KR20090006953A - Robot design center for lay outing robot control logic - Google Patents

Abstract

An integrated development tool for a robot control logic design using a block having data input/output port is provided to trigger signal input and output points in the block in the block diagram editor for designing the control logic. A DB store(300) is connected through internet by converting a developed program by using RDC(200). A user downloads a function to a library storing RDC to bring a source registered by the DB on online clip art. The desired control logic is programmed. The DB stores can implement by using the web server and bulletin board(400).

Description

Integrated software development tool for robot control logic design {robot design center for lay outing robot control logic}

The present invention relates to a robot design center, which is an integrated development environment used by a developer to combine a modular robot component to complete a robot. More specifically, the present invention relates to a block used in a block diagram editor for designing a control logic. The present invention relates to an integrated software development tool for robot control logic design that has a data input / output point and a trigger signal input / output point to enable more efficient control logic development for a robot module.

Since conventional robot development procedures are collectively and totally developed by the manufacturer of the robot, a manufacturer can manufacture a robot from the development of a control platform to the development of a robot control software and a work description language for the user. Everything is done. This collective development method is a reason for making the robot technology closed, which limits the acceptance of new technology, and also makes it difficult to expect portability or compatibility.

On the other hand, if the module of the robot can be open, the module development can be led by a professional manufacturer that guarantees openness.In addition, in the development of the robot, the robot can be divided into independent functional modules and then later integrated. If the robot can be assembled, existing robot manufacturers can also concentrate on developing specialized parts in the open development environment. In addition, the easy assembly of the robot through the integration of independent functional modules, which can be different by the manufacturer, can be expected to expand the entire robot market by enabling the manufacture of a user-oriented robot that can satisfy various consumer demands. The step-by-step development process for robots based on such openness has not yet been initiated.

In addition, the invention related to the integrated software development tool for the conventional robot control logic design has been made in various ways and aims to provide various services.

However, most of the conventional robot software development environment tools are development environment tools when the robot is offline, and even in support of the development environment online, the closed network method such as a local network or one-to-one communication is taken. Modular home service robots are pre-sold to the market on a modular basis and later require system integration. Existing offline development environments or closed environments online development environments can There is no support for post-operation for software integration. The development environment tool that can perform system integration such as standardization of module which is a functional part of robot and assembly of robot through assembly of module has not been disclosed yet.

In other words, in order to create a user-oriented service having various needs in the interoperation environment of heterogeneous independent modules, it is impossible to apply the existing unified development method of pre-development and sale. In addition, in the combination of independent modules, mechanical or electrical signal combinations are generally easily performed by end consumers using standardized connectors, but software combinations are difficult for end consumers. Due to the different manufacturers of functional modules, it was also impossible for a specific manufacturer to perform the software combination.

The block diagram editor, which is used as a graphic editor in the integrated software development tool for robot control logic design, enables to create a control logic by connecting an output port and an input port for transferring variable values between blocks.

By the way, the control logic created through the block diagram editor is executed by repeating a certain cycle, which consumes a lot of CPU resources because all blocks have to be executed every cycle.

In addition, there is a disadvantage that cannot describe the causal relationship between blocks and cannot describe the execution of selective blocks according to conditions.

Other examples of tools for designing robot control logic include event queues and processor architectures, which make it difficult to transfer data in different formats between processors and are advantageous for asynchronous I / O, but control algorithms work in real time like robots. The problem is that it is not suitable where motivation is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned point, and has a data input / output port and a trigger signal input / output point in a block used in a block diagram editor for designing a control logic. Its purpose is to provide an integrated software development tool for robot control logic design.

The present invention provides a robot design center having a graphic editor for editing a control logic mounted on a robot module, wherein a block used in a block diagram editor among the graphic editors includes a data input point, a data output point, and a trigger signal input point. The trigger signal output point may be provided.

The data input point is a point at which a value of a variable required by a block used in the block diagram editor is input.

The data output point is a point for outputting a result of processing by a block used in the block diagram editor as a variable value.

The trigger input point may be a point at which a trigger signal indicating a time point at which a block used in the block diagram editor is to be performed is input.

The trigger output point may be a point at which a trigger signal indicating a time point at which execution of a block used in the block diagram editor is completed is output.

The trigger input / output point may be provided regardless of the data input / output point.

Among the blocks used in the block diagram editor, the block corresponding to the if-else clause of the RPL language is configured to have one trigger input point and two trigger output points, but the trigger signal is one trigger output when the input data is true. Branching to a point, and branching to another trigger output point if the input data is false.

