JP2007203380A - Instruction support device for robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an instruction support device which can arithmetically operate an optimum combination of joint angular positions for each movement point, in a short period of time. <P>SOLUTION: According to the operation of the instruction support device, moving time periods between moving points are all obtained for each combination of solution candidates, and a combination of upstream solution candidates, that takes a shortest moving time period, is extracted, for downstream solution candidates. Then a combination of the solution candidates, that makes shortest the overall moving time period necessary for moving a hand tip from a starting point to an end point, is searched for, based on a result of the extraction. In this manner by searching for the optimum combination of the solution candidates from all possible combinations, the optimum combination of the solution candidates can be positively obtained compared with a search in a gradient method in which the combination can fall into a local solution. Further by searching for the optimum combination of the solution candidates, except for combinations of low evaluation, the optimum combination of the solution candidates can be obtained in a short period of time compared with an all-area searching method in which the combinations with low evaluation are not excluded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a teaching support apparatus that supports teaching work for teaching a robot information necessary for moving the robot.

  In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-260, a movable region that can be taken by redundant joints of a redundant degree-of-freedom robot is displayed while maintaining the hand of the redundant degree-of-freedom robot at the current position and current posture. The worker can perform a robot teaching operation based on the display result of the robot apparatus. In this case, if only the movable area that can be taken by the movable area of the redundant joint is displayed, the operator must determine which angular position of the redundant joint is optimal, and sufficient teaching support cannot be performed. .

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 2, each robot that shortens the movement time of the robot by using a gradient method that repeats fine adjustment related to the angular position of the redundant joint using the angular position of each joint taught by the operator as an initial value. Search for the angular position of the joint. Specifically, with the angle position of each joint taught by the user as an initial value, the condition of the redundant joint angle position + δ fine adjustment, the condition −δ fine adjustment, and the condition of fine adjustment of the robot, The travel time is calculated and compared, and the angular position of the redundant joint corresponding to the shorter time condition is adopted as needed.

  In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 3, the gradient method is used in the same manner as in Patent Document 2, and the margin with the parameters of the limit position of the angular position of each joint of the robot and the distance from the robot to the obstacle is the maximum. The angular position of the redundant joint at the time is the final teaching data.

  In addition to the gradient method, it is conceivable to use the whole area search method so that the evaluation value set for the robot becomes the highest. When using the whole area search method, find all possible combinations of the angular positions of each joint of the robot, then obtain the evaluation values for all the combinations, and adopt the combination of the angular positions of each joint that gives the highest evaluation value To do.

JP-A-5-337861 JP-A-9-128024 JP-A-9-201784

  In FIG. 28, in a robot having one redundant joint, when moving the hand position of the robot between two movement points, the angular position of each joint of the robot at the start point is fixed to the initial value, and at the end point, It is a graph which shows the change of the robot movement time at the time of changing the angular position of each joint of a robot. In FIG. 28, depending on the combination of positive and negative discrete form codes that the angular position of each joint can take, even if the angular position of the redundant joint is one value, the robot can take a plurality of discrete forms. Two different graphs are shown in FIGS. 28 (1) and 28 (2), respectively. The vertical axis represents the robot movement time, and the horizontal axis represents the angular position of the redundant joint. As shown in FIG. 28, the change characteristic of the robot movement time with respect to the change of the redundancy value tends to be nonlinear. In particular, when the movable range of the angular position of each joint is limited, the nonlinearity is further increased.

  As shown in Patent Literature 2 and Patent Literature 3, when the angular position of each joint of the robot is evaluated using the gradient method, there is a possibility of falling into a local solution. In the gradient method, the angular position of the redundant joint is changed from the initial value r1, and the search is terminated when the robot movement time reaches the local solution r2 where the minimum value is reached. When the change characteristic of the robot movement time is non-linear, the robot movement time in the local solution r2 after the search is not significantly reduced with respect to the robot movement time at the initial value r1. Further, the local solution r2 is often different from the optimal solution r3 that minimizes the robot movement time, and there is a high possibility that the optimal solution r3 cannot be searched.

  For example, the robot movement time at the angular position of each joint at the initial value r1 is indicated by a circle in FIG. Further, the robot moving time at the angular position of each joint in the local solution r2 when the gradient method is used from the angular position of each joint having the initial value r1 is indicated by a triangular point in FIG. In addition, the robot movement time at the angular position of each joint of the optimal solution r3 that minimizes the movement time is shown by the square points in FIG. In this case, at the initial value r1, the robot movement time is about 1.5. In the state where the local solution r2 is reached, the robot moving time is about 1.2 seconds. On the other hand, when the optimal solution r3 is reached, the robot movement time is about 0.8 seconds. As described above, in the gradient method, there is a high possibility that the optimum solution r3 cannot be searched, and the robot moving time may not be shortened sufficiently, and sufficient teaching support cannot be performed.

  In addition, when the angular position of the redundant joint and the discrete form are changed in a brute force manner so as to obtain all the movement times at each joint in all kinds of discrete forms, the optimal solution r3 can be obtained. The computation time spent to obtain the solution r3 is enormous. In particular, when the hand is moved sequentially with respect to a plurality of moving points, since there are a plurality of redundant joint angular positions for each moving point, the amount of calculation increases exponentially.

