Patent Application
20170075330
The present invention relates to a data transmission system, a data transmission apparatus, a data transmission method and a data transmission program, and especially to a data transmission apparatus, a data transmission method and a data transmission program, in which three-dimensional point group data are transmitted to a remote apparatus.
A technique is known in which a three-dimensional shape is measured by a three-dimensional sensor to acquire point group data (to be also referred to as a point cloud) of points (positions) indicated by the three-dimensional coordinates. A laser scanner and a stereo camera are exemplified as the three-dimensional sensor to acquire the point group data. For example, the laser scanner measures the three-dimensional coordinate positions (the point group data) on the surface of a measurement object based on the laser irradiation light and the reflected light. Specifically, the laser scanner acquires the three-dimensional coordinate positions on the surface of the measurement object based on the round-trip time of the laser beam between the measurement object and the sensor and the irradiation angle of the laser beam. At this time, by synthesizing the point group data with color data acquired by a camera provided separately from the laser scanner and so on, it is possible to make it easy to visibly recognize the three-dimensional shape of the measurement object.
Generally, because there are a large quantity of point group data acquired by the three-dimensional sensor, processing of reducing the data quantity of the point group data is carried out to reduce a calculation quantity, when analyzing the point group data and modeling the three-dimensional shape. For example, the point group data are acquired while changing a scan position, and the point group data in each scan position are synthesized to obtain the shape in a wide region. In such a case, the positioning (the matching processing) of the acquired point group data must be carried out. In this case, in order to reduce the calculation quantity in the matching processing, the data quantity of the point group data is reduced. The technique of reducing the data quantity of point group data for the matching processing is disclosed in, for example, “Fast range-independent spherical subsampling of 3D laser scanner points and data reduction performance evaluation for scene registration” (Non-Patent Literature 1).
In Non-Patent Literature 1, the technique of reducing the point group data for a data interval to become constant in a spherical coordinate system is disclosed. To carry out the matching processing, the point group data needs to be reduced while the shape data of the object is maintained. For this reason, in the technique disclosed in Non-Patent Literature 1, the number of the point group data is reduced so that the interval between the point group data after the reduction become as constant as possible over the whole data measuring range.
Also, because there are a large quantity of point group data, a long time is required when all the measured point group data are transmitted to the other apparatus. For example, when the three-dimensional scanner is loaded in a traveling-type robot which is controlled by a remote control terminal, the shape (e.g. a peripheral landform) around the traveling-type robot is transmitted to the remote control terminal as the point group data. A user who operates the remote control terminal can grasp a situation of the periphery of the traveling-type robot and instruct the next operation of the traveling-type robot by processing the transmitted point group data and producing a shape image (e.g. a landform image). At this time, when taking a long transmission time of the point group data, a time necessary to instruct the next operation of the traveling-type robot becomes long, resulting in prolongation of a mission performing time of the robot. Therefore, when the point group data is transmitted to the remote control terminal from the traveling-type robot, it is required to reduce the data quantity of the point group data and to shorten the transmission time of the point group data. Especially, when the propagation environment of a data transmission path is bad between the traveling-type robot and the remote control terminal (for example, when the transmission capacity is small), it is strongly required to reduce the data quantity of the point group data.
Moreover, when carrying out a remote operation, it is necessary to ensure the visibility to the peripheral landform of the robot. Therefore, it is required to reduce the point group data to be transmitted while maintaining the visibility.
[Non-patent Literature 1] Anthony Mandow, et al., “Fast range-independent spherical subsampling of 3D laser scanner points and data reduction performance evaluation for scene registration”, (Journal Pattern Recognition Letters, Vol. 31, Issue 11, Aug. 1, 2010, Pages. 1239-1250)
An object of the present invention is to provide a data transmission system, a data transmission apparatus, a data transmission method and a data transmission program, which can reduce a data quantity of point group data to be transmitted to a remote control terminal.
The data transmission apparatus according to some embodiments includes an actuator, a three-dimensional sensor, a processing unit (a data selecting section) and a communication section. The actuator is controlled in response to a control signal from a remote operation apparatus. The point group data showing the three-dimensional coordinates are acquired by the three-dimensional sensor. The processing unit selects transmission object data based on the point group data. The communication section transmits the selected transmission object data to the remote control terminal. Here, the processing unit sets an upper limit of a data quantity of the transmission object data belonging to a predetermined three-dimensional region.
