JPH04343689A - Numerically controlled device for robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency of the debugging work by providing an interruption authorization information memory section inserting the line number and statement information of the program in gaps of execution code blocks and specifying the propriety of the temporary execution interruption for each source line. CONSTITUTION:An interruption authorization memory section inserting the line number and/or statement information of the program between execution code blocks e1, e2 arranging the execution code for each line of the program respectively and storing the interruption information for specifying the propriety of the temporary execution interruption for each source line is provided on a program memory section. Whether the execution is to be temporarily interrupted or not can be individually specified for each source line at the time of debugging of the program, and the execution code can be continuously executed without the temporary interruption of execution when no step action is required for the debugged program.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a new numerical control device for robots that allows for efficient modification of robot programs.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, robots have been applied to a wide variety of fields, and there are many robot languages that can appropriately describe robot movements in each field. Particularly easy to handle are the compiled type, in which the source files are compiled in advance by an external computer, and the program code is directly executed on the numerical control device, and the compromise type, in which the source files are compiled into an intermediate language format and executed sequentially. Therefore, it is widely used.

FIG. 6 briefly shows the processing system of a program written in a robot language.

[0004] Reference character a is a program creation device, in which an operator inputs and edits a program, compiles it, and transfers it to the numerical control device b of the robot.

[0005] The numerical control device b is a program creation device a.
The operation of robot c is controlled according to the robot program created by robot c using teaching device d (usually called a teaching pendant).
You can check the current position of the robot, fine-tune the stationary position of the robot, refer to the robot program, etc.

[0006] Now, assume that a robot program is to be displayed by the teaching device d. At this time, since the executable code has already been compiled, it cannot be displayed as is. Therefore, generally the source file is left as a text code in the memory of numerical control device b,
A method is adopted in which the robot program is displayed by referring to this from the teaching device d.

FIG. 7 shows an outline of memory arrangement for a conventional robot program display method.

In the memory, a group of instructions including execution codes are stored in a distributed manner for each step as shown in areas e1, e2, . . . . In other words, a group of execution instructions for the first step is placed in area e1, a group of execution instructions for the second step is placed in the next area e2 after a certain gap, and so on. (Hereinafter, such an area will be referred to as an "execution code block.")

[0009] In order to be able to execute the execution code blocks e1, e2, . ... are each assigned a jump instruction to jump to the first address of the next execution code block to be executed.

[0010] In the area g1 located between the jump instruction to the execution code block e1 of the first step and the start address of the execution code block e1 called thereby, the number of codes for each step ( In other words, the memory size occupied by the step code is arranged, and the subsequent area i1 is an area for placing the text code (hereinafter referred to as a "text code block").

[0011] In the text code block i1, the ASCII code of the line number of the first step is located in the first half area j1, and the ASCII code of the first step statement (that is, the line information of the source file) is located in the next area k1.
The code is placed. By referencing this area i1 from the outside, the contents of the execution code block e1 can be displayed on the teaching device d.

The above-described block configuration is repeated for the second and subsequent steps, and the area g after the jump instruction to the execution code block e2 of the second step
2 contains an area h2 containing the code number of the second step, the ASCII code of the line number, and the ASCII code of the statement.
Text code block i2 containing II codes in this order
is arranged.

When the program is executed, the numerical control device b
When the CPU executes a jump instruction to the execution code block e1 of the first step, control is transferred to the start address of the execution code block e1, skipping the area g1, and the execution code of the first step is executed. Then, when the CPU finds a jump instruction to the second step located at the end of the execution code block e1, it skips over the area g2 and executes the execution from the first address of the execution code block e2. The execution code block is executed by skipping over h2, . . . and text code blocks i1, i2, .

Note that the ``JUMP'' instruction, which is a basic instruction of the CPU, is not used as the jump instruction to the start address of the execution code block, but instead the subroutine s is used as shown in FIG.
Use b. This process is a subroutine call to clarify which step the CPU is currently executing, and the text code indicates that the text code area starts immediately after the jump instruction written as the subroutine call instruction. The process of storing data in the storage unit (not shown) at the start address is described in the subroutine.

