JP2003103491A - Mutual interference verification method and mutual interference verification display pattern for robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To verify mutual interference of a robot concerning all combinations of operation periods of time in consideration of a difference between the mutual operation periods of time in operating a plurality of robots at the same time. SOLUTION: Concerning a first and second articulated robots 50a, 50b, a combination of mutual attitudes is realized by simulation operation for every operation period of time at a designated interval to confirm the existence of interference. The confirmation result is shown in a graph 150 formed by a first coordinate axis 152 and a second coordinate axis 154 showing the respective operation periods of time of the first and second articulated robots 50a, 50b. In a plotting area 158 of the graph 150, a portion of the occurrence of mutual interference of the first and second articulated robots 50a, 50b is indicated by a mark 164, and further marks 164 close to each other are included to be shown as an interference area 166.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mutual interference verification method for a robot and a mutual interference display pattern, and in particular,
The present invention relates to a mutual interference verification method for robots and a mutual interference display pattern for facilitating verification of interference between a plurality of robots.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an articulated robot installed on a manufacturing line is directly operated to teach a work posture, an operator who is familiar with the operation of the articulated robot must perform the work on the site of the manufacturing line. Therefore, the work becomes inefficient accordingly. Further, since the work needs to be performed while the production line is stopped, the operating rate of the production line also decreases.

Therefore, in recent years, in order to improve the efficiency of the teaching work or to improve the operating rate of the manufacturing line, offline teaching (offline teaching) is performed. That is, a model of an articulated robot and a work and a peripheral structure which are work objects is constructed on a computer, teaching data is created using this model, and then the teaching data is supplied to the articulated robot on site. By doing so, it is not necessary to stop the manufacturing line while creating the teaching data.

[0004]

By the way, recently, for the purpose of improving productivity, etc., a work mode in which a plurality of articulated robots are adopted in one process and these articulated robots are operated simultaneously and intensively Is increasing. In particular,
When performing work on a work having a complicated shape, articulated robots may be densely arranged.

In such a work mode, it is necessary to set the operation program so as to avoid interference with the work and other obstacles, and also avoid interference with the multi-joint robots.

Therefore, for example, a method of modeling a plurality of articulated robots and operating them in a virtual space by a computer at the same timing to investigate a location where they interfere with each other (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-264058). reference)
There is. In this method, a step for avoiding a place where interference occurs is set, or interference is avoided by adding interlock information to the program.

However, in this technique, since it is assumed that only the respective articulated robots start their operations at the same time and proceed according to the specified time, one of the articulated robots stops for some reason. Mutual interference may occur when the operation is performed or the operation timing is changed. In addition, even if mutual interference does not actually occur, the judgment cannot be made.
There is no choice but to stop the articulated robot in an emergency.

Further, such a problem is not a problem peculiar to an articulated robot, and there is a possibility that similar interference may occur, for example, in a movement operation between unmanned transfer robots on a transfer path.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and when a plurality of robots operate simultaneously,
An object of the present invention is to provide a mutual interference verification method for robots and a mutual interference display pattern that allow verification of mutual interference between robots with respect to all combinations of operating times in consideration of a difference in mutual operation time.

[0010]

A method for verifying mutual interference of robots according to the present invention is a method for verifying mutual interference between robots, wherein the mutual interference verification method for verifying mutual interference between the robots when causing a plurality of robots to perform work is provided. Confirming the presence or absence of mutual interference by associating a plurality of movement strokes or movement times of another robot with each movement stroke or movement time of a robot.
And a second step of displaying the result of the first step in a graph.

The graph shows the movement stroke or movement time of each robot, has a plurality of coordinate axes that are not parallel to each other, and is a drawing area sandwiched by the coordinate axes, where the robots interfere with each other. May be marked.

Further, in the drawing area, a mutual motion line showing a relationship between mutual motion strokes or motion times of the robots may be represented.

Further, among the marks indicating the positions where mutual interference occurs on the graph, marks that are close to each other may be collectively represented as an interference area.

