CN117621031A

CN117621031A - Control module, control device and robot

Info

Publication number: CN117621031A
Application number: CN202210948357.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 任化龙
Original assignee: Shenzhen Yihai Yuan Knowledge Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Yihai Yuan Knowledge Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-09
Filing date: 2022-08-09
Publication date: 2024-03-01
Also published as: WO2024032578A1

Abstract

The application provides a control module, include: the central control component, at least one sensing management driving component, at least one execution management driving component and at least one control logic component; the sensing management driving component is used for driving the sensing management module; the execution management driving component is used for driving the execution management module; the control logic component is connected with the central control component; the control logic component is respectively connected with the sensing management driving component and the execution management driving component. The application also provides a control device and a robot. Each joint of the robot can form a control loop by a control logic component, and when the degree of freedom/joints of the robot are more, the control logic component can enable the control loops of the joints to be calculated in parallel, so that the response efficiency is high. Each control module can be used for controlling a multi-degree-of-freedom limb or multi-degree-of-freedom part structure, and an upper computer of the robot can coordinate and control the whole body of the robot by controlling a plurality of control modules.

Description

Control module, control device and robot

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of robots, and more particularly relates to a control module, a control device and a robot.

Background

The joints/degrees of freedom of robots such as bionic robots, humanoid robots, operation robots, cooperative robots and smart hand systems are numerous, the number of sensing elements and executing elements is also numerous, and a control system of the robot needs to control a plurality of joints/degrees of freedom in parallel. The design of the control system of the robot has the following challenges: the control section is designed in consideration of calculation efficiency, and in addition to supporting calculation of a plurality of control loops having a coupling relationship, it is necessary to secure response efficiency and communication efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a control module, a control device and a robot, so as to solve the problems existing in the related art, and the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a control module.

In one embodiment of the present application, a control module includes: the central control component, at least one sensing management driving component, at least one execution management driving component and at least one control logic component;

the sensing management driving component is used for driving the sensing management module; the execution management driving component is used for driving the execution management module;

The central control component is connected with the control logic component;

the control logic component is respectively connected with the sensing management driving component and the execution management driving component.

The control module can be used for controlling a multi-degree-of-freedom limb or multi-degree-of-freedom part structure, and an upper computer of the robot can control a plurality of control modules to coordinate and control the whole body of the robot. The control module may include a plurality of control logic components; each joint of the robot can form a control loop by one control logic component, and when the degree of freedom/joint of the robot is more, the control loops of the joints can be calculated in parallel by the control logic components, so that the response efficiency is high.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module further includes at least one communication component, the communication component communicating with a peripheral device; the communication component is connected with the central control component.

In one embodiment of the present application, the communication component communicates the received message to the central control component; the control logic component receives instructions from a central control component. The control module can be controlled in all directions by peripheral equipment (including an upper computer).

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module includes a plurality of control logic components, wherein one control logic component is communicable with at least one other control logic component. If the degree of freedom/the number of joints of the robot are large, and the degree of freedom/the number of joints are respectively related to control models or control loops, information exchange among control logic components can enable the control loops to complete calculation, and the robot is particularly suitable for a control algorithm based on a neural network, a control algorithm based on a calculation moment method, a control algorithm based on a state space method, a control algorithm based on an observer and a control algorithm based on a state machine.

In one embodiment of the present application, the communication component communicates with at least one of a sensor management driver component, an execution management driver component, and a control logic component. The information of the upper computer can be directly transmitted to the corresponding target component through the route of the communication component without passing through the central control component, so that the efficiency is high.

The central control component is connected with at least one of the sensing management driving component and the execution management driving component.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module is configured to include a reconfigurable unit and a general purpose arithmetic unit; the reconfigurable unit is communicated with the general operation unit;

The reconfigurable unit includes at least one of the sensory management drive elements, at least one of the execution management drive elements, at least one of the control logic elements, and the central control element as described above.

The general operation unit is communicated with the peripheral equipment and exchanges first information; the general operation unit decodes and codes the first information to obtain a second information, and communicates with the reconfigurable unit through the second information;

the reconfigurable unit encodes and decodes the second message, and transmits the instruction to the corresponding component according to the second message.

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the present application, the reconfigurable unit may also be configured to include at least one of the communication components, depending on the complexity of the communication.

In one embodiment of the present application, the general purpose operation unit is an ARM or DSP, and the reconfigurable unit is an FPGA or reconfigurable hardware. The control module adopts the FPGA as the reconfigurable unit, has the advantages that all components carried by the control module can be executed in parallel, is particularly suitable for solving the problems of multiple sensing elements, multiple executing elements and multiple control targets, and can respond at high speed in real time. The advantage of adopting ARM or DSP to carry out communication management is that the ARM or DSP is efficient in encoding and decoding, and software (compared with firmware) can realize and upgrade communication protocols and routing rules more flexibly, so that the development is convenient and fast. Especially, ARM can be used for carrying an embedded system, and a WiFi/Ethernet protocol stack is better supported.