In the subroutine sb, a stop process can also be performed so that step-by-step execution can be performed during debugging.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, first, after storing the start address of the execution code block in a predetermined register, an instruction for step execution processing (for example, , “PAU
By writing "SE"), it is possible to execute the execution code block step by step, and it is also possible to easily display the text code on the teaching device d based on the start address of the stored text code. can.

[0017] Regarding the area division between the text code block and the execution code block, a specific code (for example, "00" etc.) may be used, or the number of codes of the text code block may be written at a predetermined address. Just leave it there.

[0018]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] By the way, in the above method, the source program written in the robot language (
Since the only option is to uniformly display the text code (text code format) on the teaching device d, or not display the text code at all as when executing instructions, it is possible to reduce work efficiency when debugging the program. There is a problem that this may lead to

[0019] This is due to the property that programs are created hierarchically (so-called hierarchical structure of programs).
In contrast, the hierarchical structure of a group of compiled codes is not clear (think of a language system such as the BASIC language where the hierarchy is not specified depending on the grammar of the language), and the program structure is This is because it is not reflected in the format itself.

A specific example is a robot operation program in which chuck processing is described as one subroutine.

[0021] In this case, when debugging the part of the program that describes the robot's movements, if the step execution process is used to make the robot step, even if you do not want the part that describes the chuck process to operate. Step operations are uniformly performed for such processing. Assuming that the portion describing the chuck operation has already been debugged, it would be completely wasteful and inconvenient to perform a step operation on such a portion each time.

[0022]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a program storage section for storing an execution code converted into an executable code for a program that describes robot motion. , when controlling the robot's movement using executable code, the execution code is arranged for each line of the program in a robot numerical control device that executes the executable code for each source line of the program or can temporarily stop the execution. In addition to inserting each line number and/or statement information of the program between code blocks, the program stores a stop permission storage unit that stores stop permission information for specifying whether to temporarily stop execution for each source line. It is set up in the department.

In addition, the stop permission/denial information section stored in the stop permission/denial storage section can take on two or more status values, and the two or more status values are ranked, and the status values are By specifying in advance using a specifying means, it becomes impossible to temporarily stop the execution of the executable code for a source line to which a specific status value has been assigned, and the executable code can be executed continuously. .

[0024]

[Operation] According to the present invention, when debugging a program,
You can individually specify whether or not to temporarily stop execution for each source line, so if there is no need to step through a debugged program, run it without pausing execution. Since the code can be executed continuously, the hierarchy of the program lost by compiling the source program can be substantially restored, and debugging work can be performed efficiently.

[0025]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The numerical control device for a robot according to the present invention will be explained below according to the illustrated embodiments.

[0026] The present invention does not uniformly perform step execution processing on all of the executable code after compilation, but passes execution and text display of parts that have already been debugged, and intentionally performs these processing. The purpose is to improve the efficiency of debugging work by avoiding this.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the construction of a robot system for a program processing system according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a program creation device, which is provided for compiling a source file after an operator inputs or edits a program, and transmitting the compiled source file to the numerical control device of the robot.

A computer is normally used as the program creation device 1, and if its functions are expressed in a block diagram, it can be thought of as having an editing section 2, a code conversion section 3, and a transfer section 4. That is, the source code created by the editing section 2 is sent to the code conversion section 3, where it is converted into an executable code in a predetermined format (machine language, etc.), and then sent to the numerical control device 5 via the transfer section 4. It is now possible to

The numerical control device 5 is the program creation device 1
The operation of the robot 6 is controlled according to the robot program created by the robot.

Information output from the transfer section 4 of the program creation device 1 is sent to the reception section 6 of the numerical control device 1, and
The program is stored in the program storage section 8 under the control of the program storage section 8. and,
The CPU 7 interprets and executes the execution code in the program storage section 8, and sends a command signal to the servo control section 9 to control the robot 6.
and exchange information with the teaching device 11 via the teaching device I/F (interface) 10.

The teaching device 11 is usually called a teaching pendant, and is used to confirm the current operating position of the robot,
This is provided to make fine adjustments to the stationary position of the robot or to refer to the robot program.

As shown in the figure, the teaching device 11 includes a teaching input section 12 for inputting commands to the numerical control device 5 and the robot 6, and a teaching device I/F 10 of the numerical control device 5 according to the contents of the commands. It is provided with a teaching control section 14 for exchanging information, transmitting teaching contents to the numerical control device 5, and transmitting information such as text codes in the program storage section 8 to the display section 13.

