JP2577003B2 - Robot control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a robot which cooperates with a production machine or the like. The present invention relates to a robot control method capable of performing such operations.

(Prior Art) In general, in the industry, robots perform operations such as processing and assembling of various products. In order for the robots to perform these operations, the robots need to perform these operations in advance. It is necessary to teach data for performing.

This teaching involves a manual operation of a robot controller for controlling the robot, setting each arm and the like constituting the robot at a predetermined position, and then storing the position in the robot controller. This is done by working on the working points. Simultaneously with this teaching, data relating to an interlock between the robot controller and an external controller that controls another production machine or the like in synchronization with the operation of the robot is also transmitted to the external controller and the robot controller. It is memorized.

The robot taught in this manner performs a playback operation according to the operation flowchart shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the operation flowchart will be described.

When the program starts, the robot controller will
It is determined whether or not the input interlock at the next work point has been input from the external control device.If the input interlock has not been input, the robot does not enter the driving operation. From the position to the work point which is the next taught point.

In other words, the input interlock is output to the robot controller when the production machine or the like controlled by the external controller finishes the predetermined operation and the robot becomes in a non-dangerous state even when the robot is operated. The robot is ready for operation only after the is output (steps 1 and 2). Then, the robot controller determines whether or not the positioning at the working point has been completed. If the positioning has not been completed, the robot controller continues the process of moving to the target point. The device outputs the output interlock at the current working point to the external controller. When the output interlock is output, the above-described production machine or the like is in an operable state, and performs a predetermined operation (Step 3,
Four). This playback operation is performed in the same order as the teaching order (hereinafter referred to as the forward direction) or in the reverse order (hereinafter referred to as the backward direction).

More specifically, data related to the interlock taught by the robot controller and data related to the interlock taught to the external controller are as shown in FIG. 5 (A). A, B, C, D input interlock data is stored for each robot teach point, and the E, F, G, H output interlock data is stored in the robot controller for each robot teach point. It is remembered.

When the robot playback is performed in the teaching order, an interlock F is output to the external control device in the section from point 1 to point 2 as shown in FIG. During the movement of the robot, the robot is controlled so as not to interfere with the robot. On the other hand, the robot controller moves the robot to the next point while confirming that the interlock C is input from the external controller. Therefore, the robot and the production machine operate while confirming that they are operable with each other.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional robot control method, when the robot is played back in the forward direction or in the backward direction, the robot control from the external control device is performed. Since the input interlock input to the device was at the next working point, and the output interlock output from the robot controller to the external controller was at the current point, FIG. (B)
As is clear from the comparison between (C) and (C), there is a problem that the input interlock data and the output interlock data differ depending on the playback direction even when the robot operates in the same section. .

That is, when the robot performs playback between the points 1 and 2 when playing back in the forward direction, the input interlock is C and the output interlock is F, as shown in FIG. In the case of playback in the backward direction, the input interlock is B and the output interlock is G even when the robot operates in the same section as shown in FIG. This makes it impossible to completely interlock the production machine or the like with the robot, and the playback operation in the backward direction cannot be substantially performed.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and an input interface in a predetermined section is provided regardless of whether the robot is played back in a forward direction or a backward direction. An object of the present invention is to provide a control method of a robot in which a lock and an output interlock are made the same and playback in a backward direction is enabled.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention for achieving the above object teaches a finite number of working points on a path in a predetermined order, and at the time of playback,
In the robot control method of performing the predetermined work by following the work point in the order taught or in the reverse order of the taught order, when passing between predetermined work points,
The same interlock signal is output to an external device and input from the external device irrespective of the order in which the operation points are traced.

(Operation) According to this method, when the robot passes through a predetermined work section, even if the robot passes through the work section in the order taught or in the reverse order, the interlock data to be output to an external device and Since the interlock data input from the external device is the same, the robot can play back from any direction.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a robot control device that operates according to the robot control method of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a robot controller 2 for controlling the operation of the robot 1 is connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 3 for calculating signals required for the operation of the robot 1 and to the central processing unit 3. A ROM 4 storing a basic program necessary for the operation of the robot 1 and a RAM 5 storing various data necessary for the operation of the robot 1, and a general control of a production machine disposed on a production line (not shown). An I / O port 6 for outputting or inputting data to a host computer as an external device, and an arm 7 constituting the robot 1 based on an operation signal output from the I / O port 6
And a drive circuit 8 for operating the same. In addition,
The RAM 5 stores output interlock data for each teach point as shown in FIG. 5 (A).

Next, the robot control device configured as described above,
The operation is performed as follows based on the operation flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the central processing unit 3 of the robot controller 2 determines whether the operation direction of the robot 1 is the forward direction or the backward direction (step 10). If the operation direction is the forward direction, the central processing unit 3 3 inputs the input point interlock data from the host computer via the I / O port 2 and confirms that the input interlock data is the target point data (step 11).
The arm 7 and the like are moved to the target point based on the operation program of the robot 1 stored in M4 (step 1).
2).

Next, the central processing unit 3 inputs a position signal of the arm 7 or the like from the position detection provided in the robot 1 via the I / O port 6 and determines whether or not the positioning at the target point is completed. (Step 13) If positioning is completed,
The central processing unit 3 takes out the data of the output interlock at the current point from the RAM 5 and outputs it to the host computer via the I / O port 6 (step 14).

Since the above is the case where the robot 1 is operated in the forward direction, the robot controller 2 exchanges input and output interlock data as in the conventional case.

On the other hand, when the driving direction determined in step 10 is the reverse direction, the central processing unit 3 inputs the data of the input interlock at the current point from the host computer (step 15), and the central processing unit 3 The output interlock data at the target point is fetched from RAM5 and
The data is output to the host computer via the O port 6 (step 16).

Next, the central processing unit 3 operates the arm 7 and the like to the target point based on the operation program of the robot 1 stored in the ROM 4 (step 17), and is provided to the robot 1 via the I / O port 6. The position signal of the arm 7 or the like from the detected position is input, and it is determined whether or not the positioning at the target point is completed (step 18).

As described above, when the robot 1 is operated in the backward direction, the input interlock inputs data of the current point,
The output interlock outputs data of the target point.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the input interlock is C data regardless of whether the robot 1 operates the section between the teach point 1 and the teach point 2 in any of the forward direction and the backward direction. Since the output interlock is F data, the same interlock data is input to and output from the host computer or from the host computer regardless of the operation direction.

(Effect of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention,
When passing between the predetermined work points, the same interlock signal is output to an external device and input from the external device regardless of the order of following the work points. The same interlock signal is input and output between the points, so that the robot can be operated in the same direction as the direction in which the robot was taught and in the opposite direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a robot control device that operates by the robot control method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the robot control method of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a conventional robot control method,
FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are diagrams for explaining a conventional robot control method. 1 ... Robot, 2 ... Robot control device.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A robot which teaches a finite number of work points on a path in a predetermined order, and performs a predetermined work by following the work points in playback order or in reverse order to the playback order during playback. In the control method, when passing between predetermined work points, the same interlock signal is output to an external device and input from the external device regardless of the order of following the work points. A method for controlling a robot, comprising: