Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
  • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
  • B25J9/003—Programme-controlled manipulators having parallel kinematics
  • B25J9/0045—Programme-controlled manipulators having parallel kinematics with kinematics chains having a rotary joint at the base
  • B25J9/0051—Programme-controlled manipulators having parallel kinematics with kinematics chains having a rotary joint at the base with kinematics chains of the type rotary-universal-universal or rotary-spherical-spherical, e.g. Delta type manipulators
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
  • B25J17/00—Joints
  • B25J17/02—Wrist joints
  • B25J17/0208—Compliance devices
  • B25J17/0216—Compliance devices comprising a stewart mechanism
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B25—HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWER-DRIVEN TOOLS; MANIPULATORS
  • B25J—MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES
  • B25J9/00—Programme-controlled manipulators
  • B25J9/0009—Constructional details, e.g. manipulator supports, bases
  • B25J9/0015—Flexure members, i.e. parts of manipulators having a narrowed section allowing articulation by flexion

Definitions

• the present invention is in the field of industrial robotics.
• the invention more particularly relates to a nacelle for a parallel robot intended to act on an object, the nacelle comprising:
• each armature comprising at least two pairs of ball joints
• each of the armatures respectively by four hinges oriented along four axes of hinge substantially parallel to an axial direction, the four hinge axes defining a parallelogram in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction, the parallelogram being movable between a plurality of configurations in which the two sides corresponding to the two armatures are substantially parallel to an orientation direction (D1) substantially perpendicular to the axial direction, and
• a base mounted on the nacelle and intended to be connected to an effector own to act on the object.
• the invention also relates to a parallel robot intended to act on a parallel object intended to act on an object, characterized in that it comprises:
• each of the articulated arms being mounted respectively on one of the pairs of ball joints of the nacelle, and
• the invention finally relates to a method implementing such a robot.
• the axial direction is generally substantially vertical.
• Such robots are intended to perform object manipulations (so-called pick-and-place
• the robot known as "Quattro” includes an articulated pod and four actuating arms. This robot has four degrees of freedom: three translations in space, and a rotation around the vertical to change the orientation of the manipulated object.
• the nacelle has the shape of a deformable parallelogram in a substantially horizontal plane. The rotation of the object is controlled by the deformation of the nacelle.
• a first solution consists, through the control of the four articulated arms, to impose a given orientation to the base and thus the effector and the object.
• the accelerations printed on the object result in a torque exerted on the base around the axial direction.
• Such a torque is transmitted to the actuators of the robot, which reduces all the possibilities of printing efforts in translation, and thus to achieve high dynamic performance.
• a nacelle rigid that is to say, not deformable in its plan.
• a rigid nacelle provides the three degrees of freedom in translation and constrain the rotational movement of the effector, but has the disadvantage of over-compressing the four actuators. Indeed, since three actuators are sufficient to produce the three translational movements, the fourth actuator must be perfectly synchronized with the other actuators, under penalty of deformation, or even dislocation of the robot. Such a perfect synchronization is difficult to achieve because it requires control of the actuating forces and thus significant computing power to control the robot.
• An object of the invention is therefore to provide a nacelle adapted to a parallel robot with four articulated arms and to constrain the rotation of the object around the axial direction, while achieving high dynamic performance, and does not require too much computing power.
• the invention relates to a nacelle of the type described above, wherein the base is connected to each bridge respectively by at least one hinge oriented along a connecting axis substantially parallel to the axial direction, both axes connecting the base defining in said plane a segment parallel to the direction of orientation in all configurations of the parallelogram.
• the nacelle comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination:
• the connecting axes of the base are respectively located substantially in the middle of the sides of the parallelogram corresponding to the bridges;
• each segment of the parallelogram corresponding to one of the armatures has a length L1 and each segment of the parallelogram corresponding to one of the bridges has a length L2, the ratio L1 / L2 being greater than or equal to 2.0;
• the frames and bridges of the nacelle came from material, the hinges of the nacelle being made by local thinning of the nacelle.