Furthermore, the first step is executed by a computer program, the postures of the one robot and the other robot are recorded for each operation stroke or operation time, and the graph is displayed in the second step. A third step of obtaining an operation stroke or an operation time corresponding to the arbitrary portion when the arbitrary portion on the graph is designated by displaying on the display unit of the monitor, and the operation obtained in the third step A fourth step of reading the postures of the one robot and the other robot corresponding to the stroke or the operation time from the record and displaying the postures on the display unit of the monitor may be included.

Further, the mutual interference display pattern of the robot according to the present invention indicates a movement process or a movement time of each robot, and a plurality of coordinate axes which are non-parallel to each other and a drawing area sandwiched by the coordinate axes are used for the above-mentioned each And a mark indicating a position where the robots cause mutual interference.

With this, it is possible to display or record the mutual movement of a plurality of robots by a combination for each predetermined movement process or movement time, so that when a plurality of robots operate simultaneously, the mutual movements can be performed. Considering the time lag, it is possible to verify the interference between robots for all combinations of operation times.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a mutual interference verification method using a mutual interference display pattern of a robot according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The robot mutual interference verification method and the mutual interference display pattern in this embodiment are basically
The operation of two articulated robots is sampled at a predetermined interval, the posture of the articulated robot is obtained for each combination of the sampling times, and the presence or absence of interference is confirmed by simulation. Further, the result is easily understood by constructing a graph with two coordinate axes representing the operation time of the two articulated robots and marking the interfering points on the graph.

As shown in FIG. 1, the offline teaching device 10 used in the present embodiment includes a first multi-joint robot 50a for welding and a second multi-joint robot 5 for welding.
0b and the operation of the third articulated robot 50c are taught, and are linked to the robot apparatus 12 that performs a desired work on the work target based on the created teaching data.

Further, the robot apparatus 12 includes the first to third multi-joint robots 50a, 50b and 50c and the first to third multi-joint robots 5 based on teaching data.
0a, 50b, 50c, and robot control units 22a, 22b, 22c for controlling respective operations.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 14 constituting the offline teaching apparatus 10 has a C functioning as a control means for controlling the entire offline teaching apparatus 10.
PU (computer) 26 and ROM 28 that is a storage unit
A hard disk drive (HDD) for accessing data to the RAM 29 and the hard disk 34.
39, a drawing control circuit 30 for controlling drawing on the screen of the monitor 16, and an interface circuit 32 to which the keyboard 18 and the mouse 20 as input devices are connected.
And a recording medium drive 36 that controls an external recording medium 36a (for example, a flexible disk or a compact disk).

On the hard disk 34, a mutual interference verification program 35 having a function of setting motion paths of the first to third articulated robots 50a, 50b and 50c, a database 37 for recording the mutual interference verification result, and the figure. The OS and the like that are not stored are stored.

As shown in FIG. 3, the mutual interference verification program 35 includes a data reading unit 100 having a function of reading data from the RAM 29, the hard disk 34, and the like.
A data writing unit 102 having a function of writing data,
The operator instruction recognition unit 104 that monitors the input state of the keyboard 18 and the mouse 20, and the posture data of the first to third multi-joint robots 50a, 50b, and 50c are set in the robot model defined by the three-dimensional CAD. It has an image creating unit 106 that draws by drawing.

The image creating unit 106 monitors a model of an articulated robot or a predetermined graph using an API (Application Programming Interface) according to a robot posture setting command set by an operator and a drawing command.
It has a function to draw on the screen of 6.

The data obtained by the data reading unit 100 is automatically converted into a robot operation program by the robot operation program generation unit 108, is generated, and is transmitted to the mutual interference confirmation unit 110. The robot operation program generation unit 108 can also generate a robot operation program manually or semi-automatically by an operator's operation.

The robot operation program is a program for controlling the articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c, and each of the articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c.
A separate robot motion program is applied to.
This robot operation program is executed by the robot controller 22.
It is executed after being loaded into a, 22b, and 22c, respectively, but it is also possible for the control unit 14 to apply it to the simulation and execute it temporarily.

The mutual interference confirmation section 110 is an operation plan calculation section 110 for calculating an operation plan using an RCS module or the like.
a and the first to third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 5
It has a mutual interference calculator 110b for verifying the mutual interference between 0c and the interference with other obstacles.