Now, assume that the teaching device 11 is used to display a robot program.

After the executable code is compiled, even if it is displayed as it is, it cannot be easily understood by humans and the display has no meaning, so the executable code is displayed on the display section 13.
It is not displayed on top. For this reason, in general, the source information is left in the compiled code, and by referring to this information from the teaching device 11, the robot program can be displayed as text, and the meaning and content of the program can be grasped. There is.

FIG. 2 shows the memory arrangement of the program according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows the code arrangement in the program storage section 8 of the numerical control device 5.

As shown in the figure, execution code blocks e1, e2, . . . of each step are discontinuously scattered, and areas f1, f2, . The arrangement of the jump instructions is the same as the memory arrangement shown in FIG.

However, the first half m1, m2, . . . of areas g1, g2, . Information for actively declaring whether or not to proceed is located here.

[0039] This information is used to prevent the execution code from being executed step by step for each step, and not to temporarily stop execution (hereinafter referred to as "step stop") for the desired step. This is information that has been agreed upon in advance so that the step execution process can be passed (hereinafter referred to as "stop permission/denial information").

[0040] In other words, this stop permission/disapproval information is a binary state value, that is, during a step operation, "after temporarily stopping execution for that step, displaying text representing the execution contents, and performing debugging processing," , a state value to move to the next execution code block, or a state value to move to the next execution code block immediately after execution, without pausing execution, without displaying text representing the execution contents, or without debugging. The state value for "moving to the execution code block" is now written.

[0041] Furthermore, the area h1 following m1, m2, . . .
The number of codes for each step is stored in h2,...
The next text code blocks i1, i2, . . . are storage areas j1, j2, . . . for the ASCII codes of the line numbers.
... and statement ASCII code storage area k
It consists of 1, k2, and so on.

The numerical control device 5 is instructed to execute the program by the teaching device 11, and as a result, the numerical control device 5
The CPU 7 first executes a jump command to the first step.

The jump command is executed by calling subroutine SB as shown in the figure. That is, in a subroutine call that has the starting address of the execution instruction group of the first step as information, the stop permission information is referenced for each step, and it is determined whether or not to stop the step when executing the execution code, depending on the content of the stop permission information. will be judged.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of subroutine processing.

Conditional branch processing a).

First, it is determined whether the mode is one in which instructions are executed step by step (hereinafter referred to as "step stop mode"). When performing normal robot movements, the execution code is executed one after another, and debugging is not necessary, so proceed to process h), jump to the first address of the execution code block to be executed, and execute the execution code. Execute. Further, if the step stop mode is selected, the process proceeds to the next process b).

Process b).

Here, the stop permission information of the target step is acquired in order to check whether the status value means permission to stop the step. In addition, as mentioned above, the stop permission/disapproval information is contained in areas m1, m2, .
. . , and exists at an address contiguous to the calling address of subroutine SB, so the process for acquiring stop permission/disapproval information only refers to this.

Conditional branch processing c).

[0050] It is determined whether the status value indicated by the stop permission information acquired in the above process b) is a value indicating permission to stop the step.

[0051] For steps for which debugging has already been completed, the status value indicated by the stop permission information is a value that means refusing to stop the step, so in this case, the debugging process or text display is not performed. Jump to the jump to the next execution code block h) and continue execution. Furthermore, if the status value indicated by the stop permission/denial information is a value that means step stop is permitted, the process proceeds to the next process d).

Process d).

Obtain the ASCII code for the line number of the step.

[0054] This is a process that refers to the information of the text code block and prepares for display for debugging.

Processing e).

Set the address at which the ASCII code string for the statement of the target step starts. That is, this is a necessary process for storing the start address of a statement in a text code block in a statement start address storage section (not shown) and preparing for display for debugging.

Processing f).

Line numbers and statements are displayed in text on the teaching device 11. Since the display information has already been acquired in the previous processes d) and e), the teaching control section 14 of the teaching device 11 displays this information on the display section 13. This makes it possible to understand the instruction content of the step.

