JP2005161498A - Robot remote operation control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for controlling a robot, shortening time to estimate, and matching estimation to a real state of the robot only by using a data transmitted from the robot for display of the estimation, and by constantly estimating and displaying a communication time lag. <P>SOLUTION: The robot 2 is at a remote place causing the reciprocating communication time lag between itself and a robot remote operated control device 1 with an input/display device attached to it, and information at a terminal position of an operator P displayed on the input/display device 6 at current time is estimated information made by adding a command value of a command generated during the time lag to information of a controlled device of the robot delayed by the time from the current time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot remote control device for remotely controlling a controlled device such as a robot arm in an environment where there is a communication time delay.

  In general, when a robot controlled device is remotely operated from a remote location, the operator can confirm the operation of the robot as intended or generate a corrective action for an unexpected situation. The robot is remotely controlled using visual and tactile sensors.

  However, when the distance between the operator and the remote robot is long, a communication time delay occurs, and a time lag occurs when the remote robot operates with the command generated by the operator. The occurrence of this communication time delay reduces the efficiency of remote operation.

  The conventional remote operation in an environment where there is a communication time delay uses a prediction display. Predictive display means simulating the operation of the robot by the computer on the operator side and presenting the simulation result (motion prediction) to the operator (see Patent Documents 1 to 4).

In this prediction display, the operator models an environment including a remote robot, creates a model including the remote robot in the computer, and generates a remote operation command using the model.
JP-A-11-161311 JP 09-216184 A Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 07-052688

  However, in the conventional predictive display, all the motions of the robot are calculated in the computer, but the information returned from the robot is not used in real time. In addition, there is a means for generating a command to be transmitted to the robot using the robot information transmitted to the operator, but this is not an effective means when the communication time delay increases.

  A model of a remote location including a predicted robot used by an operator (referred to as a virtual model) cannot be completely reproduced, and is presented to the operator. The information is only a prediction, and the longer the operation time, the more the state between the prediction and the actual robot shifts. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten the prediction time as much as possible and to match the prediction with the actual situation of the robot.

  The present invention aims to solve such a problem, uses data transmitted from the robot for prediction display, always controls and predicts the robot only by predicting and displaying the communication time delay, It is intended to realize a means that can shorten the prediction time and can adjust the prediction to the actual situation of the robot.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an input device for inputting a command command for instructing an operation of a controlled device with a sensor of a robot, a display device for displaying operation information of the controlled device to an operator, In a robot remote control device comprising a control device that transmits a command command from an input device to the controlled device, the control device transmits the command command to the controlled device, and the control device transmits the command command to the controlled device. A transmitter / receiver for receiving sensor data, a sensor data received from the controlled device received by the transmitter / receiver and a command command data input by the input device, and commands for the controlled device and the display device are processed. A command generation device for generating, and the controlled device is in a remote place where a round-trip communication time delay t occurs with the control device, The information O (T) of the position of the controlled device displayed on the display device at T is the information R (T−t) of the position of the controlled device before the current time T by the time delay t. Provided is a robot remote control device characterized by prediction information formed by adding a command value A (t) of a command command generated during the time delay t.

  The controlled device is a robot.

  The sensor is capable of detecting a posture and photographing an operation state thereof, and measuring visual, tactile, auditory, and the like, and the display device is capable of inputting and displaying visual, tactile, or auditory.

  According to the robot remote control device according to the present invention, in the remote control with a communication time delay, the remote control is performed based on the information returned from the controlled device of the remote robot and the command location from the operator. Because the predicted display of the controlled device of the local robot is performed, the predicted time is a short communication time delay regardless of the remote operation operation time, and it is always constant, so remote operation can be performed very safely This is extremely effective for the safety of remote operation.

  The best mode for carrying out a robot remote control device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings based on the embodiments.

  FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a robot remote control device 1 according to the present invention. The controlled device (the robot arm in this embodiment) of the robot 2 controlled by the robot remote control device 11 includes at least a camera 3 and a position detection sensor, and further includes sensors such as a visual sensor (camera), a tactile sensor, and a microphone. It is possible to detect the posture and shoot its operating state to measure visual, tactile, auditory and the like.