For example, when the hand moves sequentially through N moving points and there is a combination of angular positions of m joints for each moving point, it can be taken to move from the first moving point to the Nth moving point. There are m ^N combinations of angular positions of each joint for each possible moving point. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain a combination of angular positions of the joints for each moving point having the highest evaluation. In particular, if the number of moving points is increased or the increment of the angular position of the redundant joint is made finer, the amount of calculation of the computer becomes enormous, and as a result, the optimal solution r3 cannot be obtained. In FIG. 28, the robot movement time is an evaluation value for evaluating the robot form. However, the same problem occurs when the robot form is evaluated based on an evaluation criterion other than the robot movement time.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a teaching support apparatus that can calculate a combination of angular positions of each joint at each optimum movement point in a short time and supports a robot teaching operation by an operator.

In the present invention, (a) when moving a predetermined movement target part of an articulated robot having a plurality of joints so as to sequentially pass through a plurality of movement points, each of the movement target parts passes through the movement point. A teaching support device that supports a robot teaching operation by obtaining a combination for each moving point of a joint form represented by an angular position of a joint,
(B) input means for inputting moving point information for specifying each moving point;
(C) a solution candidate calculation means for calculating each solution candidate for each movement point, with a joint form that can place the movement target part of the robot as a movement point as a solution candidate;
(D) Evaluation calculation means for evaluating a combination of solution candidates selected for each moving point,
(D1) One of the moving direction in which the passing order is from the first moving point to the last moving point, and the passing order is the direction opposite to the moving direction from the last moving point to the first moving point. One is the evaluation direction,
(D2) Each of one of the solution candidates at the most upstream moving point and one of each of the solution candidates at the second moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the most upstream moving point in the evaluation direction For each combination, an evaluation value is obtained according to a predetermined evaluation criterion, and the combination having the highest evaluation value is extracted for each solution candidate at the second moving point, and the second is determined for each solution candidate at the second moving point. Determining one combination of one of the solution candidates at the moving point and one solution candidate at the most upstream moving point extracted in relation thereto,
(D3) From the third moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the second moving point, to the moving point on the most downstream side in the evaluation direction, the moving point of interest for each solution candidate at each moving point sequentially in the evaluation direction For each combination of one of the solution candidates in and the one of each solution candidate at the moving point adjacent upstream in the evaluation direction with respect to the moving point of interest, an evaluation value is obtained according to the evaluation criterion, The evaluation value of the combination of these two solution candidates, and each of the two movement candidates that have already been determined for the solution candidate at the movement point upstream of the evaluation direction among the two solution candidates for which the evaluation value has been obtained For each solution candidate, obtain a cumulative evaluation value that combines the total evaluation value for each solution candidate, extract the combination with the highest cumulative evaluation value for each solution candidate at the moving point of interest, and obtain a solution candidate at the moving point of interest every , One of each solution candidate in a mobile point of interest to determine one combination of solution candidates in a mobile points adjacent to the evaluation direction upstream extracted in connection therewith,
(D4) Out of the solution candidates at the most downstream moving point in the evaluation direction, the solution candidate with the highest cumulative evaluation value is extracted, and the combination of each solution candidate for each moving point already determined in relation to this solution candidate Evaluation calculation means for obtaining a combination of joint forms for each moving point;
(E) A robot teaching support apparatus including output means for outputting a calculation result by the evaluation calculation means.

  According to the present invention, the solution candidate calculation means calculates all solution candidates that can place the movement target part at the movement point for each movement point, based on the movement point information input from the input means. The evaluation calculation means evaluates evaluation values for all possible combinations of one of the solution candidates at one movement point and one of the solution candidates at the other movement point at two adjacent movement points. For each.

  The evaluation calculation means extracts a combination with the solution candidate at the most upstream moving point having the highest evaluation value, for each solution candidate at the second moving point in the evaluation direction, out of all combinations for which the evaluation values are obtained. To do. In addition, the evaluation calculation means extracts, for each solution candidate at the moving point of interest after the third in the evaluation direction, a combination with a solution candidate at a moving point adjacent to the moving point upstream of the moving point of interest having the highest cumulative evaluation value. To do. In this way, each evaluation value is sequentially obtained downstream in the evaluation direction. In this case, of the combinations of the solution candidates at the most downstream moving point and the solution candidates at the moving point adjacent in the evaluation direction upstream of the most downstream moving point, the two solutions having the highest cumulative evaluation value are combined. The combination of the candidate and the solution candidate for each moving point extracted in relation to the two solution candidates is the combination having the highest overall evaluation when moving the hand from the start point to the end point.

  As described above, in the present invention, a combination of solution candidates having a high evaluation value is extracted for each of two solution candidates, and a combination of solution candidates for each moving point having the highest overall evaluation is obtained using the extracted combination. . In this way, it is possible to search for a combination of solution candidates with a high overall evaluation after excluding combinations of solution candidates with a low evaluation value, and to find a combination with the highest overall evaluation in a short time and efficiently. Can do.