The block corresponding to the switch-case clause of the RPL language among the blocks used in the block diagram editor is configured such that one trigger input point and four trigger output points of C1, C2, C3, and D are provided. If it corresponds to the input data, branching to C1, C2, C3, and if it does not correspond to the input data, characterized in that the branch to D.

Multiple trigger output points may be connected to one trigger input point, and one trigger output point may be impossible to connect to multiple trigger input points.

The present invention has an effect that the development of the control logic for the robot module can be made more efficiently by providing the trigger signal input and output points in the block used in the block diagram editor for designing the control logic.

The block of the present invention is characterized by having a data input / output port and a trigger signal input / output point separately, and by dividing the flow of data and the flow of the trigger signal, all the blocks are performed at the same time to reduce the case of wasting CPU resources. Since the control program can be written graphically from the sequential programming concept of, it is effective for beginners to design robot control logic.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

Robot design center (RDC) 200 according to the present invention is an integrated software development tool for robot control logic design used by developers to complete a single robot by combining modular robot parts, as shown in FIG. Brain logic, sensor module, vision module, it is possible to program the control logic for the robot 100 consisting of a plurality of modules, such as a mobile module.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the developer converts a program developed by using the RDC 200 into a predetermined format and registers it in a DB repository 300 connected through the Internet. The user can download the source registered in the DB repository 300 to the library repository of the own RDC 200 through a function such as the online clip art import function of Microsoft's PowerPoint to program the desired control logic. Can be. The DB storage 300 may be implemented using a web server and a bulletin board 400.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3 shows a general modular robot system structure. In general, the robot system includes a brain module 100a, a sensor module 100b, a vision module 100c, a mobile module 100d, and a communication module 100e formed in layers up and down. Is connected.

The modules have a virtual machine 104 and an open interface 102 as shown in FIG.

Module interface 102 is composed of properties (methods) and methods (method), and is exposed to the outside to use properties and methods registered in the interface in another module. The virtual machine (VM) 104 provided in the module manager 106 is used to extend the functionality of the module and is ported to various hardware-based platforms. The module uses this virtual machine 104 to execute a robot control program compiled with bytecode.

At the bottom of the module, there is an Internal API 108, which is an interface (properties, methods) basically supported by the module. The internal API 108 may be called directly by the virtual machine 104 or may be called through a module interface in an external module. In addition, the internal API 108 is a property and a method implemented in native code with respect to functions to be basically supported in the module in order to perform the function of the module.

The module 100 then uses the middleware to communicate with other modules. The middleware consists of a streaming layer and a network adaptation layer 112. Each module 100 can communicate with each other regardless of the type of network media 114. The streaming layer uses a network adaptation layer to provide a mechanism for an application to access an application existing in a remote module regardless of the network type. The network adaptation layer integrates various network components added to the network interface layer. Hierarchy.

The RDC 200 operates in an operating system environment such as Windows 98 / NT / 2000 / XP. The RDC 200 is configured as shown in FIG.

The title bar 202 displays the window title. The main menu 204 is a menu for functions of the RDC 200, and the workspace 206 displays a robot module structure, a library structure, a project structure, and the like in a tree form. The message log 208 displays various messages that occur during the operation. The status bar 210 displays the current state of the RDC 200. The sub window area 212 displays various windows necessary for the user to work.

The workspace 206 allows project management, library management, robot management, etc., wherein project management is to develop a program installed in each module 100 of the robot, and library management is a library required for program development. To manage, the robot management refers to managing the modules installed in the robot.

The sub-window 212 displays various windows necessary for the user to work. The window that becomes the user interface for the menus selected for the work in the workspace 206 includes a robot module configuration, a text editor, Graphic editors, network simulators, debuggers, and more.

The robot module configuration is intended to be able to edit the network connection status of the modules that make up the robot.

A module interface is an extension interface extended by a basic interface that a module has or a program that runs on a virtual machine (VM). Base or extended interfaces do not need to be distinguished outside the module. Both can be read in the same way. More than one class can exist in a module interface. To read the module interface, you need to specify the module name and VM No. (virtual machine number).

The process of accessing the robot online and reading the module interface includes connecting the robot and the RDC with the TCP / IP protocol, connecting to the robot by pressing the connection button on the RDC, and reading information on the modules constituting the robot. It consists of reading the interface from the module and displaying it on the screen.

The process of reading the module interface by accessing the robot off-line consists of bringing the interface file provided by the module developer to the RDC and displaying it on the screen.