A data transmission method according to some embodiment is a data transmission method by a data transmission apparatus having an actuator controlled in response to a control signal from a remote control terminal and includes the following steps. That is, the data transmission method includes acquiring point group data showing three-dimensional coordinates; selecting transmission object data based on the point group data; and transmitting the transmission object data to the remote control terminal. The processing unit of the data transmission apparatus sets an upper limit of a data quantity of the transmission object data belonging to a predetermined three-dimensional region.
According to the present invention, the data quantity of the point group data to be transmitted to the remote control terminal can be reduced.
The attached drawings are incorporated into this Specification to help the description of embodiments. Note that the drawings should not be interpreted to limit the present invention to shown examples and described examples.
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the following detailed description, many detailed specific items are disclosed for the purpose of the description in order to provide the comprehensive understanding of the embodiments. However, it would be apparent that one or more embodiments are executable without these detailed specific items.
A data transmission system according to some embodiments selects transmission object data from between point group data acquired by a remote-controlled robot. An upper limit is set to a quantity of a part selected as the transmission object data, of the point group data which belongs to a predetermined three-dimensional region. Thus, sparse and dense of the transmission object data selected from the point group data of the predetermined three-dimensional region can be controlled. Therefore, the sparse and dense of the transmission object data (data to be transmitted of the point group data) which shows the shape of a measurement object while reducing the traffic can be optionally selected. For example, the measurement object is virtually covered with a three-dimensional grid, and the point group data in the grid are reduced according to a predetermined algorithm. The robot transmits the point group data (the transmission object data) of the reduced data quantity to the remote control terminal. The remote control terminal produces a shape image around the robot based on the received point group data to visibly output to a display unit and so on. A user controls the operation of the robot by operating the remote control terminal while viewing the shape image around the robot.
Referring to
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Hereinafter, referring to
The remote control terminal 101 is connected with an output unit 102, an input unit 103, and a transmission unit 104. The remote control terminal 101 is exemplified by a computer system and includes a CPU and a storage unit (not shown). The remote control terminal 101 controls the operation of the robot 10, and generates a surface shape image of a measurement object based on the point group data 20 transmitted from the robot 10 to visibly output to the output unit 102. The details of the configuration of the remote control terminal 101 will be described later. The output unit 102 is exemplified by a monitor and a printer, and visibly outputs image data outputted from the remote control terminal 101. The input unit 103 is exemplified by a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, a joystick and so on, and is an interface unit which inputs various data generated by the operation of the user to the remote control terminal 101. The transmission unit 104 is a communication interface unit which controls the transmission of data and signals between the remote control terminal 101 and (a transmission unit 1 of) the robot 10. In details, the transmission unit 104 builds a transmission line with the transmission unit 1 loaded on the robot 10 by either of a radio line or a wired line or both lines, and controls the data transmission between the remote control terminal 101 and the robot 10.
Note that the remote control terminal 101, the output unit 102, the input unit 103, and the transmission unit 104 may be provided as individual units as shown in
The robot 10 has a transmission unit 1, a three-dimensional sensor 2, a leg section 3, and an arm section 4. The robot 10 functions as a data transmission apparatus in which a data quantity of the point group data 20 acquired through the measurement by the three-dimensional sensor 2 is reduced based on predetermined algorithm, such that the reduced point group data 20 is transmitted to the remote control terminal 101. In other words, the robot 10 is one embodiment of the data transmission apparatus.
The transmission unit 1 is an interface unit which controls the transmission of data and signals between the robot 10 and the remote control terminal 101. In detail, the transmission unit 1 builds a transmission path with the transmission unit 104 connected with the remote control terminal 101 by either of a radio line or a wired line or both lines, and controls the data transmission between the robot 10 and the remote control terminal 101.
The three-dimensional sensor 2 is exemplified by a laser scanner and a stereo camera, and acquires the three-dimensional position coordinates on the surface of the measurement object around the robot 10 as the point group data 20 (to be also referred to as a point cloud). For example, the laser scanner which can be used as the three-dimensional sensor 2 acquires the point group data 20 by one method of a trigonometry method, a time-of-flight method, and a phase difference method (phase-shift method).
