JP5338408B2 - Robot simulator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot simulator capable of reproducing actual movement of a robot by reducing process load in the case of demonstrating simulation of a hand gripping and moving a work. <P>SOLUTION: Whether the work is successfully gripped by the hand 9 or not is determined corresponding to the result whether a needle (linear coordinate) 14 set at a hand side and a solid coordinate set at a work side cross or not. Thus, computational complexity for determining success or failure of gripping is lowered, the simulation can be smoothly displayed on even a laptop personal computer and visual quality of the demonstration simulation of the robot can be enhanced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot simulator for demonstrating that a workpiece is held and moved by a hand.

  The current robot simulator forms a workpiece gripping space in the hand for the workpiece gripping determination, and when it is determined that the solid coordinate of the workpiece gripping space and the solid coordinate corresponding to the workpiece overlap by a certain value or more, It is determined that the workpiece has been gripped, and processing is performed so as to move the workpiece in accordance with the movement of the hand (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-288209

  However, although such a processing method is certainly high in accuracy, it is a comparison between the solid coordinates and the solid coordinates, so that the calculation load is large. Therefore, in response to a demand for a salesman to perform a demonstration of movement from gripping a workpiece at the customer's site on a low-spec personal computer (for example, a laptop PC), only a low-speed simulation can be reproduced. It was difficult for customers to understand how much the robot could move.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to reduce the processing load and reproduce the actual movement of the robot when demonstrating that the hand is held and moved by the hand. It is to provide a robot simulator that can do this.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the hand-side gripping determination coordinates (linear coordinates or surface coordinates) set in the gripper inner space intersect with the workpiece-side gripping determination coordinates (solid coordinates) set for the workpiece. Since the hand is judged to have gripped the workpiece, it becomes a comparison between the linear coordinates or the surface coordinates and the solid coordinates, and the calculation amount for judging the success / failure of the grip is small, and the PC is lower spec than the conventional simulator. But it can reproduce the same behavior as an actual robot. Even if the gripping determination process is reduced in this way, since it is originally a demonstration simulation, it is possible to provide a sufficient simulation expression without a sense of incongruity to the customer.

  According to the invention of claim 2, gripping is determined by the intersection of the plane coordinates extended in the direction perpendicular to the gripping direction of the gripper in the inner space of the two grips and the solid coordinate on the workpiece side. It is possible to appropriately make a determination corresponding to the operation of sandwiching the workpiece positioned at two grippers.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since gripping is determined by the intersection of a plurality of surface coordinates extended outward from the center of the inner space of the grip and the solid coordinates on the workpiece, the work positioned in the grip inner space is selected. It is possible to appropriately make a determination corresponding to the operation of grasping with three or more grippers.

The figure which shows the hand of the robot in 1st Embodiment of this invention with a 3D image Diagram showing assembly equipment including virtual robot in 3D image Functional block diagram corresponding to the operation of the simulation program Diagram showing workpiece side gripping coordinates The figure which shows roughly the state of the grip judgment by the hole of the work Diagram showing workpiece gripping demonstration program Flow chart for explaining the operation of the demo program (part 1) Flow chart for explaining the operation of the demo program (part 2) Diagram showing a 3D image of a robot that operates according to a demo program Diagram showing correctness of gripping judgment FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a modification Fig. 10 equivalent FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a modification Fig. 10 equivalent FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a modification FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a second embodiment of the present invention Fig. 10 equivalent FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a modification FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a modification FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a third embodiment of the present invention Fig. 10 equivalent

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
For example, in a laptop personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) carried by a salesman, an application program that also functions as a robot simulator of the present invention is installed on the hard disk. To simulate a demonstration, start an application program. However, it is not always necessary to use a PC for the robot simulator. For example, an apparatus specialized for the function as a simulator may be separately configured.

  Here, a simulation program incorporated in the PC will be schematically described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the simulation program. The simulation program is configured to realize each function of the simulation unit 1, the grip determination unit 2, the setting unit 3, and the display unit 4. The simulating means 1 has a function of converting various devices and devices in an assembly facility including a virtual robot (hereinafter referred to as “robot”) into 3D, and the 3D information is displayed on a PC display by the display means 4. Is displayed.

