Remote-controlled robot and robot self-position identification method

A robot that can be remotely controlled, comprising:

• a layout storage unit for storing a layout plan of a building;
• a communication unit for communicating with a remote terminal;
• and
• a travel control unit for controlling the travel of a robot to the designated room, wherein:
• the robot identifies its own position;
• the robot received a viewable picture from the remote terminal;
• the robot transmits the layout picture containing the identified its own position to the remote terminal;
• the robot receives data of name or number of the designated room from the remote terminal;
• the robot calculates the coordinates of a destination from the designated room using a correspondence table storing in advance the coordinates of a target, such as an entrance for each room;
• the robot produces a route to the destination;
• and the robot travels towards the destination.

A robot that can be remotely controlled, comprising:

• a picture taking unit for taking an inside picture of a building;
• a communication unit for transmitting the picture taken by the picture taking unit when the robot regularly/irregularly patrols inside a building, to a computer with memory accessible from the outside through a network;
• a step getting over unit for getting over steps in a building, based on a result of step detection by an obstacle detecting sensor;
• a rotation unit for changing a shooting direction of the picture taking unit;
• and
• an infrared ray emission/reception unit for emitting/receiving an infrared ray in parallel to the shooting direction of the picture taking unit.

A robot that can be remotely controlled, comprising:

• a command receiving unit for receiving an emergency command from a person in a building;
• a communication unit for issuing the emergency command to a predetermined remote terminal according to the command;
• a picture taking unit for taking an inside picture of a building;
• a rotation unit for changing a shooting direction of the picture taking unit;
• and
• a communication unit for transmitting a picture taken by the picture taking unit to the outside, according to a command on a shooting direction from the outside.

A self-position identification method of a robot with a camera whose shooting direction can be changed, comprising of:

• taking in advance a panoramic picture of each room to which the robot may travel;
• generating a reference picture by extracting a plurality of block pictures from the panoramic picture;
• and
• identifying a room where the robot is located, by applying correlation calculation and DP matching, using both a picture of a same size as the block picture in the panoramic picture taken in a position where the robot is located, and the reference picture, wherein
• designating the picture of a landmark, taken in advance, of all the landmarks in the identified room, as a reference template, applying a correlation calculation between the reference template and a picture taken in a position where the robot is located, and calculating a position of the landmark in the taken picture;
• and
• stereoscopically measuring a distance between the robot and each of a plurality of landmarks and identifying the own robot's position and direction in the identified room.

A robot that can be remotely controlled, comprising:

• layout storage means for storing a layout plan of a building;
• communication means for receiving designation of a position designated in the layout plan from a remote terminal;
• and
• travel control means for controlling travel of a robot to the designated position, wherein:
• the robot identifies its own position;
• the robot receives a viewable picture from a remote terminal;
• a size of the layout picture stored in the memory is converted into a size of the viewable picture received from the remote terminal, and stored;
• the robot transmits the layout picture containing the identified own position to the remote terminal;
• the robot receives coordinates of a destination designated from the remote terminal;
• the robot calculates destination coordinates on a real scale from both a converted size and coordinates of the destination designated by the remote terminal;
• the robot produces a route to the destination;
• and the robot travels towards the destination.

A robot that can be remotely controlled, comprising:

• picture taking means for taking an inside picture of a building;
• communication means for transmitting the picture taken by the picture taking means when the robot regularly/irregularly patrols inside a building, to a computer with memory accessible from the outside through a network;
• a step getting over unit for getting over steps in a building, based on a result of step detection by an obstacle detecting sensor;
• a rotation unit for changing a shooting direction of the picture taking unit;
• and
• an infrared ray emission/reception unit for emitting/receiving an infrared ray in parallel to the shooting direction of the picture taking unit.