In the present invention, (a) when moving a predetermined movement target part of an articulated robot having a plurality of joints through a plurality of movement points in a circular circulation path, the movement point is moved to the movement target part. A teaching support device for assisting robot teaching work by obtaining a combination for each moving point of the joint form represented by the angular position of each joint when
(B) input means for inputting moving point information for specifying each moving point;
(C) Among the moving points, a selection means for selecting the first moving point that virtually starts the circular movement and the last moving point that is upstream in the moving direction of the first moving point;
(D) solution candidate calculation means for calculating a joint form capable of placing the movement target part of the robot at the movement point as a solution candidate and calculating all solution candidates for each movement point;
(E) Evaluation calculation means for evaluating a combination of solution candidates selected for each moving point,
(E1) The evaluation direction is any one of a direction in which the passing order is from the first moving point to the last moving point and a direction in which the passing order is from the last moving point to the first moving point.
(E2) Each of one of the solution candidates at the most upstream moving point and one of each of the solution candidates at the second moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the most upstream moving point in the evaluation direction For each combination, an evaluation value is obtained according to a predetermined evaluation criterion, and the combination having the highest evaluation value is extracted for each solution candidate at the second moving point, and the second is determined for each solution candidate at the second moving point. Determining one combination of one of the solution candidates at the moving point and one solution candidate at the most upstream moving point extracted in relation thereto,
(E3) A moving point of interest for each solution candidate at each moving point sequentially from the third moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the second moving point to the moving point downstream in the evaluation direction. For each combination of one of the solution candidates in and the one of each solution candidate at the moving point adjacent upstream in the evaluation direction with respect to the moving point of interest, an evaluation value is obtained according to the evaluation criterion, The evaluation value of the combination of these two solution candidates, and each of the two movement candidates that have already been determined for the solution candidate at the movement point upstream of the evaluation direction among the two solution candidates for which the evaluation value has been obtained For each solution candidate, obtain a cumulative evaluation value that combines the total evaluation value for each solution candidate, extract the combination with the highest cumulative evaluation value for each solution candidate at the moving point of interest, and obtain a solution candidate at the moving point of interest every , One of each solution candidate in a mobile point of interest to determine one combination of solution candidates in a mobile points adjacent to the evaluation direction upstream extracted in connection therewith,
(E4) For each solution candidate at the moving point downstream in the evaluation direction, one of the solution candidates at the moving point downstream in the evaluation direction and the moving point at the upstreammost evaluation direction determined in relation to the solution candidate For a combination with one solution candidate, an evaluation value is obtained according to a predetermined evaluation criterion, the evaluation value of the combination of these two solution candidates, and the cumulative evaluation value of the solution candidate at the most downstream moving point in the evaluation direction for which the evaluation value is obtained , And a solution candidate combination with the highest circulation accumulation evaluation value is extracted, and each solution candidate combination determined for each moving point determined in relation to the solution candidate of this combination is moved. Evaluation calculation means to obtain as a combination of joint form for each point;
(F) A robot teaching support apparatus including output means for outputting a calculation result by the evaluation calculation means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to search for a combination of solution candidates having a high overall evaluation after removing a combination of solution candidates having a low evaluation value in a circular movement route, and to obtain a combination having the highest overall evaluation. Can be obtained in a short time and efficiently. Further, by making the joint form of the movement point when starting the movement the same as the joint form of the movement point when making a round of the circulation movement path, the circulation movement path can be smoothly moved.

Further, in the present invention, the input means inputs prohibited area information related to an entry prohibited area where an articulated robot is prohibited from entering,
The solution candidate calculation means excludes, from the solution candidates, a joint configuration in which at least a part of the robot enters the entry prohibition area among the joint configurations in which the movement target part of the robot can be arranged at the movement point. Features.

  According to the present invention, the combination of solution candidates having the highest overall evaluation prevents the robot from entering the entry prohibition area when the movement target part passes through the movement point, and is a practical solution candidate. Can be obtained. Also, by excluding joint forms from which the robot will enter the prohibited entry area from the solution candidates, the number of solution candidates used in the evaluation calculation means can be reduced, and the evaluation values of all combinations can be calculated. The time required and the time required for searching for the highest solution candidate can be reduced.

Further, in the present invention, the input means inputs prohibited area information related to an entry prohibited area where an articulated robot is prohibited from entering,
The evaluation criterion includes a first evaluation criterion determined based on an evaluation function having a joint form represented by each solution candidate at two moving points adjacent in the evaluation direction as a variable, and between the two moving points adjacent in the evaluation direction. Including a second evaluation criterion based on the fact that at least a part of the robot does not enter the entry prohibition area while moving the movement target part with respect to
The evaluation calculation means moves the upstream of the evaluation direction among the two movement points adjacent to the evaluation direction with respect to the solution candidate at the movement point downstream of the evaluation direction among the two movement points adjacent to the evaluation direction. A first evaluation value according to the first evaluation criterion is obtained for each solution candidate at a point, and among them, the second evaluation criterion is calculated in the order of combination having the highest first evaluation value, The combination that satisfies the two evaluation criteria and that has the highest first evaluation value is extracted as the combination that has the highest evaluation value.

  According to the present invention, in the combination of solution candidates having the highest overall evaluation, the robot is prevented from entering the entry prohibition region while the movement target portion passes between the two movement points. Practical solution candidate combinations can be obtained.

  In addition, for each solution candidate of the moving point of interest, after obtaining the first evaluation value for each solution candidate at the moving point upstream of the moving point of interest, It is calculated whether or not the second evaluation criterion is satisfied. When the combination having the highest first evaluation value satisfies the second evaluation criterion, the combination having the highest evaluation value is determined at that time. There is no need to calculate whether the evaluation criteria are met.