• the invention also relates to a parallel robot intended to act on an object, the robot comprising:
• each of the articulated arms being mounted respectively on one of the pairs of ball joints of the nacelle, and
• the robot comprises one or more of the following characteristics, taken separately or in any technically possible combination:
• the articulated arms are adapted to print a translation movement to the nacelle with respect to the support, and to deform the parallelogram between the configurations of said plurality, the direction of orientation remaining fixed relative to the support during the translational movement and in all configurations of said plurality;
• the axial direction is substantially vertical
• Each articulated arm comprises a proximal portion rotatably mounted on the support, and a distal portion connected to the proximal portion by two ball joints, and connected to the nacelle by one of the ball joint pairs.
• the invention finally relates to a method implementing a robot as defined above, comprising the step of acting on the object using the effector.
• the method comprises the following steps: - To translate a translation movement to the nacelle relative to the support by means of the articulated arms, the orientation direction remaining fixed relative to the support, and
• FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a robot according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is a schematic view from above of the nacelle of the robot represented in FIG. 1, the nacelle being in an intermediate configuration in which the parallelogram is a rectangle
• the parallelogram is a rectangle
• FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively views similar to that of FIG. 2, the nacelle being respectively in two configurations symmetrical to each other, in which the parallelogram is respectively deformed in one direction or the other by relative to its rectangular shape shown in FIG.
• the robot 1 is for example part of a production line (not shown) in the field of food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, electronics, etc.
• the robot 1 is adapted to move an object 5 (visible at the bottom of Figure 1) which is for example a foodstuff or a box of drugs.
• An axial direction V is defined which is, in the example shown in the figures, substantially vertical.
• An orientation direction D1 (FIG. 2) is also defined substantially perpendicular to the axial direction V and which materializes an orientation of the object 5 in space.
• a transverse direction T substantially perpendicular to the axial direction V and to the orientation direction D1 is defined.
• the direction of orientation D1 and the transverse direction T define a substantially horizontal plane P in the example shown.
• the robot 1 is called "parallel".
• the robot 1 is adapted to move the object 5 in translation along the three directions of space, for example the axial direction V, the transverse direction T and the direction of orientation D1, advantageously in rapid movements, for example the order of a few round trips to the second.
• the robot 1 comprises a support 10, four actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 fixed on the support, four articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 respectively mounted on the actuators, a nacelle 55 carried by the four articulated arms, and a effector 60 fixed on the platform and adapted to act on the object 5.
• the effector 60 comprises at least one motor capable of moving the object 5 in rotation about an axis parallel to the axial direction.
• effector 60 is adapted to grip the object 5, carry it during a translational movement of the nacelle 55 with respect to the support 10, and to release the object 5.
• the support 10 is of substantially flat shape and substantially parallel to the plane P.
• the support 10 has for example a generally substantially square shape in view in the axial direction V.
• the support 10 is intended to be fixed by any suitable means on a supporting structure (not shown), such as a ceiling.
• the support 10 has a generally rectangular shape, or even non-planar.
• the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 are fixed below the support 10, advantageously substantially at the four corners defined by a lower face 62 of the support.
• the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 being substantially structurally similar to each other, only the actuator 15 will be described in detail below.
• the actuator 15 comprises an armature 64 fixed on the support 10, and a stator 66 secured to the armature 64.
• the actuator 15 is able to print on the articulated arm 35 a rotational movement with respect to the support 10 around a axis D1 substantially parallel to the plane P.
• the axis D1 forms for example an angle of approximately 45 ° with the orientation direction
• the actuators 20, 25, 30 are deduced from the actuator 15 by successive rotations of 90 ° around a median axis M of the robot 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the median axis M being substantially parallel to the axial direction V.
• the actuator 20 is adapted to print the articulated arm 40 a rotational movement relative to the support 10 about an axis D2 substantially parallel to the plane P and substantially perpendicular to the axis D1.