The mutual interference confirmation unit 110 further includes a robot posture sampling unit 110c for calculating the postures of the first to third multi-joint robots 50a, 50b and 50c by the RCS module at arbitrary times, and the first to third multi-joint robots. It has a posture combination unit 110d that secures a storage area for posture combinations of two articulated robots of the joint robots 50a, 50b, and 50c.

The mutual interference calculator 110b is a three-dimensional CAD.
In the virtual space on the computer program, the first to third articulated robots 50a, 5a,
0b and 50c are represented as a solid model to verify whether or not the models mutually interfere with each other. The presence or absence of the mutual interference is determined, and the situation is displayed on the screen of the monitor 16 in a copy-like manner. With the function to do.

The RCS module is software for motion design of a general articulated robot, has a function of determining acceleration / deceleration of each axis of the articulated robot, and robot posture sampling as robot operation data. It is given in a pseudo manner to the section 110c.

The result verified by the mutual interference verification unit 110 is transmitted to the mutual interference verification result recording unit 112, where
~ Database 37 in the hard disk 34 via the data writing unit 102 of the postures of the third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c, the mutual interference determination result and the combination information.
Record in a format such as.

Input information of the keyboard 18 and the mouse 20 is transmitted to the posture combination calculation unit 114 via the operator instruction recognition unit 104. The posture combination calculation unit 114 calculates an offset amount from a reference point of a graph 150 (see FIG. 6) described later. Then, the operation elapsed time of each articulated robot 50a, 50b, 50c is obtained from the offset amount.

The articulated robots 50a and 50b thus obtained are
The elapsed motion time of 50c is transmitted to the robot posture calculation unit 116. In the robot posture calculation unit 116, each of the articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50 corresponding to the operation elapsed time of the first to third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c.
The posture data of c is read from the record such as the database 37.

The first to third articulated robots 50a, 50
All of b and 50c have the same structure, and as shown in FIG. 4, the second base 56, the first link 58, and the second link 6 are sequentially arranged toward the tip side with respect to the first base 54 which is a mounting base.
0, the third link 62, the fourth link 64, and the gun attaching / detaching portion 66 are connected. A gun unit (end effector) 68 is connected to the gun attaching / detaching portion 66 at the tip.

The second base 56 is pivotally supported with respect to the first base 54 about an axis J1 which is a vertical axis. The base end of the first link 58 is pivotally supported on the second base 56 by a shaft J2 which is a horizontal shaft. Further, the base end portion of the second link 60 is swingably supported on the tip end portion of the first link 58 by a shaft J3 which is a horizontal shaft. The third link 62 is connected to the tip end side of the second link 60 with the axis J4 as a common rotation center axis. Further, the base end portion of the fourth link 64 is pivotally supported on the tip end portion of the third link 62 by a shaft J5 perpendicular to the shaft J4. The gun attaching / detaching portion 66 is connected to the tip end side of the fourth link 64 with the axis J6 as a common rotation center axis.

The gun unit 68 connected to the gun attaching / detaching portion 66 is a so-called C-type welding gun, and has a pair of electrodes 70 and 72 which are opened and closed along the axis J6 at both ends of the arched arm 74. When the electrodes 70 and 72 are in the closed state, the welding work point (hereinafter TCP (Tool Center Po
int). ) To contact a work (not shown).

A direction which coincides with the axis of the electrode 72 on the main body side from TCP is defined as a vector Zr, and a direction which is orthogonal to the vector Zr and faces the outside of the gun unit 68 is defined as a vector Xr. Further, a vector Yr is a direction orthogonal to the vector Xr and the vector Zr.

The drive mechanism for the shafts J1 to J6 and the electrodes 70,
The opening / closing mechanism of 72 is driven by an actuator (not shown), and the TCP is determined by the values of the rotation angles θ1 to θ6 of the axes J1 to J6 and the dimensions of each part of the first to third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c. To be done.

The gun unit 68 is not limited to the C-type welding gun, but is, for example, an X-type welding gun (a welding gun having a pair of opening and closing gun arms pivotally supported by a common support shaft) 68a shown in FIG. Good.