  In this way, whether or not the second evaluation criterion is satisfied is performed in a state where the combination having the highest first evaluation value is tentatively determined. Therefore, for each solution candidate at the upstream moving point with respect to one solution candidate. The number of times of calculating whether or not the second evaluation criterion is satisfied can be reduced as compared with the case of calculating whether or not the first evaluation criterion is satisfied. In order to determine the second evaluation criterion, it is necessary to determine whether or not a part of the robot has entered the entry prohibition area while moving the movement target part between the two moving points of interest. Therefore, the amount of calculation for obtaining the second evaluation criterion is larger than that when the first evaluation value is calculated. As described above, in the present invention, the number of times of determining the second evaluation criterion having a large calculation amount can be reduced, so that the calculation time can be reduced as a whole.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the evaluation value is determined based on an evaluation function using a deviation of an angular position of each joint at two movement points adjacent in the evaluation direction as a variable.

  In the present invention, since the evaluation value is a deviation of the angular position of each joint at two adjacent movement points, by adopting the combination having the highest evaluation value, the angular position for moving the joint is likely to be small, and the movement The moving time of the robot required to move the target part can be shortened. Therefore, by using the optimum combination of solution candidates described above, the movement target part can be moved in a short time from the start point to the end point of the movement point. Further, for example, by appropriately setting the evaluation function, the amount of displacement of the robot is reduced, and the energy consumption of the robot required to move the movement target part can be reduced.

The present invention further includes storage means for storing all joint forms that can be placed at the movement point by the robot movement target part, calculated by the solution candidate calculation means,
The evaluation calculating means reads out the joint forms stored in the storage means as solution candidates, respectively, and obtains a combination of joint forms for each moving point.

  According to the present invention, when the joint form is stored in the storage unit, the joint form stored in the storage unit is used, such as when the entry prohibition area is input by the input unit or the entry prohibition area is updated. The solution candidates can be re-extracted, and the solution candidates can be obtained in a shorter time compared to the case where the solution candidates are calculated every time the entry prohibition area is input.

  The present invention is also a computer readable program for causing a computer to perform the operation of the robot teaching support apparatus.

  According to the present invention, by causing a computer to read a program, the computer can be operated as the robot teaching support apparatus described above.

  According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, compared to a gradient method that may fall into a local solution by obtaining an optimal combination of solution candidates after targeting all computable solution candidates, An optimal combination of solution candidates can be obtained reliably. In addition, by searching for the optimal combination of solution candidates except for the combination with a low evaluation value in the combination of two solution candidates, the optimal solution can be obtained in a short time compared to the global search method using all solution candidates. Candidate combinations can be obtained.

For example, when there are N moving points and there are m solution candidates for each moving point, in order to find the optimal combination of solution candidates, in the global search method using all solution candidates, m ^N combinations It is necessary to calculate all of the overall evaluation values in and search for a combination of solution candidates having a high overall evaluation. On the other hand, in the present invention, in order to obtain a combination of solution candidates having a high overall evaluation, it is only necessary to calculate m ² · (N−1) combinations, and the amount of calculation can be extremely reduced. it can. Even when the number N of moving points and the number m of solution candidates for each moving point are large, the rate of increase in the amount of computation is small compared to the whole area search method using all solution candidates. It is easy to increase the number of candidates and a more optimal solution can be obtained.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the movement target part is circularly moved along the circulation movement path, the optimum combination of solution candidates is surely compared with the gradient method that may fall into a local solution. Obtainable. In addition, by searching for the optimal combination of solution candidates except for the combination with a low evaluation value in the combination of two solution candidates, the optimal solution can be obtained in a short time compared to the global search method using all solution candidates. Candidate combinations can be obtained. Furthermore, by making the joint form of the movement point when starting the movement the same as the joint form of the movement point when making a round of the circulation movement path, the circulation movement path can be smoothly moved.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the optimal combination of solution candidates prevents the robot from entering the entry prohibited area when the movement target part passes through the movement point. Accordingly, among the combinations of solution candidates that can be actually applied, the optimal combination of solution candidates can be obtained. For example, when a robot is operated based on a combination of optimal solution candidates, even if it is greatly different from the robot form initially assumed by the operator, the robot can be prevented from entering the prohibited entry area, It is possible to prevent the robot and the obstacle from colliding with each other. In the present invention, the number of solution candidates can be reduced and the amount of calculation can be further reduced by excluding the angular position of each joint that the robot enters the entry prohibition area from the solution candidates.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the optimal combination of solution candidates prevents the robot from entering the entry prohibition region while the movement target portion passes between the two movement points. Therefore, an optimal combination of solution candidates that is more practical can be obtained. In addition, after the combination having the highest first evaluation value is obtained, the number of times of calculation using the second evaluation criterion having a large calculation load is reduced by calculating whether the narrowed combination satisfies the second evaluation criterion. The calculation time can be shortened.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by adopting the combination having the smallest evaluation value, the angular position for moving the joint of the robot tends to be small, and the movement time of the robot required to move the movement target part is shortened. can do. As a result, the robot can be moved in a short time by using the optimal combination of solution candidates to move the movement target part, and the working efficiency of the robot can be improved.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the entry prohibition area is input by the input means or when the entry prohibition area is updated, the solution candidates are re-used using the joint form stored in the storage means. Compared to the case where the solution candidate is calculated every time the entry prohibition area is input, the solution candidate can be obtained in a short time.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by causing a computer to read a program, the computer can be operated as the robot teaching support device described above, and the computer can obtain an optimal solution candidate in a short time. Can do.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a robot teaching support apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The teaching support apparatus 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for supporting a robot teaching work by an operator. The robot teaching operation is an operation in which an operator teaches the robot in order to cause the articulated robot to perform a predetermined operation.