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The communication section 201 controls the transmission unit 104 shown in
The robot 10 includes a computer system (for example, the computer system contains a processing unit including a CPU and so on and a storage unit) not shown. By the CPU executing a program stored in the storage (not shown) in the robot 10, each of the functions of a point group coordinate calculating section 11, a data selecting section 12, a recognizing section 13, a communication section 14 and a controller 15 is realized. Each function of the point group coordinate calculating section 11, the data selecting section 12, the recognizing section 13, the communication section 14 and the controller 15 may be realized by only the hardware, or the cooperation of the software and the hardware. By the computer system (the processing unit containing the CPU) executing the above-mentioned program, processing of types such as point group data acquisition processing, point group data selection processing, and surface shape calculation processing is realized.
The point group coordinate calculating section 11 (a processing unit) calculates the three-dimensional position coordinates (X, Y, Z) of the measurement points as the point group data 20 by using a distance between the measurement object and the sensor and an irradiation angle (a reflection angle) which are measured by the three-dimensional sensor 2 (in other words, the point group coordinate calculating section 11 executes the point group data acquisition processing which calculates the three-dimensional position coordinates of the measurement points measured by the three-dimensional sensor 2 as the point group data 20). Also, the point group coordinate calculating section 11 may carry out matching processing of the point group data 20 obtained by the three-dimensional sensor 2 in a plurality of positions and extract as the point group data 20 of the whole measurement range. The point group data 20 calculated by the point group coordinate calculating section 11 are outputted to the data selecting section 12. Here, the robot 10 may have a CCD camera to acquire color data (RGB) so as to improve the visibility of the landform around the robot and the shape of the measurement object, in addition to the three-dimensional sensor 2. In this case, the point group coordinate calculating section 11 may synthesize the point group data 20 and the color data (carry out color matching). However, in order to reduce a data quantity of transmission data to the remote control terminal 101 or to reduce a calculation quantity in the robot 10, the point group data 20 and the color data may be transmitted to the remote control terminal 101 from the robot 10 at the different timings, and the color matching may be carried out in the remote control terminal 101.
The data selecting section 12 (the processing unit) executes the point group data selection processing of selecting the point group data 20 to be transmitted to the remote control terminal 101 from among the point group data 20 acquired by the point group coordinate calculating section 11. At this time, it is desirable that the data selecting section 12 sets a predetermined region, and determines an upper limit of the data quantity of the transmission data in the region.
The data selecting section 12 arranges a grid in a virtual space, in which the point group data 20 acquired from the point group coordinate calculating section 11 are distributed, (to divide the virtual space into predetermined three-dimensional grid regions), and reduces the number of point group data 20 which belongs to each cell of the grid 30 according to predetermined algorithm (the point group data selection processing). The data selecting section 12 outputs the point group data 20 of the transmission object data which belongs to each cell of the grid 30, to the communication section 14. The data selecting section 12 may select the point group data 20 of the transmission object data (registered in the grid 30) as the point group data 20 to be transmitted in a high priority earlier than the other point group data 20. In this case, the point group data 20 which are not selected in the selection processing may be outputted to the communication section 14 as data with a low priority. It is desirable that the point group data 20 selected by the data selecting section 12 and the entire point group data 20 before selected are recorded in the storage unit (not shown). The details of the point group data selection processing by the data selecting section 12 will be described later.
Also, the data selecting section 12 may analyze the point group data 20 in the predetermined region, and select data obtained based on the analysis result, as the transmission object data. The details of a method of acquiring the data obtained based on the analysis result of the point group data 20 will be described later.
It is desirable that the data selecting section 12 outputs all of the point group data 20 acquired from the point group coordinate calculating section 11 (the point group data 20 before the selection) to the recognizing section 13. However, the data selecting section 12 may output the point group data 20 selected as the transmission object data, to the recognizing section 13.
The recognizing section 13 executes surface shape calculation processing of analyzing the point group data 20, and calculating the surface shape of the measurement object in the region measured by the three-dimensional sensor 2 (the region in which the point group data 20 of the analysis object are distributed). The recognizing section 13 outputs the data showing the calculated surface shape, to the controller 15. This data is desirable to be recorded in the storage unit (not shown). The data of the surface shape obtained here contains, for example, the peripheral landform of the measured region and data showing the detailed position coordinates of the target object 90.