The control module of the application obtains a first message from communication with peripheral equipment (such as an upper computer) to decode and encode the first message to obtain a machine code of a second message, and upgrading and reconstruction mainly occur in a general operation unit, so that the general operation unit is only required to be upgraded; and is convenient for upgrading and reconstruction.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module supports one or more control modes through a control logic component. The control module can realize different control modes and control algorithms through the control logic component. Different control modes, control algorithms may be implemented by different control logic components. Multiple control modes and control algorithms can also be realized by the same control logic component.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control logic component is controlled by a central control component, and the central control component sends an instruction to the control logic component to switch between different control modes; or,

the control logic component is controlled by the peripheral equipment and is switched between different control modes according to instructions transmitted by the peripheral equipment.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module supports a lower computer closed loop control mode; in the lower computer closed-loop control mode, the peripheral equipment provides a target instruction, and the control module is used as the lower computer for closed-loop control. The lower computer closed-loop control mode has the advantages that: the lower computer has quick response and good parallelism; the operation pressure of the upper computer can be reduced.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module supports a lower computer open loop control mode; in the lower computer open loop control mode, the peripheral equipment provides a target instruction, and the control module is used as the lower computer for open loop control. The lower computer open loop control mode has the advantages that:

(1) The upper computer can directly control the execution element, so that the debugging is convenient;

(2) The upper computer is supported to carry out omnibearing control, for example, the upper computer adopts a control mode of brain-like calculation, the brain-like neural network can run on the upper computer, and the calculation force is stronger than that of the lower computer;

(3) In the lower computer open loop control mode, the lower computer can still perform emergency response.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module is capable of making a determination based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator to switch between different control modes.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module includes a signal processing component, where the signal processing component has at least one filtering mode;

the signal processing component is connected with the sensing management driving component or is arranged in the sensing management driving component.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module is capable of switching between different filtering modes according to a command sent from the peripheral device; or the control module can make a judgment according to the information of the sensing element and/or the executing element and switch among different filtering modes.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module is capable of adjusting the signal sampling mode of the sensing management module.

In one embodiment of the present application, the central control component determines a signal sampling pattern based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator, and instructs the sensing management drive component to adjust the signal sampling pattern.

In one embodiment of the present application, the peripheral device communicates control information to a central control component, which instructs a sensing management drive component to adjust a signal sampling pattern in accordance with the control information.

In one embodiment of the present application, the information uploading mode of the control module includes one or more of the following:

in a conventional uploading mode, the control module uploads information according to a given frequency;

an event-triggered uploading mode, wherein the control module (central control component) uploads specific information according to a given triggering condition;

and the control module judges whether any information and uploading frequency are uploaded according to the change rate of the information.

A regular upload mode, i.e. continuous uploading of information; the control module uploads information (including sensor information, monitoring information, actuator information, internal state information, etc.) at a given frequency. The conventional uploading mode adopts a continuous communication mode, and the method has the advantages that an upper computer can continuously and intensively monitor whether the lower computer and even the whole system work normally or not, and the data is reliable and stable; if the communication packet loss condition exists, the communication packet loss condition can be timely found and corrected. The disadvantage of this approach is that when the number of sensors is large, it occupies too much communication bandwidth and also applies too much computation pressure to the cpu.

The event triggering uploading mode is that the central control component adopts corresponding processing procedures according to given triggering conditions to upload given information. The event-triggered uploading mode adopts intermittent communication, and has the advantages that all information does not need to be uploaded in real time, and bandwidth can be saved.

And in the self-adaptive uploading mode, the control module judges whether any information and uploading frequency are uploaded according to the change rate of the information. The self-adaptive uploading mode is used for communication only under the condition that information changes, so that the bandwidth is further saved.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module further includes an emergency response control component, which can perform emergency response.

In one embodiment of the present application, the emergency response control component includes a neural network sub-component therein; the neural network subassembly is used for emergency treatment and controls and executes the management driving assembly during the emergency treatment;

the neural network subassembly encodes motion trajectories through linkage relationships and weights between neurons.

The control module is preferably controlled in all directions by the upper computer, for example, the upper computer adopts a brain-like calculation control mode, and the brain-like neural network can run on the upper computer and has stronger calculation force than the lower computer. But in case of emergency, the neural network subassembly of the lower computer can perform emergency response; the emergency response speed of the lower computer is high, and the response processing can be performed more quickly.

In one embodiment of the application, the neural network sub-component is connected with an execution management driving component and a sensing management driving component; the neural network sub-component receives information of the execution management driving component and/or the sensing management driving component and sends instructions to the corresponding execution management driving component and/or sensing management driving component.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides a control device, including the control module as described above.

In a third aspect, the present application also provides a robot comprising a sensing element, an actuator, a plurality of joints, and a control module as described above. The robot may further include an upper computer that,

in one embodiment of the application, the robot comprises an upper computer, and the control module is connected with the upper computer; each controlled joint is connected with one control logic component of the control module to form a control loop; wherein one control logic component communicates with at least one other control logic component.

The application provides a control module, controlling means and robot, beneficial effect lies in:

each control module can be used for controlling a multi-degree-of-freedom limb or multi-degree-of-freedom part structure, and an upper computer of the robot can coordinate and control the whole body of the robot by controlling a plurality of control modules. The control module may include a plurality of control logic components; each joint of the robot can form a control loop by one control logic component, and when the degree of freedom/joint of the robot is more, the control loops of the joints can be calculated in parallel by the control logic components, so that the response efficiency is high.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are required for the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a reconfigurable unit of a control module provided in the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control module provided in the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating information exchange between control logic components of each control loop of a control module provided in the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a neural network subassembly of a control module provided herein;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a topology structure of a cyclic neural network (RNN) of a control module provided in the present application.

Wherein, each reference sign in the figure:

the system comprises a 10-reconfigurable unit, a 20-general operation unit, a 30-control module, a 11-control logic component, a 12-central control component, a 13-communication component, a 14-execution management driving component, a 15-sensing management driving component, a 40-upper computer, a 50-controlled joint, a 16-neural network sub-component, a 161-circulating neural network, a 162-input layer, a 163-hidden layer and a 164-output layer.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical schemes and beneficial effects to be solved by the present application more clear, the present application is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the present application.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular system configurations, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present application. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present application may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known prior art are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present application with unnecessary detail.

