Abstract: A motor drive device which drives a motor including a winding set and a winding set that are electrically separate from each other includes an inverter that outputs three-phase alternating currents to winding set, an inverter that outputs three-phase alternating currents to winding set, and controllers that output drive commands to inverter and inverter by generating PWM pulses. Controllers generate the PWM pulses such that the three-phase alternating currents that are output from inverter to winding set and the three-phase alternating currents that are output from inverter to winding set have reverse polarities in three respective phases.

Abstract: An image recognition method according to one aspect of the present invention acquires a camera image generated by capturing a subject using a camera (three-dimensional sensor). A plurality of coordinates corresponding to a plurality of pixels included in a predetermined area in the camera image are acquired. Subject distance information indicating a distance from the subject to the camera in the plurality of pixels is acquired. Then the posture of the subject surface included in the subject in the predetermined area is estimated based on the plurality of coordinates and the plurality of pieces of subject distance information that have been acquired.

Abstract: To make it possible, in a robot apparatus that performs actions in response to external environment, to distinguish the image of a part of its own body contained in three dimensional data of the external environment. A robot 1 includes a visual sensor 101 to visually recognize external environment, an environment restoration portion 102 to create three dimensional data of the external environment based on the information acquired by the visual sensor 101, and a body estimation portion 104 to determine whether or not an image of the body of the robot apparatus 1 is contained in the three dimensional data, and to specify, when the image of the body of the robot apparatus 1 is determined to be contained in the three dimensional data, an area occupied by the image of the body of the robot apparatus 1 in the three dimensional data.