Sensor use and analysis for dynamic update of interaction in a social robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9724824-B1
Application number	US-201514794765-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 8, 2015
Priority date	Jul 8, 2015
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

A method of optimizing social interaction between a robot and a human. The method comprises generating then executing a robot motion script for interaction with a human by a robot based on a characteristic detected by at least one of a plurality of sensors on the robot. The method further comprises detection, by at least one sensor of the robot, a reaction of the human during a first period. The robot then analyzes the reaction of the human and assigns a positive or negative classification to the reaction based on pre-defined mapping stored in the memory of the robot. The method further comprises modifying the robot motion script to incorporate a pre-defined modification based on the determination of a negative classification of the human reaction. The method further comprises executing the modified robot motion script during a second period to obtain an improved interaction with the human.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A social robot comprising:
a speaker;
a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors comprising at least one audio sensor and at least one visual sensor;
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
receive input via at least one of the plurality of sensors;
identify a plurality of characteristics of a human based on the input received via the at least one of the plurality of sensors, the plurality of characteristics of the human comprising a diction level, a voice cadence, a gender, and an age range;
generate, based on the plurality of characteristics, a robot dialog that includes a first control question for interaction with the human, wherein the first control question invokes at least one of a physical reaction or vocal reaction from the human to confirm that the plurality of characteristics are associated with one of a plurality of profiles stored in the storage medium;
playback, via the speaker, the robot dialog as audible speech to initiate a social interaction between the social robot and the human;
in response to playback of the first control question of the robot dialog, detect, via one or more of the plurality of sensors, a reaction of the human, the reaction being at least one of a physical reaction and a vocal reaction;
confirm that a profile corresponding to the human matches the plurality of characteristics based on the detected reaction;
based on the profile, initiate a motion script that activates actuators of the social robot;
irrespective of the detected reaction of the human, insert additional control questions into the robot dialog, wherein the additional control questions are dispersed throughout the robot dialog and invoke one or more of a physical reaction and a vocal reaction from the human; and
continue playback of the robot dialog that includes the additional control questions.

2. The social robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of characteristics of the human identified further comprises a race and a non-anthropometric identifier chosen by the human.

3. The social robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of characteristics is identified based on at least one of an audio data acquired by the at least one of the plurality of sensors and a visual data acquired by the at least one of the plurality of sensors.

4. A method for adapting robot motion to improve social interaction between a social robot and a human comprising:
receiving, by a social robot executing a processor, input via a plurality of sensors of the social robot;
identifying, by the social robot, a plurality of characteristics of the human based on the input received via the plurality of sensors of the social robot, the plurality of characteristics of the human comprising a diction level, a voice cadence, a gender, and an age range;
based on identifying the plurality of characteristics, generating, by the social robot, a robot dialog that includes a first control question for interaction with the human, wherein the first control question invokes at least one of a physical reaction or vocal reaction from the human to confirm that the plurality of characteristics are associated with one of a plurality of profiles stored in a non-transitory storage medium communicatively coupled to the social robot;
generating, by the social robot executing a motion script application, a robot motion script for interaction with the human;
executing, by the social robot, the robot motion script that activates actuators of the social robot to initiate a social interaction between the social robot and the human;
playing, via a speaker of the social robot, the robot dialog as audible speech while the robot motion script is executing;
in response to playing the first control question of the robot dialog, detecting, via the plurality of sensors, a reaction of the human, the reaction being at least one of a physical reaction and a vocal reaction;
confirming, by the social robot, that a profile corresponding to the human matches the plurality of characteristics based on the detected reaction;
irrespective of the detected reaction of the human, inserting, by the social robot, additional control questions into the robot dialog, wherein the additional control questions are dispersed throughout the robot dialog and invoke one or more of a physical reaction and a vocal reaction from the human; and
continuing, by the social robot, playback of the robot dialog that includes the additional control questions.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of characteristics is identified based on at least one of an audio data acquired by one of the plurality of the sensors and a visual data acquired by one of the plurality of the sensors.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein executing the motion script occurs over a first time period.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising: adapting, by the social robot, the robot motion script and the robot dialog in response to reactions from the human following playback of the additional questions.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein a characteristic of the plurality of characteristics corresponds with a race of the human.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of characteristics is identified by a cadence range of voice based on a pre-defined mapping stored in a memory of the social robot mapped to at least one of an age range, race, and gender.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of characteristics is identified by a visually acquired data based on a pre-defined mapping stored in a memory of the social robot mapped to at least one of an age profile, a race profile, and a gender profile.

11. The method of claim 4 , wherein the robot motion script comprises at least one or more of audio and movement commands.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein identifying the plurality of characteristics comprises:
collecting, by the plurality of sensors, audio or visual data corresponding to the human, and
determining, by the social robot, that the audio or visual data is associated with at least one user profile stored in a memory of the social robot.

13. A method for adapting robot motion to improve social interaction between a robot and a human comprising:
identifying, by a social robot, a plurality of characteristics of a human via at least one sensor of the social robot, the plurality of characteristics of the human comprising a diction level, a voice cadence, a gender, and an age range;
based on identifying the plurality of characteristics, generating, by the social robot, a robot dialog that includes a first control question for interaction with the human, wherein the first control question invokes at least one of a physical reaction or vocal reaction from the human to confirm that the plurality of characteristics are associated with one of a plurality of profiles stored in a non-transitory storage medium communicatively coupled to the social robot;
generating, by the social robot, a robot motion script for interaction with the human;
executing, by the social robot, the robot motion script to interact with the human during a first period;
playing, via a speaker of the social robot, the robot dialog as audible speech while the robot motion script is executing;
in response to playing at least the control question of the robot dialog, detecting, by the social robot, a reaction of the human during the first period via a sensor of the social robot;
in response to detecting, analyzing, by the social robot, the reaction of the human;
confirming, by the social robot, that a profi

Assignees

• Sprint Communications Co Lp

Inventors

• Annan Brandon
• Cole Joshua R
• Gilbert Deborah M
• Indurkar Dhananjay

Classifications

• G06N7/01

  Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks · CPC title

• G06N3/008 Primary

  based on physical entities controlled by simulated intelligence so as to replicate intelligent life forms, e.g. based on robots replicating pets or humans in their appearance or behaviour · CPC title

• B25J9/16 Primary

  Program controls (total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, G05B19/418) · CPC title

• G06F3/165

  Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path · CPC title

• G06N7/005

  Physics · mapped topic