After much excitement after the launch of the
robotic dog AIBO, Sony Corporation have announced the development
of a prototype small biped entertainment robot. Initially called
the Sony Dream Robot, QRIO or SDR-4X can
adapt its performance to its environment and situations found in
the home to further develop the possibility for a biped-walking
robot. Richer communication with people can be realized by a
variety of sensor systems, performance control software based on
memory and learning, and a flexible biped walking mechanism.
While improving the output performance of small actuators that
drive each joint, a newly developed Real-time Integrated Adaptive
Control System controls a total of 28 joints in the robot’s body
in real time, based on information from various sensors gathered
in real time. More advanced movements are realized by enabling
biped walk on irregular and tiled surface plus posture retention
control under external pressure. In addition, stable and flexible
walk can be achieved by the real time production of walking
patterns such as pace and rotation angle in accordance with
various situations.
Using two CCD colour cameras for image recognition, the SDR-4X can
detect the distance between itself and an object by processing the
parallax of the two cameras. These cameras allow the robot to
perceive the figuration of an object and range between itself and
the object to automatically produce a route in order to make its
way around the object.
In addition to image recognition, sound recognition, and sound
synthesis technologies, communication and movement control
technology based on memory is incorporated in the SDR-4X to
further enrich communications with people. The SDR-4X can
recognize an individual person by detecting the front facial image
captured by the colour camera. The robot can also detect the
direction of a sound source and recognizes an individual speaking
by utilizing 7 microphones located inside its head. By using
embedded wireless LAN communication functions, the robot can
synchronize data processing with an externally connected PC, which
enables continuous speech recognition of many vocabularies.
Information on people and the location of an object obtained
through image recognition technology is used as short and long
term memory information. Based on this information, the SDR-4X can
realize more complicated communication and movements. By inputting
music and lyric data into the robot, it can produce a singing
voice with vibratos and the composition of emotional, dynamic
singing through voice synthesis can be realized to improve the
robot’s entertainment quality.
