JP2016198843A - Control method, control apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To represent an interaction at a suitable timing.SOLUTION: There is provided a control method of executing, by a computer, processes of: deciding a first interaction which is presented to a user based on a sensed behavior of the user; deciding a second interaction which is spontaneously presented to the user; calculating an intervention degree based on the first interaction and the second interaction which were presented for a past prescribed period; and controlling a timing for presenting the second interaction based on the intervention degree.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a control method, a control device, and a program.

  In the field of acting something on the user, such as the robot field, agent, and advertising field, various techniques have been proposed in order to effectively engage and interact with the user. For example, in a communication robot, a technique for determining a next operation according to a past operation history is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-178282 A

  However, in the above technique, there is a case where the interaction indicated by the operation of the communication robot to the user is inconsistent, such as the operation of the communication robot suddenly decreasing or suddenly active. For inconsistent interactions, the strength of intervention and changes in the intervention level bother users and hinder good communication.

  On the other hand, it is necessary to consider various factors such as the situation in which the robot operates and the type of operation to make the operation consistent by appropriately adjusting the timing of the operation of the communication robot during development. Yes, it ’s difficult. In fields such as nursing care, it may be preferable to dynamically change how far to interfere with the user depending on the degree of independence of the user and the state of the part requiring care.

  Therefore, in one aspect, an object of the present invention is to present an interaction at an appropriate timing.

  In one plan, a first interaction to be presented to the user is determined based on a sensed user behavior, a second interaction to be spontaneously presented to the user is determined, and the past The computer executes a process of calculating the degree of intervention based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented during a predetermined period and controlling the timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention. A control method is provided.

  According to one aspect, an interaction can be presented at an appropriate timing.

The figure which shows the structural example of the control system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure explaining the example of control of an operation | movement space | interval. The figure which shows the function structural example of the control system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation information which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the score information which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation history information which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the control processing of the spontaneous action which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the other example of the score information which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the control processing of the spontaneous operation | movement which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows the function structural example of the control system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation | movement interval information which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the control processing of the spontaneous action which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows an example of the control processing of the spontaneous action which concerns on 4th Embodiment. The figure explaining adjustment of the threshold set up for every priority. The figure which shows the function structural example of the control system which concerns on 5th Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that in the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration and portions that perform substantially the same processing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<First Embodiment>
[System configuration]
First, the control system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a control system according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the control system 1 according to the present embodiment is a communication robot R (hereinafter simply referred to as “robot”) that performs user interaction and interaction (hereinafter simply referred to as “interaction”). R ”).

  The control system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a control device 100, a sensor 120, an actuator 130, a speaker 140, and the like. The sensor 120, the actuator 130, and the speaker 140 are connected to the control device 100 by, for example, a bus.

  The control device 100 is, for example, one or more computers, and controls the actuator 130 and the speaker 140.

  The sensor 120 is, for example, various sensors such as a touch sensor, a microphone, and a human sensor, and detects that the person has touched the robot R, talked by a person, or approached.

  The actuator 130 moves each part such as a hand, a leg, and a neck of the robot R according to the control of the control device 100. Thereby, the robot R presents an interaction such as gesture or hand gesture to the user. In addition, the actuator 130 exists for every site | part which the robot R can operate, such as an actuator for moving a hand and an actuator for moving a foot, for example.

  The speaker 140 emits sound waves according to the control of the control device 100. As a result, the robot R presents the user with an interaction such as speaking or singing.

  Thus, the control device 100 controls the actuator 130 and the speaker 140, whereby the operation of the robot R is controlled. Thereby, the interaction which the robot R performs with respect to a user is controlled.

  The control device 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a random access memory (RAM) 102, a read only memory (ROM) 103, a storage device 104, a communication device 105, an external device 106, and the like. These hardware configurations are connected to each other by a bus or the like.

  The CPU 101 is an arithmetic unit that reads programs and data from the storage device 104, the ROM 103, and the like onto the RAM 102 and executes various processes. The RAM 102 is a volatile semiconductor memory that temporarily stores programs and data. The ROM 103 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory that can retain data even when the power is turned off.

  The storage device 104 is a non-volatile memory that stores programs and data, and is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like. The stored programs and data include an OS (Operating System) that is basic software installed in the control apparatus 100, a program that executes various processes on the OS (for example, the control program 110), and the like.

  The communication device 105 is an interface for the control device 100 to communicate with the sensor 120, the actuator 130, the speaker 140, and the like. The external device 106 is an interface with an external storage medium such as an SD card (SD memory card) or a USB memory (Universal Serial Bus memory). For example, the control program 110 is stored in the storage device 104 by installing the control program 110 stored in the external storage medium.

  The control device 100 according to the present embodiment can realize various processes as described later with the above hardware configuration.

