Abstract: A work assignment status monitoring system includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire information about one or more work areas, a monitoring target detection unit configured to detect a monitoring target and define a first monitoring target area where the monitoring target is positioned, a first determination unit configured to determine whether or not the monitoring target has performed a work assignment in the one or more work areas based on a presence or absence of interference with the one or more work areas by the first monitoring target area, an information generation unit configured to generate information about the work assignment in the one or more work areas performed by the monitoring target based on a result of the determination made by the first determination unit, and an output unit configured to output information about the work assignment performed by the monitoring target.

Abstract: A moving robot including: actuators at least including a motor for movement; a reading unit configured to read a tag installed in an environment, at least one of information on an allowable operation time of the actuators and information on an allowable operation amount of the actuators being described in the tag; and a controller configured to prohibit or limit execution of a predetermined task whose execution has already been accepted, the predetermined task being operated using at least one of the actuators, until the time when the reading unit reads the tag, and release the prohibition or the limitation and execute the task in such a way that an operation time and an operation amount do not exceed the allowable operation time and the allowable operation amount described in the tag after the reading unit has read the tag is provided.

Abstract: A moving robot including: actuators at least including a motor for movement; a reading unit configured to read a tag installed in an environment, at least one of information on an allowable operation time of the actuators and information on an allowable operation amount of the actuators being described in the tag; and a controller configured to prohibit or limit execution of a predetermined task whose execution has already been accepted, the predetermined task being operated using at least one of the actuators, until the time when the reading unit reads the tag, and release the prohibition or the limitation and execute the task in such a way that an operation time and an operation amount do not exceed the allowable operation time and the allowable operation amount described in the tag after the reading unit has read the tag is provided.

Abstract: Provided is a traveling apparatus which performs desired traveling under an inverted pendulum control. The traveling apparatus includes: a ground contact member that operates to come into a ground-contact state or a non-ground-contact state with respect to a road surface; a drive portion that drives the ground contact member; a control portion that controls the drive portion; an abnormality degree calculation portion that calculates a degree of abnormality of a traveling state; and an upper bound calculation portion that changes an upper bound of a distance between the ground contact member and the road surface according to the degree of abnormality of the traveling state calculated by the abnormality degree calculation portion. The control portion controls driving of the drive portion so that the distance between the ground contact member and the road surface is smaller than or equal to the upper bound calculated by the upper bound calculation portion.

Abstract: Using variable neuron thresholds and extended Hebb's rule in a neural network, a neuron device for simulating a nerve cell includes a threshold storage unit storing a threshold variable ? and threshold coefficients ??1 and ??2; an input reception unit receiving one or more input signal values at predetermined time intervals; an output unit outputting an output signal value “1” indicating that the neuron device is firing when the sum total s of received input signal values is equal to or greater than the value of the stored threshold variable ?, or a value “0” indicating that the neuron device is resting; and a threshold updating unit calculating ??1X+??2(X?1) using the output signal value X and the stored threshold coefficients ??1 and ??2 and updating the value of the threshold variable ? stored in the threshold storage unit by increasing it by the calculation result.

Abstract: To provide an inverted type moving body capable of continuing the inversion control with stability even when abnormality occurs in the inversion control while the moving body is moving, and a method of controlling the inverted type moving body. In an inverted type moving body including a rotational body having a circular cross section, a driving portion that rotationally drives the rotational body, a main body that supports the rotational body, and a control portion that maintains the inverted state of the main body by controlling the driving portion such that the rotational driving of the rotational body touching a floor surface is controlled, the control portion multiplies a signal obtained based on the inclined state of the main body by a predefined gain to calculate the driving amount of the rotational body for maintaining the inverted state, and reduces the gain when the inverted state of the main body is determined to be abnormal.

Abstract: When a swinging leg (e.g., the leg link LR) lands on road surface, a control unit 14 included in a robot 100 controls an actuator 15 driving an ankle joint 122 to make the ankle joint 122 in a leg link LR soft and changes a real angle of the ankle joint 122 according to road profile, not to follow a prespecified trajectory of target angle. Further, after the leg link LR lands, the control unit 14 corrects the trajectory of the target angle of the ankle joint 122 to cancel out a difference between the real angle of the ankle joint 122 and the target angle. Moreover, the control unit 14 controls the actuator 15 to make the ankle joint 122 hard, so that the real angle of the ankle joint 122 of the leg link LR, a supporting leg, follows the corrected trajectory of the target angle.

Abstract: Provided is a traveling apparatus which performs desired traveling under an inverted pendulum control. The traveling apparatus includes: a ground contact member that operates to come into a ground-contact state or a non-ground-contact state with respect to a road surface; a drive portion that drives the ground contact member; a control portion that controls the drive portion; an abnormality degree calculation portion that calculates a degree of abnormality of a traveling state; and an upper bound calculation portion that changes an upper bound of a distance between the ground contact member and the road surface according to the degree of abnormality of the traveling state calculated by the abnormality degree calculation portion. The control portion controls driving of the drive portion so that the distance between the ground contact member and the road surface is smaller than or equal to the upper bound calculated by the upper bound calculation portion.

Abstract: In order to utilize variable neuron thresholds and extended Hebb's rule in a neural network for proper control, a neuron device (101) for simulating a nerve cell comprises a threshold storage unit (102) storing a threshold variable ? and two threshold coefficients ??1 and ??2; an input reception unit (103) receiving one or multiple input signal values at predetermined time intervals; an output unit (104) outputting, as an output signal value, a value “1” for indicating that the neuron device (101) is firing when the sum total s of received input signal values is equal to or greater than the value of the stored threshold variable ?, and otherwise a value “0” for indicating that the neuron device (101) is resting; and a threshold updating unit (105) calculating ??1X+??2(X?1) using the output signal value X and the stored threshold coefficients ??1 and ??2 and updating the value of the threshold variable ? stored in the threshold storage unit (102) by increasing it by the calculation result.

Abstract: To provide an inverted type moving body capable of continuing the inversion control with stability even when abnormality occurs in the inversion control while the moving body is moving, and a method of controlling the inverted type moving body. In an inverted type moving body including a rotational body having a circular cross section, a driving portion that rotationally drives the rotational body, a main body that supports the rotational body, and a control portion that maintains the inverted state of the main body by controlling the driving portion such that the rotational driving of the rotational body touching a floor surface is controlled, the control portion multiplies a signal obtained based on the inclined state of the main body by a predefined gain to calculate the driving amount of the rotational body for maintaining the inverted state, and reduces the gain when the inverted state of the main body is determined to be abnormal.

Abstract: When a swinging leg (e.g., the leg link LR) lands on road surface, a control unit 14 included in a robot 100 controls an actuator 15 driving an ankle joint 122 to make the ankle joint 122 in a leg link LR soft and changes a real angle of the ankle joint 122 according to road profile, not to follow a prespecified trajectory of target angle. Further, after the leg link LR lands, the control unit 14 corrects the trajectory of the target angle of the ankle joint 122 to cancel out a difference between the real angle of the ankle joint 122 and the target angle. Moreover, the control unit 14 controls the actuator 15 to make the ankle joint 122 hard, so that the real angle of the ankle joint 122 of the leg link LR, a supporting leg, follows the corrected trajectory of the target angle.