The controller 15 controls the operation of the actuator 16 in response to an operation command signal which is generated based on the control signal supplied from the remote control terminal 101 through the communication section 14. In detail, the controller 15 receives the control signal (for example, data showing a target position and a target attitude) from the remote control terminal 101 to move the leg section 3, the arm section 4 or the like to a desired position. The controller 15 controls the actuator 16 in response to the control signal such that the leg section 3, the arm section 4 and so on take the position and attitude instructed from the remote control terminal 101. At this time, an operation quantity and operation direction of the actuator 16 may be corrected based on the data showing the surface shape of the measurement object outputted from the recognizing section 13 (for example, the surface coordinates of the measurement object), and the position coordinates of the link or the end effectors 401 and 402 in the leg section 3 or the arm section 4.
The controller 15 may autonomously determine the operation quantity and operation direction of the actuator 16 to control the operation of the robot 10, by using the surface coordinates of the measurement object outputted from the recognizing section 13, and the position coordinates of the link or the end effectors 401 and 402 in the leg section 3 or the arm section 4. In this case, the controller 15 may use not the point group data 20 selected as the transmission object data but data of the detailed surface shape calculated in the recognizing section 13, in order to carry out the improvement of the operation precision and the detailed analysis of a traveling route.
The actuator 16 is exemplified by a servo motor, a power cylinder, a linear actuator, a rubber actuator and so on, and controls a mechanical conduct of the leg section 3, the arm section 4 and so on in response to an operation command signal from the controller 15. The actuator 16 may drive the leg section 3, the arm section 4 and so on directly or indirectly. That is, the actuator 16 may be provided separately from the leg section 3 or the arm section 4 and may be loaded as a part of the leg section 3, the arm section 4 and so on (e.g. the joint section). Also, when the leg section 3 is a rotating body which is exemplified by a wheel, a motor or an engine may be used as the actuator 16.
Referring to
The robot 10 reduces a data quantity of the point group data 20 as the transmission object data with the filtering using the grid 30, and transmits the point group data 20 after the data quantity reduction to the remote control terminal 101. For example, the robot 10 (the data selecting section 12) restricts the number of point group data in the cell 31 to a predetermined number, and excludes a part of the point group data 20, which exceeds the predetermined number, or sets the priority of the transmission to a low level. Thus, the number of data to be transmitted of the plurality of closed point group data 20 can be restricted to the predetermined number or below.
Note that the point group data 20-2 and 20-3 excluded from the transmission object data may be selected (registered) as data to be transmitted to the remote control terminal 101 after the transmission of the selected point group data 20-1. In this case, it is possible to transmit the point group data 20 of a large data quantity to the remote control terminal 101 by dividing for every predetermined data quantity.
An order which is selected (registered) as the transmission object data in the cell 31 can be optionally set. For example, the order may be selected based on the scan order of the three-dimensional sensor 2. In this case, the point group data 20 on the side of the upper stream in the scan direction of the three-dimensional sensor 2 in the cell 31 may be selected with a higher priority as the transmission object data. Specifically, the measurement is carried out in order of the point group data 20-1, 20-2, and 20-3, and when the upper limit of the transmission object data is 2, the point group data 20-1 and 20-2 are selected as the transmission object data.
As mentioned above, in the data transmission system 100, it is possible to reduce a data quantity of data to be transmitted to the remote control terminal 101 by using the grid 30 having the direction Yg as the reference. Note that the shape of the grid (cell 31) is not limited to a cube or a rectangular parallelepiped and may be a polyhedron. Also, the size of the cell 31 is not uniform over the grid 30 but may be different depending on the place. The size of the cell 31 can be changed by applying the Octree Method to the cell 31 in a predetermined region. In this case, the cell size can be set to be small near the edge of the measurement object and to be large apart from the edge. Or, to be described later, the size of the cell 31 in a specified region and the neighborhood region of the important point may be made smaller than another cell 31. Moreover, it is desirable that the grid 30 is arranged based on the direction Yg of the sight line, but it may be arranged based on another direction.
