Motion and real-world sensing system of a small biped entertainment robot

SDR-4X II is the latest prototype model which is a small biped entertainment robot. This is the improved model of SDR-4X. In this paper, we report the sensing system of this robot which is important and essential for a small biped entertainment robot which will be used in a home environment. One technology is the design of the motion sensing system. This technology are the inclination sensor system and the force sensor system which obtains the inclination of the trunk and the foot with force. Another technology is the real-world sensing system. Another one is the touch sensing system. The robot is used in a normal home environment, so we should strongly consider the safety of humans. Another is the vision sensor system. The configuration and the distance image acquisition are explained. Next is the audio sensor system which obtains the sound and the voice information. The hardware system and the direction recognition are explained. These sensing systems are the key to make the biped robot walk and its dynamic motion highly stable and understand the real-world around the robot.