[0059] In this way, the displayed information does not include execution code and unnecessary information is not displayed, so the flow of the program can be easily grasped visually, and the display area is small. It's done.

Now that preparations for debugging are complete, proceed to the next process g).

Processing g).

[0062] Here, as necessary, the contents of the memory are referred to, and precise teaching processing of the position to which the robot will actually move based on the operation command is performed. Of course, for the execution code block debugged here, the state value of the stop permission information related to that step is rewritten, and the state value indicating permission to stop the step is reset to the state value indicating refusal to stop the step. Or, the opposite setting can be made.

Then, proceed to the next step h).

Process h).

To continue execution of the robot motion, a subroutine call jumps to the next step's execution code block. As a result, the processing related to the series of previous target steps is completed, and the processing of the next step is started. Then, the process returns to process a).

In the above processing procedure, the difference between the processing of subroutine SB according to the present invention and the processing of conventional subroutine sb is that whether or not to perform a step stop in processing b) and c) is individually determined for each step. The point is that it can be specified.

If it is desired to uniformly stop the step for all steps, it is of course possible to rewrite the state value of the stop permission information of all the steps to a state value indicating permission to stop the step.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the stop permission information for each step is assigned to an independent storage address, but in order to save memory capacity, the storage area for the line number of each step may also be used. . In this case, a specific bit of the storage portion, for example, the most significant bit, may be assigned to the setting bit of the stop permission information.

Regarding the stop permission/denial information, if it is possible to take not only the binary status value mentioned above but also three or more status values, it will not only be possible to determine the permission/denial of step stopping;
Debugging processing based on program hierarchy becomes possible.

For example, assume the following robot program source list.

[List 1] MOVE POINT2 CALL GRASP STOP GRASP: CALL CHACKOFFWAI
T 20 CALL CHACKON RETURN CHACKOFF: OUT 2,0 RETURN CHACKON: OUT 2,1 RETURN

[0072] This program describes the process of moving the robot to the POINT2 position, releasing the chuck, pausing for 20 milliseconds, and then grabbing an object. "CHACKOFF" indicates a subroutine that outputs the value 0 to an external device (address 2) to release the chuck.
"KON" indicates a subroutine that outputs the value 1 to an external device (address 2) and performs an operation of grasping something with a chuck.

In other words, list 1 has a three-level hierarchical structure.

Therefore, three status values are defined for each step and set as follows.

[List 2] MOVE POINT2
~Status value 1 CALL G
RASP
~Status value 1 STOP
~Status value 1 GRASP: CALL CHAC
KOFF ~Status value 2 WAIT
20
~Status value 2 CALL CHA
CKON ~Status value 2 RETURN
~state value
2 CHACKOFF: OUT 2,0
~Status value 3 RETUR
N
~Status value 3 CHACKON:
OUT 2,1 ~
Status value 3 RETURN
~Status value 3

Then, each status value is set as stop permission information for each step.

[0077] It goes without saying that the meaning of each state value must be defined in advance, and there are two ways to do this: a method of assigning meaning to each state value individually, and a method of assigning meaning to each state value individually. One example is a method that actively utilizes ranking to give meaning.

In the former case, for example, if a meaning is given to permit step stop only for state value 2, then
In step stop mode, step stop is permitted only when the state value of the stop permission information of the target step is 2 in process c) of FIG.
A step operation will be performed only for the command written in "RASP".

In the latter case, for example, the state value 2
If the meaning of allowing step stop is given to the following, the main program with a status value of 1 and the subroutine "GRASP" with a status value of 2 will be subjected to step operations.

[0080] If such a state value is automatically assigned by interpreting the source file in advance using the program creation device 1, the programmer can set a specific value as a state value in each step. This will save you the trouble of doing so and simplify the procedures.

[0081] In general, BASIC-type procedural languages, which are often used to describe robot motions, cannot have a structure that allows repeated calls, so it has become possible to easily create a so-called cross-reference list. In many cases. Determination of state values can be extremely easily realized based on this cross-reference list.

[0082] Since a known technique can be used to create a cross-reference list, if this is used to create a cross-reference list for the program in [List 1] above, the result will be as shown in Figure 4. . If the status values are determined as 1, 2, and 3 as the program hierarchy goes down, the status value will be 1 for the main program, the status value 2 for the subroutine "GRASP", and the status value for the subroutines "CHACKON" and "CHACKOFF". ”
It is possible to automatically assign a status value, such as a status value of 3 to .

