Humanoid game-playing robot, method and system for using said robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9950421-B2
Application number	US-201113808040-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2011
Priority date	Jul 2, 2010
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

The invention relates to a player humanoid robot, a method and computer programs associated therewith. The prior art does not disclose any humanoid robot able to move on its lower limbs, to perform gestures, to communicate visual and/or audible signs, to receive same and interpret them so as to deduce therefrom appropriate behaviors for participating in a game in time as compere, questioner, questioned, investigator or mobile stake for the game. The hardware architectures, internal software and software for programming the robot of the invention make it possible to carry out these functions and to create new game experiences in which the boundaries between virtual world and real world are shifted once again.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A humanoid robot, said robot configured to move on its lower limbs, perform movements of its upper limbs, send and receive messages selected from a group of visual messages, a group of speech messages, a group of gestural messages and/or a group of tactile messages, and produce at least one autonomous behavior,
said at least one behavior constituting an element of a game sequence generated in response to at least one message selected from the group of visual messages, the group of speech messages, the group of gestural messages and/or the group of tactile messages,
said robot being configured to ask to a player at least one question in the form of a message selected from the group of speech messages, to calculate a speech recognition confidence index of at least one response message from the player belonging to the group of speech messages, and to determine whether at least one response message belonging to the group of speech messages contains a correct response, a false response or an ambiguous response, and said determination being performed on output from a loop of iterations determined as a function of the comparison of the speech message recognition confidence index of said at least one response message with at least a first speech message recognition threshold, and a second speech message recognition threshold for said responses, said second speech message recognition threshold being higher than said first speech message recognition threshold, said robot being further configured, at each iteration:
if the confidence index is below the first threshold, to ask the player to repeat said response message;
if the confidence index is above or equal to the first threshold, and below the second threshold, to pose an additional question to the player;
if the confidence index is above or equal to the second threshold, to detect the response message as a correct response or a false response.

2. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further configured to recognize objects in its environment and of integrating them into the sequence of said game.

3. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further being the compere of a game of questions responses wherein at least one other player participates, who must provide the responses to the questions asked by the robot.

4. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further being one of the players in a game in which at least one other player participates and in which it must recognize a person or a thing as a function at least of clues which are communicated to it by said at least one other player.

5. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein its movements are determined as a function of at least a combination of first displacement directives which are communicated to it by a remote control manipulated by a first player, second displacement directives, antagonistic to the first directives, which are communicated to it visually by a second player, and third displacement directives, antagonistic to the second directives and which are communicated to it by a third player.

6. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein at least two robots participate in one and the same game, said at least two robots being in communication through at least one visual, speech and/or gestural message.

7. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein at least two robots participate in one and the same game, said at least two robots being in communication by exchange of behavior messages.

8. The humanoid robot as claimed in claim 7 , wherein said exchange of behavior messages is activated after a step of reciprocal identification of said robots by exchange of information characterizing them.

9. The humanoid robot of claim 8 , wherein said at least two robots are furthermore able to download a signal for synchronizing their movements.

10. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein at least one player robot and another player are situated in two places not linked by a local network.

11. The humanoid robot of claim 10 , wherein said at least one player robot and another player communicate by wide area network communication protocol and in that said player robot is endowed with autonomous processing means for the encoding of network accesses.

12. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein a player is able to communicate with it by way of a visual code.

13. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further being configured to carry out a function of assistance of at least one other player consisting in performing at least one action in the game in place of the player.

14. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further being configured to trigger and manage the interruptions and resumptions of a game sequence.

15. The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further being configured to recognize at least one player from among several, said recognition using a clue selected from a group of visual, speech, gestural and/or tactile clues.

16. A method of controlling a humanoid robot configured to move on its lower limbs, perform movements of its upper limbs, send and receive messages selected from a group of visual messages, a group of speech messages, a group of gestural messages and/or a group of tactile messages, and produce at least one autonomous behavior, said at least one behavior constituting an element of a game sequence generated in response to at least one message selected from the group of visual messages, the group of speech messages, the group of gestural messages and/or the group of tactile messages, said method comprising steps of:
asking at least one question in the form of a message selected from the group of speech messages,
calculating a speech message recognition confidence index of at least one response message belonging to the group of speech messages, and
determining whether at least one response message belonging to the group of speech messages contains a correct response, a false response or an ambiguous response, said determining being performed on output from a loop of iterations determined as a function of the comparison of the speech message recognition confidence index of said at least one response message with at least a first speech message recognition threshold, and a second speech message recognition threshold for said responses, said second speech message recognition threshold being higher than said first speech message recognition threshold, said method further comprising, at each iteration:
if the confidence index is below the first threshold, to ask the player to repeat said response message;
if the confidence index is above or equal to the first threshold, and below the second threshold, to pose an additional question to the player;
if the confidence index is above or equal to the second threshold, to detect the response message as a correct response or a false response.

17. A computer program comprising program code instructions executed on a computer to control a humanoid robot,
said program being configured to allow the humanoid robot to move on its lower limbs, to perform movements of its upper limbs, to send and to receive messages selected from a group of visual messages, a group of speech messages, a group of gestural messages and/or a group of tactile messages, and to produce at least one autonomous behavior, said at least one behavior constituting an element of a game sequence generated in response to at least one message selected from the group of visual messages, the group of speech messages, the group of gestural messages and/or the group of tactile messages,
said program further comprising computer code instructions configured to generate a behavior in which said robot

Assignees

• Monceaux Jerome
• Boudier Celine
• Softbank Robotics Europe

Inventors

• Monceaux Jerome
• Boudier Celine

Classifications

• A63F9/183 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• B25J9/0006 Primary

  Exoskeletons, i.e. resembling a human figure · CPC title

• A63F2009/2433

  Voice-actuated · CPC title

• G06N3/008

  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

• A63F2009/243

  with other kinds of input · CPC title