Borrowing the Building's Eyes
■ The doors opened, and a bed was right there
The double doors leading to the operating wing. As Hakobukun arrived, the doors began to open, and Takasugi came through pushing a bed with Mr. Iwata on it. Robot and bed met nose to nose, and neither could move. From the bed, Mr. Iwata asked, "So who's backing up?" Hakobukun's reply: "I could not see behind the door."
■ A robot's eyes stop at the door
In Toyota’s work on a hospital delivery robot, one challenge was that the sensors watching the robot's surroundings could not know in advance what was coming from the other side of a door, so the robot could not give way. While a door is closed, the far side does not exist for the robot. Even if it notices the moment the door opens, in a narrow doorway there is nowhere left to back up.
■ Conclusion: Let the building see the blind spots
Shiraishi mounted a camera above the door that sends the view from the other side to Hakobukun. When a bed is coming, Hakobukun now waits off to the side. The robot does not have to see everything with its own eyes.
Give the building eyes too, and the robot can yield first.