The first to third articulated robots 50a, 50
As a reference point for coordinate calculation and control regarding b and 50c, a point where the axis J1 and the axis J2 intersect is defined as a coordinate origin 80, and the origin point is the coordinate origin 80, and the vertical upward direction is a height Z and a rotation angle. Axis J when θ1 is θ1 = 0
The direction of 2 is depth Y, the height Z and the direction perpendicular to depth Y are width X
Express as. The height Z, the width X, and the depth Y indicate three-dimensional orthogonal coordinates.

As shown in FIG. 6, a graph 150 displayed on the screen of the monitor 16 is for verifying mutual interference between the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b. A first coordinate axis 152 indicating the operating time of the articulated robot 50a and a second coordinate axis orthogonal to the first coordinate axis 152 at the origin O and indicating the operating time of the second articulated robot 50b.
It is composed of a coordinate axis 154.

The first and second articulated robots 5 are
Since the operation times of 0a and 50b are treated as offsets from the origin O, the operation times are described as offset amounts in the following description.

In the drawing area 158, which is an area sandwiched by the first coordinate axis 152 and the second coordinate axis 154, the mutual operation indicating the mutual offset amount of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b. A line 160 is drawn. Further, a stroke line 162 showing the teaching posture points P1 to P8 (see FIG. 7) of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b is drawn.

Further, a mark 1 indicating a portion where the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b cause mutual interference.
64 and an interference area 166 that collectively represents these marks 164.

When the pseudo button 168 labeled "Clear" on the screen is designated by the mouse cursor 170 linked to the mouse 20 (hereinafter referred to as "click"), the display of the mark 164 and the interference area 166 is erased. The initial state can be restored.

Pseudo button 17 described as "Step"
If you click 2, 2 articulated robots 50a, 5
The state of mutual interference at each of the taught posture points P1 to P8 of 0b can be read and displayed as data from the posture recording table 200 described later.

When the pseudo button 174 labeled "Time" is clicked, the two articulated robots 50 are
It is possible to read out and display the mutual interference state of a and 50b at predetermined time intervals as data from the posture recording table 200.

Display of "Interval 1.0" 17
6 indicates that the sampling interval is 1 [sec]. For example, the sampling interval is 0.1 [se].
When it is “c”, “Interval 0.1” is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 7, the teaching posture point Pn (n = 1, 2, 3) during the operation of the first articulated robot 50a is performed.
The path table 180 for recording the posture in
"Gun unit orientation" column 180a, "TCP position"
The column 180b and the “each axis angle” column 180c are configured, and the “each axis angle” column 180c is configured from the rotation angles θ1 to θ6.

In the example of FIG. 7, eight teaching posture points P1 to P
Although the example in which the path table 180 is configured by 8 is shown, the final teaching posture point P8 may be replaced with P1 when the movement route is a route such that it finally returns to the teaching posture point P1 which is the initial position. .

The second and third articulated robots 5
Similar path tables exist for 0b and 50c.

As shown in FIG. 8, the posture recording table 20
0 is the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b
Is a table in which postures corresponding to the offset amount are recorded. The posture recording table 200 is a more detailed representation of the path table 180, and also records the postures between the teaching posture points Pn, and the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b interfere with each other. A check indicating interference is recorded in the posture. For example,
In the offset amounts 4 to 13 of FIG. 8, the check recorded for the articulated robot 50b indicates mutual interference at the interference area 166a of the interference area 166 in FIG.

Note that "Pose # a # n" and "Pose # b # n" (n = 1 to 80) in FIG. 8 are data indicating the postures of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b. This is a simplified representation, and in actuality, like the path table 180, it is composed of the direction of the gun unit, the position of the TCP, and each axial angle.

Next, the off-line teaching device 10 and the mutual interference verification program 3 configured as described above.
5, the mutual interference display patterns of the articulated robots 50a and 50b are created, and the articulated robots 50a and 50b are created.
A method of verifying the mutual interference of will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

In the following description, a method of verifying mutual interference will be described as an example with respect to two articulated robots 50a, 50b of the first to third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c.