It should be understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification and the appended claims, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used in this specification and the appended claims refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, and includes such combinations.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term "if" may be interpreted as "when..once" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to detection" depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase "if a determination" or "if a [ described condition or event ] is detected" may be interpreted in the context of meaning "upon determination" or "in response to determination" or "upon detection of a [ described condition or event ]" or "in response to detection of a [ described condition or event ]".

In addition, in the description of the present application and the appended claims, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used merely to distinguish between descriptions and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

Reference in the specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" or the like means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in one or more embodiments of the application. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," and the like in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments" unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless expressly specified otherwise.

Example 1

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, a control module 30 according to an embodiment of the present application will be described.

As shown in fig. 1, the control module 30 provided in the present application includes: a central control component 12, at least one sensor management drive component 15, at least one execution management drive component 14, at least one control logic component 11.

The execution management driving component 14 is used for driving the execution management modules under the jurisdiction. There may be a one-to-many correspondence between the execution management driver 14 and the execution management module. The execution management module is connected with and controls at least one execution element.

The sensing management driving component 15 is used for driving the sensing management module under the control of the sensing management driving component. The sensing management module is connected with and controls at least one sensing element.

In one embodiment, the sensing management module may be configured as a signal sampling circuit; further, the sensing management module can perform signal processing on the output signal of the signal sampling circuit to convert the analog signal into a digital signal. The control module 30 may include an independent signal processing component unit, and is connected to the sensor management driving component 15, so as to be suitable for the situation that the signal quantity is particularly large and the processing algorithm is particularly complex. The sensor management driving component 15 and the sensor management module may have a one-to-many correspondence relationship.

The actuator may include one or more of an electric motor, a hydraulic element, a pneumatic element, and an artificial muscle. The execution element is controlled by the execution management module. In one embodiment, the execution management module is configured as a drive circuit for the execution element, such as a motor drive circuit. The execution management driver component 14 may be configured to include firmware programs, software programs, or hardware for driving the execution management module. In one operation of the execution management drive assembly 14, the execution management drive assembly 14 may accept a binary encoding of a target steering, target speed, target current, target voltage of a target implement (e.g., motor) to be converted into an input signal (e.g., PWM waveform) required to execute the management module.

The sensing management module may power the sensing element by applying a constant power supply or applying power in a periodic scan. The sensing management module can amplify, filter, sample and convert the output signals of the sensing elements, monitor whether the sensing elements are missing or abnormal in operation, and upload the monitoring results to the sensing management driving assembly 15. The sensing management module can adopt elements such as an analog-to-digital conversion device, a control device, a communication protocol chip, a power management chip and the like to form a circuit, and is provided with programs to realize the functions. The sensor management driver component 15 may be configured to include a firmware program, a software program, or hardware for driving the sensor management module. The sensing management driving component 15 may receive the binary code of the target sampling frequency and the target signal transmission baud rate for the target sensing element, and convert the binary code into the input signal (for example, communicate with the analog-to-digital conversion chip in the SPI protocol) required by the sensing management module.

The execution management module generally only monitors the current, voltage, temperature, etc. of the execution element to form a current loop, a voltage loop, a temperature loop, etc. The execution management module also monitors an execution element such as an encoder of the motor to measure the rotating speed and the rotating angle. The execution management module controls the execution element, monitors whether the execution element is missing or abnormal in operation, and uploads the current, voltage, speed and monitoring result of the execution element to the execution management driving module 14.

The control logic assembly 11 is interconnected with the central control assembly 12 to exchange information. The control logic component 11 is respectively connected with the sensing management driving component 15 and the execution management driving component 14 to exchange information.

The control logic component 11 may perform a resolution according to the received instructions, and pass the resolved information to the execution management driving component 14 and/or the sensing management driving component 15.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 further includes at least one communication component 13. The communication module 13 communicates with the peripheral devices. Peripheral devices may include a host computer 40, input, output devices, and the like. The communication module 13 is connected with the central control module 12.

The control module 30 of the present application can be controlled in all directions by peripheral devices (including the host computer 40): the communication module 13 transmits the received peripheral device message to the central control module 12. The control logic component 11 receives instructions from the central control component 12.

For example, the target instruction of the upper computer 40 received by the central control component 12 includes the target angle of the relevant joint, and the target angle is calculated by the control logic component 11 to obtain the execution parameters (such as direction, speed, current and voltage) of the execution element corresponding to the relevant joint; the execution management driving component 14 further translates the execution parameters into signals (e.g., direction signals, PWM frequency, and duty cycle signals) required to execute the management module; the execution management module is driven by the execution management driving component 14.

In one embodiment, the control module 30 includes a plurality of control logic components 11. In actual use, one upper computer 40 of the robot can control a plurality of control modules 30. Each control module 30 may be used to control one limb of multiple degrees of freedom. For example, a human robot may be provided with a control module 30 for each arm, trunk and leg, and a central processing module located at the head of the robot is used as the upper computer 40 to control all the control modules 30, so as to coordinate and control the whole body of the robot.

Further, any one control logic component 11 may be connected to at least one other control logic component 11 for unidirectional or bidirectional communication and exchange of information. The control logic module 11 has the beneficial effects that if the degree of freedom/joint number of the robot is large, and the degree of freedom/joint related control models or control loops are coupled, the information exchange among the control logic modules 11 can enable the control loops to complete the calculation, and the control logic module is particularly suitable for a control algorithm based on a neural network, a control algorithm based on a calculation moment method, a control algorithm based on a state space method, a control algorithm based on an observer and a control algorithm based on a state machine. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the control module 30 is connected to the host computer 40. Each controlled joint 50 is connected with one control logic component 11 to form a control loop (the driving circuit and the sampling circuit are omitted), and state information needs to be exchanged between the controlled joints 50, namely, the controlled joints are realized through communication between different control logic components 11, so as to decouple or couple control amounts of the joints.

