KR-20260063363-A - MOBILE ROBOT FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED INCLUDING A CONTROL UNIT FOR MEASURING HARNESS ROTATION ANGLE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mobile robot for the visually impaired capable of controlling human-robot interface technology (HRI) and robot-human formation, comprising a walking robot that guides the walking of a visually impaired user and a control unit, one end of which is coupled to the walking robot and the other end of which is grasped by the user, wherein the control unit controls the movement of the walking robot by synthesizing the user's intention and the walking robot's intention.

Inventors

• 정용섭
• 서범수
• 임재호
• 장지호
• 최승민

Assignees

• 한국전자통신연구원

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241030

Claims (1)

1. Walking robots that guide the walking of visually impaired users and One end is coupled to the walking robot, and the other end includes a control unit that is grasped by a user. A mobile robot for the visually impaired that controls the movement of the walking robot by integrating the user's intention and the walking robot's intention.

Description

Mobile robot for the visually impaired including a control unit for measuring harness rotation angle The present invention relates to a mobile robot for the visually impaired, and more specifically, to a mobile robot for the visually impaired comprising a control unit for measuring a harness rotation angle capable of controlling robot-human interface technology (HRI) and robot-human formation. Visually impaired people who cannot see their surroundings properly experience many inconveniences in carrying out daily life, and among them, many complain the most about the difficulties of walking. For this reason, visually impaired people have many limitations in their ability to move independently and require the assistance of an activity assistant 24 hours a day; however, in reality, there are problems where the movements of visually impaired people are restricted due to a shortage of activity assistants and a lack of budget. To this end, the aforementioned problems are being resolved to some extent through guide dogs for the visually impaired. However, despite their widely recognized usefulness, guide dogs for the visually impaired face significant limitations in widespread adoption due to high training costs, low training success rates, communication and management difficulties stemming from their inherent animal nature, and the risk of unpredictable behavior. Various devices have been developed to replace this, but in some cases, simply using a cane is better when it comes to recognizing obstacles. For the reasons mentioned above, the relevant field is seeking ways to enable visually impaired people to walk efficiently and safely, but satisfactory results have not been achieved to date. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mobile robot for the visually impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a large controller according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 3a to 3c are schematic diagrams showing the formation of a mobile robot for the visually impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully explain the invention to those skilled in the art, and the following embodiments may be modified in various different forms, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the following embodiments. Rather, these embodiments are provided to make the disclosure more faithful and complete and to fully convey the spirit of the invention to those skilled in the art. Additionally, in the following drawings, each component is exaggerated for convenience and clarity of explanation, and like reference numerals in the drawings refer to like elements. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any one of the listed items and all combinations of one or more thereof. The terms used in this specification are for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular form may include the plural form unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Additionally, as used herein, “comprise” and/or “comprising” specify the presence of the mentioned features, numbers, steps, actions, parts, elements, and/or groups thereof, and do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, actions, parts, elements, and/or groups. First, the present invention utilizes the rotation angle of a control unit to determine the accompanying formation between a visually impaired user and a walking robot in a situation where the user is moving while holding a harness, and to switch the formation between the user and the walking robot according to the surrounding conditions. To this end, a control unit similar to the harness applied to existing guide dogs is attached to the walking robot. The control unit is equipped with a sensor that determines the rotation angle. It identifies the mutual intention between the user and the robot from the sensing unit and aims to control the mutual position between the user and the robot based on the transmitted mutual intention. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mobile robot for the visually impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a large controller according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3a to 3c are schematic diagrams showing the large of a mobile robot for the visually impaired according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3c, a mobile robot for the visually impaired according to one embodiment of the present invention, which is positioned at the bottom of a small vehicle, includes a walking robot (100) and a control unit (200). A walking robot (100) can be configured to guide the walking of a visually impaired user by detecting obstacles or surrounding conditions