Referring to
The region 33 may have any shape if the region is determined based on the important point 32, and it is desirable that the region 33 is determined to have a predetermined distance from the important point 32. The region 34 in which the transmission rate of the transmission data is made small is set to a part except for the region 33 of the region in which the point group data 20 are distributed. Also, the region 34 may be set for the transmission rate of the transmission data to be made small step-by-step according to the distance from the important point 32. For example, the region in which the point group data 20 are distributed is divided into a plurality of regions, and the transmission rate of the transmission data may be made small according to (for example, in proportional to) the distance from the important point 32 to each of the divided regions. Moreover, a plurality of the regions 33 and 34 may be set. In such a case, an upper limit of the number of the point group data registered as the transmission data (the transmission object point group data) and the transmission rate can be optionally set to the cell 31 contained in each of the plurality of regions. Also, conditions for determining the regions 33 and 34 can be optionally set without restricting to the conditions in the above-mentioned method. For example, a predetermined condition may be determined such that the region 33 prescribed by a plurality of cells 31 which meet the predetermined condition, and the region 34 prescribed by a plurality of other cells 31 which do not meet the predetermined condition are set. Note that the predetermined condition may be selected based on the position coordinates of the cells 31 or an array of the cells and so on. Each of the important point 32, the region 33, and the region 34 can be specified from the remote control terminal 101. Also, the robot 10 may calculate the region 33 and the region 34 automatically based on the important point 32 specified by the remote control terminal 101. In this case, it is desirable that parameters such as a distance from the important point 32 to determine the regions 33 and 34 are previously set to the robot 10.
The transmission rate of the point group data 20 which is set for each of the regions 33 and 34 can be changed by changing the size of the cell 31 or by changing the upper limit of the point group data which are registered into the cell 31 as the transmission object data. Referring to
First, as shown in
In an example shown in
Also, as shown in
Note that as shown in
As mentioned above, in the data transmission system 100 of the present embodiment, because the upper limit of the number of point group data in the cell 31 is determined for every region 33 or 34, a data communication quantity can be reduced while optionally changing the sparse and dense of the point group data 20 in the predetermined region (e.g. the region 33 or region 34).
In an example shown in
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First, as shown in
Referring to
In the present embodiment, because only the visible surface shape upon viewing in the direction Yg of the sight line from the virtual viewpoint 35 is transmitted to the remote control terminal 101, the remote control terminal 101 can display the visible image in which the point group data 20 are omitted which overlaps in the direction of the depth, as shown in
The method of setting the region 34 or the cell 31-4 in which the transmission rate of the point group data small is made small, or the region 33 or the cell 31-3 in which the transmission rate is made large (containing case of not reducing) are not limited to the above methods. The method may be determined based on the predetermined condition to prescribe the cell position. For example, a region far by a predetermined distance or more from the virtual viewpoint 35 in the direction Yg of the sight line may be set as the region 34 and a near region may be set as the region 33. Or, the cell 31 having a large transmission rate and the cell 31 having a small transmission rate may be set based on a condition indicating the cell position (the coordinates). As an example, even numbered cells in the Xg coordinate direction, even numbered cells in the Yg coordinate direction, or even numbered cells 31 in the Zg coordinate direction are set as the cells 31-3 having large transmission rates. Also, odd numbered cells in the Xg coordinate direction, odd numbered cells in the Yg coordinate direction, or odd numbered cells 31 in the Zg coordinate direction are set as the cells 31-4 having small transmission rates. The predetermined distance to determine the regions 33 and 34 or the condition to determine the cells 31-3 and 31-4 may be previously set to the robot 10, and they may be specified from the remote control terminal 101.
The robot 10 of the second embodiment determines the data to be transmitted to the remote control terminal 101 (the shape reproduction data to be described later) based on the shape of the measurement object estimated from the point group data 20. The displaying section 202 of the remote control terminal 101 in the second embodiment generates the point group data based on the data transmitted from the robot 10, and displays the surface shape of the measurement object by using the point group data. Hereinafter, the method of reducing the transmission data in the second embodiment of the data transmission system 100 will be described.
The data transmission system 100 of the present embodiment changes a reduction rate of the transmission data based on a “local shape of the measurement object”. Here, the “local shape of the measurement object” is possible to be classified based on the magnitudes of three eigenvalues which are obtained by main component analysis to the point group data in a predetermined range. When the eigenvalues are d1, d2, and d3 in larger order, the local shape of the measurement object can be classified to any of a pattern 1 to a pattern 5.
d1≈d2≈d3≈0: A point structure having 0-dimensional spread—pattern 1,
d1>>d2≈d3≈0: A linear structure having 1-dimensional spread—pattern 2,
d1>d2>>d3≈0: A planar structure having 2-dimensional spread—pattern 3,
d1>d2>d3>>0: A steric structure having 3-dimensional spread—pattern 4,
The others: Pattern 5.