First, in step S1 of FIG. 9, the robot operation program generation unit 108 causes the path table 18
Necessary data such as 0 is read, and robot operation programs are generated for the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b, respectively.

Next, in step S2, the motion plan calculation unit 110a uses the path table 180 and the RCS module to generate the first and second articulated robots 50a, 5a.
Generate a motion plan for 0b. This motion plan is to interpolate between the teaching posture points Pn represented by the path table 180 according to conditions such as motion speed.

This motion plan represents the motion of each of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b during each 80 [sec], and is sampled every 1 [sec] 80.
It shall consist of a street posture.

Next, in step S3, the robot posture sampling unit 110c obtains the robot posture data of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b at each sampling time, that is, at each offset amount, from the generated motion plan. calculate. That is, TCP and each rotation angle θ1 to θ6 at each sampling time are calculated and stored.

Next, in step S4, the posture combination generation unit 110d secures a storage area in the RAM 29 for recording the combination data 210 (see FIG. 10) indicating the brute force combination in the sampled postures.

Specifically, the number of samplings for the first and second multi-joint robots 50a and 50b, for example, the number of samplings for the operation of the first multi-joint robot 50a is a, and the second multi-joint robot is If the number of samplings of the operation of the robot 50b is b, a memory of a × b is secured in the RAM 29 as its storage area 29a.

The example shown in FIG. 10 schematically shows the combination data 210, and the first multi-joint robot 50 is shown.
The sampling number (80) of "a" is taken in the horizontal direction, and the sampling number (80) of the second articulated robot 50b is taken in the vertical direction to be expressed in a plane.

Then, in step S5, the mutual interference calculation unit 110b performs interference discrimination calculation for all the generated combinations.

That is, the motion posture calculated in step S3 is applied to all the motion combinations generated in step S4. And for each action combination,
It is confirmed by the standard function of the three-dimensional CAD whether the first multi-joint robot 50a and the second multi-joint robot 50b interfere with each other.

For a combination for which interference has been confirmed, a flag indicating interference is recorded in the corresponding memory on the combination data 210. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the flag is represented by a black circle “●”.

Based on this flag, a check is also recorded in the corresponding check box of the posture recording table 200.

Next, in step S6, the mutual interference verification result recording unit 112 collects the combination data 210 and the attitude recording table 200 indicating the robot attitude as the interference determination result, and the hard disk 3 as the database 37.
Record in 4.

In this way, it is possible to verify the state of mutual interference when the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b operate.

Next, a procedure for creating and displaying a graph for verifying interference based on the recorded database 37, etc., and for confirming the postures of the first and second articulated robots 50a, 50b by a model is illustrated. This will be described with reference to 11.

In step S101 of FIG. 11, the operator performs a predetermined operation to reload the database 37 recorded in the hard disk 34 into the RAM 29.

Next, in step S102, drawing of the graph 150 (display pattern) for displaying the combination data 210 in the database 37 is started.

First, a first coordinate axis 152 indicating the offset amount of the first articulated robot 50a and a second coordinate axis 154 indicating the offset amount of the second articulated robot 50b are drawn (see FIG. 6).

First coordinate axis 152 and second coordinate axis 154
Is added with a scale indicating the offset amount and a time display at appropriate intervals.

Next, in step S103, the combination data 210 is referred to, and a flag indicating a location of interference is set.
The mark 164 is displayed at a corresponding place in the drawing area 158 sandwiched between the first coordinate axis 152 and the second coordinate axis 154. That is, the basic part of the graph 150 having substantially the same form as the combination data 210 schematically shown in FIG. 10 is drawn.

Next, in step S104, the mutual movement line 160 showing the relationship between the mutual offset amounts of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b is displayed.

Normally, the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b start their operations at the same time, and do not stop in the middle, so the mutual operation line 160 is set at the origin as shown in FIG. It becomes a straight line having an inclination of 45 ° with respect to O. More specifically, the first articulated robot 5
When the arbitrary sampling of 0a is the nth, the sampling of the second articulated robot 50b is also the nth, so if the origin O and the point (n, n) are connected, the mutual motion line 16
0 is obtained.

