JP2001100805A - Robot controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for controlling robot improved in expandability, maintainability and further reliability of a system. SOLUTION: A manipulator 4 to be operated by a servo motor is controlled by a main controller 1 and sub-controllers 2. The main controller 1 and sub- controllers 21, 22 and 23 can control plural robots by performing data communication via communication means 51, 52 and 53.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot control device for controlling teaching and operation of an industrial robot or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a general configuration of a conventional robot system, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a configuration example of a conventional robot controller.

As shown in FIG. 7, the manipulator 4 is controlled by a robot controller 30.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 8, in a conventional robot controller 30, a main control circuit 3 for performing overall control of the robot is provided.
01 and a servo control circuit 302 for controlling the servo motor
And a servo amplifier 303 for driving a servo motor.

[0005] The main control circuit 301 is a processor (CPU).
301a and random access memory (RAM) 301
b, a read-only memory (ROM) 301c,
According to a system program stored in a ROM 301c, the CPU 301a uses a variety of data such as robot teaching data and coordinate system data stored in a RAM 301b, a part of which is configured as a non-volatile memory, to control various types of robot control. Perform the operation.

Main control circuit 301 and servo control circuit 302
Are connected by a data bus 300 and the main control circuit 30
The operation command from 1 is converted into a command for servo control by the servo control circuit 302, and the servo amplifier 40 controls the servomotor 40 that operates each axis of the robot manipulator.

[0007] An I / O interface 305 is connected to the data bus 300, and performs I / O control of an external device such as a robot hand (not shown).

[0008] A serial interface 306 is also connected to the data bus 300, and a teaching device or the like for teaching the operation of the robot is connected thereto.

[0009]

Since such a conventional robot control device is configured as described above, the main control circuit is disposed near a servo amplifier that easily generates heat or electrical noise.

Further, since the control device itself is arranged near the manipulator for performing the work, it is often used in a bad environment.

The main control circuit that controls the robot may be malfunctioned or damaged due to such internal or external factors. In order to prevent such a malfunction, cooling, noise resistance and dust proofing are required. It is necessary to take sufficient measures to improve the properties.

In addition, the conventional robot controller can control only one robot, and thus has a problem that it is difficult to easily construct a system for operating a plurality of robots in synchronization. are doing.

In the conventional robot control device, the operation state of the robot is displayed on a display device, and the operation of the robot is controlled using input signals from a graphical user interface (GUI), I / O, and network devices. It is difficult to control and significantly limits the operability of the operator.

Further, when the power supplied to the robot controller is cut off due to a power failure or the like, the robot controller stops its function, and after the robot is safely stopped, the controller normally operates. It is difficult to complete the process, and it is difficult to return to normal when the power is turned on again.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a robot control apparatus which is excellent in expandability, maintainability, operability, and system reliability. I do.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided a robot controller which is connected to a robot and controls the driving of the robot, a plurality of the slave controllers connected to each other, and a control signal is transmitted to the slave controller. The slave control device includes a communication unit that receives a robot control signal from the master control device and transmits a signal that identifies the slave control device and a signal that indicates a state of the slave control device. A communication unit that transmits a control signal to the slave control device and receives a signal transmitted from the slave control device, a status monitoring unit that monitors a status of the slave control device, the status monitoring unit; An operation management unit that makes a process determination based on a signal from the control unit, a control command unit that generates a control command to be transmitted to the slave control device, and a general control unit that controls the state monitoring unit, the operation management unit, and the control command unit Consisting of Batch control unit based on a signal from the operation management unit, determines a control corresponding control headquarters thereto,
The determined control signal is transmitted via the communication means.

Further, when the state of the slave control device changes, the identification information of the corresponding slave control device and the status information of the slave control device are transmitted from the slave control device to the master control device. A control signal of the robot corresponding to the state information is transmitted to the control device to change the control process of the robot.

Further, when the state of the slave control device changes, a storage means for storing a slave control device for changing the control process of the robot is provided, and the slave control device for changing the control process is selected. Similarly, even when the state of the slave control device changes, a storage unit that stores the slave control device that does not change the control process is provided, and the slave control device that does not change the control process is selected.