  In the present embodiment, the articulated robot is a 7-degree-of-freedom robot having a plurality of joints. The articulated robot is configured such that a hand is set as a movement target part and the hand can be moved to an arbitrary position and posture by changing the angular position of each joint. Hereinafter, the external form of the robot when each angular position of each joint is determined is referred to as a joint form. The articulated robot has redundancy and can take a plurality of joint forms in a state where the hand is moved to a predetermined position and posture. In other words, the articulated robot has a plurality of joint forms that can move the hand to a predetermined position and posture.

  The articulated robot moves the hand along a predetermined movement path from the start point to the end point. At this time, the hand passes through a plurality of waypoints while moving from the start point to the end point. The teaching support apparatus 20 outputs an optimal combination of joint forms set for each movement point when the hand passes each movement point when the robot moves the hand by sequentially passing a plurality of movement points. Specifically, display. Here, the optimal combination means a combination of joint forms having the highest evaluation value according to a predetermined evaluation criterion.

  By grasping the combination of joint forms displayed by the support teaching device 20, the operator can save time and labor for manually searching for the optimal combination of joint forms for each moving point, thereby facilitating robot teaching work. It can be carried out. In this way, the teaching support apparatus 20 supports the robot teaching work by the operator by obtaining an optimal combination of joint forms for each moving point.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the teaching support apparatus 20 is a computer that includes a calculation unit 21, a storage unit 22, an input unit 23, and an output unit 24. The calculation unit 21 includes a data creation unit 30 and a data search unit 31. The data creation unit 30 is a solution candidate calculation unit that obtains, as solution candidates, all joint forms that can place the robot's hand at the movement point for each movement point. One solution candidate is represented by a combination of the respective angular positions of each joint. Further, the data creation unit 30 performs an evaluation based on one of the solution candidates for one of the two movement points adjacent to the movement direction of the hand and one of the solution candidates for the other movement point. Calculate the evaluation value.

  In addition, the data search unit 31 searches for an optimal solution candidate combination for each moving point from the evaluation values generated by the data generation unit 30. The data creation unit 30 and the data search unit 31 constitute an evaluation calculation means described in the claims. The data search unit 31 obtains the optimum combination of solution candidates and gives the obtained optimum solution candidate combination to the output unit 24. Such an arithmetic unit 21 is realized by a central arithmetic circuit such as a CPU. The calculation unit 21 can operate the data creation unit 30 and the data search unit 31 by executing a program stored in a storage circuit such as a RAM or a ROM. As described above, when the computer reads and executes the teaching support program, the computer can perform a teaching support operation described later.

  The storage unit 22 includes a moving point information storage unit 32, a solution candidate storage unit 33, an evaluation value storage unit 34, and a robot type storage unit 35. The movement point information storage unit 32 stores movement point information. The moving point information is information representing the position and posture where the hand should move for each moving point. Here, the moving point is a point at which the hand moves, and includes a start point, an end point, and a plurality of via points arranged on the moving path of the hand connecting the start point and the end point. In the present embodiment, the movement point information storage unit 32 stores, as movement point information, the angular position of each joint when the hand is positioned at the movement point in a predetermined position and orientation. The respective angular positions of the respective joints stored as the movement point information are provisional angular positions of the respective joints.

  The solution candidate storage unit 33 stores solution candidates. As described above, the solution candidate is represented by a combination of the respective angular positions of the joints where the hand of the robot can be placed at the moving point. Therefore, one solution candidate includes information on the angular position of each joint so that the hand can be placed at the corresponding movement point. In a seven-axis robot having seven joints Jt1 to Jt7, one solution candidate includes information in which seven angular positions q1 to q7 corresponding to the joints Jt1 to Jt7 are combined.

  In addition, since the 7-axis robot has redundancy, there are an infinite number of solution candidates that are located at one moving point with a predetermined position and posture of the hand. The solution candidate storage unit 33 stores, for each moving point, all the solution candidates that can be calculated among the innumerable solution candidates that can place the hand at the position and orientation set to the moving point. For example, when there are N moving points and m solution candidates can be calculated for each moving point, N × m solution candidates are stored in the solution candidate storage unit.

  The solution candidate storage unit 33 receives information indicating a solution candidate from the data creation unit 30 of the calculation unit 21, and stores the input solution candidate and the movement point corresponding to the solution candidate in association with each other. The solution candidate storage unit 33 stores each solution candidate at one moving point with a number for distinguishing each solution candidate.

