JP2003228390A - Voice controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice controller in which electric equipment is controlled while confirming the fact that a voice command is being correctly recognized. <P>SOLUTION: A voice controller 1 consists of a voice input output device 3 and a control device main body 4. A voice command uttered by a user is inputted through a microphone 6 of the device 3 and transmitted to the main body 4 through a transmitter-receiver 5. The main body 4 transmits a control code to operate an electric equipment 2 through a communication section 20 based on the voice command being received and transmits voice signals of a confirmation message to the device 3 through a transmitter-receiver section 16. Thus, the equipment 2 executes an operation corresponding to the voice command and a confirmation message is outputted in voice from the device 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a voice control device for controlling a plurality of electric devices by voice.

[0002]

Among various electric appliances used at home and in the office, there is a structure in which the electric appliances can be operated from a remote place by using a remote control device (remote controller). In this case, if a remote control device is provided for each electric device, it is necessary to learn the function of each device and there is a problem that management is troublesome. As a solution to such a problem, a control device that can remotely control a large number of electric devices has been developed.

However, when a large number of electric devices are controlled, the number of operation keys increases and the operation becomes complicated accordingly. Therefore, there has been proposed a voice control device capable of remotely controlling a large number of electric devices based on a voice command uttered by a human (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-120647, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 212047).
001-145180). However, in the case of the voice control device, until the electric device actually starts operating,
There was a problem that it was not possible to confirm whether or not the input voice command was correctly recognized.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a voice control device capable of controlling an electric device while confirming that a voice command is correctly recognized. is there.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice control device for controlling various operations of a plurality of electric devices on the basis of a voice command, and a voice input means for inputting the voice command. A voice recognition means for performing voice recognition of a voice command from the voice input means, and a control means for controlling a target electric device from the plurality of electric devices based on the voice command recognized by the voice recognition means. ,
It is characterized by comprising a voice generating means for generating a voice message in response to the voice command recognized by the voice recognizing means, and a voice output means for outputting the voice message generated by the voice generating means.

According to the above arrangement, the control means controls the operation of the target electric equipment based on the voice command inputted by the user through the voice input means. Also, a voice message in response to the voice command is generated by the voice generation means and output by the voice output means. Therefore, the user can confirm that the voice command is recognized by listening to the voice message.

A voice control device according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises a first device having a voice input means and a voice output means, and a second device having a voice recognition means, a control means and a voice generation means. The first device and the second device are configured to be capable of bidirectional communication.

According to the above structure, the first device and the second device are separated from each other, so that each device can be miniaturized. Therefore, for example, the user can carry the first device and input a voice command or check a voice message, which is convenient.

In this case, if the first device is provided with the moving means so as to be self-propelled, the first device can be moved to the vicinity of the user, so that it is not necessary to carry the device (claim 4). Invention).

Further, the first device is provided with a plurality of voice input means, and by comparing the volumes of voice commands inputted from the plurality of voice input means, the moving means is driven so as to increase the volume. It is also a good configuration to include control means (the invention of claim 5). According to the above configuration, the first device can be automatically moved to the vicinity of the user.

Further, there may be provided turning means for changing the direction of the voice input means, and turning control means for driving the turning means so that the volume of the voice command inputted from the voice input means becomes large. It has a good structure. According to the above configuration, the voice input unit can be directed toward the user so that the voice command can be efficiently input to the voice input unit.

The voice control device according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the control means has a sleep mode for suspending the control operation of the electric device based on the voice command. According to the above configuration, by setting the sleep mode when the electric device is not operated, it is possible to prevent the voices of the people around from operating by mistake.

Further, according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the voice recognition means, the voice command is input based on the information such as the pitch of the voice command input to the voice input means, the length of the voice, the number of interruptions and the like. It is characterized in that it is configured to recognize. According to the above configuration, a voice command can be configured by combining one or a plurality of single sounds, and a voice command can be easily input even by a user who cannot speak.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the voice control device according to the present embodiment. The voice control device 1 operates a plurality of electric devices 2 such as a washing machine, a microwave oven, a television, an air conditioner (air conditioner), and a wash valve seat of a toilet based on a voice command uttered by a user. The device is composed of a voice input / output device 3 as a device and a control device body 4 as a second device. The voice input / output device 3 and the control device body 4 are configured to be capable of bidirectional communication. In the present embodiment, communication technology by Bluetooth is used for communication between the voice input / output device 3 and the control device body 4.

The voice input / output device 3 includes a transmitter / receiver 5 for transmitting a voice command issued by a user as a voice signal and receiving a voice signal transmitted from the control device body 4. A microphone 6 as a voice input means and a speaker 7 as a voice output means are connected to the transmission / reception unit 5. The audio signal input through the microphone 6 is converted into a digital audio signal by an analog / digital (A / D) converter (not shown) and supplied to the transmitting / receiving unit 5. A digital audio signal from the transmitting / receiving unit 5 is converted into an analog audio signal by a digital / analog converter (not shown) and supplied to the speaker 7.