  In the control system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, the case where the control device 100 is built in the robot R has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the control system 1 may be configured such that the control device 100 is installed outside the robot R so that the control device 100 can communicate with the sensor 120, the actuator 130, the speaker 140, and the like via a network.

  Here, when the control device 100 controls the actuator 130 and the speaker 140, the interaction performed by the robot R with respect to the user is roughly classified into an interaction based on a reaction operation and an interaction based on a spontaneous operation.

  The interaction based on the reaction action is based on the user's behavior detected by the sensor 120 (for example, touching, approaching, talking to the robot R, etc.), and the control device 100 controls the action of the robot R to the user. And is an example of the first interaction.

  On the other hand, the interaction based on the spontaneous operation is an operation that is spontaneously presented to the user by the control device 100 controlling the robot R regardless of the behavior of the user, and is an example of the second interaction. is there.

  In this embodiment, by controlling the operation interval of the spontaneous operation of the robot R, the degree of intervention and the intervention level (hereinafter simply referred to as “intervention level”) for the user are controlled. This will be outlined with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation interval control. The intervention refers to the influence that the robot R has on the user due to the interaction. Therefore, the intervention level refers to the degree of influence that the robot R exerts on the user through interaction such as speech and gestures.

  The control device 100 according to the present embodiment sets a score obtained by quantifying the intervention level given to the user by the interaction based on the action for the spontaneous action and the reaction action performed by the robot R. Then, the control device 100 determines whether or not to perform the spontaneous operation based on the total (total score) of the scores of the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation performed in the past predetermined period, thereby determining the operation interval of the spontaneous operation. To control. The intervention level, the score, and the total score are examples of the degree of intervention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, based on a total score of spontaneous actions or reaction actions performed by the robot R at times t _{1 to} t ₆ within a predetermined period in the past (from time t ₀ to the present), It is determined whether or not to perform an operation. Thereby controlling the operation interval from one previously performed the operation (operation performed at time t ₆₎ to do next (operation performed currently). That is, when the total score is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold (when the intervention level for the user is high), control is performed so as not to perform the spontaneous action (that is, lengthen the action interval). On the other hand, when the total score is less than a predetermined threshold (when the intervention level for the user is low), control is performed so as to perform a spontaneous operation (shorten the operation interval). Thus, the control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment controls the intervention level for the user by dynamically controlling the operation interval of the spontaneous operation of the robot R.

[Function configuration]
Next, the functional configuration of the control device 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the control system according to the first embodiment.

  The control device 100 includes a spontaneous operation control unit 11, an operation execution unit 15, and a reaction operation control unit 16. Each of these units is realized by processing that the control program 110 installed in the control device 100 causes the CPU 101 to execute.

  In addition, the control device 100 includes an operation information storage unit 17, a score information storage unit 18, and an operation history information storage unit 19. Each of these storage units is realized by the storage device 104.

  The spontaneous operation control unit 11 controls the determination of the spontaneous operation to be performed by the robot R and the timing (operation interval) at which the spontaneous operation is performed. Here, the spontaneous operation control unit 11 includes a score calculation unit 12, an operation determination unit 13, and an interval determination unit 14.

  Based on the score information table 181 stored in the score information storage unit 18 and the operation history information table 191 stored in the operation history information storage unit 19, the score calculation unit 12 includes the spontaneous operation performed in the past predetermined period and Calculate the total score for reaction behavior.

  The motion determination unit 13 determines the spontaneous motion to be performed by the robot R based on the motion information 171 (see FIG. 4A) of the spontaneous motion stored in the motion information storage unit 17.

  The interval determination unit 14 determines whether or not to cause the robot R to perform a spontaneous operation based on the total score calculated by the score calculation unit 12. In the present embodiment, the interval determination unit 14 performs a spontaneous operation on the robot R by determining whether or not the total score calculated by the score calculation unit 12 is less than a predetermined threshold value set in advance. Determine whether or not

  The motion execution unit 15 causes the robot R to perform the spontaneous motion determined by the spontaneous motion control unit 11. That is, the operation execution unit 15 controls the actuator 130 and the speaker 140 according to the determined operation content of the spontaneous operation to operate the robot R. Similarly, the operation execution unit 15 causes the robot R to perform a reaction operation determined by a reaction operation control unit 16 described later.

  The reaction operation control unit 16 determines a reaction operation to be performed by the robot R. That is, the reaction operation control unit 16 determines the robot R based on the reaction information 172 (see FIG. 4B) stored in the operation information storage unit 17 according to the user's behavior detected by the sensor 120. Determine the reaction action to be performed.

  More specifically, when the user's behavior (for example, the user touched, approached, or talked to the robot R) is detected by the sensor 120 of the robot R, the reaction operation control unit 16 detects the sensor 120 from the sensor 120. Receive data. Then, the reaction operation control unit 16 determines a reaction operation according to the received sensor data based on the operation information 172 of the reaction operation. For example, when the user talks to the robot R, the sensor 120 such as a microphone detects the talk and transmits sensor data to the reaction operation control unit 16. Then, for example, the reaction operation control unit 16 determines a reaction operation such as a “reply” operation based on the operation information 172 of the reaction operation.