• the actuator 25 is adapted to print a rotational movement to the articulated arm 45 relative to the support 10 about an axis D3 substantially parallel to the plane P and substantially perpendicular to the axis D2.
• the actuator 30 is able to rotate the articulated arm 50 relative to the support 10 about an axis D4 substantially parallel to the plane P and substantially perpendicular to the axis D1.
• Each of the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 is equipped with at least one motor adapted to control the rotation of the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 with respect to the reinforcements 64 respectively around the axes D1, D2, D3, D4.
• the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 being structurally similar to each other, only the articulated arm 35 will be described in detail below.
• the articulated arm 35 has a proximal portion 68 forming a rear arm, and a distal portion 70 articulated on the proximal portion and forming a forearm.
• the proximal portion 68 is rotatably mounted relative to the stator 66 about the axis
• the proximal portion 68 is of generally elongate shape, for example substantially perpendicular to the axis D1.
• the proximal portion 68 has at its distal end two spheres 72, 74 fixed on two opposite faces of the proximal portion 68 along the axis D1.
• the distal portion 70 is composed in the example shown of two amounts
• Each post 76, 78 has a complementary cup-shaped proximal end respectively of the spheres 72, 74, all forming a ball joint.
• Each upright 76, 78 further comprises a distal end also cup-shaped and adapted to cooperate with the nacelle 55.
• the nacelle 55 is situated at the end of the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50.
• the nacelle 55 has a general shape that extends substantially parallel to the plane P.
• the nacelle 55 comprises two reinforcements 80, 82, two bridges 84, 86 extending between the reinforcements 80, 82 transversely, and a base 88 adapted to serve as a support for the effector 60.
• the two armatures 80, 82 are advantageously symmetrical to one another with respect to a plane of symmetry S1 substantially perpendicular to the transverse direction T when the nacelle 55 is in a symmetrical configuration shown in FIG. 2.
• the armature 80 comprises two heads 90, 92 opposite to each other in the direction of orientation D1 and separated by a median portion 94.
• the head 90 defines two spheres 96, 98 for example substantially oriented at 45 ° with respect to the direction of direction D1 and the transverse direction T and pointing in opposite directions.
• the spheres 96, 98 are adapted to cooperate with the articulated arm 35.
• the spheres 96, 98 respectively have complementary spherical shapes of the distal ends of the uprights 76, 78 of the articulated arm 35.
• the spheres have other orientations with respect to the direction of direction D1 and to the transverse direction T, for few that these orientations are identical to those of the distal ends of the uprights 76, 78 of the articulated arm 35.
• the head 92 of the armature 80 defines two spheres 100, 102 pointing in opposite directions and forming for example an angle of substantially 45 ° with the direction of direction D1 and the transverse direction T.
• the spheres 100, 102 are adapted to cooperate with the articulated arm 50, in the same way that the spheres 96, 98 are adapted to cooperate with the articulated arm 35.
• the armature 82 comprises two heads 104, 106 separated in the direction of orientation D1 by a median portion 108.
• the heads 104, 106 respectively define spheres 108, 1 10, 1 12, 1 14.
• the spheres 108, 1 10 are adapted to cooperate with the articulated arm 40.
• the spheres 1 12, 1 14 are adapted to cooperate with the articulated arm 45.
• the bridges 84, 86 are symmetrical to each other with respect to a plane of symmetry S2 substantially perpendicular to the direction of direction Dl.
• the bridge 84 is articulated respectively on the frames 80, 82 by two hinges 1 16, 1 18.
• the bridge 86 is articulated respectively on the frames 80, 82 by two hinges 120, 122.
• the hinges 1 16, 1 18, 120, 122 have hinge axes substantially parallel to the axial direction V and defining, in projection on the plane P, a parallelogram ABCD.
• the hinges 1 16, 1 18, 120, 122 are advantageously made by local thinning of the nacelle 55.
• the armatures 80, 82 and the bridges 84, 86 then came from material.
• the sides AD and BC of the parallelogram ABCD are substantially parallel to the direction of orientation D1 and have the same length L1 along this same direction.