Further, as a processing judgment of the operation management unit, when the status information of the slave control device requires an emergency stop, the robot connected to the corresponding slave control device is immediately stopped.

Further, as a processing judgment of the operation management unit, when the state information of the slave control device requires a temporary stop, the robot connected to the corresponding slave control device is decelerated and then stopped.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention has an input means for displaying an operation state on a display device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device to the operation management unit. A connected GUI unit is provided.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention transmits an operation state to a device connected to the network based on a signal from the operation management unit, and transmits processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device to the operation management unit from the device. Network communication means for input is provided.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention transmits an operation state to a connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit, and transmits processing information on drive control of the slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. 9. The robot control device according to claim 1, further comprising an input / output (I / O) communication unit.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention has an input means for displaying an operation state on a display device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device to the operation management unit. A connected GUI unit is provided, and the processing judgment of the operation management unit is set based on a signal from the GUI unit.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention transmits an operation state to a device connected to the network based on a signal from the operation management unit, and transmits processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. Network communication means for inputting the information to the network, and the processing decision of the operation management unit is set based on a signal from the network communication means.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention transmits the operation state to the connected device based on the signal from the operation management unit, and transmits the processing information on the drive control of the slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. Providing input / output communication means,
The processing decision of the operation management unit is set based on a signal from the I / O communication means.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention has an input means for displaying an operation state on a display device based on a signal from the operation management unit, and inputting processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device to the operation management unit. A connected GUI unit is provided, and a signal from the state monitoring unit and a signal from the GUI unit are synchronized by the operation management unit.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention transmits an operation state to a device connected to the network based on a signal from the operation management unit, and transmits processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device to the operation management unit from the device. An input network communication unit is provided, and a signal from the state monitoring unit and a signal from the network communication unit are synchronized by the operation management unit.

Further, the robot control device of the present invention transmits an operation state to a connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit, and inputs processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. An I / O communication unit is provided, and a signal from the state monitoring unit and a signal from the I / O communication unit are synchronized by the operation management unit.

Further, in the robot control device according to the present invention, the operation management unit may control the GUI unit based on a signal from the state monitoring unit.
Limiting means for limiting processing information input from at least one of the network communication means and the I / O communication means is provided.

Further, the robot controller of the present invention has a power failure detecting means for detecting a power failure, and an auxiliary power supply for supplying power even after the power failure according to a detection signal from the power failure detecting means,
When a power failure detection signal is input to the operation management unit, the operation management unit is configured to stop the robot.

[0032]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, a robot control system includes a servo amplifier for controlling a drive source of a robot, a slave control device for outputting a drive control command to the servo amplifier,
A main control circuit for controlling the robot, a control command for robot operation is output to the slave control device via communication means, and the main control device is provided separately from the slave control device. Is isolated from servo amplifiers that generate heat and electrical noise, and can be placed away from manipulators used in adverse environments such as high temperatures and dust. Can be prevented.

Further, since a configuration for synchronously controlling a plurality of robots can be easily constructed by one main controller, the total cost of the robot control system can be reduced.

Further, it is easy to display the operating state of the robot on a display device and to control the operation of the robot using input signals from a graphical user interface (GUI), I / O, and network devices. Therefore, there is an effect that the operability of the operator can be greatly improved.

Further, a power failure detecting means for detecting a power failure,
Since it has an auxiliary power supply that supplies power even after a power failure according to the detection signal from the power failure detection means, even if the power supply to the robot controller is cut off due to a power failure or the like, the robot can be safely stopped. After that, the control device can be normally terminated, so that it is possible to return to normal even when the power is turned on again.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a robot control system according to the present invention.

In this robot control system, manipulators 41, 42, and 43 operated by servo motors are controlled by main controller 1 and slave controllers 21, 22, and 23. Here, an example in which the number of controlled robots is three will be described below, but the number of robots is not particularly limited to three.

Main controller 1 and slave controllers 21, 22, 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes a configuration for performing data communication via the communication means 51, 52, and 53, respectively.

The main controller 1 is connected to the overall controller 3 via the communication means 7.

