GB2142605A

GB2142605A - A remote manipulator control box

Info

Publication number: GB2142605A
Application number: GB08411069A
Authority: GB
Inventors: H Jean Rene Argouarc; Luc Gerardin
Original assignee: Alsthom Atlantique SA
Current assignee: Alsthom Atlantique SA
Priority date: 1983-05-02
Filing date: 1984-05-01
Publication date: 1985-01-23
Also published as: GB2142605B; DE3415612A1; FR2545407B1; GB8411069D0; DE3415612C2; FR2545407A1

Abstract

A control box (17), for controlling a remote manipulator which comprises an arm which is fixed to a column which is suspended from a carriage which is itself movable along two rectangular XY co-ordinate axes, has a front face with a plurality of hand-operated manipulator controls (3 to 14) for controlling the movements of various parts of the manipulator. The controls include a joystick (14) mounted to operate a two-axis control unit for controlling movement of the manipulator carriage along the said XY axes. The joystick (14) and the two-axis control unit are mounted on a plate (16) which is rotatable in the plane of the front face of the control box (17) to enable the direction of joystick movement to be aligned with the corresponding directions of carriage movement for different relative dispositions of the control box (17) and the XY axes of carriage movement. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A remote manipulator control box The present invention relates to a control box for controlling a remote manipulator which comprises an arm fixed to a column suspended from a carriage which is itself movable along two rectangularXY co-ordinate axes. On one of its faces, the control box has a hand-operated controls for controlling the movements of the various components of there mote manipulator. The controls include a joystick for operating a two-axis control unit to control movement of the carriage along its XY axes.

Generally, the front face of the control box has a diagram of the manipulator with the controls being mounted in portions of the diagram that correspond to the part of the manipulator they control.

The invention is applicable, in particular, to a nuclear remote manipulator situated in a closed chamber, with the operator acting by means of the control box from outside the chamber while observing the manipulator through windows or portholes in the walls.

Depending on the orientation of the arm about its support column, the operator may have to move, and in particular the operator may have to observe the inside of the chamber sometimes through a porthole situated in a first wall of the chamber and sometimes through a porthole situated in a second wall of the chamber at right angles to the first. It follows that since the control box moves with the operator (who generally holds the box in one hand while operating its control with the other hand), the co-ordinate axes marked on the box are not necessarily aligned with the real co-ordinate axes of motion of the column supporting the remote manipulator arm. This results in time-wasting groping when manipulating the two-axis control unit via the joystick.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention mitigate this drawback.

The present invention provides a control box for controlling a remote manipulator, the remote manipulator comprising an arm fixed to a column which is suspended from a carriage which is itself movable along two rectangular XY co-ordinate axes, wherein the control box has a front face with a plurality of hand-operated manipulator controls for controlling the movements of various parts of the manipulator, which controls include a joystick mounted to operate a two-axis control unit for controlling movement of the carriage along the said XY axes, the joystick and the two-axis control unit being mounted on a plate which is rotatable in the plane of the said front face of the control box to enable the direction of joystick movement to be aligned with the corresponding directions of carriage movement for different relative dispositions of the control box and the said XY axes of carriage movement.

An embodiment of the invention is described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure lisa front view of a remote manipulator control box in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a cross section on line ll-ll in Figure 1 showing a portion of the control box.

Figure 1 shows a control box 17 for controlling a remote manipulator arm which is fixed to the bottom end of a telescopic support column which is itself suspended from a carriage capable of moving along two rectangular XY co-ordinate axes.

On its top face, the box has a diagram in which the column and the manipulator arm are shown very succinctly. The diagram of the support column is referenced 1 and the diagram of the arm is referenced 2.

Going from top to bottom of the diagram representing the arm: first there is a lever 3 for controlling movement of the arm relative to the support column; then there is a lever 4 for controlling the forearm relative to the arm; a lever 5 for rotating thejaw-carrying "wrist"; a lever 6 for extending and retracting the telescopic "wrist"; and finally a lever 7 for clamping and unclamping the jaws.

A dial 8 indicates the jaw clamping force; a button 9 switches on jaw clamping; a button 10 is a general ON switch; and a button 11 is an OFF switch.

The support column 1 is raised and lowered under the control of a lever 12, and the tubes of the column are rotated under the control of a lever 13.

Carriage movement is controlled by a joystick 14 capable of moving in any direction within a cone.

The joystick operates a two-axis control unit 15 (Figure 2). Rectangular XY co-ordinate axes are shown with the joystick 14 at the origin. These axes are marked on a plate 16 which is fixed above the two-axis control unit 15 with the joystick 14 passing through the plate 16.

In accordance with the invention, the plate 16 together with the two-axis control unit 15 is rotatable relative to the box 17. This enables the operator to align the direction in which the joystick moves with the corresponding apparent direction of support column movement. In other words, if the operator moves round the enclosure to observe the manipula torthrough a porthole in another wall ofthe enclosure, the effect of joystick movement can readily be made to match the operator's new view of the manipulator. The control box can thus continue to be held with all its other controls in their usual positions.

To this end, the plate 16 is screwed, by means of a screw 18, to a ring-shaped backplate 19 in such a manner that the rim 20 of a circular opening in the top face of the box 17 is received in the circular slot located between the plate 16 and the backplate 19. A groove 21 extending over an arc of 340 is provided in the plate and is associated with a peg 22 for limiting the possible rotation of the plate.

In order to stabilize certain positions of the plate relative to the box, the backplate 19 has small dents 23 for co-operating with a ball 24 which is urged by a spring 25 itself housed in a bore in a support 26 fixed to the box 17.

It is thus possible for the operator to orientate the XY co-ordinate axes relative to the box as a function of the operator's position so that they correspond to the axes of motion of the carriage supporting the remote manipulator assembly.

The box also includes a handle 27. A key 28 makes it possible to prevent the remote manipulator being used by anyone not having a key.

Claims

1. A control box for controlling a remote manipulator, the remote manipulator comprising an arm fixed to a column which is suspended from a carriage which is itself movable along two rectangular XY co-ordinate axes, wherein the control box has a front face with a plurality of hand-operated manipulator controls for controlling the movements of various parts of the manipulator, which controls include a joystick mounted to operate a two-axis control unit for controlling movement of the carriage along the said XY axes, the joystick and the two-axis control unit being mounted on a plate which is rotatable in the plane of the said front face of the control box to enable the direction of joystick movement to be aligned with the corresponding directions of carriage movement for different relative dispositions of the control box and the said XY axes of carriage movement.

2. A control box according to claim 1, wherein the front face of the box has a diagram of the manipulator with the controls being located in the diagram at locations corresponding to the portions of the manipulator they control.

3. A control box according to claim 2, wherein the XY axes corresponding to the joystick are marked in the diagram on the plate so that the marked axes are rotated by rotating the two-axis control unit assembly.

4. A control box for controlling a remote manipulator arm, the control box being substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.