31, 2020
Priority date	Feb 15, 2019
Publication date	Mar 31, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present technology relates to a moving body and a control method capable of improving affinity of the moving body for a person and a space. A moving body according to one aspect of the present technology includes a top plate that serves as a desk at which a person performs work, a support arm that supports the top plate and that can extend and contract, and a moving unit that holds the support arm and performs movement for causing the work to be performed. Furthermore, the moving body controls a posture state including a state of the support arm and a movement state of the moving unit in accordance with a relationship with an environment state as a state of a surrounding environment and a person state as a state of the person located around, sensed by a sensor. The present technology can be applied to a movable robot.

First claim

1 . A moving body comprising:
a top plate that serves as a desk at which a person performs work; a support arm that supports the top plate and that can extend and contract; a moving unit that holds the support arm and performs movement for causing the work to be performed; and a control unit that controls a posture state including a state of the support arm and a movement state of the moving unit in accordance with a relationship with an environment state as a state of a surrounding environment and a person state as a state of the person located around, sensed by a sensor.

2 . The moving body according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a person movement recognition unit that recognizes a movement state of the person, wherein the control unit controls the posture state and the movement state in accordance with the movement state of the person recognized by the person movement recognition unit.

3 . The moving body according to claim 2 ,
wherein the movement state of the person is a distance between the moving body and the person, and the control unit extends the support arm to increase a height of the top plate as the distance decreases.

4 . The moving body according to claim 3 ,
wherein the control unit adjusts extension and contraction of the support arm in order for the height of the top plate to be a height corresponding to the work performed by the person.

5 . The moving body according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a person state recognition unit that recognizes the person state, wherein the control unit controls the posture state and the movement state in accordance with the person state recognized by the person state recognition unit.

6 . The moving body according to claim 5 ,
wherein the person state recognition unit identifies the person who performs the work, and the control unit controls the posture state and the movement state in accordance with the person identified by the person state recognition unit.

7 . The moving body according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a surrounding state recognition unit that recognizes the environment state, wherein the control unit further controls the posture state and the movement state in accordance with the environment state recognized by the surrounding state recognition unit.

8 . The moving body according to claim 7 ,
wherein the surrounding state recognition unit recognizes a state of another moving body, and the control unit controls the posture state and the movement state in accordance with the state of the another moving body recognized by the surrounding state recognition unit.

9 . The moving body according to claim 8 ,
wherein the surrounding state recognition unit recognizes a height of a top plate of the another moving body, and the control unit controls the posture state in order for the height of the top plate to be a similar height to the height of the top plate of the another moving body.

10 . The moving body according to claim 9 ,
wherein the surrounding state recognition unit recognizes a state of a baggage that the person carries, and the control unit controls the posture state in accordance with the state of the baggage recognized by the surrounding state recognition unit.

11 . The moving body according to claim 10 ,
wherein the state of the baggage is a height at which the baggage is located, and the control unit controls the posture state in order for the height of the top plate to be a similar height to the height at which the baggage is located.

12 . The moving body according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in a case where the work is not performed by the person, the control unit controls the posture state in order for the top plate and the moving unit to be in an overlapping state or in order for the top plate to be housed in the moving unit.

13 . The moving body according to claim 1 ,
wherein the top plate has built therein a data processing terminal used for the work performed by the person.

14 . The moving body according to claim 13 ,
wherein the work is data input performed by the person.

15 . The moving body according to claim 1 ,
wherein the moving unit includes a power supply that operates a driving portion for movement, and the control unit changes a position of the moving body in accordance with a battery charge remaining amount of the power supply.

16 . The moving body according to claim 15 ,
wherein the control unit controls the posture state and the movement state so as to be in a standby state in a case where the battery charge remaining amount of the power supply falls below a preset threshold value.

17 . A control method comprising:
controlling a posture state including a state of a support arm and a movement state of a moving unit in accordance with a relationship with an environment state as a state of a surrounding environment and a person state as a state of a person located around, sensed by a sensor, in a moving body including a top plate that serves as a desk at which the person performs work, the support arm that supports the top plate and that can extend and contract, and a moving unit that holds the support arm and performs movement for causing the work to be performed.

Assignees

• Sony Group Corp

Inventors

• Kojima Kohei
• Nakai Mikio
• Torii Kuniaki
• Yuki Taichi
• Yamamoto Kazunori
• Yamaguchi Takamori
• Wang Chao
• Toyoura Masataka
• Ohki Yoshihito

Classifications

• G06V20/50

  Context or environment of the image · CPC title

• B25J9/1697 Primary

  Vision controlled systems · CPC title

• G05B2219/40411

  Robot assists human in non-industrial environment like home or office · CPC title

• G06V40/20

  Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition (recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16) · CPC title

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title