A robot is provided. The robot includes a camera, a depth sensor, a memory, and a processor configured to perform an interaction with a first user with a highest degree of interest from among a plurality of users present in vicinity of the robot, obtain gazing information of the plurality of users while performing the interaction with the first user, and obtain distance information of the plurality of users, determine an engagement level of the first user for the interaction by using gazing information and distance information of the first user from among the plurality of users, determine a degree of interest of another user by using gazing information and distance information of the first user and the another user from among the plurality of users, end the interaction with first user, and perform an interaction with the another user based on the degree of interest of the another user.

A robot according to the present disclosure comprises: a microphone; a camera disposed to face a predetermined direction; and a processor configured to: inactivate driving of the camera and activate driving of the microphone, if a driving mode of the robot is set to a user monitoring mode; acquire a sound signal through the microphone; activate the driving of the camera based on an event estimated from the acquired sound signal; confirm the event from the image acquired through the camera; and control at least one constituent included in the robot to perform an operation based on the confirmed event.

A mobile robot operation method according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a step for receiving a guidance destination input; a step for generating a global path to the received guidance destination; a step for generating a left travel guideline and a right travel guideline on the left side and the right side of the generated global path; and a step for generating a local path within a travelable range between the left travel guideline and the right travel guideline. Accordingly, the robot operation method may generate a safe and optimal guidance path when providing a guidance service.

Disclosed herein are an apparatus and method for generating robot interaction behavior. The method for generating robot interaction behavior includes generating co-speech gesture of a robot corresponding to utterance input of a user, generating a nonverbal behavior of the robot, that is a sequence of next joint positions of the robot, which are estimated from joint positions of the user and current joint positions of the robot based on a pre-trained neural network model for robot pose estimation, and generating a final behavior using at least one of the co-speech gesture and the nonverbal behavior.

A wheelchair comprising a mechanical arm for assisting a user is disclosed. The mechanical arm includes a first arm mounted to a first armrest of the wheelchair. The mechanical arm includes a second arm mounted to the first arm via a first swivel rod. The second arm is made to swivel with respect to the first arm. The mechanical arm includes a third arm mounted to the second arm. The third arm is made to swivel with respect to the second arm. The mechanical arm includes claws. The wheelchair includes a controller provided at a second armrest of the wheelchair. The controller is used to operate the first arm, the second arm and the third arm to align the mechanical arm with an object. The controller is also used to operate the claws for gripping and releasing an object.

An example robotic welding system, includes: a robotic manipulator configured to manipulate a welding torch; and a robotic controller, comprising: a processor; and a machine readable storage medium comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, in response to initiation of a robotic welding procedure involving the robotic manipulator: prior to starting the robotic welding procedure, output at least one of a visual notification or an audible notification proximate to the robotic manipulator; and after satisfying at least one weld-ready condition, control the robotic manipulator to perform the robotic welding procedure using the welding torch.

Disclosed is a method of controlling a robot, comprising: switching to a surrounding environment concentration mode according to a sound of surrounding environment in a display off mode; searching a user in the surrounding environment concentration mode and switching to a user concentration mode when the user is searched; switching to a user conversation mode from the user concentration mode according to a sound received from the user; and entering the display off mode again after passing through a play alone mode, when the user is not searched in the surrounding environment concentration mode. Accordingly, the robot can operate in an optimal mode according to the change of the surrounding environment by setting various modes of the robot.

A role switching method of robots with similar appearance includes: at a robot, the robot being capable of communicating with other robots within a predetermined range: identifying other robots having the same appearance as the robot itself within the predetermined range; and performing role exchange with the other robots having the same appearance as the robot itself within the predetermined range.

A robot in a location interacts with a user. The robot includes a camera, an image recognition processor, a microphone and a loudspeaker, a voice assistant, and a wireless transceiver. The robot moves around and creates a model of the location, and recognizes changes. It recognizes objects of interest, beings, and situations. The robot monitors the user and recognizes body language and gesture commands, as well as voice commands. The robot communicates with the user, the TV, and other devices. It may include environment sensors and health status sensors. It acts as a user companion by answering queries, executing commands, and issuing reminders. It may monitor to determine if the user is well. The robot may monitor objects of interest, their placement and their status. When necessary, it communicates with the user.

A computer-implemented method includes establishing, by a computer device, an activity to be performed by a robot; determining, by the computer device, a required knowledge that is required for the robot to perform the activity; comparing, by the computer device, the required knowledge to a current knowledge of the robot to establish an additional learning that is needed for the robot to perform the activity; requesting, by the computer device, the additional learning; directing, by the computer device, retrieval of the additional learning to the robot if the additional learning is available for retrieval; and requesting, by the computer device, that the additional learning be created if the additional learning is not available for retrieval.