  The operation information storage unit 17 stores operation information 171 of spontaneous operation and operation information 172 of reaction operation. Here, the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation and the operation information 172 of the reaction operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation information according to the first embodiment.

  FIG. 4A shows operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation. The action information 171 of the spontaneous action includes action information tables 171H to 171L of the spontaneous action for each priority of the action to be performed by the robot R. That is, the action information 171 of the spontaneous action includes the action information table 171H with the priority “1”, the action information table 171M with the priority “2”, and the priority in the descending order of the spontaneous actions to be performed by the robot R. And an operation information table 171L of degree “3”. As described above, the action information 171 of the spontaneous action is associated with a priority according to, for example, the type of behavior of the spontaneous action, and the spontaneous action to be performed by the robot R is controlled according to the priority. For example, the motion information table 171H with priority “1” manages the motion information of spontaneous motion indicating gestures and the like, and the motion information table 171M with priority “2” stores spontaneous motions indicating monologue and the like. Operation information is managed. In addition, for example, the operation information table 171L of the priority “3” manages the operation information of the spontaneous operation such as walking around. In this way, a method or concept for controlling the operation of the robot R by setting a priority for each type or type of behavior is called a subsumption architecture.

  Each operation information table 171H to 171L has data items such as operation contents, operation time, and necessary resources for each operation ID. The action ID is information that uniquely identifies the action content of the spontaneous action. The operation content is the content of the spontaneous operation that the robot R performs. The operation time is the time required from the start of the spontaneous operation to the end.

  The necessary resource indicates the resource of the robot R necessary for performing the spontaneous operation. For example, in order to cause the robot R to perform the spontaneous action “flick the foot” with the action ID “H001”, the resource “foot” needs to be available. In other words, it is necessary that the actuator 130 for moving the “foot” of the robot R is not occupied by another spontaneous action or reaction action. Similarly, for example, in order to cause the robot R to perform a spontaneous operation indicating monologue, the resource of the speaker 140 needs to be available.

  As described above, in the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation, the operation ID, the operation content, the operation time, the necessary resource, etc. of the spontaneous operation are set for each priority set according to the type or type of the behavior of the spontaneous operation. And is managed by the operation information storage unit 17. In addition to the data items described above, the motion information tables 171H to 171L include, for example, data items indicating conditions (constraint conditions) for determining a spontaneous motion to be performed by the robot R for each motion ID. It may be. For example, the constraint condition may be “After the spontaneous operation with the same priority is performed, the spontaneous operation with the operation ID is not performed for 30 seconds”.

  FIG. 4B shows the action information 172 of the reaction action. The action information 172 of the reaction action includes reaction information tables 172H to 172L of reaction actions for each priority of actions to be performed by the robot R. That is, the action information 172 of the reaction action includes the action information table 172H having the priority “1”, the action information table 173M having the priority “2”, and the priority in the descending order of the reaction actions to be performed by the robot R. The operation information table 174L of “3” is included. As described above, the action information 172 of the reaction action is associated with a priority according to, for example, the type of behavior of the reaction action, and the reaction action to be performed by the robot R is controlled according to the priority. For example, the action information table 172H of priority “1” manages the action information of reaction actions indicating gesture gestures, and the action information table 172M of priority “2” contains reaction actions indicating utterances and the like. Operation information is managed.

  Further, each of the operation information tables 172H to 172L has data items such as operation contents, operation time, and necessary resources for each operation ID, similarly to the operation information tables 171H to 171L of the spontaneous operation.

  Thus, in the action information 172 of the reaction action, the action ID, action content, action time, required resource, etc. of the spontaneous action are set for each priority set according to the type of the action of the reaction action, etc. It is managed by the operation information storage unit 17.

  Note that the priority may be set in common in the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation and the operation information 172 of the reaction operation. In this case, in order for the robot R to prioritize the reaction action over the spontaneous action, the priority of the action information tables 172H to 172L of each reaction action is set to the priority of the action information tables 171H to 171L of each spontaneous action. What is necessary is just to set higher than a priority. For example, the priority of the action information tables 172H to 172L for the reaction action may be set to “1” to “3”, respectively, and the priority of the action information tables 171H to 171L for the spontaneous action may be set to “4” to “5”.

  The score information storage unit 18 stores a score information table 181. Here, the score information table 181 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of score information according to the first embodiment. In the score information table 181, a score for each operation is managed for each operation ID. As described above, the score information table 181 manages a score obtained by quantifying the intervention level given to the user by the interaction based on each spontaneous action and reaction action.