Further, in the present application, the communication module 13 communicates with at least one of the sensor management driving module 15, the execution management driving module 14, and the control logic module 11. The information sent by the upper computer 40 can be directly transmitted to the corresponding target component through the route of the communication component 13 after being decoded, and the efficiency is high without passing through the central control component 12.

In one embodiment, the communication module 13 communicates with the control logic module 11, and the communication module 13 directly transmits the message sent from the decoded host computer 40 to the corresponding control logic module 11.

In one embodiment, the communication module 13 communicates with the execution management driving module 14, and the communication module 13 directly transmits the instruction of the host computer 40 to the corresponding execution management driving module 14.

In one embodiment, the communication component 13 communicates with the sensor management driving component 15, and the communication component 13 directly transmits the instruction of the host computer 40 to the corresponding sensor management driving component 15.

The central control component 12 may be connected to at least one of the sensor management drive component 15 and the execution management drive component 14. In this way, the central control component 12 can receive the status information of the sensor management driving component 15 and the execution management driving component 14, and make better decisions. For example, the central control component 12 can receive status information of the sensor management driving component 15, make a decision according to the rate of change of the sensor information, and instruct the sensor management driving component 15 to adjust the sampling frequency.

As shown in fig. 2, the control module 30 of the present application may be configured as an embedded circuit including the reconfigurable unit 10 and the general purpose arithmetic unit 20. Wherein the reconfigurable unit 10 communicates with the general purpose arithmetic unit 20. For example, the reconfigurable unit 10 and the general purpose arithmetic unit 20 can communicate in full duplex.

The reconfigurable unit 10 may be configured as an FPGA and the general purpose arithmetic unit 20 may be configured as an ARM. The FPGA and the ARM as the general-purpose arithmetic unit 20 may be separate chips; or can be bound in the same chip; firmware of the ARM may also be embedded in the FPGA of the reconfigurable unit 10. In a preferred embodiment, the FPGA of the reconfigurable unit 10 is bound to the ARM in the same chip to improve the communication bandwidth between the two.

Alternatively, the ARM of the general purpose arithmetic unit 20 may be replaced by a DSP circuit/chip, and the same function may be realized. The former is more flexible and can support any communication protocol stack; the latter is simple and reliable and is cheap.

In another embodiment, the general purpose arithmetic unit 20 (ARM or DSP) may be embedded as part of the reconfigurable unit 10, i.e., the firmware of the general purpose arithmetic unit 20 (ARM or DSP) may be embedded in the reconfigurable unit 10 (FPGA).

The control module 30 adopts the FPGA as the reconfigurable unit 10 has the advantage that each component carried by the FPGA can be executed in parallel, which is particularly suitable for solving the situations of multiple sensing elements, multiple executing elements and multiple control targets, and can respond in real time at high speed. The advantage of adopting ARM or DSP to carry out communication management is that the ARM or DSP is efficient in encoding and decoding, and software (compared with firmware) can realize and upgrade communication protocols and routing rules more flexibly, so that the development is convenient and fast. Especially, ARM can be used for carrying an embedded system, and a WiFi/Ethernet protocol stack is better supported.

Alternatively, the reconfigurable unit 10 may also be configured as reconfigurable hardware. Reconfigurable hardware refers to hardware lines, and functions of hardware devices that can be reconfigured at runtime according to software.

The general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM) communicates with peripheral devices (e.g., host computer 40). For example, the general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM) communicates with the peripheral device (e.g., the host computer 40) in a full duplex manner, exchanges a first message (e.g., an Ethernet packet), and sends the first message from the peripheral device (e.g., the host computer 40) to the general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM). The general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM) decodes and encodes the first message to obtain a second message (machine code) and communicates with the reconfigurable unit 10 using the second message.

If the first message is encrypted, the general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM) may decrypt the first message. The general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g. ARM) may encrypt the second message sent from the reconfigurable unit 10 to obtain the first message, and send the first message to the peripheral device (e.g. the host computer 40).

The communication component 13 of the reconfigurable unit 10 is capable of communicating with a general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., an ARM). In one embodiment, the communication component 13 of the reconfigurable unit 10 is capable of full duplex communication with a general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM) and full duplex communication with peripheral devices via the general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g., ARM). The general purpose computing unit 20 (e.g. ARM) transmits the second message to the reconfigurable unit 10 (e.g. FPGA). The reconfigurable unit 10 encodes and decodes a second message; according to the target in the second message, the second message is recombined into a proper control instruction (format) and is transmitted to a corresponding component (namely a target component); this control instruction (format) may have a target number, an instruction (i.e., machine code), and a parameter. The parameters may include: angle values, speed values, torque values, importance coefficients, etc.

The reconfigurable unit 10 comprises the central control component 12, at least one of the sensing management driving components 15, at least one of the execution management driving components 14, at least one of the control logic components 11; furthermore, the reconfigurable unit 10 may also comprise at least one of the communication components 13 (depending on the complexity of the communication); if the communication is more complex, the reconfigurable unit 10 encodes, decodes and routes the second message to the corresponding component by the communication component 13. Within the control module 30, unified coordination and control can be performed by the central control module 12.

The control module 30 of the present application obtains the first message from communication with the peripheral device (such as the upper computer 40), decodes and encodes the first message to obtain the machine code of the second message, and the upgrade and reconstruction of the communication protocol mainly occurs in the general purpose computing unit 20 (such as ARM), so that only the general purpose computing unit 20 (such as ARM) is required to be upgraded; and is convenient for upgrading and reconstruction.