  Here, although not shown, the position detection sensor is an angle measurement sensor that measures the joint angle attached to the joint of the robot arm, and the configuration itself of measuring the joint angle by attaching the position detection sensor to the joint of the robot arm is not the same. This is a well-known technique. The detection value of this position detection sensor is transmitted to the robot arm control device 14 mounted on the robot, and the robot arm control device 14 calculates the hand position of the robot arm. If a sensor such as a visual sensor or a tactile sensor is provided, the accuracy of remote control is further increased.

  This hand position information is transmitted to a control device 4 (to be described later) of the robot remote operation control device 1, and the hand position of the robot arm is calculated in the command generation device of the control device 4. If an optional sensor such as a visual sensor or a tactile sensor is provided, the accuracy of remote control is further increased.

  The robot remote control device 1 includes a control device 4, an input device 5, and a display device 6. The control device 4 includes an input / output unit 7, a command generation device 8, and a command / data transmission / reception device 9. The control device 4 is actually a normal personal computer, and its CPU is used as the command generation device 8.

  The input device 5 includes a joystick (or master arm) 10 for remotely operating the robot 2 at a remote location, and is connected to the input / output unit 7 of the control device 4. It is composed of a camera monitor display 11, a speaker (not shown) for reproducing sound detected by a remote microphone, and the like. These display 11, speaker, and the like are each connected to the input / output unit 7 of the control device 4. The display device 6 displays an image captured by the camera 3 regarding the operation status of the robot 2 at a remote location. Here, 15 is a real image of a remote place including a robot arm, and 16 is a computer graphics image of a virtual model including a robot arm that is predicted and displayed.

  The robot 2 has a robot arm 12 which is a controlled device, and the robot arm 12 has n joints J1, J2, J3... Jn as shown in FIG. Yes. Each joint angle of the robot arm 12 is θ1, θ2, θ3,..., Θn, a hand position (specifically, information on the hand position of the robot arm 12, more specifically, three-dimensional coordinate information of the hand position). .) Is O. Hereinafter, in order to make the description easy to understand, as shown in FIG. 2B, the robot arm 12 will be described as a robot composed of two joints J1 and J2.

  As described above, the information on the hand position is transmitted to the robot arm control device 14 mounted on the robot based on the detection value obtained by the position detection sensor (angle measurement sensor) installed at the joint of the robot arm. Then, the robot arm control device 14 calculates the value based on the detected value.

  Then, the information on the hand position, each joint angle of the robot arm, and the data of the optional sensor described above are transmitted to the control device 4 of the robot remote operation control device 1 at regular intervals. As a method of transmitting data to the transmission source, the Internet or a signal line can be used, and various modes can be considered.

  In FIG. 2B, it is assumed that the remote operation start time is T0, the current time is T, and the round-trip communication time delay is t. The hand position of the robot arm 12 based on the information sent from the remote robot 2 is O (T−t), and the joint angles are θ1 (T−t) and θ2 (T−t). .

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. A robot arm 12 of a robot 2 which is a controlled device of this embodiment has two joints J1 and J2. The joint angles are θ1 and θ2. The current time is T, the round-trip communication time delay time is t, and the hand position of the robot arm is point O.

  In the conventional method, the predicted display arm (arm at time T) is T-T0 in order to calculate based on T0. However, in the apparatus of the present invention, the time (T Since the calculation is performed based on the command value from the operator generated from -t) to time T, the time for performing the prediction calculation is always only t.

  By the way, the communication time delay t is determined by various factors such as a physical distance between the robot side (robot arm 12) and the operator side (robot remote operation control device 1) and a transmission system for communication. The communication time delay that occurs (on the spot and on the spot) for each of the installation environment on the robot side and the operator side is measured in advance. And communication time delay t is previously determined from such a measurement result.