Referring to
Referring to (a) of
The data selecting section 12 carries out the main component analysis to the point group data 20 (the position coordinates indicated by the point group data 20) in the analysis region 52, and determines the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3 and peculiar vectors e1, e2, and e3 corresponding to these. In detail, the covariance matrix determined from the position coordinates indicated by the point group data 20 in analysis region 52 is subjected to eigenvalue dissolution, and the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3 and the peculiar vector e1, e2, and e3 corresponding to them are determined. Here, the data selecting section 12 classifies the shape in the analysis region 52 into either of pattern 1 to pattern 5 based on the magnitudes of the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3. The data selecting section 12 selects the data to be transmitted according to the classified pattern. At this time, when classified to pattern 2 or pattern 3, the data selecting section 12 transmits the analysis result to the analysis region 52 to the remote control terminal 101 as the shape reproduction data in place of the point group data 20 in the analysis region 52. The remote control terminal 101 arranges the point group data which is distributed in the range of the shape indicated by the shape reproduction data in a predetermined interval based on the shape reproduction data, and produces and displays a measurement object shape image.
When the point group data 20 centers approximately on one point, that is, when the point group data 20 shows the structure having 0-dimensional spread, an eigenvalue is classified into pattern 1 of d1≈d2≈d3≈0. That is, when all of the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3 are smaller than a first predetermined threshold value (in other words, when all of the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3 can be approximated to 0 (containing 0)), the eigenvalues are classified into pattern 1. The data selecting section 12 excludes all of the point group data 20 in the analysis region 52 classified into pattern 1 from the transmission object data (the transmission rate is 0%). That is, the point group data 20 in the analysis region 52 classified into pattern 1 are not completely transmitted to the remote control terminal 101. As for this region, because it is possible to determine that there are not a landform and an obstacle which influence the action of the robot 10, it is not necessary to transmit the point group data 20 to the remote control terminal 101.
When the point group data 20 shows the structure having 1-dimensional spread as shown in (a) of
Referring to (b) of
When the point group data 20 shows the structure having a 2-dimensional spread as shown in (a) of
Referring to (b) of
Referring to
When the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3 show values corresponding to neither of pattern 1 to pattern 4, the eigenvalues d1, d2, and d3 are classified into pattern 5. It is desirable that regarding the point group data 20 in a region (not shown) classified into pattern 5, the selection of the transmission data is carried out by the data selecting method using the above-mentioned grid 30. Or, the point group data 20 of the region classified into pattern 5 may be completely excluded from the transmission object data (transmission rate of 0%).
Note that the first to sixth threshold values used to compare the eigenvalues in the pattern determination may be set optionally according to the measurement precision of the sensor and acquisition of the point group data. For example, the first to sixth threshold values used for the pattern determination are optionally set based on the measurement precision of the sensor. Specifically, when the measurement deviation is ±1 cm, 3 times of standard deviation (3 σ) is ±1 cm and the eigenvalue d3 (the square of σ) is 1/9. In this case, when detecting unevenness on the plane in consideration of a measurement deviation, a criterion (the fourth threshold value) of whether or not the eigenvalue d3 is approximated 0 needs to be set to a value larger than 1/9. For example, by setting the fourth threshold value to ⅕ in the sensor having the measurement deviation of ±1 cm, it is determined that the eigenvalue d3 can be approximated to 0 in case of being smaller than ⅕, and it is possible to determine a plane shape. Also, the optional measurement precision can be realized by optionally setting the first to sixth threshold values used for the pattern determination. For example, a reference value (e.g. the fourth threshold value) used to determine whether or not the eigenvalue is approximated to 0 is set to be a larger value in case of measurement in a meter unit (the coarse measurement), compared with a case (the precise measurement) of measurement of unevenness of the plane (solid state) in a millimeter unit.
When determined to be pattern 2 or pattern 3, the form of the shape reproduction data is not limited to the above-mentioned form if a 1-dimensional or 2-dimensional shape can be reproduced in the remote control terminal 101. For example, when determined to be pattern 2 (when determined as the 1-dimensional shape), at least two sets of the point group data 20 which can define a linearity are selected as the transmission object data (for example, two points separated by the eigenvalue d1 in the direction of the peculiar vector e1). Or, when determined to be pattern 3 (when determined as the 2-dimensional shape), at least three sets of the point group data 20 which can define a plane shape are selected as the transmission object data (for example, two points separated by the eigenvalue d1 in the direction of the peculiar vector e1, and one point separated by the eigenvalue d2 in the direction of the peculiar vector e2 in the one of the above two points). In this case, too, the traffic between the robot 10 and the remote control terminal 101 can be greatly reduced.
