JP2003334782A - Operation control method on region designation - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid overturning even if a balance is possibly lost when moving pars for constituting a robot. <P>SOLUTION: This control method has a movable region losing no balance and a moving table as a numeric value of a three-dimensional space coordinate, and when the parts are about to enter an immovable region, the overturning is prevented by stopping or bypassing processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method for a control device that limits an operating range. In particular, it controls the movement of parts of an autonomous robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, bipedal robots have appeared, but it is difficult to balance them. This is because not only walking, but even if one arm is raised while standing upright, the center of gravity may move and fall. Therefore, when making the robot work or dance, the robot must be operated in consideration of balance. For example, when trying to make a robot dance, it was necessary to make a program while always carefully checking each movement of the arms and legs so as not to fall. Therefore, the programming work is very complicated and time-consuming. For the purpose of solving this, even if a program is created so that only the pose A or the pose B is registered and the change from A to B is operated linearly or curvedly, the details of the movement process Lacking such verification,
There was a risk of losing balance and falling.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, the above-mentioned drawbacks are solved, and a three-dimensional movable region in which the balance is not lost even when the robot parts are operated is preset.
When changing from A pose to B pose,
When it comes out of the movable area and enters the non-movable area,
Various evasion measures are taken.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, an operation control method according to the area designation of the present invention is a table in which a moving point is defined in a three-dimensional space, a moving means for moving according to the table, A region designating unit that designates a three-dimensional region, a discriminating unit that discriminates whether the region is inside or outside, the region is classified into a movable region and a non-moving region, and when the moving unit is likely to enter the non-moving region, the subsequent operation is performed. It is characterized by having an operation selecting means for selecting.

Further, stop means for stopping the moving means as one of the selecting means, movable area moving means for moving the moving means along the movable area as one of the selecting means, and one of the selecting means It is characterized in that it has interlaced moving means for moving the moving means to another destination further according to the table.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As a preferred embodiment, a method for maintaining a balance in the arm movement of a two-leg upright robot will be described.

(Center of Gravity and Balance) Before the concrete description, the center of gravity and the balance will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a rectangular parallelepiped object 101 placed on the floor when viewed from the front. This object is assumed to be made of a uniform material. In that case, the center of gravity is at 102, which is the center of the object. Line 103 down from the center of gravity
When you pull, the object naturally comes to the middle of the left and right edges (104 and 105) of the object, and the object can stand stably. That is, the balance is maintained.

(Unstable Balance) Let's look at the center of gravity when another object is attached to the side of the object shown in FIG. The situation is shown in FIG. 2, which is the case where the object 203 is bonded to the side of the object 201. The center of gravity of only the object 201 is at 202. The center of gravity of only the object 203 is at 204. The center of gravity when these objects are bonded is assumed to be 205. Two
When 05 is extended downward, the range 206 where the object is in contact with the floor
Go out of ~ 207. In this case, the bonded object falls to the left. In other words, when the center of gravity moves outside the position in contact with the floor, the object loses its balance and falls.

(Stable Balance 1) In order for the object as shown in FIG. 2 not to fall, it is necessary to make the laterally bonded object smaller and lighter. It is a figure when what is shown in FIG. 3 does not fall down. The center of gravity of the object 303 attached to the side of the object 301 is 3
04. The center of gravity of the object 301 is 302. The total center of gravity of these two objects is at 305. Since this position is within the range 306 to 307 in contact with the floor of the object, the bonded object will not fall in a balanced manner.

(Stable balance 2) In order to prevent the object as shown in FIG.
The position of the center of gravity of the first upright object may be changed. As shown in FIG. 4, the object 403 has the same size as the object 203 of FIG. 2, but the object 401 to which the object 403 is attached is short and spreads laterally, and therefore the center of gravity is low and is located at 402. . In this case, the total center of gravity of the two objects is located at 405 and is in the range 406 to 407 in contact with the floor, so that the bonded object will not fall down in balance.

As described above, in order for a stationary object not to fall, the position of the center of gravity of the whole when projected on the floor is
It is sufficient if the object is within the range of contact with the floor.

(Angle from Front) FIG. 5 is a front view of an upright robot. The robot does not collapse even if both arms are raised at the same angle at the same time because the left-right balance of the center of gravity is not lost. However, if you raise only one arm, the balance of the whole body will be closer to the raised arm, and there is a risk of falling. How much, that is, at what angle the arm is raised to fall down depends on the weight of the body and the weight of the arm. However, it is easy to know the angle to fall experimentally without performing a precise calculation.

When setting the range in which the robot does not fall even if one arm is raised, it is necessary to raise the arm and the length of the arm. By the way, the arm length of the robot assumed here can be changed freely.

A method of setting the angle between the arm and the body,
The arm moves in a hemisphere with the shoulder as the center, so the angle is 2
You have to look from the direction.