The control module 30 supports one or more control modes. The control module 30 can realize different control modes and control algorithms through the control logic component 11.

The control logic component 11 may be configured to include a control algorithm, which may be configured as a neural network-based control algorithm, a calculated moment method-based control algorithm, a state space method-based control algorithm, an observer-based control algorithm, or a state machine-based control algorithm, or the like.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control logic assembly 11 may be controlled by a central control assembly 12. The central control module 12 issues instructions to the respective control logic modules 11 to switch between different control modes.

Different control modes and control algorithms can be implemented by different control logic components 11; when the control mode and the control algorithm are switched, the central control component 12 can enable the corresponding control logic component 11. For example, one control logic component 11 may provide a neural network-based control algorithm and another control logic component 11 may provide a state space method-based control algorithm.

The control modes and control algorithms can also be realized by the same control logic component 11; when the control mode and the control algorithm are switched, the central control component 12 sends an instruction to the control logic component 11, and the control logic component 11 is internally switched to the corresponding control mode and control algorithm.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 is capable of switching between different control modes according to commands from the peripheral device.

For example, the peripheral device (host computer 40) decodes and encodes the first message via the general purpose computing unit 20 (ARM) to obtain a second message (machine code), and transmits the second message to the reconfigurable unit 10 (FPGA). The reconfigurable unit 10 (FPGA) receives a second message comprising a control mode instruction, a target, a parameter. If the control mode command specifies that some of the execution elements (i.e., target elements) are to be in the lower computer open loop control mode, the central control module 12 de-enables the corresponding control logic module 11. The second message may be routed through the communication component 13 directly to the execution management driver component 14. In other embodiments, the second message may also be directly transmitted to the sensor management driving component 15 or the control logic component 11 through the routing of the communication component 13.

The control module 30 of the present application can support a lower computer closed-loop control mode, i.e. a peripheral device (such as the upper computer 40) provides a target command, and the control module 30 is used as a lower computer for closed-loop control.

In the lower computer closed loop control mode, the control logic component 11 performs a solution according to a target instruction provided by the peripheral device and transmits the solved information to the execution management driving component 14 and/or the sensing management driving component 15.

For example, in the lower computer closed-loop control mode, the target command designates a target angle of any joint, the target voltage and/or the target current to be applied by the corresponding execution element are obtained through the calculation of the control logic component 11, and then the execution management driving component 14 drives the execution management module to provide the voltage and/or the current for the execution element. Feedback value information such as voltage and/or current of the actuator is uploaded to the control module 30 through the execution management module to form a feedback closed loop.

The lower computer closed-loop control mode has the advantages that: the lower computer has quick response and good parallelism; the calculation pressure of the host computer 40 can be reduced.

The control module 30 of the present application may also support an open loop control mode of the lower computer, that is, the peripheral device (such as the upper computer 40) provides the target command, and the control module 30 is used as the lower computer to perform open loop control.

In the lower computer open loop control mode: the execution management driver 14 may control the execution management driver 14 according to target instructions provided by the peripheral device, and/or the sensor management driver 15 may control the sensor management driver 15 according to target instructions provided by the peripheral device. For example, in the lower computer open loop control mode, the target command specifies a target voltage and/or a target current for any of the actuators, and the execution management driving component 14 drives the execution management module to provide the voltage and/or current for the actuators. A closed loop need not be formed through the control logic component 11.

The lower computer open loop control mode has the advantages that:

(1) The upper computer 40 can directly control the execution element, so that the debugging is convenient;

(2) The upper computer 40 is supported to carry out omnibearing control, for example, the upper computer 40 adopts a control mode of brain-like calculation, and the brain-like neural network can run on the upper computer 40, so that the calculation force is stronger than that of the lower computer;

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 is capable of making decisions based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator and switching between different control modes.

The sensor management driver component 15 and/or the performance management driver component 14 upload information to the central control component 12. The central control module 12 determines which control mode to use based on the uploaded information and controls (or enables the corresponding) the control logic module 11 to switch between different control modes.

For example, if a sensor is missing, the sensor management driving module 15 determines that the sensor is missing and transmits the information to the central control module 12, and the central control module 12 determines to control the related control loop by adopting a state space method, that is, estimates the information of the missing sensor by using a preset model, and enables the corresponding control logic module 11.

For another example, if the temperature of an execution element reaches the preset upper temperature limit, the sensing management driving component 15 determines that the temperature of the execution element is too high, and transmits the information to the central control component 12, the central control component 12 determines to take protection measures for the execution element, reduces the power supply voltage/current, and even cuts off the power, and the central control component 12 controls the execution management driving component 14 to be further executed by the execution management driving component 14.

As a further improvement, the control module 30 may include a signal processing component. The signal processing component has at least one filtering mode.

The signal processing component is connected with the sensing management driving component 15, or the signal processing component is arranged in the sensing management driving component 15.

The control module 30 can switch between different filtering modes according to the instructions from the peripheral device.

In one embodiment, different filtering modes are implemented by different sensor management drive components 15. For example, when the central control component 12 receives a second message, where the second message includes a filtering mode instruction, a target, and a parameter, and the filtering mode instruction specifies that some of the sensing elements (i.e., the target) use the average filtering mode, the central control component 12 enables the corresponding sensing management driving component 15 for the corresponding sensing elements (i.e., uses the average filtering mode), and assigns a value (filtering parameter) to the corresponding sensing management driving component 15.

Or, the same sensing management driving component 15 can support multiple filtering modes, and the central control component 12 controls the sensing management driving component 15 to switch among different filtering modes according to the second message, which is not described again.

