Copyright Françoise Herrmann
The definition of a humanoid robot according to many of the Softbank Robotics patents is the following:
A robot can be qualified as humanoid from the moment … it has certain human appearance attributes: a head, a trunk, two arms, two hands, etc. A humanoid robot may, however, be more or less sophisticated. Its limbs may have a greater or lesser number of articulations. It may control its own balance statically and dynamically and walk on two limbs, possibly in three dimensions, or simply roll over a base. It may pick up signals from the environment (“hear”, “see”, “touch”, “sense”, etc.) and react according to more or less sophisticated behaviors, and interact with other robots or humans, either by speech or by gesture. [Extracted from US20170197311A1]
Thus, it probably comes as no surprise that Nao is also part of humanoid family that includes a couple of humanoid siblings. Pepper is Nao’s first humanoid sibling. This Softbank Robotics humanoid robot measures 4 ft in height. Pepper’s trunk is humanoid, with two arms, two hands and a head. The lower half of her body is designed as a skirt comprising wheels to ensure mobility. Pepper is equipped with a 3D camera to detect people and their emotions, as well as her own surroundings. The little robot interacts via a tablet and voice. Her hands, fingers and forearms together display 20 degrees of freedom for gestures, specifically designed to enhance communication.
Pepper was designed as a business companion, in particular for retail and services. She is the ideal host, fielding reception of clients in hotel lobbies, at airports, and in buildings. She might also be found in stores, where customers might query her about goods or inventory. Pepper is also connected, using apps that can be downloaded to increase, or customize, functionalities. She was also designed with a community of developers in mind, who would provide her with endless new possibilities of use and functionality.
The following video pitches Pepper to developers:
Pepper embodies numerous patented inventions, some of which are found in all the humanoid robots manufactured by Softbank Robotics. For example, see posts referring to the inventions covering Nao's hands and Nao's skull. However, the following two patent families are each respectively specific to Pepper’s mobility, and her ability to dock independently into a recharging base:
Patent Family I (Pepper’s mobility)
- US20170144299A1 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- AU2015248711 (A1) ― 2016-11-03 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- EP2933069 (A1) ― 2015-10-21 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- CA2946049 (A1) ― 2015-10-22 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- HK1216406 (A1) ― 2016-11-11 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- JP2017513726 (A) ― 2017-06-01 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- KR20170030078 (A) ― 2017-03-16 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- SG11201608204Q (A) ― 2016-10-28 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
- WO2015158885 (A2) ― 2015-10-22 - Omnidirectional wheeled humanoid robot based on a linear predictive position and velocity controller
Patent family II (Pepper’s ability to dock herself into her recharging base)
- US20170080816A1 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- AU2015270600 (A1) ― 2016-12-01 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- CA2951060 (A1) ― 2015-12-10 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- EP3152080 (A1) ― 2017-04-12 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- FR3021914 (A1) ― 2015-12-11 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- JP2017518195 (A) ― 2017-07-06 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- KR20170026441 (A) ― 2017-03-08 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- MX2016015828 (A) ― 2017-06-28 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- SG11201609422X (A) ― 2016-12-29 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
- WO2015185525 (A1) ― 2015-12-10 - Battery charging base and recharging method implementing such a base
References
Softbank Robotics – Pepper
Wikipedia – Pepper (Robot)
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