Further, the voice input / output device 3 is provided with a microphone 8 different from the microphone 6, and the voice input / output device 3 and the user are based on the voice signals from these two microphones 6, 8. The control unit 9 estimates the positional relationship of the.

2A and 2B show the appearance of the voice input / output device 3, where FIG. 2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a side view. As shown in these drawings, the voice input / output device 3 includes a body 10 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and a head 11 having a substantially truncated cone shape provided on the body 10 so as to be rotatable. The control section 9 is built in the body section 10.

The body portion 10 is provided with a pair of wheels 12 on both left and right sides, and a belt 13 is stretched between the pair of wheels 12. The left and right wheels 12 are independently driven to rotate in the forward and reverse directions by a drive mechanism including a stepping motor 14 (only shown in FIG. 1) which is a moving means built in the body portion 10.

The head 11 is turned by a stepping motor 15 (shown only in FIG. 1) which is a turning means built in the body 10. The head 1
The microphones 6 and 8 and the speaker 7 are provided on the side surface of 1. The microphones 6 and 8 are arranged in substantially symmetrical portions with the speaker 7 interposed therebetween. In the following description, the portion where the microphones 6 and 8 and the speaker 7 are provided is referred to as the front portion of the head 11.

As will be described later in detail, the control unit 9
Is based on the volume of the audio signal supplied via the two microphones 6 and 8, and the stepping motors 14 and 1 are
The voice input / output device 3 itself is moved or the head 11 is turned by driving 5 or the like. The control unit 9 includes a memory (not shown) that stores necessary data such as the movement processing program and the turning processing program, and functions as a movement control unit and a turning control unit.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the control device body 4 includes a transmission / reception unit 16, a voice processing unit 17, a control unit 18,
The storage unit 19, the infrared communication unit 20, and the display unit 21 are provided. The transmitting / receiving unit 16 receives the digital audio signal from the audio input / output device 3 and transmits the digital audio signal to the audio input / output device 3. The voice processing unit 17 includes a voice recognition unit 22 that performs voice recognition of the digital voice signal received by the transmission / reception unit 16 and a voice generation unit 23 that generates a digital voice signal.

The control unit 18 retrieves a control code and a confirmation message for operating the electric device 2 based on the voice command recognized by the voice recognition unit 22. The voice command is preset and can be confirmed by the user by displaying it on the display unit 21. In addition, the control unit 18
Searches for a situation report based on the operation information transmitted from the electric device 2. The storage unit 19 stores voice commands, control codes, confirmation message data, and situation report data.

The control code is transmitted to the electric device 2 through the infrared communication section 20. The control code includes, for example, a code indicating the type of the electric device 2 to be controlled and a code indicating the control content. Further, the response message and the data of the operation status report are supplied to the voice generation unit 23. The voice generating unit 23 generates a digital voice signal from the data of the voice message and transmits it to the voice input / output device via the transmitting / receiving unit 16.

The electric device 2 receives the control code from the control device body 4 through the infrared communication section 24. The electric device 2 executes various operations based on the received control code, and transmits operation information to the control device body 4 via the infrared communication section 24.

Next, specific examples of voice commands, confirmation messages, and status reports will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a voice command for mode switching of the voice control device 1.
The voice control device 1 uses the situation notification mode as an operation mode,
It has a switchable control mode and sleep mode. The control unit 18 of the control device body 4 switches the operation mode based on the voice command of the user received via the transmission / reception unit 16.

A specific keyword is assigned to the voice command for switching the operation mode. Specifically, the voice command that the user utters when switching to the status notification mode is “report”, the voice command that the user utters when switching to the control mode is “control”, and the user when switching to the sleep mode. The voice command uttered by is said to be "standby". When switched to the sleep mode, the control unit 18 does not accept any voice command other than the above keywords.

The control mode is a mode for controlling the operation of the electric device 2 based on a voice command uttered by the user. In the control mode, the operation of the electric device 2 is controlled based on a voice command as shown in FIG. 4, for example. The voice command includes a combination of the name and operation content of the electric device 2 to be controlled. For example, the voice command for starting the washing machine is “washing machine” and “start”. The voice command for turning on the power of the TV and the voice command for increasing the volume of the TV are "TV" and "power on", respectively.
And "make the sound louder".