The control module 30 can also make a judgment according to the information of the sensing element and/or the executing element, and switch between different filtering modes.

The control module 30 of the present application can adjust the signal sampling mode of the sensing management module.

The signal sampling mode includes: signal sampling frequency, signal sampling baud rate, signal sampling bit number, number of signal sampling channels, signal sampling channel switching, etc.

The sensor management module generally includes an ADC and an auxiliary circuit. The signal sampling frequency, the signal sampling baud rate, the signal sampling bit number, the number of signal sampling channels, the switching speed of the signal sampling channels and the like of the ADC can be adjusted, and the adjustment is realized by the communication between the control module 30 and the sensing management module.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 is capable of adjusting the signal sampling pattern based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator.

The central control assembly 12 may include a signal sampling control sub-assembly that determines a signal sampling pattern based on information from the sensing elements and/or actuators and instructs the sensing management drive assembly 15 to adjust the signal sampling pattern.

For example, if the output signal of a sensor element does not change for a long period of time, the control module 30 may decrease the sampling frequency of the sensor element or temporarily skip sampling of the sensor element when the signal sampling channel is switched.

The sensing management driving component 15 monitors the change rate of the output signal of the sensing element and transmits monitoring information to the central control component 12; the central control component 12 determines why the sampling mode is adjusted, and instructs the sensor management driving component 15 to drive the sensor management module to realize.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 can adjust the signal sampling mode according to the command from the peripheral device. The peripheral device passes control information to the central control component 12; the central control assembly 12 includes a signal sampling control sub-assembly that instructs the sensing management drive assembly 15 to adjust the signal sampling pattern in accordance with the control information.

For example, when the peripheral device (such as the upper computer 40) needs to enhance the sampling frequency of the haptic signal, the control module 30 (the lower computer) sends a first message, decodes and encodes the first message via the general purpose computing unit 20 (ARM) to obtain a second message (machine code), and the second message (machine code) is transmitted to the reconfigurable unit 10 (FPGA); routed through the communication module 13, the central control module 12 receives a second message including a target (sensor number), an instruction (adjust sampling frequency), a parameter (sampling frequency), and further instructs the sensor management driving module 15 to implement the adjust sampling mode by the central control module 12.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 can adjust the information upload mode to save the upload communication bandwidth. The information uploading mode of the control module 30 includes one or more of the following:

in a conventional upload mode, the control module 30 uploads information at a given frequency;

an event-triggered upload mode, wherein the control module 30 (central control component 12) uploads specific information according to a given trigger condition;

in the adaptive upload mode, the control module 30 determines whether to upload any information and the upload frequency according to the change rate of the related information.

A regular upload mode, i.e. continuous uploading of information; the control module 30 uploads information (including sensor information, monitoring information, actuator information, internal status information, etc.) at a given frequency. The conventional uploading mode adopts a continuous communication mode, and the method has the advantages that the upper computer 40 can continuously and intensively monitor whether the lower computer and even the whole system work normally or not, and the data is reliable and stable; if the communication packet loss condition exists, the communication packet loss condition can be timely found and corrected. The disadvantage of this approach is that when the number of sensors is large, it occupies too much communication bandwidth and also applies too much computation pressure to the cpu.

The event-triggered upload mode, i.e. the central control component 12 takes corresponding processing procedures according to a given trigger condition to upload given information. The event-triggered uploading mode adopts intermittent communication, and has the advantages that all information does not need to be uploaded in real time, and bandwidth can be saved.

The adaptive uploading mode, i.e. the control module 30 determines whether to upload any information and uploading frequency according to the change rate of the information. The self-adaptive uploading mode is used for communication only under the condition that information changes, so that the communication bandwidth is further saved. For example, if the sensing management driving component 15 determines that the tactile sensing element information has not changed (below a given rate of change threshold) for a long period of time, or the amplitude has fallen below a given amplitude threshold for a long period of time, the coordination communication component 13 reduces the upload frequency and even stops uploading the tactile sensing element information, and vice versa.

In one embodiment of the present application, the control module 30 is capable of emergency response. An emergency response control assembly may be included in control module 30.

In one embodiment. Included in the emergency response control assembly is a neural network subassembly 16. The neural network subassembly 16 is used for emergency treatment and controls the execution of the management drive assembly 14 during emergency treatment.

The control module 30 of the present application is preferably controlled in all directions by the upper computer 40, for example, the upper computer 40 adopts a control mode of brain-like calculation, and the brain-like neural network can operate in the upper computer 40, so that the calculation force is stronger than that of the lower computer. But in an emergency, the neural network sub-assembly 16 of the lower computer may respond in an emergency; the emergency response speed of the lower computer is high, and the response processing can be performed more quickly.

The neural network subcomponent 16 may include a neural network such as a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). An algorithm or program that simulates the spinal nerve loop through a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The spinal nerve loop can be used for the situation that the emergency treatment action is a complex track, and the motion track can be encoded by a nerve network. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a topology of a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) including an input layer 162, a hidden layer 163, and an output layer 164.

The neural network sub-assembly 16 may encode the motion trajectories through linkage relationships and weights between neurons. The motion trail comprises a combination of one or more motion sequences; each action sequence is formed by arranging one or more element actions in a time dimension; each meta-action represents the action of a corresponding actuator.

As shown in fig. 4, the neural network sub-assembly 16 may be connected to the execution management driving assembly 14, the sensing management driving assembly 15. For example, the neural network subassembly 16 is coupled to the execution management drive assembly 14 and controls the execution management drive assembly 14 and thus the actuators according to the encoded motion profile.