That is, it is the angle seen from the front as shown in FIG. 5 and the angle seen from the side as shown in FIG. Both set the angle from the bottom to the top, and the angle seen from the front is β
And the angle seen from the side is α.

(Projection of Angle) As described above, the arm state is expressed by two kinds of angles, but it is necessary to further set the arm length. That is, if the three numerical values of the two angles and the arm length are known, the position of the arm can be known. The situation is shown in FIG.

First, this figure is composed of three-dimensional coordinates of X, Y, and Z. The center O indicates the position of the shoulder at the base of the arm. The arm 704 is shown from the center O to A. The arm length is indicated by r.

The tip of the arm is A, but this is the XZ plane 701.
The position projected onto B is B.

The position C is also projected onto the YZ plane 702.

The angle β of the arm seen from the front is the angle from the Z axis under O to OC, and the angle α of the arm seen from the side is also the angle from the Z axis below O to OB.

As described above, the coordinates of the point A can be represented by (α, β, r) in the polar coordinate format. As for what position the arm cannot fall over, the range of the non-falling coordinates can be experimentally obtained and set in a table described later.

(Block Diagram) FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a robot for realizing an example of the operation control method according to the present invention.

The 801 CPU is a central processing unit that controls various devices described later and performs calculations.

Reference numeral 802 KEY is a key or switch for instructing the robot to operate or inputting a program.

The 803 DISP is a device for displaying characters and images, and displays a message for warning and a program.

The 804 ROM is a read-only memory for storing a program for operating the robot, a character pattern, an image pattern, or a numerical value indicating the operating performance of the robot.

The 805 RAM is a random access memory for storing a work area and various calculation data required when the above-mentioned CPU executes a calculation process. Details of this will be described with reference to the next figure.

The 806 MOV is a robot operation device, and is composed of a power unit composed of a motor and a mechanical system and a signal transmission unit for emitting light and sound.

Reference numeral 807BL is a bus line for connecting the above devices and exchanging information.

(Structure of RAM) FIG. 9 shows the structure of the RAM described above.

901 WORK is a work area used for data exchange and various calculations.

Reference numeral 902α is an area for storing the angle of the arm as viewed from the side.

Reference numeral 903β is an area for storing the angle of the arm viewed from the front.

Reference numeral 904r is an area for storing the length of the robot arm.

905RANGE is an area for storing the movable range of the arm. The details of this will be described later.

906SELECT is an area for storing a flag for selecting a subsequent movement when the arm reaches the non-movable range.

Reference numeral 907TBL is an area for storing a table of three-dimensional position information for moving the robot arm.
By moving your arm along the points on this table, you make the robot work or dance.

(Movable Range) Information on the movable range of the RAM described above will be described in detail. The configuration is shown in FIG.

Although it is subdivided into three pieces of information, the length of the arm (1001) from above, the angle seen from the side (1002),
It is the angle (1003) seen from the front. These three sets of numerical values show only one condition under which the robot does not fall, and there are other conditions.

The first condition is that the arm length is 0 mm to 50 mm.
It is in the range of 0 mm and the angle when viewed from the side is 0 degrees to 36
It is 0 degree, that is, the entire circumference. The angle from the front is 0 to 45 degrees.
The degree is 135 degrees to 180 degrees. If these conditions are met, the robot will not fall. However, because the relationship between the arm length and the angle from the front is related to each other, other conditions are possible.

The above conditions will be described with reference to FIG. O in the figure corresponds to the center of rotation of the arm, that is, the shoulder. The disk of 1101 is a plane along the shoulder. That is, the plane 1101 is formed by rotating the angle α by 360 ° while keeping the arm angle β at 0 °. The shaded area surrounded by the surfaces 1102, 1103, and 1104 is the non-movable area. β is 0 to 45 degrees, 13
The robot will not fall if it is within the range of 5 to 180 degrees,
Conversely, it falls when it falls within the range of 45 degrees to 135 degrees. Face 110
Reference numeral 2 is a curved surface forming a part of the sphere. 1103,
Reference numeral 1104 is a curve forming a cone.

(Selection Flag) FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the function of the selection flag. The selection flag is used to determine in advance what kind of movement will be performed when the arm is about to enter the non-movable area.

It takes a value of 0 or 1, and if 0, it stops on the spot. If the value is 1, the robot does not enter the non-movable range and moves along the movable range, or further advances to another destination. This other destination is a point on the movement table described below. That is, the point which is the objective for the time being is omitted, and the point is advanced to that point. This avoids entering the non-movable area.

(Movement Table) FIG. 13 shows a movement table. This is a table in which the points where the tips of the arms are located are arranged when the arms are operated. The arm moves along this point. These points are determined when it is decided how the robot will move. Since the motion of the robot is not limited to the motion of only one arm, there are some points in the non-movable area. This table holds not only one arm, but all arm, leg or neck movements.