• the sides AB and CD of the parallelogram ABCD are substantially transversely oriented and have the same length L2 in the transverse direction T.
• the ratio L1 / L2 is greater than or equal to 2.0.
• the base 88 has for example a generally annular shape, advantageously symmetrical with respect to the symmetry planes S1 and S2.
• the base 88 is mounted respectively on the bridges 84, 86 by two hinges 124, 126 defining two axes of hinges substantially parallel to the axial direction V and defining two points E, F in projection on the plane P.
• the base 88 is hinged only on the bridges 84, 86 and is not directly mechanically connected to the frames 80, 82.
• the hinges 124, 126 are advantageously of similar structure to the hinges 1 16, 1 18, 120, 122.
• Points E and F are located on the AB and CD sides of the ABCD parallelogram.
• the distance EB is substantially equal to the distance CF.
• the segment EF is substantially parallel to the sides AD and BC.
• the points E and F are respectively located substantially in the middle of segments AB and CD.
• the effector 60 is an element known per se to those skilled in the art.
• the effector 60 is fixed on the base 88 so as to be integral in rotation with the base 88 around the central axis M.
• the segment EF defines the orientation of the entire base 88.
• the nacelle 55 is movable between the configuration shown in Figure 2 and a plurality of configurations, two of which are shown in Figures 3 and 4.
• the configuration of the nacelle 55 shown in FIG. 3 is such that the parallelogram ABCD is no longer a rectangle.
• the angle ABC is then an obtuse angle.
• Such a configuration results from the configuration shown in FIG. 2 by translating the armatures 80, 82 relative to one another in the direction of orientation D1.
• the nacelle 55 is in a configuration in which the parallelogram ABCD is such that the angle ABC is acute.
• Such a configuration is obtained from the configuration shown in Figure 2 by translating the armatures 80, 82 relative to each other in the direction of direction Dl, in a direction opposite to that which gives the configuration represented in FIG.
• the configurations of the parallelogram ABCD are for example defined by an angle ⁇ formed by the segment AB with the transverse direction T.
• the angle is substantially zero. In the configuration of Figure 3, the angle is for example +5 degrees.
• the angle is for example -5 degrees.
• the angle a is for example in a range of -5 degrees to +5 degrees.
• the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 respectively make it possible to rotate the proximal portions 68 of the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 respectively about the axes D1, D2, D3, D4 relative to the support 10. This has the effect of moving the spheres 72, 74 along circular paths in planes substantially parallel to the axial direction V.
• the uprights 76, 78 of each distal portion 70 of each articulated arm 35, 40, 45, 50 remain parallel to each other.
• the nacelle 55 maintains its orientation in space with respect to the support 10. In the example shown, the nacelle 55 remains substantially parallel to the plane P and does not rotate relative to the support 10 around the axial direction V.
• the four articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 constitute four kinematic chains to which correspond three degrees of freedom in translation of the nacelle 55, and an additional degree of freedom corresponding to the deformations of the parallelogram ABCD defined by the nacelle 55.
• to the four angular positions of the proximal portions 68 of the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 corresponds to a single position of the nacelle 55 in space relative to the support 10, and a configuration of the parallelogram ABCD formed by the nacelle, that is, ie a value of the angle a.
• the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 deform the nacelle 55 so that the segments BC and AD remain substantially parallel to the direction of orientation D1.
• the segment EF is itself parallel to the segments AD and BC.
• the orientation of the base 88 around the axial direction V does not change, whatever the configuration of the parallelogram ABCD, because the orientation of the base is determined by the orientation of the segment EF.
• the force torques possibly acting on the effector 60 around the axial direction V do not transmit to the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50, and therefore are not transmitted to the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30.
• the robot 1 is adapted to constrain the rotation of the object 5 around the axial direction V without this soliciting the actuators and without this requires too much computing power.
• This achieves high dynamic performance and also increases the life of robot 1.
