by Jason Falconer of www.gizmag.com
A team led by Kazuhiro Nakadai at Honda
Research Institute-Japan (HRI-JP) is improving how robots process and
understand sound. The robot, aptly called HEARBO (HEARing roBOt),
can parse four sounds (including voices) at once, and can tell where
the sounds are coming from. The system, called HARK, could allow future
robot servants to better understand verbal commands from several meters
away.
The HARK system (HRI-JP Audition for Robots with Kyoto
University) processes audible noise with eight microphones inside the
robot's head. First the software singles out the sounds generated by its
17 motors, which are cancelled in real-time in a process known as
"ego-noise suppression." It then processes the remaining audio, while
applying a sound source localization algorithm to pinpoint the origin of
a sound to within one degree of accuracy.
"By using HARK, we can record and visualize, in real time, who spoke
and from where in a room," explains Nakadai on the HRI-JP website. "We
may be able to pick up voices of a specific person in a crowded area, or
take minutes of a meeting with information on who spoke what by
evolving this technology."
In one experiment, the robot took food orders from four people
speaking simultaneously – and knew who had ordered what. In another
experiment, the robot played a game of rock-paper-scissors with three
people. Each person said either rock, paper, or scissors at the same
time, and the robot was able to determine who won. Others have taught
the robot what different musical instruments sound like, which could
allow the robot to separate a song into various parts.
HARK represents just one domain of artificial intelligence known as
robot audition, which any practical robot helper will require in daily
life. Honda has reportedly invested more than US$60 million dollars into
its humanoid robot, ASIMO, with plans to one day commercialize. Earlier
work by the same team was applied to the latest version of ASIMO, which can understand different words spoken by three people simultaneously.
In the first video demonstration below, HEARBO is bombarded with a
beeping alarm clock, music, and a person speaking to it. Not only can it
distinguish between the types of sound it is hearing, but it turns its
head in the direction of the sound it is seeking. In the second
demonstration, the robot listens to verbal commands while music plays.
It estimates the song's tempo and dances to the rhythm, and performs
ego-noise suppression to cancel out its own servo noise.
Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/honda-hearbo-robot-excellent-hearing/25087/
1 comment:
Honda forver!!!
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