The general control device 3 controls and controls a plurality of main control devices connected thereto.

FIG. 2 shows a main controller 1 and slave controllers 21, 2
It is a block diagram which shows the example of a structure of 2, 23.

The main control device 1 includes a main control circuit 110, a data storage device 101, a communication interface 103 with a sub control device, a local area network (LAN) interface 108 as a communication means with the general control device 3, and the like. These are connected to the data bus 102.

The data bus 102 has an RS-2
32C serial communication interface 104 or general-purpose I
An I / O interface 105 is provided, and various peripheral devices can be connected to the I / O interface 105 for easy use.

Further, a display device interface 106 as a man-machine interface and an input device interface 107 for connecting a keyboard and a mouse are connected to the data bus 102, thereby realizing robot control using a GUI. Can be.

The readable / writable data storage device 101 stores robot teaching data, system data and system programs, parameters necessary for controlling the slave control device, and the like, and stores necessary data from the main data. The data is loaded into the memory in the control circuit 110, and the CPU in the main control circuit 110 calculates the position control data of the robot.

As the data storage device 101, a hard disk drive capable of holding data even in a non-energized state or a flash memory capable of operating at a relatively high temperature without mechanical operation can be applied.

On the other hand, slave controller 21 is connected to data bus 200
The communication interface 203, the servo control circuit 201, the servo amplifier 202, the I / O interface 204, and the data bus 200 connected to the
Data communication with the main control device 1 is possible via the main controller 03.

An end effector such as a robot hand (not shown) is connected to the I / O interface 204.

The configuration of the slave control devices 22 and 23 is the same as that of the slave control device 21 and will not be described here.

The main control circuit 110 of the main control device 1
A communication control unit 112 for controlling communication with the slave control device and a state monitoring unit 113 for monitoring the status of the slave control device as shown in FIG.
An operation management unit 114 that performs processing determination based on a signal from the state monitoring unit 113, a control command unit 115 that generates a control command to be transmitted to a slave control device, a state monitoring unit 113, an operation management unit 114, and a control command. The control unit 111 includes a general control unit 111 that controls and controls the unit 115. The overall control unit 111 transmits a robot control command to the slave control device, and controls the robot connected to the slave control device.

As shown in FIG. 4, the state monitoring unit 113
A step 70a of constantly monitoring input signals such as slave control device identification information, robot position information, and slave control device status information from a plurality of slave control devices that are input via the communication control unit 112; Step 70b for determining whether the error information of the slave control device is included, and when the status information changes such as when the input signal includes error information of the slave control device, the status information and the slave control Step 70c for outputting the identification information of the device to the operation management unit 114
Monitor the state of the slave control device.

As shown in FIG. 5, the operation management unit 114
The error information of the slave controller input from the state monitoring unit 113, the input signal from the input device such as the keyboard input via the data bus 102, the input signal from the I / O device, and the network Integrated control device 3
And input signal from the serial communication interface, and determining whether the input signal includes processing information related to drive control of the slave control device, such as error information and a stop signal of the robot. 71b, and if the input signal includes processing information relating to the drive control of the slave control device, a step 71c for determining the control process of the slave control device according to the signal.
Then, the operation of the robot is managed in step 71d, in which the robot control process determined in step 71c is output to the overall control unit 111. The aforementioned data storage device 101
Stores the identification information of the slave controller that changes the control process of the slave controller when an event such as an error occurs and the slave controller that does not change the slave controller. Step 71d stores the slave controller based on this information. The identification information of the slave control device that performs the control process of the control device is output to the overall control unit 111 together with the slave control device control processing signal.

The operation management unit 114 changes the state of the slave control unit input from the state management unit 113 and the control signal of the robot input from a device connected to the operation management unit 114 via the data bus 102. Also has the function to synchronize.

For example, the emergency stop signal transmitted from the slave control unit 21 is transmitted to the operation management unit 1 via the state monitoring unit 113.
When the emergency stop state is input to the display device 14, the emergency stop state is displayed on the display device 10 connected to the data bus 102, and the robot control signals input from all devices are invalidated until the emergency stop state is released. .