Next, in step S105, a stroke line 162 indicating the teaching posture points P1 to P8 is displayed on the graph 150. Since the graph 150 is created based on the sampling time, that is, the offset amount, the teaching posture point P
In order to clarify the relationship with the positions of 1 to P8, the relationship is clearly indicated by the stroke line 162.

Next, in step S106, among the marks 164 indicating the locations where mutual interference occurs, the marks 164 that are close to each other are included in the interference area 16
Display as 6. That is, including the marks 164 whose distance on the graph 150 is within an appropriate threshold,
Enclose in a shape such as a circle, ellipse, or rectangle.

By thus setting the interference area 166, the dispersed marks 164 can be handled collectively, and the interference area 166 can be represented by appropriate numerical values (for example, center coordinates and radius). So
Easy to process when doing analysis. For example, by calculating the distance between the interference area 166 and an arbitrary point on the mutual operation line 160, it is possible to grasp the time margin until the interference occurs.

It goes without saying that the graph 150 can be printed not only on the screen of the monitor 16 but also by a printer (not shown).

Next, in step S107, the operator instruction recognition unit 104 reads input information from the input device such as the keyboard 18 and the mouse 20. This input information indicates an arbitrary place on the drawing area 158 and is given in the coordinate format.

For example, when the location of the designated point Q in FIG. 6 is designated via the mouse cursor 170 linked to the mouse 20, the coordinate value (Ta, Tb) of the designated point Q is given to the operator designated recognition unit 104.

Next, in step S108, the posture combination calculation unit 114 determines, based on the read input data, the first and second articulated robots 50a, 5a at the designated point Q.
The offset amount of 0b is calculated. That is, the offset amount of the first articulated robot 50a is calculated as "Ta" and the offset amount of the second articulated robot 50b is calculated as "Tb" from the coordinate value of the designated point Q.

Next, in step S109, the robot posture calculation unit 116 reads the robot posture corresponding to the corresponding offset amount from the posture recording table 200 read in step S101 based on the calculated offset amount.

That is, when the robot posture corresponding to the designated point Q is read out, "Pose # a # Ta" for the first articulated robot 50a and the second articulated robot 5 for the first articulated robot 50a.
For 0b, "Pose # b # Tb" is read.

Next, in step S110, the image creation unit 106 creates a model of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b on the basis of the posture data read by the robot posture calculation unit 116 in a three-dimensional CAD system. Drawing is performed on the screen of the monitor 16 using the robot data defined in 1.

In this drawing, as shown in FIG. 12, when the first and second multi-joint robots 50a and 50b cause mutual interference, the interfering portions are hatched 21.
2 or a clear color distinguishable from other parts,
Make it possible to check the state of mutual interference. In FIG.
It shows a state where the second links 60 are mutually interfering with each other.

In this drawing, three-dimensional CAD
The mutual interference state can be confirmed in more detail by using the standard functions of the system, such as the enlargement / reduction of the display and the change of the viewpoint position.

Further, the screen of the monitor 16 is divided into two areas, the graph 150 is displayed in the first area, and the models of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b are displayed in the second area as shown in FIG. When the display is performed in the same manner as described above, it is not necessary to switch the screen, and two screens can be observed at the same time, and thus the operability is good.

By clicking the pseudo button 172 other than the operation of clicking the designated point Q, the other joint robots 50a and 50b can be continuously model-displayed for each of the teaching posture points P1 to P8. Further, by clicking the pseudo button 174, the model can be continuously displayed for each offset amount.

Thus, in the present embodiment, for each offset amount of the first articulated robot 50a,
The offset amount of the second articulated robot 50b is made to correspond to each other, and the presence or absence of mutual interference is confirmed for each offset amount, and the result is displayed as a biaxial graph 150. It is possible to easily understand how the articulated robots 50a and 50b operate to cause mutual interference.

That is, the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b operate along the mutual motion line 160, but normally the mark 164 is located on this mutual motion line 160.
Does not exist. However, it is necessary to determine whether mutual interference occurs by using the graph 150 for some reason, for example, when the electrode 70 or 72 is stuck to the work and becomes inoperable due to defective welding work, and is stopped halfway. You can

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, when the second multi-joint robot 50b stops at time T1, as shown by the mark 164a, it is understood that mutual interference occurs at time T2 thereafter. . It is also clear that no interference occurs when the second articulated robot 50b stops at time T3, and in this case, it is not necessary to stop the first articulated robot 50a.