  The evaluation value storage unit 34 stores the evaluation value. The evaluation value is determined in advance based on one of the solution candidates for one of the two movement points adjacent to the movement direction of the hand and one of the solution candidates for the other movement point. A value evaluated according to a standard. In the present embodiment, an evaluation value is determined based on an evaluation function having an angular position for each joint as a variable among two solution candidates at two adjacent movement points.

  In the present embodiment, the angular position deviations δ1 to δ7 corresponding to the joints Jt1 to Jt7 are obtained for the two solution candidates. The evaluation value is determined based on the maximum value of the deviations δ1 to δ7. Specifically, the evaluation value represents the amount of movement of the largest moving joint in which the amount of movement of the angular position becomes the maximum among the joints Jt1 to Jt7 while the hand is moved between the two moving points. When the movement amount of the maximum movement joint is reduced, the movement time required to move the hand from one movement point to the other movement point can be shortened. Therefore, the smaller the evaluation value, the higher the evaluation.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the robot type storage unit 35 stores the robot type. The robot model stores information that can determine the position and posture of the hand relative to the origin set in the robot when the angular position of each joint is known. The robot type information includes a movable range in which the angular position of each joint can be obtained.

  Specifically, information indicating a joint structure indicating whether each joint of the robot is a coaxial joint, an inclined joint, or a vertical joint, and link information indicating the length of a link body connecting the joints are stored in the robot type memory. Stored in the unit 35. When the teaching support apparatus 20 can cope with different types of robots, the robot type information described above is stored for each different type of robot. For example, the storage unit 22 is realized by a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive.

  The input unit 23 and the output unit 24 are interface units for connecting the teaching support apparatus 20 to the outside. In the present embodiment, the input unit 23 serves as an input unit that is operated by the operator to receive information from the worker and inputs the given information to the calculation unit 21. The output unit 24 serves as an output unit that outputs the calculation result calculated by the calculation unit 21. In the present embodiment, the input unit 23 is realized by input means such as a keyboard and a pointing device. When the teaching support apparatus 20 is connected to a robot controller, the input unit 23 may be realized by a teaching pendant that receives an operation command of a robot from an operator. The output unit 24 is realized by a display that converts the calculation result of the calculation unit 21 into image information and displays the converted image information.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the operation of the teaching support apparatus 20. In step a0, when a data creation program and a data search program are stored in the arithmetic unit 21 and the state shifts to a state where teaching support is possible, a teaching support operation is started, and the process proceeds to step a1.

  In step a1, information necessary for obtaining a combination of joint forms having the highest evaluation value is input to the input unit 23 from the operator. The input unit 23 inputs information input from the operator to the calculation unit 21. When the input unit 23 inputs all necessary information to the calculation unit 21, the process proceeds to step a2.

  In step a <b> 2, the data creation unit 30 of the calculation unit 21 calculates all solution candidates for which the hand can be placed at the movement point for each movement point based on each information given from the input unit 23. The data creation unit 30 associates each solution candidate with a moving point and stores it in the solution candidate storage unit 33 as a database. Next, the data creation unit 30 obtains evaluation values for all possible combinations of solution candidates at two adjacent moving points. When the data creation unit 30 obtains the evaluation values of all combinations of the two solution candidates, the data creation unit 30 associates the evaluation value, the two solution candidates for which the evaluation value is obtained, and the moving points in the two solution candidates, A database is stored in the evaluation value storage unit 34, and the process proceeds to step a3.

  In step a3, the data search unit 31 of the calculation unit 21 searches for an optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point from the evaluation values of all the combinations obtained in step a2. When the search is completed, a signal indicating the search result is input to the output unit 24, and the process proceeds to step a4. In step a4, the output unit 24 displays an image indicating the joint form of the robot for each moving point based on the optimal combination of solution candidates given from the data search unit 31 of the calculation unit 21, and in step a5 Proceed to end the teaching support operation.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the input unit 23 in step a1 shown in FIG. When the input unit 23 is operated by the worker in step b0, the process proceeds to step b1 and starts an input receiving operation.

  In step b1, the input unit 23 receives an input of a robot type instruction command. When the robot model is selected and input by the worker, the robot model selected by the worker is input to the calculation unit 21 and the process proceeds to step b2.

  In step b2, the input unit 23 receives input of moving point information. In the present embodiment, the movement point information is the angular position of each joint of the robot when the hand is placed at the movement point. When the worker inputs information on the angular position of each joint of the robot for each moving point, the information input by the worker is input to the calculation unit 21 and the process proceeds to step b3.

  In step b3, the input unit 23 receives an input of the step size of the angular position of the redundant joint which is one joint of the robot. The input unit 23 inputs the step size information input by the operator to the calculation unit 21, and proceeds to step b4. In step b4, the input unit 23 ends the input receiving operation. Here, the receiving order of steps b1 to b3 is not limited to this, and information input from the worker in another order may be input to the calculation unit 21.

  Further, as the moving point information, the position and posture of the hand for each moving point may be directly input. Further, as the moving point information, information on some moving points among a plurality of moving points may be input. In this case, the information regarding the remaining moving points can be obtained by the calculation unit 21 performing interpolation calculation on the information regarding the remaining moving points based on the input information about some of the moving points. If there is only one type of robot that supports teaching, there is no need to input the robot model.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the data creation unit 30 in step a2 shown in FIG. When each piece of information for obtaining an evaluation value is input from the input unit 23 in step c0, the data generation unit 30 proceeds to step c1 and starts a data generation operation.