(Motion Processing) A motion processing example of the robot will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The operation assumed here is to move one arm of the robot according to the moving table. At the beginning of the arm, the position is right below. Start from this state.

Now, the actual steps will be described. First, it is determined whether or not the movable range is set (step S1).
401).

This is determined by looking at the RANGE of the RAM, which means that if the movable range is not set, it is possible to move freely. Therefore, in that case, the movement of the arm is not limited in any way, and the process proceeds to continuously move the arm.

On the other hand, when the movable range is set, the arm can be moved only within that range, so the various processes described below are required.

First, the coordinates of the moving destination written in the table are compared with the movable range data (step S1402).

As a result of the comparison, it is determined whether or not the destination is within the movable range (step S1403).

If it is not within the movable range as a result of the discrimination, it is not possible to proceed to that point, so the process proceeds to the selection parameter check. This process will be described later.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination is that it is within the movable range, then an intermediate route is checked. Even if the destination is within the movable range, it may pass through the intermediate ratio movable range, so that check is performed (step S140).
4).

It is determined whether or not the intermediate route is within the movable range, and if it is not within the range, the process proceeds to the selection parameter check. This will also be described later.

If the intermediate route is also within the movable range, it is moved to the destination (step S1406).

Looking at the next contents of the movement table, if it is the last, the processing is ended, and if not, the processing returns to the movement destination coordinate checking processing (step S1402).

Next, with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 15, the processing when the destination or the intermediate route is in the non-movable range will be described.

If the destination is in the non-movable range, the selected parameter is checked, and the process branches depending on its content (step S1501).

That is, if the parameter is 0, stop processing is performed on the spot (step S1503), and if the parameter is 1, the next coordinate position of the moving table is obtained (step S1502), and the moving coordinate is checked (step S1402). ) Return to.

If the destination is the movable range and the midway route is the non-movable range, the selection parameter is also checked and the process branches depending on the contents (step S).
1504).

In this case, if the parameter is 0, stop processing is performed on the spot (step S1506).

On the other hand, if the parameter is 1, the non-movable range is avoided and the movable range is detoured to the destination. (Step S1505) The state is shown in FIG. When the tip of the arm tries to move from the A point to the B point at the shortest distance (1603), the arm penetrates the non-movable range (1602) on the way. Therefore, the point B is reached through a new movable range path (1604) so as to trace the non-movable range.

The specific processing will be described below.

(Detour Method) A detour method will be described with reference to FIG. For convenience, it will be described by replacing it with a two-dimensional plane. First, when the tip of the arm is moved from the A point to the B point, the movement should normally proceed along the straight line (1702). However, since the non-movable area (1701) is on the way, the detour is unavoidable. In that case, a minute section is set within the movable range, and it is connected to detour. P0 in the figure
Is a point that hits the non-movable area. A minute section is set from there, and P1 is set at a point in the movable area and closer to the non-movable area. Next, the player tries to move from point P1 to point B, but if it still hits the non-movable region, a further minute section is set and P2 is similarly set. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the same setting method is repeated until P7 is reached. Even if the vehicle travels in a straight line from P7 to B, it does not enter the non-movable region, and therefore can travel along the straight line (1703).

As described above, it is possible to avoid the non-movable area and make a detour.

(Other Embodiments) Although the movable area is set in the above-mentioned embodiments, a non-movable area may be set conversely. The movement of the arm is set so that the points in the three-dimensional space registered in the movement table are moved linearly one after another.
You may move along it using a curve formula.
Although the movement table expresses three-dimensional points by using polar coordinates, it may be expressed by an XYZ coordinate system.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the parts of the robot are operated, the balance is not lost and the robot does not fall down.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a center of gravity and balance.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a center of gravity and balance.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a center of gravity and balance.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a center of gravity and balance.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the robot.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the robot.

FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional space diagram showing the range of arm movement.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a robot.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a RAM of the robot.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a movable range in RAM.

FIG. 11 is a three-dimensional space diagram showing a movable range.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of selection parameters in RAM.

FIG. 13 is a movement table in RAM.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the robot.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the robot.

FIG. 16 is a three-dimensional space diagram showing a route of detour processing.

FIG. 17 is a two-dimensional diagram showing a specific detour measure.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A table in which moving points are defined in a three-dimensional space, moving means for moving in accordance with the table, and 3.
A region designating unit for designating a dimensional region, a discriminating unit for discriminating inside or outside of the region, classifying the region into a movable region and a non-moving region, and selecting a subsequent operation when the moving unit is likely to enter the non-moving region. An operation control method according to area designation, comprising: 2. A stop means for stopping the moving means as one of the selecting means, and a moving area moving means for moving the moving means along the movable area as one of the selecting means,
2. The operation control method according to claim 1, further comprising, as one of the selection means, an interlaced movement means for moving the movement means to another destination further according to the table.