Note that depending on the program, the same subroutine is used in multiple locations, and the above method for determining state values may cause inconsistency. For example, there is a case as shown in FIG.

In this example, the subroutine "SUBX" is also connected from the subroutine "SUB1" to the subroutine "SUB1".
B2" is also called, and if you add status values in order from the left, the subroutine located higher in the hierarchy is called "
``SUBX'' is assigned a status value of 3 because it is subordinate to the subroutine ``SUB1'', and the subroutine ``SUBX'', which is lower in the hierarchy, is assigned a status value 4 because it is subordinate to the subroutine ``SUB2''. This causes the inconvenience that two status values are attached to the same thing. Therefore, in such a case, the one with the larger state value should be selected. This is because it is easier to understand the program structure if the scope of the hierarchy as a program concept is expanded.

[0085] The contents of subroutines attached by robot manufacturers at the time of shipment are generally the producers' accumulation of know-how to promote the use of robots, and they may not want to actively disclose them to outside parties. be. To this end, the purpose can be achieved by erasing the ASCII codes of statements in the text code blocks of each step at the time of shipment.

However, when adopting an eclectic language system in which the language is compiled into an intermediate language and executed sequentially, the step statement for each step is not stored in the program storage section of the numerical control device, and the execution code is reversely executed. Sometimes a method is used that displays the code after it has been compiled (returning the executable code to the original source code). In this case, a specific status value may be assigned to each line, and the numerical control device may be set so that debugging or text display cannot be performed on the line to which the specific status value has been assigned.

[0087]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a part of a program that has been debugged can be removed from the target of step operation by specifying a status value described as stop permission information. This makes it possible to improve the efficiency of debugging by performing step-stops focusing on the operation of interest without referring to parts that do not need to be debugged.

Furthermore, as stop permission information, at least two
By allowing the above state values to be taken, step execution processing that reflects the hierarchical structure of the program allows debugging by stopping steps for each block that has a certain group.

This point is a different feature from the normal debugging method by setting breakpoints. That is, in the method of setting breakpoints, it is necessary to rewrite all breakpoints in order to change the hierarchy of the program to be debugged, but according to the present invention, a state value that enables step stopping is required. By changing only the hierarchy, it becomes possible to realize the reorganization of the hierarchy extremely easily.

[0090] Furthermore, since the execution code is usually stored in a file in the program creation device, the contents of the stop permission storage section can be easily rewritten by accessing the file independently. By setting the state value of the stop permission information of all steps to the state value indicating permission for step stop, it is possible to seemingly eliminate the hierarchy inherent in the program when debugging, and to perform step stop for all statements uniformly. It can be easily handled.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a program processing system.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a memory arrangement for program code according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the processing content regarding the jump command of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining automatic assignment of status values based on creation of a cross-reference list in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example different from FIG. 4 regarding automatic assignment of status values.

FIG. 6 is a simple block diagram for explaining the flow of processing related to a program.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a memory arrangement for a conventional program code.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram for explaining processing related to a conventional jump command.

[Explanation of symbols]

5. Robot numerical control device 6 Robot 8 Program storage section e1, e2 Execution code block m1, m2 Stop permission information storage unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A program storage unit that stores an executable code converted into an executable code for a program that describes robot motion, and controls the robot using the executable code and executes the executable code for each source line of the program. In a numerical control device for a robot that is capable of suspending or suspending execution, line numbers and statement information for each line of the program are inserted into the gaps between execution code blocks in which the execution code for each line of the program is placed. A robot program storage device characterized in that the program storage unit is further provided with a stop permission information storage unit that stores stop permission information for specifying whether to temporarily stop execution of each source line. 2. In the numerical control device for a robot according to claim 1, the stop permission/denial information stored in the stop permission/denial information storage section can take two or more state values, and
The above status values are ranked, and by specifying this status value in advance, it becomes impossible to temporarily stop the execution of the executed code for the source line to which a specific status value has been assigned, and the execution code continues to run. A numerical control device for a robot, characterized in that the robot can be executed.