The setting means 3 is preset with hand-side gripping determination coordinates and workpiece-side gripping determination coordinates for determining whether the hand has gripped the workpiece. The gripping determination means 2 has both gripping determination coordinates. It has a function of determining the success or failure of gripping the workpiece by the hand based on the intersection of the two.
The grip determination unit 2 has a function of setting an output (IO number data assigned in advance) corresponding to grip determination to ON or OFF. In this case, when the gripping of the workpiece by the hand is successful, the output of the IO corresponding to the gripping success is set on, and when the gripping fails, the IO is set off. It should be noted that the relationship between the success / failure of gripping and the setting of ON / OFF of the output of the IO may be reversed from the above-described setting.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an assembly facility including a robot in a 3D image. The robot 6 is mounted on the linear motion table 7 and moves linearly as the linear motion table 7 moves. A hand 9 is provided at the tip of the arm 8 of the robot 6. The hand 9 is moved to the workpiece gripping position, grips the workpiece 11 placed on the transfer table 10, moves to the workpiece discharge position, and then moves to the workpiece. It is programmed to repeatedly execute a series of operations of discharging 11 for the number of workpieces 11.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a 3D image of the hand 9 of the robot 6. The hand 9 is configured to have a pair of opposing grips 13 on the hand housing 12, and grips the workpiece 11 by performing a grip operation in which the grippers 13 approach each other in accordance with the gripping operation of the hand housing 12. It is supposed to be. The grip 13 is shown in a wire frame structure so that the invention can be easily understood.

  Here, a needle 14 is erected in association with the present invention in a portion which is an inner space of the grip 13 in the hand housing 12. This needle 14 has a gripper inner space formed by two grippers 13, and the distance between the grippers 13 is the minimum, that is, the center point on the tip side of each gripper 13 when the gripper 13 is in the gripping state, and the gripper of the hand housing 12. It is set on the center line passing through the center point on the inner space side. The needle 14 is not provided in the actual robot, but is provided virtually only in the simulator, and is not actually displayed on the display 5. The length of the needle 14 is set corresponding to the height dimension of the workpiece 11, and is set to a smaller dimension as the height dimension of the workpiece 11 increases. In the present embodiment, linear coordinates corresponding to the needle 14 are set as hand-side grip determination coordinates, and the hand-side grip coordinates are stored in the setting unit 3 in advance.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the workpiece 11 to be gripped by the robot 6. The workpiece 11 has a flat cylindrical shape. In the present embodiment, solid coordinates (shown in a mesh shape in the figure) located in a space covering the work from the outermost side are set as work-side grip determination coordinates, and the work-side grip determination coordinates are set by the setting means 3. Is stored in advance. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, when the hole 11a is formed in the workpiece 11, the hole 11a is also set as the workpiece side gripping determination coordinates. This is because, depending on the type of the gripper 13, it is assumed that the workpiece 11 can be gripped while being inserted into the hole 11 a of the workpiece 11 as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a workpiece gripping demonstration program, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the demonstration program in FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows numbers at the beginning of the line (numbers described below). However, the numbers in the flowchart of FIG. 7 correspond to each other. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a 3D image of a robot that operates according to the demo program.
(1) Start the program.
(2) Define iNO as a variable.
(3) The right to use the robot 6 is acquired.
(4) Set the moving speed to 100%.
(5) The following operations are repeated for workpieces (n, in this embodiment, 6).
(6) Move to a position 50 mm before the n-th holding position in the Z-axis direction (see FIG. 9A).
(7) Move to the n-th workpiece gripping position at a speed of 10% (see FIG. 9B). This workpiece gripping position is set in advance.
(8) Grasp the work 11 (IO ON). At this time, the IO 64 is turned ON and a grip confirmation subroutine is called.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a grip confirmation subroutine. After acquiring needle data (line coordinates) and workpiece data (solid coordinates), it is checked whether the needle data (line coordinates) and workpiece data (solid coordinates) intersect. As shown in FIG. 10A, when one point of the needle data has the same coordinates as the workpiece data, it is determined that the workpiece has been successfully gripped and the IO 128 is turned on. If the two do not intersect as shown in FIG. 10B, it is determined that the workpiece gripping has failed and the IO 128 is turned OFF and the process returns.

