What is claimed is:
1. An information processing device for use in a robot, comprising:
voice recognizer means for recognizing a voice;
image recognizer means for recognizing an image, and
decision means for deciding the behavior of the robot based on at least one of the voice recognition result provided by the voice recognizer means and the image recognition result provided by the image recognizer means.
2. An information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing a table that describes the relationship of the voice recognition result provided by the voice recognizer means, the image recognition result provided by the image recognizer means, and the behavior of the robot that is uniquely decided in accordance with the voice recognition result and the image recognition result.
3. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the decision means decides the behavior of the robot in accordance with the image recognition result uniquely determined by the image recognizer means when the voice recognition is not uniquely determined by the voice recognizer means.
4. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the decision means decides the behavior of the robot in accordance with the voice recognition result uniquely determined by the voice recognizer means when a plurality of objects is present within the area of an image recognized by the image recognizer means.
5. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the image recognizer means recognizes an image of a scene which is present in a direction to which one of predetermined portions of a user, from among a finger, a face, an eye, and a jaw of the user, points.
6. An information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising storage means for storing data of gestures performed by a user,
wherein the image recognizer means recognizes the image of the user to detect a gesture matching the gesture data stored in the storage means, and regards the detected gesture as an image recognition result.
7. An information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising:
detector means for detecting the face of a user; and
range finder means for measuring a distance between the user and the robot based on the size of the face of the user detected by the detector means,
wherein the decision means decides the behavior of the robot using the measured distance.
8. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the voice recognizer means detects a rhythm contained in background sounds, and treats the detected rhythm as a voice recognition result.
9. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the voice recognizer means detects an acoustic phenomenon from background sounds, and treats the detected acoustic phenomenon as a voice recognition result.
10. An information processing method of an information processing device for use in a robot, comprising:
a voice recognizing step for recognizing a voice;
an image recognizing step for recognizing an image, and
a decision step for deciding the behavior of the robot based on at least one of the voice recognition result provided in the voice recognizing step and the image recognition result provided in the image recognizing step.
11. A software program for an information processing device for use in a robot, comprising program codes for performing:
a voice recognizing step for recognizing a voice;
an image recognizing step for recognizing an image, and
a decision step for deciding the behavior of the robot based on at least one of the voice recognition result provided in the voice recognizing step and the image recognition result provided in the image recognizing step.
12. A storage medium storing a software program for an information processing device for use in a robot, comprising program codes for performing:
a voice recognizing step for recognizing a voice;
an image recognizing step for recognizing an image, and
a decision step for deciding the behavior of the robot based on at least one of the voice recognition result provided in the voice recognizing step and the image recognition result provided in the image recognizing step.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1-10. (canceled)
11. A method for controlling at least one triggering element for a passenger protection unit, comprising:
providing a high-side control circuit which establishes a first connection from an energy source to the at least one triggering element;
providing a low-side control circuit which establishes a second connection from the at least one triggering element to ground; and
providing a regulating device for regulating a firing current for the at least one triggering element;
wherein a firing mode among multiple firing modes is selected as a function of the at least one triggering element, a first firing current having a first time characteristic being generated in a first firing mode for an essentially ohmic triggering element, and a second firing current having a second time characteristic being generated in a second firing mode for an essentially inductive triggering element, and wherein a current monitoring function which generates at least one control signal is performed, the at least one control signal limiting the output firing currents in time as a function of the instantaneous firing mode.
12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein, in the first firing mode, a first control signal having a constant first activation time period is generated and applied to the regulating device for regulating the first firing current.
13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein, in the second firing mode, a second control signal having a variable activation time period is generated and applied to the regulating device for regulating the second firing current.
14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the second control signal is generated in the second firing mode by a logic combination of at least two additional control signals.
15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein a maximum activation time period of the second control signal in the second firing mode is predefined by a third control signal, and a minimum activation time period of the second control signal is predefined by a fourth control signal in the second firing mode.
16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein a fifth control signal is generated from an output signal of a monitoring device, and wherein the second control signal in the second firing mode is generated by combining the fifth control signal, the fourth control signal, the third control signal, and a selected activation time period between the minimum and the maximum activation time periods.
17. A system for activating at least one triggering element for a passenger protection unit, comprising:
a high-side control circuit which establishes a first connection from an energy source to the at least one triggering element;
a low-side control circuit which establishes a second connection from the at least one triggering element to ground;
a regulating device for regulating a firing current for the at least one triggering element; and
an evaluation and control unit selecting, in response to a presetting, a firing mode for the at least one triggering element among multiple firing modes, wherein a first firing current having a first time characteristic is generated in the first firing mode for an essentially ohmic triggering element, and wherein a second firing current having a second time characteristic is generated in a second firing mode for an essentially inductive triggering element, and wherein the evaluation and control unit performs a current monitoring function and generates at least one control signal which limits the output firing currents in time as a function of the instantaneous firing mode.
18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein the evaluation and control unit generates, in the first firing mode, a first control signal having a constant first activation time period via the current monitoring function and then applies the first control signal to the regulating device for regulating the first firing current.
19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the evaluation and control unit generates, in the second firing mode, a second control signal having a variable activation time period and then applies the second control signal to the regulating device for regulating the second firing current.
20. The system as recited in claim 19, further comprising a monitoring device, wherein the evaluation and control unit generates the second control signal in the second firing mode by a logic combination of at least two additional control signals, a maximum activation time period of the second control signal being predefined by a third control signal and a minimum activation time period of the second control signal being predefined by a fourth control signal, and wherein the evaluation and control unit generates a fifth control signal from an output signal of the monitoring device, and wherein the evaluation and control unit generates the second control signal having an activation time period which is between the minimum and the maximum activation time periods by combining the third, fourth and fifth control signals.