The graph 150 shows the first coordinate axis 152 indicating the offset amount of the first articulated robot 50a.
And a second coordinate axis 154 indicating the offset amount of the second multi-joint robot 50b, and a drawing area 158 sandwiched by the first coordinate axis 152 and the second coordinate axis 154 is used to mark a location where mutual interference occurs. Since it is displayed on the screen, it is very easy for the operator to understand.

Also, the mutual operation line 160 of the drawing area 158
The relationship between the offset amounts of the first articulated robot 50a and the second articulated robot 50b can be explicitly expressed by the above, and the positional relationship between the mutual motion line 160 and the mark 164 causes interference. It is possible to understand how much time is left before doing so.

Further, according to the present embodiment, among the plurality of marks 164 indicating the places where mutual interference occurs, the marks 164 that are close to each other are collectively represented as an interference area 166, so the mark 164 is included. Can be handled collectively, and analysis processing and the like can be performed easily.

Furthermore, since the postures of the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b are recorded in the posture recording table 200 for each offset amount, they are linked with the graph 150 displayed on the screen of the monitor 16. The first and second articulated robots 50 at arbitrary offset amounts.
The postures of a and 50b can be displayed. By using various functions of the three-dimensional CAD system for this display, the state of mutual interference can be confirmed and examined in more detail.

Further, the graph 150 can be printed not only on the screen of the monitor 16 but also printed, so that the graph 150 can be used even during the off-line teaching. For example, in a production site, it is possible to perform an operation change such as temporarily stopping the first and second articulated robots 50a and 50b while referring to the printed matter of the graph 150 so that mutual interference does not occur.

In the above description, an example in which the graph 150 displays the first coordinate axis 152 and the second coordinate axis 154 based on the offset amount has been described.
The teaching posture points P1 to P8 may be displayed as a reference.

The graph 150 can be created by any combination of the first to third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c.
As shown in, the first coordinate axis 152 representing the offset amount of the first articulated robot 50a is used as a reference, and the second coordinate axis 154 and the third coordinate axis representing the offset amounts of the second and third articulated robots 50b and 50c. The display may be performed by providing 156 vertically.

Furthermore, when displaying on the screen of the monitor 16, as shown in FIG. 14B, the first coordinate axis 152,
The second coordinate axis 154 and the third coordinate axis 156 are respectively set to 3
You may display so that it may orthogonally cross dimensionally. At this time, 3
If the viewpoint position changing function of the three-dimensional CAD is used, it is easy to observe a three-dimensional graph.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14C, even if it is planar, the first axis is added by adding the coordinate axes 152a and the like.
It is also possible to represent all combinations of the third articulated robots 50a, 50b, 50c. These coordinate axes 15
2, 152a, 154 and 156 need not be orthogonal to each other and may be set at any convenient angle as long as they are not parallel.

Also, the mutual operation line 160 on the graph 150
Was set at an inclination of 45 ° starting from the origin O.
When changing the operation of the second articulated robots 50a and 50b, the mutual operation line 160 may be modified. For example, when the second multi-joint robot 50b starts its operation with a delay of time T4 with respect to the first multi-joint robot 50a, as shown in FIG. The operation line 160a may be displayed. In addition, when the second multi-joint robot 50b is stopped halfway for the time T5, it may be a broken line such as the mutual operation line 160b. Furthermore, the tilt angle of the mutual movement line 160 may be changed when changing the movement speed.

The robot to be applied is not limited to the articulated robot, but may be applied to, for example, an AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle, unmanned transfer robot) or the like, and used for verification of interference and collision between robots on the transfer path.