In the present embodiment, the transmission data in a region is selected according to the pattern classified for every region, and an upper limit of the data quantity is determined. For example, when the shape reproduction data is set as the transmission object data to some region, the data quantity to the region is determined based on the data quantity of the shape reproduction data.
As mentioned above, according to the data transmission method in the second embodiment, the shape reproduction data for which it is possible to reproduce the surface shape of the measurement object in the remote control terminal 101 is selected based on a prediction shape of the measurement object and is transmitted to the remote control terminal 101. Because the shape reproduction data is less in the data quantity than the point group data 20, the data communication quantity can be reduced, compared with the case of transmitting the point group data 20. Also, because the distribution of the point group data and the shape of the object are reproduced based on the data according to the surface shape of the measurement object, the situation around the robot 10 can be grasped in the range where there is not an influence in the operability to the robot 10.
Next, the method of transmitting the point group data 20 or data to reproduce the surface shape of the measurement object to the remote control terminal 101 from the robot 10 will be described.
The robot 10 may transmit the data excluded from the selection object to the remote control terminal 101 in addition to the data selected as the transmission object data by the above-mentioned selecting method. In this case, it is desirable that the robot 10 transmits the data selected as the transmission object data before the data excluded from the selection object. That is, it is desirable that the transmission order of the data to be transmitted to the remote control terminal 101 is set by the above-mentioned method of selecting the transmission object data. In detail, first, the data selected as the transmission object data from among the measured point group data 20 is transmitted with the highest priority, and then the other data (the data excluded from the transmission object data) are transmitted. Also, the transmission order may be determined such that the above-mentioned selection processing is further carried out to the point group data excluded from the transmission object data. Thus, the point group data 20 or shape reproduction data having a high importance is first transmitted to the remote control terminal 101, and then the data having a low importance is transmitted. The user who operates the remote control terminal 101 can obtain the important data to operate the robot 10 (for example, a situation around the distal end) at an earlier step after the data transmission from the robot 10 is started, and then the measurement object can be grasped by the data having a low importance.
Also, the robot 10 may transmit the point group data 20 as the transmission object data in the region 33 having a large transmission rate of the point group data 20 or the cell 31-3 with the highest priority, and then may transmit the point group data 20 of the transmission object data in another region 34 or the cell 31-4. That is, it is desirable that the transmission order to the remote control terminal 101 is set based on the transmission rate of the point group data 20. At this time, the point group data 20 excluded from the transmission object data is transmitted after the point group data 20 set as the transmission object data in the regions 33 and 34 or the cell 31-3 and 31-4 are transmitted. In this case, the user of the remote control terminal 101 can visibly know the surface shape image in the important region (for example, a distal end and on the front side in the direction of the sight line) at the earlier step, and then the whole measurement object can be grasped. Note that when the transmission order of the point group data 20 in the regions 33 and 34 is set, all the point group data 20 in the regions 33 and 34 may be transmitted.
Moreover, the robot 10 may set the transmission order of the point group data 20 based on the condition indicating the cell position (e.g. the cell coordinates). For example, the point group data 20 in cells numbered as multiple of 4 in the Xg coordinate direction, cells numbered as multiple of 4 in the Yg coordinate direction, or cells numbered as multiple of 4 in the Zg coordinate direction are transmitted with the highest priority. The point group data 20 in the cells numbered as multiple of 2 in the Xg coordinate direction (excluding multiple of 4), the cells numbered as multiple of 2 in the Yg coordinate direction (excluding multiple of 4), or the cells numbered as multiple of 2 (excluding multiple of 4) in the Zg coordinate direction are next transmitted. Next, the point group data 20 in the other cells are transmitted last. In this case, the point group data 20 (the point group data in the cell for every predetermined interval) are first transmitted to form an image with a coarse spatial resolution. Next, the point group data 20 (the point group data 20 in the cells between the cell 31 from which the point group data has been transmitted and the other cell 31 from which the point group data has been transmitted) are transmitted to form an image with a fine spatial resolution. The user of the remote control terminal 101 can confirm the coarse shape of the measurement object at the step that receives data with the coarse spatial resolution, and can grasp the detailed situation with the elapse of time (the reception of sequentially transmitted data).