In the control mode, the control unit 18 of the control device body 4 transmits the control code corresponding to the voice command through the infrared communication unit 20, causes the voice generation unit 23 to convert the confirmation message into a digital voice signal, and the transmission / reception unit. 1
6 to the voice input / output device 3. The target device 2 that has received the control code executes operations such as turning on the power and raising the volume according to the control code.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the confirmation message. The confirmation message consists of a combination of the name of the target device and the control content. For example, when the voice command "Washing machine" and "Start" is input by voice, the confirmation message "Start washing of the fully automatic washing machine". Is output as voice. Although FIG. 5 shows the target devices and the control contents that form the confirmation message generated according to the voice command of FIG. 4, the voice command and the confirmation message are limited to the examples shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. It is not something that will be done.

The status reporting mode is a mode for reporting status reports such as the driving status of the electric device 2 and the remaining driving time in response to a voice command uttered by the user. Figure 6
Shows an example of the contents of the situation report corresponding to a voice command. For example, when the user inputs a voice command "fully automatic washing machine", the control device body 4 transmits a control code requesting operation information to the fully automatic washing machine.
Then, the fully automatic washing machine transmits information about the current operation status to the control device body 4. The control device body 4 transmits a digital audio signal of the corresponding status report to the audio input / output device 3 based on the received operation information of the fully automatic washing machine.

Specifically, in the case of a fully-automatic washing machine, the situation in which the fully-automatic washing machine is informed of the washing process such as "during washing (washing process)" or "rinsing (rinsing process)" A report or a status report that informs the remaining time such as "It is after a minute." Is output as voice. In the case of a toilet, a status report such as "in use" or "free" is output by voice.

Next, the movement process of the voice input / output device 3 and the turning process of the head 11 which are executed by the control unit 9 based on the voice command will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control unit 9 starts the process of the flowchart of FIG. 7 based on the operation mode being switched to the control mode or the status notification mode.

First, in step 1, an initial value V0 is set. The initial value V0 is a predetermined distance (for example, 0.3 to 0.5).
m) It is set according to the normal vocalization level at a distant point. In step 2, it is judged whether or not there is a voice input.
In step 3, the volume VL of the voice command of the microphone 6 and the volume VR of the voice command of the microphone 8 are read, and in step 4, the sum V of these volume VL and VR.
Is calculated.

In step S5, the sizes of VL and VR are compared, and if VL is larger (Yes), the process proceeds to step S6 and the sizes of VL and (VR + 3 dB) are compared. When it is determined that VL is larger than (VR + 3 dB) (Yes), the motor 15 is driven to rotate the head 11 leftward 90 degrees in step S7. When it is determined that VL is smaller than (VR + 3 dB) in step S6 (No), step S8
At, the motor 15 is driven to rotate the head 11 leftward by 45 degrees.

On the other hand, if "No" is determined in step S5, the process proceeds to step 9 and it is determined whether VL and VR are equal. When VL and VR are not equal (No), that is, when VR is larger than VL, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, it is determined whether or not VR is larger than (VL + 3 dB). When VR is larger than (VL + 3 dB) (Yes), the motor 15 is driven to turn the head 11 rightward by 90 degrees (step S11), and VR is (V
If it is smaller than (L + 3 dB) (No), the head 11 is turned to the right by 45 degrees (step S12).

In step S13, V is compared with V0. If V is smaller than V0, the motor 14 is driven to move forward by a fixed distance (for example, 1 m) (step S14), and then the process returns to step S2. here,
“Advancing” means advancing in the direction in which the front part of the head 11 is located. Therefore, for example, step S
When the head 11 is turned 90 degrees to the left at 7, the vehicle moves in the left 90 degrees so that the front and rear directions of the body 10 and the head 11 coincide with each other.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S13 that V is V0 or more, the voice input / output device 3 is sufficiently close to the user and does not move forward to return to step S2.

According to this embodiment having such a configuration, the confirmation message is output by voice in response to the voice command from the user, so that the voice command is recognized when operating the electric device 2 with the voice command. You can immediately see what was done.

In the voice control device 1, the microphone 6 for inputting voice commands and the speaker 7 for outputting voice messages are provided in the voice input / output device 3 and separated from the control device body 4. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of the voice input / output device 3 that is used near the user.

Further, the voice input / output device 3 is automatically moved to the vicinity of the user based on the volume of the voice command issued by the user. Therefore, the voice input / output device 3 can be arranged near the user without carrying it. Further, the head 11 is turned based on the volume of the voice command, and the microphones 6 and 8 and the speaker 7 are directed to the direction of the user. Therefore, it is possible to prevent problems that the voice command issued by the user is not properly input and that the voice message output from the speaker 7 becomes difficult to hear.

In particular, in this embodiment, the position of the user is estimated by performing a relatively simple arithmetic process such as comparing the volumes of the voices input from the two microphones 6 and 8. Therefore, the voice input / output device 3 can be moved closer to the user only by performing a relatively simple arithmetic process that can simplify the configuration of the control unit.