Referring to FIG. 3, the hand position of the robot arm 12 sent from the remote robot arm 12 is R (T−t). The predicted hand position O (T) of the arm (arm at time T) is based on these pieces of information, and is a command value A (t) from the operator generated from time (Tt) to time T. Because it is calculated including
O (T) = R (T−t) + A (t)

  It is assumed that the operator P continues to issue an operation command in the direction of the obstacle even though the robot arm 12 collides with the obstacle and stops. In this case, the actual hand position R (Tt) of the robot arm 12 does not change, but since the command value from the operator P is issued, the robot arm 12 to be predicted and displayed is actually stopped. This is a value obtained by adding the communication time delay t for which the command value from the operator P is continuously output to the hand position R (T−t) of the robot arm 12, so that the position slightly deviates from the actual position of the robot arm 12. By the way, stop.

  That is, the hand position R (T−t) of the actual robot arm 12 with O (T) = R (T−t) + A (t) does not change due to the collision, and the hand command value to the actual robot arm 12 Since A (t) is also constant, O (T) does not change.

  If the operator P does not issue an operation command in this state, the predicted robot arm 12 gradually approaches the hand position of the actual robot arm 12, and when the communication time delay t has elapsed, the predicted display is performed. The hand position of the robot arm 12 coincides with the actual robot arm 12.

  That is, even if the hand position of the robot 2 predicted and displayed during operation differs from the actual hand position of the robot 2, it is added to the information of the remote robot arm 12 unless the operator P gives a command. Since the command value of the operator P becomes zero, the predicted robot 2 is automatically moved to the actual robot 2 position.

  The operation when the above robot arm collides with an obstacle and stops will be described in more detail. When operating in free space, the operation of the input device 5 and the operation of the robot arm 12 always coincide. However, when the robot arm 12 collides with an obstacle, the robot arm 12 stops on the spot. Data is constantly sent from the robot arm 12 to the operator side (robot remote control device 1) at regular intervals, but the hand position of the robot arm 12 changes on the operator side (robot remote control device 1). Not.

  That is, data that R (T−t) does not change is obtained. For this reason, the operation of the input device 5 on the operator side, which has been free to move, can move freely only for the input data A (t) corresponding to the communication time delay. In this state, since it is clear to the operator that the robot arm 12 has collided with something and cannot move, the operator can use the input device 5 to correct the positions of the input device and the robot arm. Release the command value so that no command value is given.

That is, the actual robot hand position R (T−t) of the robot arm 12 with O (T) = R (T−t) + A (t) does not change due to the collision, and the hand command value to the robot arm 12 In order for A (t) to approach zero,
O (T) = R (T−t)
It becomes.

  The best mode for carrying out the robot remote control device according to the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and is described in the claims. It goes without saying that there are various embodiments within the technical scope.

  The present invention controls the robot using the data transmitted in real time from the robot and the command value corresponding to the communication time delay, shortens the prediction time, and predicts the actual robot operation status even by remote control. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to various industrial robots that need to be operated remotely and instantly realize the operator's intention of operation.

It is a figure explaining the whole structure of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the principal part of this invention. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Robot remote control device
2 Robot
3 Camera
4 Control device
5 input devices
6 Display device
7 Input / output section
8 Command generator
9 Command data transmission / reception device
10 Joystick
11 Display
12 robot arm 13 position sensor 14 robot arm control device 15 real image of remote place including robot arm 1 computer graphics image of virtual model including robot arm being predicted and displayed

Claims (3)

An input device for inputting a command command for instructing the operation of the controlled device with the sensor of the robot;
A display device for displaying operation information of the controlled device to an operator;
In a robot remote control device comprising a control device that transmits a command command from the input device to the controlled device,
The control device includes:
A transmission / reception device that transmits the command command to the controlled device and receives data of the sensor from the controlled device;
A command generation device that processes the sensor data received from the controlled device received by the transmission / reception device and the command command data input from the input device, and generates a command for the controlled device and the display device;
The controlled device is in a remote place where a round-trip communication time delay t occurs with the control device, and information O (T) of the position of the controlled device displayed on the display device at the current time T is The command value A (t) of the command command generated during the time delay t is added to the position information R (T−t) of the controlled device that is the time delay t before the current time T. A robot remote control device characterized by prediction information.   2. The robot remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the controlled device is a robot.   The sensor is capable of detecting posture and photographing an operation state thereof, and measuring visual, tactile, auditory, and the like, and the display device is capable of inputting and displaying visual, tactile, or auditory sense. The robot remote control apparatus according to 1.

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