• the pod 55 makes it possible to use a standard control with independent axes typical of robots with four articulated arms. This makes it possible to increase the gains of the servo loops, and thus to improve the performance of the robot 1.
• the fourth kinematic chain represented by the fourth articulated arm makes it possible to homogenize the performance of the robot 1, that is to say that they do not degrade so quickly at the edge of the workspace of robot 1.
• the use of the degree of internal mobility of the nacelle 55 constituted by the plurality of configurations of the parallelogram ABCD in the plane P does not affect the transmission of the mechanical forces of the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 towards the effector 60.
• This degree of internal mobility of the nacelle 55 allows movements, advantageously infinitesimal, to compensate for the possible errors of the command control models and the engine beats of the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30. This internal mobility also releases the internal stresses. Actuation of the robot 1.
• the lifetime of the robot 1 is increased, particularly that of expensive elements of the actuators 15, 20, 25, 30 such as motors, reducers and power amplifiers.
• the robot 1 has more homogeneous performances than those of a robot with three articulated arms for the same work space, that is to say say the zone of displacement of the object 5.
• the hinges of the nacelle 55 55 are preferably mechanically stressed.
• a pair of external forces possibly acting on the effector 60 around the axial direction V does not solicit the motors of the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 contrary to what occurs in a robot with four conventional articulated arms.
• the four articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50 are controlled independently and slaved in position.
• the robot 1 has a kinematic redundancy, instead of an actuation redundancy. It is thus possible to use a conventional industrial control system, whose minimum sampling period is only 1200 ms.
• the robot 1 is also more efficient than a rigid nacelle robot type "Delta” in terms of its acceleration capacity and its resistance to external forces.
• the robot 1 is hyper static of degree 1, which is an advantage in terms of rigidity, thanks to a better distribution of forces in the uprights 76, 78 of the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50.
• the hinges 1 16, 1 18, 120, 122, 124, 126 are made by thinning material.
• the nacelle 25 is achievable by molding. It is of course possible to use more conventional joints between the different elements of the nacelle 55.
• the orientation of the effector 60 around the axial direction V does not change either during translational movements of the nacelle 55 caused by the articulated arms 35, 40, 45, 50"
• the orientation of the effector is not affected by the displacements in translation of the nacelle made by the articulated arms, nor by the more or less crushed shape that the parallelogram ABCD is made to take during these displacements in translation.
• the orientation of the effector 60 around the axial direction V is the same as that of the base 88 and is given for example by the segment EF.
• the effector 60 comprises for example a portion 61 fixed on the base 88 of the nacelle 55, and a portion 62 of the gripping of the object 5 ( Figure 1).
• the portion 61 is fixed in orientation around the axial direction V relative to the base 88 during the movements of the nacelle 55 and / or during the deformations of the parallelogram ABCD.
• the gripping portion 62 is for example a simple gripper. In a variant (not shown), the gripping portion 62 is a more complex tool, known in itself to those skilled in the art.
• the portion 62 is for example rotatable about the axial direction V relative to the portion 61, and is advantageously actuated by a motor (not shown), as already mentioned above.
• the axial rotation of the portion 62 relative to the portion 61 is in no way the result of a deformation of the parallelogram ABCD.
• the nacelle 55 is shaped so that it is not a deformation of the parallelogram ABCD which causes axial rotation of the portion 62.
• the axial rotation of the portion 62 relative to the portion 61 is the result of a specific actuation and is not related to the shape of the parallelogram ABCD.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Robotics (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Manipulator (AREA)

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• 2014
  • 2014-05-19 FR FR1454457A patent/FR3020977B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2015
  • 2015-05-19 EP EP15725552.2A patent/EP3145680A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 2015-05-19 CN CN201580032716.2A patent/CN106660202B/zh active Active
  • 2015-05-19 WO PCT/EP2015/061003 patent/WO2015177154A1/fr active Application Filing
  • 2015-05-19 US US15/312,248 patent/US10414041B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2015-05-19 JP JP2016568528A patent/JP6636950B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related

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