  In step c <b> 1, the data creation unit 30 acquires information about each joint and each link of the robot corresponding to the input robot model from the robot model storage unit 32. Further, the data creation unit 30 solves the robot's forward kinematics problem based on the input information on the angular position of each joint of the robot and the information on each joint and each link of the robot, thereby moving the hand at the moving point. Find the position and posture of In this way, the data creation unit 30 performs the forward conversion calculation to obtain the position and orientation of the hand from the angular position of each joint of the robot that is input for each movement point, so that all the position and orientation of the hand for each movement point are obtained. Can be sought. The data creation unit 30 stores the obtained position and orientation of the hand at each movement point in the storage unit 22, and proceeds to step c2.

  In step c2, the data creation unit 30 obtains all solution candidates that have the hand position and orientation obtained in step c2 for each moving point. The solution candidates are obtained by moving the angular positions of the redundant joints within a predetermined range, and for each angular movement, the robot position is set to the position and orientation at which the hand is set as the movement point. Solve inverse kinematics problems. Thereby, one solution candidate composed of a combination of the angular position of the redundant joint and the angular position of each of the remaining joints such that the hand becomes the position and orientation set as the moving point can be obtained. .

  In this way, one solution candidate is obtained every time the angular position of the redundant joint is moved minutely by performing an inverse conversion operation for obtaining the angular position of each joint of the robot from the position and orientation of the hand and the angular position of the redundant joint. be able to. Here, the data creation unit 30 determines a step size for minutely moving the angular position of the redundant joint based on the information given in step b2 described above. The smaller the step size, the greater the number of solution candidates that one moving point can take.

  In this way, the solution candidate for each moving point can be obtained by moving the angular position of the redundant joint for each increment within the predetermined range and obtaining a plurality of solution candidates. . When the data creation unit 30 obtains all the solution candidates for each moving point, the data creating unit 30 associates each solution candidate with a number that distinguishes each solution candidate in association with the moving point, and stores each solution candidate in the storage unit 22. Proceed to c3.

  In step c3, with respect to the movement direction in which the hand is moved, the data creation unit 30 selects one of the solution candidates for one movement point at two movement points adjacent to the movement direction and the solution candidate for the other movement point. The evaluation value evaluated based on one of them is calculated. The data creation unit 30 obtains evaluation values for all combinations of solution candidates between two moving points. The data creation unit 30 associates the obtained evaluation value, the moving point from which the evaluation value was obtained, and the combination of solution candidates, associates a number for distinguishing each evaluation value, and stores each evaluation value in the storage unit 22. And proceed to step c4. In step c4, the data creation unit 30 ends the data creation operation.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the data creation unit 30 obtains all solution candidates in step c2. When the position and orientation of the hand at all the moving points are obtained in step d0, the process proceeds to step d1 and a solution candidate creation operation is performed.

  In step d1, the data creation unit 30 selects one movement point from the movement points obtained in step c1, and proceeds to step d2. In step d2, in order to obtain one solution candidate corresponding to the angular position of one redundant joint, a discrete form is selected. Even when the angular position of the redundant joint is one value, a plurality of candidate solutions may be obtained by changing the combination of discrete form codes indicating the positive and negative of the angular position of each joint. For the purpose of obtaining one solution candidate, the data creation unit 30 selects one of the combinations of discrete form codes, and proceeds to step d3.

  In step d3, one of a plurality of joint positions extracted from the start position to the end position in the angular range of the joint position of the redundant joint is extracted for each step size input by the operator, and the process proceeds to step d4. . In step d4, the inverse transformation is performed based on the position and orientation of the hand at the moving point, the discrete form, the joint position of the redundant joint, and the information on the joint and link body of the robot obtained in steps d1 to d3 described above. To obtain an arithmetic solution and proceed to step d5. In the present embodiment, the process proceeds to step d5 even when the inverse transformation is performed and the solution cannot be obtained.

  In step d5, it is determined whether the arithmetic solution obtained by performing the inverse transformation exists as a mechanical solution that can be realized by the robot. Specifically, if it is determined that the calculation solution obtained in step d4 exceeds a singular point in the robot, it is determined that the calculation solution is not a mechanical solution, and the process proceeds to step d11. In step d11, in the discrete form selected at the present time, an angular position different from the angular position of the redundant joint previously selected is selected, and the process returns to step d4.

  If it is determined in step d5 that the arithmetic solution obtained by performing the inverse transformation is a mechanical solution, the process proceeds to step d6. In step d6, the arithmetic solution determined as the mechanistic solution is used as a solution candidate, a number for distinguishing it from other solution candidates is attached, and the solution candidate is stored in the storage unit 22 together with the corresponding moving point information. Proceed to step d7.

  In step d7, whether or not all of the plurality of joint positions extracted for each step size have been selected from the start position to the end position in the angular range of the joint position of the redundant joint in the discrete form selected at present. If there is a joint position that has not yet been selected, the process proceeds to step d11. In step d11, an angular position different from the angular position of the redundant joint previously selected in the discrete form selected at the present time is selected, and the process returns to step d4.

