Robot Toy

Abstract

A robot toy comprises a first light source emitting light of at least two colors simultaneously or individually, five or more second light sources arranged around the first light source, a memory for storing at least two types of emotion parameters constituting emotion, and a control means for increasing/decreasing the value of emotion parameters based on an external operation input. The control means controls the first and second light sources to emit light in an emission pattern corresponding to a combination of the values of emotion parameters, thus realizing an inexpensive robot toy capable of effectively representing emotion.

1 . A robot toy that artificially expresses an emotion by the flashing of a light source, said mechanism comprising: 
 a head part of the robot toy having a frontal surface;    a group of light sources disposed at the frontal surface of the head part of the robot toy and comprising of one first light source, at least five second light sources disposed at virtually equal intervals around the first light source as the center;    a cover that covers the light sources and is formed of a semi-transparent material with which it is possible to recognize from the outside the light emitted from a light source when a light source has been turned on; and    an information processor for controlling the flashing of the light sources, wherein the information processor executes control in response to input from the outside and multiple light-emitting patterns are realized comprising a light emission pattern whereby the five or more second light sources turn on and off in succession in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.    
   
   
       2 . A robot toy as recited  claim 1 , comprising a memory for storing at least two types of emotion parameters that define emotions, wherein the information processor increases or decreases the values of the emotion parameters based on operation input from the outside and control the emission of light from the first and/or second light sources by a light emission pattern corresponding to the increase or decrease in the emotion parameters.  
   
   
       3 . A robot toy as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the information processor causes the first and/or second light sources to flash in response to the degree of the emotion as determined by the value of the emotion parameter at a cycle that becomes faster with any increase in this degree.  
   
   
       4 . A robot toy as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the information processor causes the first and/or second light source to flash in a color corresponding to the type of emotion as determined by the combination of the values of the emotion parameters by light of two colors being simultaneously or individually emitted.  
   
   
       5 . A robot toy as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first light source is capable of emitting more colors of light than can be emitted by the second light sources individually.  
   
   
       6 . A robot toy as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the information processor causes the first light source to emit light in a specific color that cannot be emitted by the second light sources when the type of emotion as determined by the combination of the values of the emotion parameters corresponds to a pre-established specific type.  
   
   
       7 . A robot toy as recited in  claim 2 , comprising two or more operation input switches, and the information processor increases the values of the emotion parameters in accordance with the operation input of each of the operation input switches, and decreases the values of the emotion parameters when there has been no operation input for a specific time.  
   
   
       8 . A robot toy comprising: 
 a torso part;    a head part disposed at the front of the torso part such that the head part can move in relation to the torso part;    a pair of front leg parts disposed at the front of the torso part;    a frontal face part comprising, 
 a virtually flat, semi-transparent cover designed such that light can be emitted through the cover from beneath while the cover hides the area beneath the cover,  
 multiple light source parts disposed on the inside of said frontal surface part comprising one first light source part and at least five second light source parts disposed annularly at virtually equal intervals surrounding the first light source part, and disposed in such a way that the flashing lights do not mix with one another;  
   a switch that functions in response to operation by a user; and    an information processor for controlling the turning on and off of the multiple light source parts in response to signals from the switch, the information processor is designed such that the turning on and off of the light source parts is controlled by light emission patterns comprising a light-emission pattern for the successive turning off and on of the multiple second light source parts in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion.    
   
   
       9 . The robot toy recited in  claim 8 , wherein the first light source part comprises at least two light sources having different emission colors, and the light emission patterns comprise a light-emission pattern wherein light is emitted by one of the first light source parts and a light-emission pattern wherein at least two light sources simultaneously emit light.  
   
   
       10 . The robot toy recited in  claim 8 , wherein the frontal surface part of the head part is formed in an oblong right-angled parallelepiped shape having rounded sides.  
   
   
       11 . The robot toy recited in  claim 8 , wherein the switches are disposed below the position of the multiple light source parts on the top face part and the frontal surface part of the head part.  
   
   
       12 . The robot toy recited in  claim 8 , comprising a tail switch is further disposed at the back of the torso part.  
   
   
       13 . The robot toy recited in  claim 8 , wherein the first light source part comprises three light sources having different emission colors, and the multiple first light source parts comprise two light sources having different emission colors.  
   
   
       14 . A musical toy in the shape of an animal, comprising: 
 a torso part;    a head part disposed at the front part of the torso part such that the head can move in relation to the torso part;    a pair of front legs disposed at the front of the torso part; and    a pair of hind legs disposed at the back of the torso part, and having an appearance and shape that imitate a sitting animal, wherein the head part comprises a frontal surface part, which is an oblong right-angle parallelepiped shape having rounded sides and is flat and wider than the torso part, and further houses a sound amplifier part, and a speaker; and a display part is disposed at the frontal surface part and this display part displays in accordance with the music output from the speakers.    
   
   
       15 . The robot toy as recited  claim 14 , comprising a memory for storing at least two types of emotion parameters that define emotions, wherein the information processor increases or decreases the values of the emotion parameters based on operation input from the outside and control the emission of light from the first and/or second light sources by a light emission pattern corresponding to the increase or decrease in the emotion parameters.  
   
   
       16 . The musical toy as recited in  claim 14 , comprising an information processor and a first and/or second light source.  
   
   
       17 . The robot toy as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the information processor causes the first and/or second light sources to flash in response to the degree of the emotion as determined by the value of the emotion parameter at a cycle that becomes faster with any increase in this degree.  
   
   
       18 . The robot toy as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the information processor causes the first and/or second light source to flash in a color corresponding to the type of emotion as determined by the combination of the values of the emotion parameters by light of two colors being simultaneously or individually emitted.  
   
   
       19 . The robot toy as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the first light source is capable of emitting more colors of light than can be emitted by the second light sources individually.  
   
   
       20 . The robot toy as recited in  claim 16 , wherein the information processor causes the first light source to emit light in a specific color that cannot be emitted by the second light sources when the type of emotion as determined by the combination of the values of the emotion parameters corresponds to a pre-established specific type.