(9) Move to a position 50 mm away in the Z-axis direction at a speed of 10% (see FIG. 9C).
(10) Confirm gripping (determined by IO set in the gripping confirmation subroutine).
[If YES]
(11) Move to the workpiece discharge position (see FIG. 9D).
(12) Release the workpiece (IO OFF)
[If NO]
(16) An error message is displayed.
When it is determined that the gripping of the workpiece 11 by the hand 9 has been successful as described above, the hand 9 and the workpiece 11 are coupled, and the workpiece 11 is moved as the hand 9 moves, whereby the workpiece 11 by the hand 9 is The gripping state of is displayed.

  According to such an embodiment, depending on whether one point of the needle data (line coordinates) set on the hand side is the same coordinate as the work data (solid coordinates) set on the work side, the hand 9 As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the amount of calculation for determining whether or not the workpiece 11 is gripped. Even in a low-spec PC such as a laptop PC, it is the same as the actual robot. Such an operation can be reproduced. Even if the gripping determination process is reduced in this way, since it is originally a demonstration simulation, it is possible to provide a sufficient simulation expression without a sense of incongruity to the customer.

  The number of needles 14 is not limited to one, but may be two with the center line of the gripper inner space interposed therebetween as shown in FIG. In this case, whether or not the hand 9 has successfully gripped the work 11 is determined based on whether one point of the linear coordinates corresponding to any one of the needles 14 is the same as the solid coordinate of the work 11 as shown in FIG. Depending on whether or not. In this case, the allowable range of the positional accuracy of the workpiece 11 with respect to the hand 9 can be increased as compared with the case where the number of needles 14 is one.

Further, the length of the needle 14 may be set short as shown in FIG. In this case, since the needle 14 is short, it is suitable for determining whether or not the workpiece 11 having a large height is held as shown in FIG.
Further, as shown in FIG. 15, three or more needles 14 (four in FIG. 15) may be provided. Even when three or more needles 14 are set in this way, the work by the hand 9 depends on whether one point of the line coordinates corresponding to any one of the needles 14 is the same as the three-dimensional coordinates corresponding to the work 11. 11 will be judged. The setting of the number of needles 14 is determined by the shape of the hand 9 and the shape of the workpiece 11 or the position accuracy, and enables a flexible gripping determination.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 16 and FIG. The second embodiment is characterized in that the hand-side grip determination coordinates are defined by plane coordinates.
The hand housing 12 is provided with a blade 15 (corresponding to the needle 14 of the first embodiment and not displayed on the display 5) extending in a direction orthogonal to the gripping direction of the gripper 13. . The blade 15 is represented by surface coordinates intersecting the center line of the gripper inner space, and the surface coordinates are set as hand-side gripping determination coordinates.

  In the present embodiment, the success or failure of gripping the workpiece 11 by the hand 9 is determined based on whether or not the plane coordinates corresponding to the blade 15 intersect the solid coordinates corresponding to the workpiece 11. In this case, as shown in FIG. 17A, when one point of the hand side surface coordinates is the same as the solid coordinate on the workpiece side, it is determined that the gripping is successful, and as shown in FIG. If the plane coordinates and the solid coordinates do not intersect at all, it is determined as unsuccessful.

  According to such an embodiment, whether or not the gripping of the workpiece by the hand is determined based on whether or not one point of the surface coordinate on the hand side is the same coordinate as the solid coordinate on the workpiece side is the same as in the first embodiment. Similarly, the amount of calculation for determining whether or not the hand 9 is gripping the work 11 can be reduced, and the load on the PC can be reduced. In this case, since it can be determined as gripping even when the workpiece 11 is tilted with respect to the hand 9, the allowable range of the posture accuracy of the hand 9 with respect to the workpiece 11 can be increased as compared with the first embodiment. it can.