  The operation history information storage unit 19 stores an operation history information table 191. Here, the operation history information table 191 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation history information according to the first embodiment. In the operation history information table 191, a history of spontaneous operations and reaction operations performed in a predetermined period in the past is managed for each operation ID. In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the operation history information table 191 manages operation IDs of spontaneous operations and reaction operations performed in the past three minutes in association with operation times. Thereby, the score calculation unit 12 calculates the total (total score) of the scores of the spontaneous action and the reaction action performed in the past predetermined period by referring to the score information table 181 and the action history information table 191. can do.

  The operation history information table 191 is updated by the operation execution unit 15 when the operation execution unit 15 performs a spontaneous operation or a reaction operation of the robot R. In other words, the action execution unit 15 stores the action ID of the spontaneous action or reaction action performed by the robot R in the action history information table 191 in association with the action time.

[Spontaneous control processing]
Next, the control process of the spontaneous operation according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process of the spontaneous operation according to the first embodiment. Here, the control process of the spontaneous operation shown in FIG. 7 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals (for example, every second). That is, the control device 100 according to the present embodiment controls the operation interval of the spontaneous operation by determining whether or not to perform the spontaneous operation every second, for example.

  In step S701, the operation determination unit 13 of the spontaneous operation control unit 11 sets n = 1 and acquires the operation information table 171H of the priority n from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation. That is, the action determination unit 13 acquires the action information table of the spontaneous action having the highest priority among the action information 171 of the spontaneous action.

  In step S702, the score calculation unit 12 of the spontaneous operation control unit 11 calculates the total score of the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation performed in the past predetermined period based on the operation history information table 191 and the score information table 181 (hereinafter, For convenience, the total score is expressed as “total score S”). Here, the score calculation unit 12 may calculate the total score S by, for example, any one of the following methods (1) to (4).

  (1) The score calculation unit 12 refers to the score information table 181 and calculates the score (basic score) of each action ID included in the action history information table 191. Then, the score calculation unit 12 calculates the total score S by adding the calculated basic scores.

  (2) Instead of the score information table 181, the score calculation unit 12 refers to, for example, a score information table 181A in which a score for each operation element as illustrated in FIG. 8 is managed, and is included in the operation history information table 191. The basic score of each action ID is calculated. Then, the score calculation unit 12 calculates the total score S by adding the calculated basic scores.

  This will be described in more detail. In the score information table 181A shown in FIG. 8, the score for each element is managed for each element of the operation. Therefore, the score calculation unit 12 adds the scores of the elements of the actions included in the spontaneous action or the reaction action corresponding to the action ID for each action ID included in the action history information table 191, thereby obtaining the basis of each action ID. Calculate the score. For example, regarding the operation content “look around” of the spontaneous operation of the operation ID “H002” in FIG. 4A, the element of the operation is “face behavior”. Therefore, the basic score of the action ID “H002” is calculated as “2”. Similarly, for example, with respect to the action content “Rejoice” of the reaction action of the action ID “H101” in FIG. 4B, the action elements are “hand and foot behavior”, “face behavior”, and “verbal utterance”. is there. Therefore, the basic score of the action ID “H101” is calculated as “13”. And the score calculation part 12 calculates the total score S by adding the basic score of each calculated operation | movement ID. This makes it possible to calculate a consistent score for each spontaneous action and reaction action.

(3) The total score S calculated by the above method (1) or (2) is “S ₁ ”, and the total score S is calculated by the following equation. Here, T is a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) set in advance.

  The “total of each operation time” is the total operation time of the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation corresponding to each operation ID included in the operation history information table 191. Accordingly, the total score S can be calculated according to the operation time of the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation.

(4) The total score S calculated by any one of the methods (1) to (3) is “S ₂ ”, and the total score S is calculated by the following formula.

Note that p _e in the above formula is N the number of operation IDs included in the operation history information table 191, and N _{e is} the number of predetermined operation IDs set in advance among the operation IDs included in the operation history information table 191. Is expressed by the following formula.

  Thereby, the total score S can be increased when a spontaneous action and a reaction action corresponding to a preset action ID are performed. Therefore, the total score S can be increased by, for example, setting the action ID of a spontaneous action or reaction action that catches the eye.

  In step S703, the interval determination unit 14 of the spontaneous operation control unit 11 determines whether or not the calculated total score S is less than a predetermined threshold value set in advance. When the total score S is less than the predetermined threshold value, the spontaneous operation control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S704.

  On the other hand, when the total score S is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, the spontaneous motion control unit 11 ends the process (that is, the spontaneous motion control unit 11 controls the robot R not to perform the spontaneous motion). This means that if the intervention level given to the user by the interaction based on the spontaneous action and the reaction action performed in a predetermined period in the past is greater than or equal to a predetermined level, control is performed so as not to perform the spontaneous action. . Thereby, the operation interval at which the robot R performs the spontaneous operation is controlled.