For example, when pressure overload, joint position overrun, etc. occur, to avoid damage to the robot, the central control assembly 12 initiates a neural network-based motion control algorithm to cause the robot to perform a coded motion trajectory, thereby achieving an emergency response.

The Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) may be embedded in a reconfigurable unit 10, such as an FPGA, with the neural network subcomponent 16 comprising the Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) being independent of other components of the FPGA.

The neural network subassembly 16 may communicate with the execution management driver 14 and the sensing management driver 15 in one or two directions simultaneously, i.e., receive information from the execution management driver 14 and/or the sensing management driver 15, and issue instructions to the corresponding execution management driver 14 and/or sensing management driver 15. As shown in fig. 4, the neural network subassembly 16 may be coupled to the central control assembly 12 to receive unified coordination control.

In one embodiment, central control component 12 may be implemented as a state machine, or as a collection of logic, implemented by firmware programming.

Example two

In another aspect, the present application also provides a control device. The control device comprises a control module 30 according to the first embodiment.

Example III

The application also provides a robot. The robot comprises a control module 30 as described in the first embodiment. Robots include, but are not limited to, biomimetic robots, humanoid robots, manipulator robots, collaborative robots, robotic or dexterous hand systems with multiple degrees of freedom, biomimetic mechanical feet with multiple degrees of freedom, other classes of multi-articulated machines, and the like.

The robot comprises a plurality of joints, and further comprises a sensing element, an executing management module and a sensing management module according to the first embodiment.

The robot may further include an upper computer 40. The control module 30 can be used for controlling a multi-degree-of-freedom limb or multi-degree-of-freedom part structure, and an upper computer 40 of the robot can coordinate and control the whole body of the robot by controlling a plurality of control modules 30.

As shown in fig. 3, the control module 30 is connected to the host computer 40. Each controlled joint 50 is connected with one control logic component 11 of the control module 30 to form a control loop (the driving circuit and the sampling circuit are omitted); wherein one control logic element 11 communicates 11 with at least one other control logic element. The controlled joints 50 need to exchange state information, that is, through communication between different control logic components 11, so as to decouple or couple the control amounts of the joints. Other components of the control module 30 are not shown in fig. 3.

The application provides a control module 30, controlling means and robot, beneficial effect lies in:

each control module 30 can be used for controlling a multi-degree-of-freedom limb or multi-degree-of-freedom part structure, and an upper computer 40 of the robot can coordinate and control the whole body of the robot by controlling a plurality of control modules 30. The control module 30 may include a plurality of control logic components 11; each joint of the robot can form a control loop by one control logic component 11, and when the degree of freedom/joint of the robot is more, the control logic component 11 can enable each control loop of a plurality of joints to be calculated in parallel, so that the response efficiency is high.

Any one control logic component 11 may communicate with at least one other control logic component 11, either unidirectionally or bidirectionally, exchanging information. The control logic component 11 performs control resolution based on the received information. The beneficial effect of this design lies in, if degree of freedom/joint quantity of robot is many, when there is the coupling between the control model or the control loop that each degree/joint relates to, the information exchange between the control logic subassembly 11 can make each control loop accomplish the resolving, realizes decoupling or coupling between each joint control volume.

The control module 30 of the application has the advantages that all control loops can be calculated in parallel, and the response efficiency is high. The FPGA or the reconfigurable hardware serving as the reconfigurable unit 10 can carry out all the components in parallel, is particularly suitable for solving the situations of multiple sensing elements, multiple executing elements and multiple control targets, and can respond at high speed in real time; when the degree of freedom/joints of the robot are more, the control logic assembly 11 can enable each control loop of the joints to be calculated in parallel, and response efficiency is high.

The communication efficiency of the control module 30 of the present application is high. The general purpose computing unit 20 communicates with peripheral devices (e.g., the host computer 40) to exchange first messages; the general purpose computing unit 20 decodes and encodes the first message to obtain a second message (machine code) and communicates with the reconfigurable unit 10 using the second message. The general operation unit 20 is configured as an ARM or a DSP, and the ARM or the DSP has high encoding and decoding efficiency, can more flexibly realize and upgrade communication protocols and routing rules, and is convenient to develop. Especially, ARM can be used for carrying an embedded system, and a WiFi/Ethernet protocol stack is better supported. The communication module 13 is capable of communicating with the general purpose computing unit 20, encoding and decoding the second message, and transmitting the instruction to at least one of the corresponding modules, such as the central control module 12, the control logic module 11, the sensor management driving module 15, and the execution management driving module 14, according to the second message. In addition, the different control logic components 11 can perform one-way or two-way communication.

The control module 30 of the present application, from the communication with the peripheral equipment (such as the upper computer 40) to the decoding and encoding of the first message to the machine code of the second message, the upgrading and reconstruction of the communication protocol mainly occurs in the general purpose operation unit 20, so that only the general purpose operation unit 20 is needed to be upgraded; and is convenient for upgrading and reconstruction.

The control module 30 of the present application has a plurality of control modes: the system can be controlled in all directions by peripheral equipment (comprising an upper computer 40), and can be uniformly coordinated and controlled by a central control component 12 (the lower computer is independently controlled); in the former, the peripheral device can communicate with at least one of the sensor management driving component 15, the execution management driving component 14 and the control logic component 11 directly through the communication component 13, and does not need to pass through the central control component 12, so that the response efficiency is high.

The control module 30 of the present application supports switching in different control modes: the control module 30 can switch between different control modes according to the instruction transmitted by the peripheral equipment; the control module 30 may also switch between different control modes based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator.

The control module 30 can support a lower computer closed-loop control mode; the lower computer closed-loop control mode has the advantages that: the lower computer has quick response and good parallelism; the calculation pressure of the host computer 40 can be reduced.