  The blade 15 has a triangular shape extending in the direction perpendicular to the gripping direction of the gripper 13 as shown in FIG. 18, or a triangular shape extended in the gripping direction of the gripper 13 as shown in FIG. Or you may. When such a triangular shape is adopted, it is possible to determine the gripping posture of the hand 9 with respect to the work 11 by monitoring the intersection coordinates with the three-dimensional coordinates on the work side. It is possible to reproduce the natural gripping of the workpiece 11 without any sense of incongruity, and the gripping accuracy of the hand 9 can be improved.

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This third embodiment shows the case where the hand 9 has three grippers, and the hand side gripping determination coordinates are set as follows.
When there are two grippers as in the first and second embodiments described above, the gripping operation is hindered even if the position accuracy between the gripper and the workpiece is relatively low due to the operation of sandwiching the workpiece with the gripper. However, when there are three or more grippers 16 as shown in FIG. 20, the work 11 is gripped by the grippers 16, and it is necessary to improve the positional accuracy between the gripper 16 and the work 11. In particular, when the workpiece 11 is small, the positional relationship between the gripper 16 and the workpiece 11 is extremely important. Therefore, the hand side gripping determination coordinates are set as follows.

  That is, the hand-side grip determination coordinates are obtained by combining a plurality of blades 17 extended along a combined vector obtained by combining motion vectors in directions in which adjacent grippers 16 are separated from the center position of the gripping positions of the grippers 16. A plurality of plane coordinates corresponding to the blades 17 are set as hand-side grip determination coordinates. In this case, as shown in FIG. 21 (a), it is determined that the gripping has succeeded when the plurality of hand side surface coordinates completely intersect with the workpiece side solid coordinates, as shown in FIG. 21 (b). If any part of the surface coordinates protrudes from the solid coordinates, it is determined as unsuccessful.

  According to such an embodiment, since the positional relationship between the gripper 16 and the workpiece 11 can be accurately defined, even when the operation of grasping the workpiece 11 by three or more grippers 16 is simulated, The success or failure of gripping the workpiece 11 by the hand 9 can be reliably determined.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified or expanded as follows.
The amount of intersection between the hand-side grip determination coordinates and the workpiece-side grip determination coordinates may be arbitrarily set.
Line coordinates and surface coordinates may be combined as hand-side grip determination coordinates.
As the gripper of the hand, the hole portion of the workpiece may be gripped by expanding the grip.

  In the drawings, 1 is a simulation means, 2 is a gripping determination means, 3 is a setting means, 4 is a display means, 5 is a display, 6 is a robot, 9 is a hand, 11 is a work, 12 is a hand housing, and 13 is a gripper. , 14 is a needle, 15 is a flade, 16 is a gripper, and 17 is a blade.

Claims (3)

A robot simulator that performs a demonstration simulation of a robot that moves by holding a workpiece with a hand,
The workpiece is set as a coordinate for determination of gripping on the workpiece side, which is a solid coordinate located in a space covering the workpiece from the outermost side,
The hand passes through the center point on the gripper tip side and the center point on the gripper inner space side of the hand housing when the distance between the grippers is the smallest among the gripper inner spaces formed by a plurality of grippers. The line coordinates set on the center line or the target line with respect to the center line, or the plane coordinates set to intersect the center line are set as the hand side gripping determination coordinates,
Simulating means for simulating an assembly facility including the robot;
Display means for displaying the assembly equipment simulated by the simulation means;
Grip determination means for determining whether the hand has gripped the workpiece based on the intersection of the hand-side grip determination coordinate and the workpiece-side grip determination coordinate;
The robot simulator according to claim 1, wherein the simulation unit displays the hand and the work in a coupled state on the display unit when it is determined that the grip determination unit has gripped. The hand has two grippers;
2. The robot simulator according to claim 1, wherein the hand-side grip determination coordinates are plane coordinates oriented in a direction orthogonal to an operation direction of the gripper. The hand has three or more grippers;
The hand-side grip determination coordinates are set in combination with plane coordinates directed in a vector direction obtained by combining motion vectors in directions in which adjacent grippers move away from the center position of gripping positions of the grippers. The robot simulator according to claim 1.

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