Robot auditory apparatus

摘要

A robot auditory apparatus and system are disclosed which are made capable of attaining active perception upon collecting a sound from an external target with no influence received from noises generated interior of the robot such as those emitted from the robot driving elements. The apparatus and system are for a robot having a noise generating source in its interior, and include: a sound insulating cladding (14) with which at least a portion of the robot is covered; at least two outer microphones (16 and 16) disposed outside of the cladding (14) for collecting an external sound primarily; at least one inner microphone (17) disposed inside of the cladding (14) for primarily collecting noises from the noise generating source in the robot interior; a processing section (23, 24) responsive to signals from the outer and inner microphones (16 and 16; and 17) for canceling from respective sound signals from the outer microphones (16 and 16), noises signal from the interior noise generating source and then issuing a left and a right sound signal; and a directional information extracting section (27) responsive to the left and light sound signals from the processing section (23, 24) for determining the direction from which the external sound is emitted. The processing section (23, 24) is adapted to detect burst noises owing to the noise generating source from a signal from the at least one inner microphone (17) for removing signal portions from the sound signals for bands containing the burst noises. <IMAGE>