The control module 30 can support an open loop control mode of the lower computer; the lower computer open loop control mode has the advantages that: the upper computer 40 can directly control the execution element, so that the debugging is convenient; the upper computer 40 is supported to carry out omnibearing control, for example, the upper computer 40 adopts a control mode of brain-like calculation, and the brain-like neural network can run on the upper computer 40, so that the calculation force is stronger than that of the lower computer; in the lower computer open loop control mode, the lower computer can still perform emergency response.

The control module 30 may include a signal processing component. The signal processing component may have a plurality of filtering modes, and the control module 30 can switch between different filtering modes according to the instruction sent from the peripheral device.

The control module 30 of the present application is capable of adjusting the signal sampling pattern of the sensing management module. The control module 30 is capable of adjusting the signal sampling pattern based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator. Alternatively, the control module 30 can adjust the signal sampling mode according to the command from the peripheral device.

The control module 30 of the present application has various information uploading modes, and can adjust the information uploading modes according to the requirements. The information uploading mode comprises a conventional uploading mode, an event-triggered uploading mode and an adaptive uploading mode. The conventional uploading mode adopts a continuous communication mode, and the method has the advantages that the upper computer 40 can continuously and intensively monitor whether the lower computer and even the whole system work normally or not, and the data is reliable and stable. The event-triggered uploading mode adopts intermittent communication, and has the advantages that all information does not need to be uploaded in real time, and bandwidth can be saved. In the adaptive uploading mode, the control module 30 determines whether to upload any information and uploading frequency according to the change rate of the information, so as to further save bandwidth. The control module 30 of the present application may employ a suitable information upload mode according to actual requirements.

In the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the embodiments are emphasized, and in part, not described or illustrated in any particular embodiment, reference is made to the related descriptions of other embodiments.

The foregoing description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application should not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application by the essence of the corresponding technical solutions.

Claims

1. A control module, comprising: the central control component, at least one sensing management driving component, at least one execution management driving component and at least one control logic component;

the central control component is connected with the control logic component;

2. The control module of claim 1, further comprising at least one communication component that communicates with a peripheral device; the communication component is connected with the central control component.

3. The control module of claim 2, wherein the communication module transmits the received message to the central control module; the control logic component receives instructions from a central control component.

4. The control module of claim 1, wherein the control module comprises a plurality of control logic elements, wherein one control logic element is communicable with at least one other control logic element.

5. The control module of claim 2, wherein the communication component communicates with at least one of a sensor management driver component, an execution management driver component, and a control logic component.

6. The control module of claim 1, wherein the central control component is coupled to at least one of the sensory management drive component and the performance management drive component.

7. The control module of claim 1, wherein the control module is configured to include a reconfigurable unit and a general purpose arithmetic unit; the reconfigurable unit is communicated with the general operation unit;

The reconfigurable unit includes at least one of the sensory management drive members, at least one of the execution management drive members, at least one of the control logic members, and the central control member of claim 1;

8. The control module of claim 7, wherein the reconfigurable unit further comprises at least one communication component.

9. The control module of claim 7, wherein the general purpose computing unit is an ARM or a DSP, and the reconfigurable unit

Is FPGA or reconfigurable hardware.

10. The control module of claim 1, wherein the control module supports one or more control modes via a control logic component.

11. The control module of claim 10, wherein,

the control logic component is controlled by the central control component, and the central control component sends out instructions to the control logic component to switch between different control modes; or,

12. The control module of claim 5, wherein the control module supports a lower computer closed loop control mode;

in the lower computer closed-loop control mode, the peripheral equipment provides a target instruction, and the control module is used as the lower computer for closed-loop control.

13. The control module of claim 1, wherein the control module supports a lower computer open loop control mode;

in the lower computer open loop control mode, the peripheral equipment provides a target instruction, and the control module is used as the lower computer for open loop control.

14. Control module according to claim 1, characterized in that the control module is able to make decisions based on information of the sensor element and/or the actuator element, switching between different control modes.

15. The control module of claim 1, wherein the control module comprises a signal processing component having at least one filtering mode;

16. The control module of claim 15, wherein the control module is capable of switching between different filtering modes based on commands from a peripheral device; or the control module can make a judgment according to the information of the sensing element and/or the executing element and switch among different filtering modes.

17. The control module of claim 1, wherein the control module is capable of adjusting a signal sampling pattern of the sensor management module.

18. The control module of claim 17, wherein the central control component determines a signal sampling pattern based on information from the sensing element and/or the actuator and instructs the sensing management drive component to adjust the signal sampling pattern.

19. The control module of claim 17, wherein the peripheral device communicates control information to a central control component, the central control component instructs a sensor management drive component to adjust a signal sampling pattern based on the control information.

20. The control module of claim 1, wherein the information upload mode of the control module comprises one or more of:

21. The control module of claim 1, further comprising an emergency response control assembly.

22. The control module of claim 21, wherein the emergency response control assembly includes a neural network subassembly; the neural network subassembly is used for emergency treatment and controls and executes the management driving assembly during the emergency treatment;

23. The control module of claim 22, wherein the neural network subassembly is coupled to an execution management driver component, a sensor management driver component; the neural network sub-component receives information of the execution management driving component and/or the sensing management driving component and sends instructions to the corresponding execution management driving component and/or sensing management driving component.

24. A control device comprising a control module according to any one of claims 1-23.

25. A robot comprising a sensing element, an actuator element, a plurality of joints, and a control module according to any one of claims 1-23.

26. The robot of claim 25, wherein the robot comprises an upper computer, and the control module is connected with the upper computer; each controlled joint is connected with one control logic component of the control module to form a control loop; wherein one control logic component communicates with at least one other control logic component.