And in order for the RDC 200 to exchange files with another module through one module, a network must already be established between the modules. Since the RDC 200 should be connected to the module without such pre-constraints, each module 100 should be provided with at least one port by default in order for the RDC 200 to be connected. That is, each module 100 should be opened at least one of a serial port and an Ethernet port as a port for the RDC (200).

On the other hand, the robot development process using the RDC according to the present invention proceeds as shown in FIG.

First, in order to develop a robot, first create a new project (S12). After connecting to the robot module to read the interface of the module (S14), after downloading the necessary library from the DB (S16), the developer starts programming (S18).

Here, library files are software that collects functions that can be loaded in a program written by a user. These library files are divided into several groups of libraries for systematic management. There are several source code and header files in the library family.

These library files are stored in a database on the Internet, allowing multiple developers to share the source code.

Program registration converts the library developed by RDC to a format that can be registered in DB, and registers the library in DB using a web browser. Program download allows users to search the required library from DB, download the required source to RDC's library repository, add it to the project, and use it for program development.

Subsequently, after the program is created, the program is downloaded to the module to test whether the desired function is performed (S24). At this time, if the module is not connected (offline), the simulation (S22) is performed. Subsequently, if it does not work as desired, the process as described above is repeated starting with the process of modifying the source code (S26).

The source editing process is performed through a text editor and a graphic editor as shown in FIG.

In a text environment, you can write the program code yourself, so you will generate code that can be downloaded to the module with only compile / link. However, drawings created by users using blocks in a graphic environment need to be converted into program code.

Code edited with a text editor is compiled / linked, converted to bytecode, and downloaded to the virtual machine. The developer edits the source code using a text editor. Primarily edits the RPL language. RPL (Robot Programming Language) is a language for programming robots. It has a grammatical structure similar to C language, but uses the same control statements as C language but does not use pointers. And a keyword for describing the interface of the module is added. The text editor will work with the debugger in addition to editing the source code.

In the control logic edited by the graphic editor, the logic of the block diagram is converted into RPL by the converter, compiled / linked, converted into bytecode, downloaded to the virtual machine, and the logic of the scenario editor and motion editor is XML (extension markup). language) and downloaded to the task manager of the robot module.

The graphic editor allows a program developer to develop a program as if drawing a drawing using a mouse, in addition to a method of directly editing a program in a text format. Pictures created in the graphical editor are translated into RPL code, compiled by the compiler, and downloaded to the robot's module.

The graphical editor is divided into a block editor, a motion editor, and a scenario editor. The block editor is for programming low-level control logic in graphical environments like Simulink in MATLAB, the motion editor is for designing the robot's movements like a time chart, and the scenario editor is used to create scenarios that control the robot. It is to design together.

Among the graphic editors, a unit for designing the control logic in the block editor is a block. This block has inputs and outputs, and blocks and blocks can be connected together, and several blocks can be expressed as a single super-block.

Meanwhile, the robot module interface informs the functions available in the module to the outside. The robot module interface has functions and variables, which are grouped by function.

The following is an example of the robot module interface.

(example)

iapi mobile {

int position_x, position_y;

int velocity_x, velocity_y;

void velocity (int x, int y);

void stop (void);

}

iapi math {

float sin (int t);

float cos (int t);

}

The above example is represented by a block as shown in FIG.

Here, the class of the module interface is represented by a set of blocks, and the variables of the class are represented by I / O blocks.If the variable is read-only, it is an input block, and if it is write-only, an output block is used. Mark them as blocks that have the same time. Functions of the class are represented as blocks with multiple inputs and at most one output. The function arguments represent the inputs of the block and the function's return values represent the block as outputs.

The robot module interface can be extended, which is extended by adding new functions to the module. To add new functionality, write software in RPL and run it on the module's RVM.

The following is an example of the extended robot module interface. Inherit the base interface to create a new extended interface.

(example)

iapi mobile_ex: mobile {

void goto (int x, int y);

}

void goto (int x, int y)

{

velocity (5,5);

while (position_x! = x || position_y! = y);

stop ();

}

The above example is represented by a block as shown in FIG.

In the goto block as shown in FIG. 9, the mouse clicks and edits the following source code.

(Small code example)

velocity (5,5);

while (position_x! = x || position_y! = y);

stop ();

When the goto block is generated by combining existing blocks, it is shown in FIG.

Blocks used in the block editor of the RDC according to the present invention can be extended.

