PaPeRo is a small Japanese personal robot, successor of the R100 and developed by NEC. Its name is in fact the acronym of Pa rtner EP rsonal club-footed Ro .
Description
PaPeRo is appeared as a small robot of forty centimetres. Its displacement is allowed thanks to three small casters and, contrary to the panoply of the robots of current development, it does not have any means of gripping, which would enable him to carry out small daily tasks. It on the other hand has a head with several degrees of freedom, thus enabling him to direct it in all the directions.
Displacement
To achieve certain displacements everywhere in the house, PaPeRo nevertheless has a means of moving: under its frame three small wheels are dissimulated of which both of front are motorized by two small engines, which can then make it swivel on itself for more ease in the narrow places. As for its speed, it can reach the 20 cm/s (0,2 m/s) what confers to him a fast displacement “relatively” compared with its small size.
Sensors
PaPeRo is distinguished from the other personal robots by the big number of sensors. Indeed, it does not have on the whole less than eight types of Capteur S thus enabling him to see and recognize with its two cameras CCC; of touching with for example, its sensors of blow located on the head; or to hear and include/understand with its multiple microphones.
Facial recognition
The recognition of face of PaPeRo breaks up into two great stages:
- the phase of detection of face in the field of view of the robot
- the phase of identification of the face.
1. Detection of face
To detect an human face, the robot initially carries out an analysis of its environment and distinguishes the parts of the image which do not move and those which move. Among these last, he then seeks the typical characteristics of a face thanks to the proportions, with the provision compared to the remainder of the moving entity, and thanks to the size compared to the distance which separates them. Lastly, it stores the reason for the head if the latter would stop moving then it compares it compared to the other images of the video.
2. Identification of the face
To identify the face, PaPeRo seeks the eyes which are used to him as reference. Then, it compares the facial features compared to a base of knowledge made at the request of the user, by a vocal order. Lastly, it selects that which has the most resemblance.
Voice recognition
PaPeRo has a system of Voice recognition which enables him to listen to human speaking distinctly, even when the robot is speaking. Indeed, it uses a filtration system of background noise which enables him to include/understand the words of a man even with a sound in background.
Communications
The PaPeRo robot is a robot primarily dedicated to the communication of information such as the news of a Web site, the diffusion of e-mail or even the assistance with the urban location. One notes it in particular by the fact that it does not have any mechanical actuator enabling him to handle objects or matter. For that, it is equipped with many elements enabling him to transmit and receive information on behalf of human or with computing systems such as the computers or the GPS. Moreover, the developers of PaPeRo stressed the emotions of the robot, like the joy, the laughter, or sadness; emotions which make the communication much more realistic.
Communications robot-human
The communication robot-human is not possible that by speaking a language similar or equal to that about the interlocutor. For that, the developers of PaPeRo devoted a great importance to the vocabulary which it has: it can recognize up to 650 words and express approximately 3000 of them, which ensures interesting dialog with the man. Interesting insofar as in addition to speaking, it can carry out functions diverting like dancing, learning from the things to the young children or to achieve functions closer to the computer like the diffusion of e-mail.
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