  In step S704, the action determination unit 13 determines whether there is a spontaneous action that can be executed from the obtained action information table of the spontaneous action. For example, the operation determination unit 13 refers to the “necessary resource” data item of each spontaneous operation included in the acquired operation information table of the spontaneous operation, and determines whether there is an executable spontaneous operation. When there is a feasible spontaneous action, the spontaneous action control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S705, whereas when there is no executable spontaneous action, the spontaneous action control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S706. .

  In step S705, the action determination unit 13 determines a spontaneous action to be performed by the robot R among the spontaneous actions determined to be executable in step S704. For example, the action determining unit 13 randomly selects one spontaneous action from the spontaneous actions determined to be executable in step S704, and determines the selected spontaneous action to be performed by the robot R. .

  In step S706, the operation determination unit 13 sets n = n + 1 and acquires the operation information table of priority n from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation. That is, the operation determination unit 13 acquires the operation information table of the next lower priority from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation. As described above, when there is no executable spontaneous action that can be executed in the action information table of the spontaneous action having the priority n, the action determining unit 13 acquires the action information table of the spontaneous action having the priority n + 1.

  In step S707, the operation executing unit 15 controls the actuator 130 and the speaker 140 according to the operation content of the spontaneous operation determined in step S705, and causes the robot R to perform the spontaneous operation. As a result, the robot R performs a spontaneous operation.

  As described above, in the control device 100 according to the first embodiment, when the intervention level given to the user by the interaction based on the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation performed in the past predetermined period is equal to or higher than the predetermined level, Control to prevent spontaneous operation. Thereby, for example, when many reaction operations are performed in a predetermined period in the past, the operation interval of the subsequent spontaneous operation is increased so that the intervention level of the robot R with respect to the user does not become too high. can do. Similarly, for example, when the reaction operation is hardly performed in a predetermined period in the past, the operation interval of the subsequent spontaneous operation is shortened so that the intervention level of the robot R with respect to the user does not become too low. Can be controlled.

  In addition, in step S702 of FIG. 7, the operation interval of the spontaneous operation was controlled based on the total score S of the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation performed in the past predetermined period. For example, the previous total score S is calculated as time passes. The total score S of this time may be calculated by decreasing the value. For example, assuming that the current score is t and the total score of the previous time is S (t−1), the current total score S (t) is S (t) = S (t−1) × α + Σ ( It may be calculated as the basic score of the action ID of the spontaneous action or reaction action performed from time t-1 to t. In the above equation, α is a predetermined attenuation coefficient set in advance.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a control system 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. The control device 100 of the control system 1 according to the second embodiment sets a time during which the robot R can perform the next spontaneous operation based on a predetermined threshold and a total score set in advance (that is, an operation interval). To decide.

[Spontaneous control processing]
The control process of the spontaneous operation according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process of the spontaneous operation according to the second embodiment. Here, the control process of the spontaneous operation shown in FIG. 9 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals (for example, every second). Steps S701 and S702, and steps S704 to S706 are the same as the control process (FIG. 7) of the spontaneous operation according to the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

In step S <b> 901, the interval determination unit 14 determines the time until the robot R performs the determined spontaneous action based on the predetermined threshold value set in advance and the calculated total score S (that is, the operation interval) T. ₁ is determined. Here, in the present embodiment, the total score S of the spontaneous action and the reaction action performed in the past predetermined period at the time t after the current time is represented as “total score S _t ”.

More specifically, interval determination section 14 determines the time T ₁ as follows. That is, first, the interval determination unit 14 calculates the basic score ss of the determined spontaneous action by the score calculation unit 12. The interval determination unit 14 sets the time T ₁ to “0” when the sum of the total score S and the basic score ss is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. On the other hand, when the sum of the total score S and the basic score ss exceeds a predetermined threshold, the interval determination unit 14 calculates a time t when the sum of the total score _St and the basic score ss is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold. the time t ₁ is referred to as "time t and the difference between the current time".

In step S902, the operation execution unit 15, after the time T ₁ has elapsed, in accordance with the operation contents of the determined spontaneous operation, by controlling the actuator 130, a speaker 140, it causes spontaneous operation to the robot R. Thus, the robot R after a time T ₁ elapses, performs the spontaneous behavior.

The operation execution unit 15 in step S902, before the time T ₁ is passed, if the reaction operation to be performed by the robot R is determined by reaction operation control unit 16 stops the control processing of the spontaneous behavior, The determined reaction action is executed.

  As described above, in the control device 100 according to the second embodiment, the time during which the robot R can perform the spontaneous motion determined by the motion determination unit 13 is determined. Thus, for example, when the robot R performs a spontaneous action with a high intervention level (ie, a high score), the robot R is controlled to perform a spontaneous action with a low intervention level while controlling the operation interval to be short. In some cases, the operation interval can be controlled to be long.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, a control system 1 according to the third embodiment will be described. The control device 100 of the control system 1 according to the third embodiment causes the robot R to perform the next spontaneous operation by referring to a predetermined table based on the difference between the total score and a predetermined threshold set in advance. The time (operation interval) that can be determined is determined.