As mentioned above, according to the data transmission system 100 according to the embodiments, the minimum data which is necessary to operate the robot 10 are transmitted with a priority, and it is possible to generate an image based on the data in the remote control terminal 101. Therefore, the user can grasp the situation around the robot in short time, even when the communication environment is bad or even when a transmission path with a small communication capacity is used. Thus, the time required for the robot operation can be shortened. Also, because the data is transmitted step-by-step, the user can grasp the more detailed situation with elapse of time.
The robot 10 is desirable to use the point group data 20 (hereinafter, to be referred to as high density data) with a high density measured with the three-dimensional sensor 2 for an autonomous operation, in addition to the point group data 20 (hereinafter, to be referred to as low density data) with a low density selected for the transmission. That is, the robot 10 is desirable that it can use a plurality of data of the point group data 20 with the low density and the high density according to the application. The human being can operate the robot 10 by referring to map data and the surface shape produced from the low density data (for example, the minimum interval of the point group data is about 1 cm). On the other hand, in the autonomous operation of the robot 10 (e.g. the autonomous traveling), the map data and the surface shape of the high precision become necessary in order to prevent from crashing and falling. Therefore, it is desirable that the robot 10 transmits the low density data for the remote operation, and uses the map data generated based on the high density data for the autonomous traveling. By using sparse and dense data in this way, it becomes possible to reduce the data transmission quantity while maintaining the precision of the autonomous control of the robot 10.
Also, because the human being has high recognizing ability of the difference of the color in addition to the difference of the shape, it is desirable that color data is added to the point group data which are used for the remote operation. Therefore, it is desirable that the robot 10 transmits the point group data 20 (Xs, Ys, Zs, R, G, B) added with the color data (RGB) or the color data (RGB) and the point group data (Xs, Ts, Zs) to the remote control terminal 101. On the other hand, in the autonomous control of the robot 10, because the control precision can be maintained only by the coordinate data, it is desirable to use the point group data (Xs, Ys, Zs) added with no color data (RGB) for the controls such as the autonomous traveling of the robot 10. That is, it is desirable that the robot 10 transmits data with the color data for the remote operation, and uses the map data generated based on the data without the color data for the autonomous traveling. By using the existence or non-existence of the color data in this way, it becomes possible to reduce the data transmission quantity while maintaining the precision of the autonomous control of the robot 10.
Moreover, it is desirable that the robot 10 controls a reduction rate of the transmission data based on the communication quality or the communication capacity in the communication with the remote control terminal 101. For example, the robot 10 sets the reduction quantity of the transmission data to be large when the communication speed is low, and sets the reduction quantity to be small when the communication speed is high. Or, when the traffic between the robot 10 and the remote control terminal 101 exceeds the communication capacity previously set, the reduction quantity of the transmission data is set to be large. Here, the communication quality shows the communication speed or the propagation environment (e.g. reception strength) in the transmission path between the robot 10 and the remote control terminal 101, and the communication quality is measured in the robot 10 or the remote control terminal 101. The robot 10 itself may measure the communication quality and carry out the setting or change of the transmission rate based on the measured result. However, from the viewpoint of the reducing and lightening of the processing load of the robot 10, it is desirable that the control for the measurement of the communication quality and the setting or change of the transmission rate to the robot 10 is carried out by the remote control terminal 101.
As mentioned above, according to the embodiment, the data of the surface shape of the measurement object can be efficiently selected and transmitted to the remote control terminal 101. Therefore, it becomes possible to remote-control the robot 10 in a small data communication quantity, even in the situation that the communication speed is low, the upper limit of communication capacity is small, or the communication quality is inferior. Also, because data about the shape which has an important influence on the remote operation is selected and transmitted early, the user can determine quickly, and the operation using the robot 10 can be completed in short time.
In the above, the embodiments of the present inventions have been described in detail. However, a specific configuration is not limited to the above embodiments and a modification or change in the range which does not deviate from the point of the present invention is contained in the present invention. The above-mentioned embodiments and examples can be combined with another embodiment and an example, in a range with no technical contradiction.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2014-74378 filed on Mar. 31, 2014, and claims the benefit of priority of the application. The disclosure thereof is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-074378 | Mar 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2015/055945 | 2/27/2015 | WO | 00 |
