Condition-Based Robot Audio Techniques

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for audio augmentation of physical robot sounds. A robot can determine that a first physically moveable component of the robot is to be actuated and in response, obtain a conditional state of the robot. The robot can obtain an audio object that generates an audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement having one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state of the robot. The robot can output the audio enhancement while actuating the first physically moveable component.

1 . A robot comprising:
 one or more physically moveable components;   one or more speakers;   one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations comprising:
 determining that a first physically moveable component of the one or more physically moveable components is to be actuated; 
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement having a blend of one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state and the audio enhancement simulates a sound produced by actuating the first physically moveable component; 
 initiating actuation of the first physically moveable component; and 
 providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component at least partially concurrently with actuating the first physically moveable component. 
   
     
     
         2 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the conditional state comprises an emotion state of the robot. 
     
     
         3 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the audio object has one or more associated parameters, and wherein outputting the audio enhancement comprises modifying a sound generated by the audio object according to the one or more associated parameters. 
     
     
         4 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein a conditional parameter of the conditional state is a current speed of the robot, and further comprising: determining the current speed of the robot; and modifying the audio enhancement generated by the audio object according to the current speed of the robot. 
     
     
         5 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the determination about the environment is an identification of a presence of a person in the environment. 
     
     
         6 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the determination about the environment comprises an interaction with a user in the environment. 
     
     
         7 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the determination about the environment is an identification of an object in the environment. 
     
     
         8 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the determination about the environment comprises gathering information from a source selected from the group consisting of a smart home sensor, an application on a smart phone, a camera, and a thermometer. 
     
     
         9 . The robot of  claim 1 , wherein the determination about the environment comprises assessing an environmental factor within the robot's environment selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, presence of wind, lighting, sentiment of speakers, mood of speakers, mood of conversation, presence of music, genre of music and volume of ambient sounds. 
     
     
         10 . A robot comprising:
 one or more physically moveable components;   one or more speakers;   one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot, wherein the determination about the environment comprises assessing an environmental factor within the robot's environment selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, presence of wind, lighting, presence of music, genre of music and volume of ambient sounds; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement, wherein the audio enhancement matches the obtained conditional state; and 
 providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement. 
   
     
     
         11 . The robot of  claim 10 , wherein the conditional state comprises an emotion state of the robot. 
     
     
         12 . The robot of  claim 10 , wherein the audio object has one or more associated parameters, and wherein outputting the audio enhancement comprises modifying a sound generated by the audio object according to the one or more associated parameters. 
     
     
         13 . The robot of  claim 10 , wherein the determination about the environment comprises gathering information from a source selected from the group consisting of a smart home sensor, an application on a smart phone, a camera, and a thermometer. 
     
     
         14 . A robot comprising:
 one or more physically moveable components;   one or more speakers;   one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an internal state of the robot; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement, wherein the audio enhancement matches the obtained conditional state; and 
 providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement. 
   
     
     
         15 . The robot of  claim 14 , wherein the conditional state comprises an emotion state of the robot. 
     
     
         16 . The robot of  claim 14 , wherein the audio object has one or more associated parameters, and wherein outputting the audio enhancement comprises modifying a sound generated by the audio object according to the one or more associated parameters. 
     
     
         17 . The robot of  claim 14 , wherein the determination about the internal state of the robot is selected from the group consisting of a noise made by the robot, maintenance required by the robot, speed of the robot, acceleration of the robot, friction of the robot, charging status of the robot, docking status of the robot, orientation of the robot and location of the robot. 
     
     
         18 . The robot of  claim 14 , wherein the operations performed by the one or more storage devices also comprise:
 prior to obtaining the audio object, determining that a first physically moveable component of the one or more physically moveable components is to be actuated;   generating a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement having a blend of one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state and the audio enhancement simulates a sound produced by actuating the first physically moveable component;   initiating actuation of the first physically moveable component; and   providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component at least partially concurrently with actuating the first physically moveable component.   
     
     
         19 . A robot comprising:
 one or more physically moveable components;   one or more speakers;   one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations comprising:
 determining that a first physically moveable component of the one or more physically moveable components is to be actuated; 
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a touch that the robot experiences; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement having a blend of one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state and the audio enhancement simulates a sound produced by actuating the first physically moveable component; 
 initiating actuation of the first physically moveable component; and 
 providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component at least partially concurrently with actuating the first physically moveable component. 
   
     
     
         20 . A robot comprising:
 one or more physically moveable components;   one or more speakers;   one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement, the audio enhancement having one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state; and 
 providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement, and 
 wherein the determination about the environment comprises assessing an environmental factor within the robot's environment selected from the group consisting of music, presence of music, genre of music and volume of ambient sounds, a touch that the robot experiences, and a sentiment of a touch from at least one person in an environment around the robot. 
   
     
     
         21 . A robot comprising:
 one or more physically moveable components;   one or more speakers;   one or more processors; and   one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement, the audio enhancement having one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state; and 
 providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement, and 
 wherein the determination about the environment comprises assessing an environmental factor outside of the robot's environment selected from the group consisting of weather, stock performance, current events, calendared events, personal dates and time of day. 
   
     
     
         22 . A method comprising:
 determining that a first physically moveable component of the one or more physically moveable components is to be actuated;   obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot;   obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement having a blend of one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state and the audio enhancement simulates a sound produced by actuating the first physically moveable component;   initiating actuation of the first physically moveable component; and   providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component at least partially concurrently with actuating the first physically moveable component.   
     
     
         23 . A method comprising:
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot, wherein the determination about the environment comprises assessing an environmental factor within the robot's environment selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, presence of wind, lighting, presence of music, genre of music and volume of ambient sounds;   obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement, wherein the audio enhancement matches the obtained conditional state;   obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to-speech audio enhancement, wherein the audio enhancement matches the obtained conditional state; and   providing the audio object as input to the one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement.   
     
     
         24 . A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising:
 instructions that are operable, when executed by a robot comprising one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform the method of:
 determining that a first physically moveable component of one or more physically moveable components is to be actuated; 
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to speech audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement having a blend of one or more characteristics that match the obtained conditional state and the audio enhancement simulates a sound produced by actuating the first physically moveable component; 
 initiating actuation of the first physically moveable component; and 
 providing the audio object as input to one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component at least partially concurrently with actuating the first physically moveable component. 
   
     
     
         25 . A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the program comprising
 instructions that are operable, when executed by a robot comprising one or more processors, to cause the robot to perform the method of:
 obtaining a conditional state of the robot, which conditional state matches a determination about an environment around the robot, wherein the determination about the environment comprises assessing an environmental factor within the robot's environment selected from the group consisting of temperature, humidity, presence of wind, lighting, presence of music, genre of music and volume of ambient sounds; 
 obtaining an audio object that generates a non-text-to speech audio enhancement for the first physically moveable component being actuated, the audio enhancement that matches the obtained conditional state; and 
 providing the audio object as input to one or more speakers to output the audio enhancement.