[Function configuration]
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the control system according to the third embodiment. The control device 100 according to the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment and the second embodiment in that the operation interval information storage unit 20 is included. The operation interval information storage unit 20 is realized by the storage device 104 or the like.

  The operation interval information storage unit 20 stores an operation interval information table 201. Here, the operation interval information table 201 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of operation interval information according to the third embodiment. The operation interval information table 201 is managed in association with the difference score indicating the difference between the total score S and a predetermined threshold value set in advance until the robot R performs the spontaneous operation. The interval determination unit 14 according to the present embodiment controls the operation interval of the spontaneous operation to be performed by the robot R by determining the operation interval from the operation interval information table 201 based on the calculated difference score.

[Spontaneous control processing]
The control process of the spontaneous operation according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process of the spontaneous operation according to the third embodiment. Here, the control process of the spontaneous operation shown in FIG. 12 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals (for example, every second). Note that steps S701 and S702, steps S704 to S706, and step S902 are the same as the control processing (FIG. 7 or FIG. 9) of the spontaneous operation of the first embodiment or the second embodiment, and therefore will be described. Is omitted.

In step S1201, the interval determination unit 14 calculates a difference score between the calculated total score S and a predetermined threshold set in advance. Next, the interval determination unit 14 refers to the operation interval information table 201 and acquires a time corresponding to the calculated difference score. Then, the interval determination unit 14 determines the time acquired from the operation interval information table 201 as the time T ₁ (that is, the operation interval) until the robot R performs the spontaneous operation.

  In step S1201, the interval determination unit 14 controls the operation interval by acquiring the time corresponding to the difference score from the operation interval information table 201. For example, a predetermined function value using the difference score as an argument is used as the operation interval. Also good.

  As described above, in the control device 100 according to the third embodiment, the operation interval is determined from the operation interval information table 201 based on the difference between the total score S and a predetermined threshold value set in advance. Accordingly, the operation interval can be flexibly controlled by appropriately setting the operation interval information table 201. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, when the difference score is “10 or more”, by setting the operation interval to “3 seconds”, even if the total score S exceeds a predetermined threshold value, It is possible to prevent a situation in which the robot R does not perform spontaneous operation for several tens of seconds.

<Fourth Embodiment>
Next, a control system 1 according to the fourth embodiment will be described. The control device 100 of the control system 1 according to the fourth embodiment controls the operation interval of the spontaneous operation using a predetermined threshold set in advance for each priority of the operation information of the spontaneous operation. Hereinafter, a predetermined threshold set in advance for the operation information of the spontaneous operation with the priority n is represented as “a predetermined threshold with the priority n”.

[Spontaneous control processing]
The control process of the spontaneous operation according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a control process for a spontaneous operation according to the fourth embodiment. Note that step S701, step S705, and step S707 are the same as the control process (FIG. 7) of the spontaneous operation of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In step S <b> 1301, the score calculation unit 12 determines a spontaneous action (spontaneous action of priority n) based on action information of a spontaneous action of priority n performed in a predetermined period in the past based on the action history information table 191 and the score information table 181. The total score S of (operation) is calculated. Here, the total score S of spontaneous actions with priority n is simply expressed as “total score S with priority n”. Note that a method similar to that of the first embodiment may be used as a method of calculating the total score S of the priority n. Further, when a reaction operation has been performed in a predetermined period in the past, a basic score of the reaction operation, for example, added to the total score S of priority 1 is set as the total score S of priority 1 again. Good.

  In step S <b> 1302, the interval determination unit 14 determines whether the total score S of priority n is less than a predetermined threshold value of priority n. When the total score S of the priority n is less than the predetermined threshold value of the priority n, the spontaneous operation control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S1305. On the other hand, when the total score S of the priority n is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value of the priority n, the spontaneous operation control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S1303.

  In step S1303, the operation determination unit 13 sets n = n + 1 and acquires the operation information table of priority n from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation. That is, the operation determination unit 13 acquires the operation information table of the next lower priority from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation. As described above, when the total score S of the priority n is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value of the priority n, the operation determination unit 13 acquires the operation information table of the spontaneous operation with the priority n + 1.