Furthermore, the mutual interference verification method and the mutual interference display pattern of the robot according to the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various configurations can be adopted without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[0106]

As described above, according to the method for verifying mutual interference of robots and the mutual interference display pattern according to the present invention, when a plurality of robots operate at the same time, a difference in operation time between them is considered, The effect of being able to verify mutual robot interference for all combinations of operating times is achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an offline teaching device and a robot device used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an offline teaching device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mutual interference verification program.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an articulated robot.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an X-type welding gun.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a graph for verifying mutual interference of an articulated robot is displayed on a screen of a monitor.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a path table.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a posture recording table.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for creating and recording combination data.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing posture combination data.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure for displaying a graph for verifying mutual interference of an articulated robot.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a model of an articulated robot is displayed on a screen of a monitor.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of verifying mutual interference when one of the articulated robots stops halfway.

FIG. 14A is a planar graph capable of verifying mutual interference of three articulated robots, and FIG.
4B is a three-dimensional graph capable of verifying mutual interference of three articulated robots, and FIG. 14C is a planar graph capable of verifying mutual interference of all combinations of three articulated robots. It is a graph.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where one of the articulated robots has a temporary stop or an operation start delay.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Offline teaching device 12 ... Robot device 14 ... Control unit 16 ... Monitor 18 ... Keyboard 20 ... Mouse 22a-22c ... Robot control unit 26 ... CPU
(Computer) 28 ... ROM 29 ... RAM 34 ... Hard disk 37 ... Databases 50a-50c ... Articulated robot 100 ... Data reading unit 102 ... Data writing unit 108 ... Robot operation program generation unit 110 ... Mutual interference confirmation unit 110a ... Operation plan calculation Part 110b ... Mutual interference calculation unit 110c ... Robot posture sampling unit 110d ... Posture combination unit 114 ... Posture combination calculation unit 116 ... Robot posture calculation unit 150 ... Graphs 152, 152a, 154, 156 ... Coordinate axes 158 ... Drawing areas 160, 160a, 160b ... Interaction line 162 ... Stroke lines 164, 16
4a ... Marks 166, 166a ... Interference area 180 ... Path table 200 ... Attitude recording table 210 ... Combination data

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Toru Nakajima             1-10-1 Shinsayama, Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture             Engineering Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3C007 AS11 BS12 JS02 LS08 LS20                       LV02 MS09                 5H269 AB12 AB33 BB05 BB08 BB12                       BB14 CC09 CC13 DD06 KK10                       NN08 NN16 QC03 QD03 QE37                       SA10

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for verifying mutual interference between robots for verifying mutual interference between the robots when performing work on a plurality of robots, comprising: Mutual interference of a robot, comprising a first step of confirming the presence or absence of mutual interference by associating an operation process or an operation time, and a second step of displaying the result of the first step in a graph. Method of verification. 2. The method for verifying mutual interference of robots according to claim 1, wherein the graph indicates a motion stroke or a motion time of each robot, and has a plurality of coordinate axes that are non-parallel to each other and sandwiched by the coordinate axes. A method for verifying mutual interference between robots, characterized in that a position where each robot causes mutual interference is marked in a drawing area. 3. The method for verifying mutual interference of robots according to claim 2, wherein in the drawing area, a mutual motion line indicating a relationship between mutual motion strokes or motion times of the respective robots is expressed. Mutual interference verification method. 4. The method for verifying mutual interference of robots according to claim 2, wherein among the marks indicating the points where mutual interference occurs on the graph, marks that are close to each other are collectively represented as an interference area. A method for verifying mutual interference between robots, which is characterized in that 5. The method for verifying mutual interference of robots according to claim 1, wherein the first step is executed by a computer program, and the one robot and The posture of the other robot is recorded, and in the second step, when the graph is displayed on the display unit of the monitor and an arbitrary position on the graph is designated, an operation process corresponding to the arbitrary position is performed. Or the third to obtain the operating time
And a fourth step of reading the postures of the one robot and the other robot corresponding to the movement stroke or the movement time obtained in the third step from the record and displaying them on the display unit of the monitor. A method for verifying mutual interference of robots, comprising: 6. A plurality of coordinate axes that indicate the movement stroke or movement time of each robot and are non-parallel to each other, and a mark that indicates a location where each robot causes mutual interference in a drawing area sandwiched by the coordinate axes. The mutual interference display pattern of the robot characterized by having.