Similarly, when an emergency stop signal is input to the operation management unit 114 from the input device 11 connected to the data bus 102, the emergency stop state is displayed on the display device 10 and the emergency stop state is released. Until the processing, the slave control device control signals input from all devices are invalidated.

Here, the input device and the display device are replaced with the general control device 3 connected to the LAN interface 108, the I / O device connected to the general-purpose I / O interface 104, and the device connected to the serial communication interface 105. Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained.

As described above, the operation management unit 114 outputs a robot control process corresponding to the input signal to the general control unit 111, and the general control unit 111 responds to the signal input from the operation management unit 114. A control signal for controlling the control device is generated by the control command unit 115 and transmitted to the slave control device via the communication control unit 112.

For example, when a signal for a temporary stop process is input from the operation management unit 114, the general control unit 111 transmits a robot control signal subjected to the deceleration stop process by the control command unit 115 to the slave control device, and To decelerate to a stop.

When an emergency processing signal is input from the operation management unit 114, the general control unit 111 controls the control command unit 11
In step 5, the robot control signal subjected to the servo amplifier stop processing is transmitted to the slave controller to stop the robot quickly. Also,
When a robot activation signal is input from the operation management unit 114, the general control unit 111 transmits a robot control signal subjected to the robot activation process by the control command unit 115 to the slave control device to activate the robot. I do.

The operation management unit 114 is connected to the state monitoring unit 11.
3, information that limits processing information input from at least one of the GUI unit, the network communication unit, and the I / O communication unit is stored in the data storage device 101 in advance, and based on this information, Step 71 in FIG.
Restricts its input signal.

Further, by supplying power to the main control unit 1 from a main power supply (not shown) via an uninterruptible power supply 120, the main control unit 1 can be operated even when a power failure occurs.
In this configuration, the power supplied to the robot is suddenly cut off to prevent an accident that causes a malfunction of the robot.

The uninterruptible power supply 120 has a power outage detecting function of detecting interruption of power supplied from the main power supply to the uninterruptible power supply 120. Further, at the time of power outage detection, information of the power outage is detected using serial communication. It has a communication interface 121 for transmitting to other devices. By connecting the communication interface 121 to the serial communication interface 105 of the main controller, the operation management unit 11
4 can obtain power outage information of the main power supply, and based on this information, the overall control unit 111 generates a robot control signal for stopping the robot safely in the control command unit 115 and transmits it to the slave control device. By storing necessary information in the data storage device 101, it is possible to prevent malfunction of the robot and data damage due to a power failure.

[0064]

As described above, in the present invention, the main control device is isolated from the servo amplifier that generates heat and electric noise, and is also isolated from the manipulator used in a bad environment such as high temperature and dust. Therefore, it is possible to prevent malfunction or damage of the robot system due to the influence of the bad environment, and it is possible to easily improve the operation performance of the robot only by improving the main control device.

Next, a configuration for synchronously controlling a plurality of robots can be easily constructed by one main controller, so that the total cost of the robot control system can be reduced.

Further, since the operation state of the robot can be easily displayed on a display device and the operation of the robot can be controlled using input signals from the GUI, I / O, and network devices, the operability of the operator can be improved. The effect can be greatly improved.

Further, a power failure detecting means for detecting a power failure,
Since it has an auxiliary power supply that supplies power even after a power failure according to the detection signal from the power failure detection means, even if the power supply to the robot controller is cut off due to a power failure or the like, the robot can be safely stopped. Since control can be normally terminated in a state where necessary data is stored, it is possible to return to normal even when the power is turned on again.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main controller according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Block diagram showing the configuration of the slave control device

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a robot control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a robot control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional robot system.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional robot control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main control device 21,22,23 Slave control device 3 Overall control device 4 Manipulator 51,52,53,7 Communication means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F059 BC06 FC00 5H215 AA07 BB01 BB09 BB14 CC01 CC09 CX01 CX05 CX09 GG02 GG03 GG09 HH08 KK04