  In step S1304, the interval determination unit 14 subtracts a value (excess value) in which the total score S of priority n-1 exceeds a predetermined threshold value of priority n-1 from the predetermined threshold value of priority n. To do. When the total score S of the priority n−1 is equal to the predetermined threshold value of the priority n−1, the excess value is “0”.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 14A, when the total score S of the priority n−1 is “65” and the predetermined threshold value of the priority n−1 is “60”, the excess value is “5”. Become. Therefore, the excess value “5” is subtracted from the predetermined threshold value “25” of the priority level n to set the predetermined threshold value of the priority level n to “20”. In this way, when the total score of spontaneous actions with high priority is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold, adjustment is performed to lower the predetermined threshold of spontaneous actions with low priority. Thus, the operation interval of the spontaneous operation is controlled for each priority so that the total score of all the spontaneous operations of all priorities falls within a predetermined range. Therefore, for example, when many spontaneous operations with a high priority are performed, it is possible to control so that the spontaneous operations with a low priority are not performed much (that is, the operation interval is lengthened). On the other hand, for example, when the spontaneous operation with high priority is not performed so much, it is possible to control so that many spontaneous operations with low priority are performed (that is, the operation interval is shortened). Thus, in the present embodiment, the operation interval can be flexibly controlled according to the priority.

  In step S1305, the operation determination unit 13 determines whether there is a spontaneous operation that can be executed from the acquired operation information table of the spontaneous operation. When there is a feasible spontaneous action, the spontaneous action control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S705, whereas when there is no executable spontaneous action, the spontaneous action control unit 11 proceeds to the process of step S1305. .

  In step S1306, the operation determination unit 13 obtains an operation information table of priority n from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation with n = n + 1. That is, the operation determination unit 13 acquires the operation information table of the next lower priority from the operation information 171 of the spontaneous operation.

  In step S1307, the interval determination unit 14 adds the difference value (difference value) between the predetermined threshold value of priority n-1 and the total score S of priority n-1 to the predetermined threshold value of priority n. .

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14B, when the total score S of the priority n−1 is “55” and the predetermined threshold value of the priority n−1 is “60”, the difference value is “5”. Become. Therefore, the difference value “5” is added to the predetermined threshold “25” of the priority n, and the predetermined threshold of the priority n is set to “30”. As described above, when the total score of the spontaneous actions with high priority is less than the predetermined threshold, adjustment is performed to increase the predetermined threshold of priority. Thus, the operation interval of the spontaneous operation is controlled for each priority so that the total score of all the spontaneous operations of all priorities falls within a predetermined range.

  As described above, the control device 100 according to the fourth embodiment can control the operation interval of the spontaneous operation for each priority. Thereby, an operation | movement space | interval can be controlled flexibly according to a priority.

<Fifth Embodiment>
Next, a control system 1 according to the fifth embodiment will be described. A control device 100 according to the fifth embodiment controls an operation interval of a spontaneous operation of a CG (Computer Graphics) agent displayed on a display device or the like.

[System configuration]
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of a control system according to the fifth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the control system 1 according to this embodiment includes a signage 150 that displays a CG agent R ′ that interacts with a user, a control device 100 that controls the spontaneous operation and reaction operation of the CG agent R ′, and the like. Have The signage 150 includes a sensor 120, a speaker 140, and the like. With such a configuration, the control device 100 can control the operation interval of the spontaneous operation of the CG agent R ′. That is, the control device 100 according to the first to fourth embodiments also controls the spontaneous operation and reaction operation of the CG agent R ′ such as a character displayed on the display device such as the signage 150. Can be applied.

  As described above, in the control system 1 according to the first embodiment, the intervention level given to the user by the interaction based on the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation performed in the past predetermined period is greater than or equal to the predetermined level. In this case, the spontaneous operation of the robot R is suppressed. Thereby, for example, when many reaction operations are performed in a predetermined period in the past, the operation interval of the subsequent spontaneous operation is increased so that the intervention level of the robot R with respect to the user does not become too high. can do. Similarly, for example, when the reaction operation is hardly performed in a predetermined period in the past, the spontaneous operation of the robot R is promoted. As a result, it is possible to control so that the intervention level of the robot R with respect to the user does not become too low due to the subsequent operation interval being shortened.

  In the control system 1 according to the second embodiment, the operation interval of the spontaneous operation is determined based on the intervention level given to the user by the interaction based on the spontaneous operation and the reaction operation performed in the past predetermined period. Thus, for example, when the robot R performs a spontaneous action with a high intervention level (ie, a high score), the robot R is controlled to perform a spontaneous action with a low intervention level while controlling the operation interval to be short. In some cases, the operation interval can be controlled to be long.

  In the control system 1 according to the third embodiment, the operation interval is determined by the preset operation interval information table 201. Accordingly, the operation interval can be flexibly controlled by appropriately setting the operation interval information table 201.

  In the control system 1 according to the fourth embodiment, the operation interval of the spontaneous operation is controlled for each priority. Thereby, an operation | movement space | interval can be controlled flexibly according to a priority.

  In the control system 1 according to the fifth embodiment, the operation interval of the spontaneous operation of the CG agent R ′ displayed on the display device or the like is controlled. As described above, the control device 100 according to the first to fourth embodiments is not limited to the robot field, but is a field that works on the user by the action of a character represented by CG or the like (for example, In the field of advertising, etc.).