That is, each block is configured to have a trigger signal input / output point in addition to the data input / output point. The trigger input tells when the block should be executed, and the trigger output tells when the blog has completed execution. Trigger I / O cannot be connected to data I / O.

Here, the data input point represents a point at which the value of a variable required by the block used in the block diagram editor is input, and the data output point represents a point for outputting the result of processing by the block used in the block diagram editor as the value of the variable. Indicates.

Like the RPL language, the sequential programming method is applied to a block. To do this, the expression in the block for RPL control statements (if, switch / case.for, do, while) must be considered.

11 shows a general form of a block having a trigger signal input and output.

The block for branching is displayed as follows.

First, the block corresponding to the if-else clause of the RPL language is represented as shown in FIG. Here, the trigger signal branches to T if the input data is true, and the trigger signal branches to F if the input data is false.

Second, the block corresponding to the switch-case clause of the RPL language is represented as shown in FIG. Here, the trigger signal branches to the input data (C1, C2, C3), and if there is no case to correspond to the input data, the trigger signal branches to D.

Third, the block corresponding to the for, do, and while clauses of the RPL language generates a block corresponding to the loop using the above if-else clause block. In particular, the use of the for statement is shown in FIG.

In addition, the trigger signal connection cannot be used mixed with the data input / output points. That is, although a plurality of trigger output points may be connected to one trigger input point, it is impossible to connect one trigger output point to a plurality of trigger input points.

15 (a) to 15 (e) show examples of connection of trigger signals in a block having a plurality of input / output points. FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (c) are possible, but FIGS. (d) and (e) exemplify cases where it is impossible.

 Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and their equivalents.

1 is a block diagram of a robot development system using an integrated software development tool according to the present invention.

2 is a view for explaining a process of designing a control logic by sharing a DB storage on the Internet.

3 shows the structure of a modular robot.

4 is a diagram showing the detailed configuration of the module interface and port shown in FIG.

5 illustrates a user interface screen of the integrated software development tool according to the present invention.

6 is a view for explaining a robot development procedure.

7 is a view for explaining a source editing process.

8 shows a block for an example robot module interface.

9 illustrates an extension block for an example robot module interface.

10 is a view showing a conventional goto block.

11 is a block diagram showing a trigger input and output according to the present invention.

12 illustrates a block corresponding to an if-else clause in accordance with the present invention.

13 illustrates a block corresponding to a switch-case clause according to the present invention.

14 shows an example of a block corresponding to a for statement in accordance with the present invention.

15 is a view showing an example of connection of a trigger signal in a block having a trigger input and output according to the present invention.

Claims (10)

A robot design center having a graphic editor for editing control logic mounted on a robot module, Blocks used in the block diagram editor of the graphical editor is a data input point, data output point, trigger signal input point, the trigger signal output point is characterized in that the integrated software development tool for robot control logic design. The method of claim 1, And the connection between the blocks is made as a data link for connecting a data output point and a data input point, and as an event link for connecting a trigger signal output point and a trigger signal input point. The method of claim 2, And the data entry point is a point at which a value of a variable required by a block used in the block diagram editor is input. The method of claim 2, And the data output point is a point for outputting a result of processing by a block used in the block diagram editor as a value of a variable. The method of claim 2, The trigger signal input point is an integrated software development tool for robot control logic design, characterized in that the trigger signal input point that tells when the block to be used in the block diagram editor is to be input. The method of claim 2, The trigger signal output point is an integrated software development tool for robot control logic design, characterized in that the trigger signal indicating the point at which the execution of the block used in the block diagram editor is output. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, The trigger signal input / output points and data input / output points are integrated software development tools for robot control logic design, characterized in that provided independently of each other. The method of claim 7, wherein Among the blocks used in the block diagram editor, a block corresponding to the if-else clause of the RPL language is configured to have one trigger signal input point and two trigger signal output points, but the trigger signal is one if the input data is true. An integrated software development tool for robot control logic design, characterized in that it branches to a trigger signal output point and branches to another trigger signal output point if the input data is false. The method of claim 7, wherein The block corresponding to the switch-case clause of the RPL language among the blocks used in the block diagram editor is configured such that one trigger signal input point and four trigger signal output points of C1, C2, C3, and D are provided. The signal is branched to C1, C2, C3 if the input data corresponds, and branched to D if the input data does not correspond, the integrated software development tool for robot control logic design. The method of claim 7, wherein Multiple trigger signal output points can be connected to one trigger signal input point, and one trigger signal output point can not be connected to multiple trigger signal input points. Development tools.

Images