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A slave controller connected to a robot for controlling driving of the robot, a plurality of slave controllers are connected,
A main controller for transmitting a control signal to the slave controller;
The slave control device is provided with communication means for receiving the robot control information transmitted from the master control device, transmitting a signal for identifying the slave control device and information indicating the state of the slave control device to the master control device, A communication unit that transmits a control signal to the slave control device and receives a signal transmitted from the slave control device, a status monitoring unit that monitors the status of the slave control device, Consists of an operation management unit that makes processing decisions based on signals, a control command unit that generates control commands to be transmitted to slave control devices, and a general control unit that controls the state monitoring unit, operation management unit, and control command unit described above. The general control unit determines a corresponding control by the control command unit based on a signal from the operation management unit, and transmits the determined control signal via the communication unit to control the robot. Robot to do Control device. 2. When the status of a slave control device changes, the identification information of the corresponding slave control device and the status information of the slave control device are transmitted from the slave control device to the master control device. 2. The robot control device according to claim 1, wherein a control signal of the robot according to the state information is transmitted to the control device to change a control process of the robot. 3. When the state of the slave control device changes, a storage means for storing a slave control device for changing the control process of the robot is provided, and the slave control device for changing the control process can be selected. 3. The robot control device according to 2. 4. Even when the state of the slave control device changes,
3. The robot controller according to claim 2, further comprising storage means for storing a slave controller that does not change the control process, and selecting a slave controller that does not change the control process. 5. The operation management unit according to claim 1, wherein, when the status information of the slave control device requires an emergency stop, the robot connected to the slave control device is immediately stopped. The robot control device according to item 1. 6. A process control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the state information of the slave control device requires a temporary stop, the robot connected to the slave control device is decelerated and then stopped. 6. The robot control device according to any one of 5. 7. A G having an operation state displayed on a display device based on a signal from the operation management unit and input means for inputting processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device to the operation management unit.
7. The robot control device according to claim 1, further comprising a UI unit. 8. A network communication means for transmitting an operation state to a network-connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of a slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. Claims 1 to 7
The robot control device according to any one of the above. 9. An I / O for transmitting an operation state to a connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of the slave control device from the device to the operation management unit.
9. The robot control device according to claim 1, further comprising an O communication unit. 10. A driving unit for displaying a driving state on a display device based on a signal from a driving management unit, and a GUI unit connected to input means for inputting processing information relating to drive control of a slave control device to the driving management unit. The robot control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the processing determination of the management unit is set based on a signal from the GUI unit. 11. A network communication means for transmitting an operation state to a device connected to a network based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of a slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. The robot control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the processing determination of the operation management unit is set based on a signal from a network communication unit. 12. An I / O unit that transmits an operation state to a connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputs processing information related to drive control of a slave control device from the device to the operation management unit.
12. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an I / O communication unit, wherein the operation management unit determines a process based on a signal from the I / O communication unit.
The robot control device according to any one of the above. 13. A GUI unit connected to input means for displaying an operation state on a display device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of the slave control unit to the operation management unit, The robot control device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein a signal from the monitoring unit and a signal from the GUI unit are synchronized by the operation management unit. 14. A network communication means for transmitting an operation state to a network-connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputting processing information relating to drive control of a slave control device from the device to the operation management unit. 14. The robot control device according to claim 1, wherein a signal from the state monitoring unit and a signal from the network communication unit are synchronized by the operation management unit. 15. An I / O unit that transmits an operation state to a connected device based on a signal from the operation management unit and inputs processing information related to drive control of a slave control device from the device to the operation management unit.
An I / O communication means is provided, and a signal from the state monitoring part and a signal from the I / O communication means are synchronized by the operation management part.
5. The robot control device according to any one of 4. 16. The operation management unit according to claim 1, further comprising a restriction unit that restricts processing information input from at least one of the GUI unit, the network communication unit, and the I / O communication unit based on a signal from the state monitoring unit. Item 16. The robot control device according to any one of Items 7 to 15. 17. A power failure detection means for detecting a power failure, and an auxiliary power supply for supplying power even after a power failure according to a detection signal from the power failure detection means, wherein when a power failure detection signal is input to the operation management unit, 2. The robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot is stopped.
7. The robot control device according to any one of 6.