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to such specific embodiment, In the range of the summary of this invention described in the claim, various deformation | transformation・ Change is possible.

Regarding the above description, the following items are further disclosed.
(Appendix 1)
Determining a first interaction to be presented to the user based on the sensed user behavior;
Determining a second interaction to voluntarily present to the user;
Calculating the degree of intervention based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented in the past predetermined period;
A control method in which a computer executes processing for controlling the timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention.
(Appendix 2)
The process to control is
The control method according to appendix 1, wherein the timing for presenting the second interaction is controlled based on a determination result of whether or not the degree of intervention is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
(Appendix 3)
The process for calculating the degree of intervention is:
Based on the first interaction and the second interaction, calculate the degree of intervention for each priority set for each type of the second interaction,
The process to control is
The control method according to appendix 2, wherein it is determined whether or not the intervention degree for each priority is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold corresponding to the priority.
(Appendix 4)
The process for calculating the degree of intervention is:
Further, at least one of a time during which the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user and an elapsed time since the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user. The control method according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, wherein the calculated degree of intervention is adjusted based on
(Appendix 5)
A first determination unit that determines a first interaction to be presented to the user based on the sensed user behavior;
A second determination unit for determining a second interaction to be voluntarily presented to the user;
A calculation unit that calculates an intervention degree based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented in a past predetermined period;
A control unit that controls a timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention.
(Appendix 6)
The controller is
The control device according to appendix 5, wherein the timing for presenting the second interaction is controlled based on a determination result of whether or not the degree of intervention is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
(Appendix 7)
The calculation unit includes:
Based on the first interaction and the second interaction, calculate the degree of intervention for each priority set for each type of the second interaction,
The controller is
The control device according to appendix 6, wherein it is determined whether or not the intervention degree for each priority is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value corresponding to the priority.
(Appendix 8)
The calculation unit includes:
Further, at least one of a time during which the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user and an elapsed time since the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user. The control device according to any one of appendices 5 to 7, wherein the calculated degree of intervention is adjusted based on
(Appendix 9)
Determining a first interaction to be presented to the user based on the sensed user behavior;
Determining a second interaction to voluntarily present to the user;
Calculating the degree of intervention based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented in the past predetermined period;
A program for causing a computer to execute processing for controlling the timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention.
(Appendix 10)
The process to control is
The program according to appendix 9, wherein the timing for presenting the second interaction is controlled based on a determination result as to whether or not the degree of intervention is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
(Appendix 11)
The process for calculating the degree of intervention is:
Based on the first interaction and the second interaction, calculate the degree of intervention for each priority set for each type of the second interaction,
The process to control is
The program according to appendix 10, wherein it is determined whether or not the intervention degree for each priority is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold corresponding to the priority.
(Appendix 12)
The process for calculating the degree of intervention is:
Further, at least one of a time during which the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user and an elapsed time since the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user. The program according to any one of appendices 9 to 11, wherein the calculated degree of intervention is adjusted based on the above.

1: Control system 11: Spontaneous motion control unit 12: Score calculation unit 13: Motion determination unit 14: Interval determination unit 15: Motion execution unit 16: Reaction motion control unit 17: Motion information storage unit 18: Score information storage unit 19: Operation history information storage unit 100: control device 110: control program 120: sensor 130: actuator 140: speaker

Claims (6)

Determining a first interaction to be presented to the user based on the sensed user behavior;
Determining a second interaction to voluntarily present to the user;
Calculating the degree of intervention based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented in the past predetermined period;
A control method in which a computer executes processing for controlling the timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention. The process to control is
The control method according to claim 1, wherein a timing for presenting the second interaction is controlled based on a determination result of whether or not the degree of intervention is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. The process for calculating the degree of intervention is:
Based on the first interaction and the second interaction, calculate the degree of intervention for each priority set for each type of the second interaction,
The process to control is
The control method according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether or not the intervention level for each priority level is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold corresponding to the priority level. The process for calculating the degree of intervention is:
Further, at least one of a time during which the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user and an elapsed time since the first interaction and the second interaction are presented to the user. The control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the calculated degree of intervention is adjusted based on the above. A first determination unit that determines a first interaction to be presented to the user based on the sensed user behavior;
A second determination unit for determining a second interaction to be voluntarily presented to the user;
A calculation unit that calculates an intervention degree based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented in a past predetermined period;
A control unit that controls a timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention. Determining a first interaction to be presented to the user based on the sensed user behavior;
Determining a second interaction to voluntarily present to the user;
Calculating the degree of intervention based on the first interaction and the second interaction presented in the past predetermined period;
A program for causing a computer to execute processing for controlling the timing of presenting the second interaction based on the degree of intervention.

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