Further, since the pause mode is provided, it is possible to prevent the voice control device 1 from erroneously operating the voices emitted by the people around.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, and the difference from the first embodiment will be described. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

The second embodiment is characterized in that the voice command is composed of, for example, three tones of "do", "mi" and "so" among the seven tones representing the scale. in this case,
The sound of "do" is a command indicating the target device, and the type of the target device is distinguished by the number of times of utterance (interruption number). Specifically, the target device is the "fully automatic washing machine" when the "do" sound is uttered once, and the "microwave oven" is when the "do, do" is uttered twice. "Do, de,
When you say "do" three times,
When you say "do, do, do, do" four times, "air conditioner"
Is shown.

Further, the sound of "mi" is a command indicating the operation content, and the operation content is distinguished by the number of utterances. The operation content corresponding to the number of utterances differs for each target device.
For example, if the target device is a TV, you can select "Power on" when you hear the "M" sound once, "Power off" when you say it twice, and "Channel switch" when you say it three times. When uttered four times, "volume up" is shown, and when uttered five times, "volume down" is shown.

The "so" sound is a command for switching the operation mode. When the "so" sound is uttered once, it is "situation notification mode", and when it is uttered twice, it is "control mode".
When uttered three times, each is switched to "pause mode".

In the above configuration, as an initial setting, the user inputs voice through the microphone 6,
Register the pitch of "mi" and "so". The registered pitch is stored in the storage unit 19 of the control device body 4, and can be output from the speaker 7 by performing a specific operation. This allows the user to check the registered pitch.

According to such a configuration, if the user who cannot speak can speak, the electric device 2 can be easily voiced.
Can be controlled.

Although the user himself / herself utters three tones in the above embodiment, he / she may input three tones using an instrument such as a musical instrument. With this configuration, even a user who has difficulty speaking can easily input a voice command. Also,
The user has the inconvenience of having to have a device for command input, but on the other hand, since the pitch does not change, stable control can be performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and the following modifications or expansions are possible. It may be configured such that the user inputs a voice, such as “right”, “left”, and “forward”, to instruct the moving direction of the voice input / output device 3. Voice input / output device 3
May be carried by a user. Further, the voice input / output device 3 and the control device body 4 may be integrated.

In the second embodiment, the target device and the operation content are distinguished by the difference in the pitch of the sound and the number of interruptions, but the target device and the operation content are distinguished by the difference in the utterance length. It is also possible to configure.

[0052]

As is apparent from the above description, in the voice control device of the present invention, when the voice command inputted through the voice input means is recognized by the voice recognition means, the control means is based on the recognition result. The electronic device is controlled by a voice command, and a voice message in response to the voice command is generated by the voice generation unit and output from the voice output unit. Therefore, the voice command issued by the user operates a large number of electric devices. Even so, the user can immediately confirm whether or not the voice command is correctly recognized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of the entire system.

FIG. 2 is a front view (a) and a side view (b) of a voice input / output device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing voice commands for switching operation modes.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a voice command input by a user in a control mode.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation message output in response to a voice command input by a user in the control mode.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a situation report output in a situation notification mode.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of moving the voice input / output device and turning the head.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining voice commands showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

In the figure, 1 is a voice control device, 2 is an electric device, 3 is a voice input / output device (first device), 4 is a control device main body (second device), 6 and 8 are microphones (voice input means), 7 is a speaker (voice output means), 9 is a control unit (drive control means,
Turning control means), 14 is a stepping motor (moving means), and 15 is a stepping motor (turning means).

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A voice control device for controlling various operations of a plurality of electric devices based on voice commands, voice input means for inputting voice commands, and voice recognition for voice recognition of voice commands from the voice input means. Means, a control means for controlling a target electric device from among the plurality of electric devices based on a voice command recognized by the voice recognition means, and a voice message responding to the voice command recognized by the voice recognition means. A voice control device comprising: a voice generation unit that generates the voice message; and a voice output unit that outputs the voice message generated by the voice generation unit. 2. A first device having voice input means and voice output means, and a second device having voice recognition means, control means and voice generation means, wherein the first device and the first device are provided. 2. The voice control device according to claim 1, wherein the device 2 is configured to be capable of bidirectional communication. 3. The voice control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means has a sleep mode for suspending the control operation of the electric device based on the voice command. 4. The voice control device according to claim 2, wherein the first device is provided with a moving means and is configured to be self-propelled. 5. The first device includes a plurality of voice input means, and drives the moving means to increase the volume by comparing the volume of voice commands input from the plurality of voice input means. 5. The voice control device according to claim 4, further comprising movement control means for controlling the movement. 6. A turning means for changing the direction of the voice input means, and a turning control means for driving the turning means so that the volume of a voice command inputted from the voice input means becomes large. The voice control device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. 7. The voice recognition means is configured to recognize the voice command based on information such as the pitch of the voice command input to the voice input means, the length of the sound, and the number of interruptions. The voice control device according to claim 1 or 2.