  If it is determined in step d7 that all of the plurality of joint positions extracted for each step size have been selected in the discrete form selected at the present time, the process proceeds to step d8. In step d8, when the position and orientation of the hand are fixed at the moving point selected at the present time, it is determined whether or not all possible combinations of discrete form codes have been selected, and have not yet been selected. If it is determined that there is a combination of discrete form codes, the process proceeds to step d12. In step d12, a discrete form different from the already selected discrete form is selected at the currently selected moving point, and the process returns to step d3.

  If it is determined in step d8 that all of the combinations of discrete form codes that can be taken by the robot at the currently selected moving point have been selected, the process proceeds to step d9. In step d9, it is determined whether or not all the moving points have been selected. If it is determined that there are moving points that have not been selected, the process proceeds to step d13. In step d13, a moving point different from the already selected moving point is selected, and the process returns to step d2. If it is determined in step d9 that all the moving points have been selected, the process proceeds to step d10, where the solution candidate creation operation is terminated. In this manner, solution candidates are obtained for each moving point, each discrete form, and each redundant joint angle.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the data creation unit 30 calculates an evaluation value in step c3. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining each evaluation value obtained by the data creation unit 30. FIG. 7 shows a case where there are four moving points p1 to p4 and four solution candidates c (i) _1 to c (i) _4 for each moving point. The numerical value shown at the tip of the line with the arrow indicates the evaluation value in the combination of two solution candidates connected by the line with the arrow.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when all the solution candidates are obtained in step e0, the process proceeds to step e1 and an evaluation calculation operation is performed. In step e1, the most upstream moving point p1 in the moving direction in which the hand is moved and the second moving point p2 adjacent to the downstream side in the moving direction of the most upstream moving point are selected, and the process proceeds to step e2. In step e2, the first number is associated with each solution candidate c (i + 1) at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) among the two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) selected immediately before. The solution candidate c (i + 1) _1 to be selected is selected, and the process proceeds to step e3. In step e3, the first number is associated among the solution candidates c (i) at the upstream moving point p (i) of the two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) selected immediately before. The solution candidate c (i) _1 to be selected is selected, and the process proceeds to step e4.

  In step e4, two solution candidates c (i) _j and c (i + 1) _k selected immediately before are evaluated according to a predetermined evaluation criterion. In the present embodiment, the movement time t until the hand moves from the joint form indicated by the solution candidate c (i) _j upstream in the movement direction to the joint form indicated by the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k downstream in the movement direction. (I + 1) _k_j is calculated as an evaluation value. The movement time t (i + 1) _k_j according to the evaluation criterion is the value with the largest deviation of the angular position of the corresponding joint among the joint forms of the two solution candidates c (i) _j and c (i + 1) _k ( (δmax = max | δ1, δ2,..., δ6, δ7 |) divided by a predetermined moving speed v of each joint (= δmax / v). The moving speed v is a moving speed that assumes that the moving speed of each joint is constant, the acceleration / deceleration time is zero, and there is no servo delay. For example, the moving speed v is set to 100 [deg / sec]. As described above, when the value related to the travel time is adopted as the evaluation value, the smaller the evaluation value, the higher the evaluation.

  For example, in FIG. 7, among the combinations (p1 → p2) of the first movement point p1 and the second movement point p2, the first solution candidate c2_1 at the second movement point p2 is compared with the first movement point p1. The moving time t2_1_1 with the one solution candidate c1_1 is 3 seconds, and the moving time t2_1_2 with the second solution candidate c1_2 is 7 seconds. In this way, the data creation unit 30 obtains the movement time t (i + 1) _k_j necessary for moving between the two movement points p (i) and p (i + 1), and proceeds to step e5.

  In step e5, the evaluation value t (i + 1) _k_j obtained in step e4, two movement points p (i) and p (i + 1), and two solution candidates c (i) _j and c (i + 1) _k are obtained. The association is stored, and the process proceeds to step e6. In step e6, whether or not there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected among the solution candidates c (i) at the upstream movement point p (i) at the two movement points selected at the present time. to decide. If it is determined that there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected, the process proceeds to step e10.

  In step e10, at the two movement points selected at the present time, a solution candidate that has not yet been selected is selected from among the solution candidates c (i) at the upstream movement point p (i). Return. Specifically, the solution candidate c (i) _j + 1 associated with the next number of the solution candidate c (i) _j at the upstream moving point p (i) selected immediately before is selected.

  In step e6, assuming that all solution candidates among the solution candidates c (i) _j at the upstream movement point p (i) have already been selected at the two movement points selected at the present time, step e7 Proceed to In step e7, it is determined whether or not there are solution candidates that have not yet been selected from among the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream movement point p (i + 1) at the two movement points selected at the present time. to decide. If it is determined that there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected, the process proceeds to step e11.

  In step e11, solution candidates that have not been selected are selected from the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) at the two moving points selected at the present time. move on. Specifically, the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k + 1 associated with the next number of the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) selected immediately before is selected.

  In step e7, assuming that all solution candidates among the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream movement point p (i + 1) have already been selected at the two movement points selected at the present time, the process goes to step e8. move on. In step e8, it is determined whether or not all combinations of two movement points p (i) and p (i + 1) adjacent in the movement direction have been selected, and it is determined that there is a combination of two movement points that have not yet been selected. Then, it progresses to step e12. In step e12, the movement point p (i + 1) on the downstream side in the movement direction among the two movement points p (i) and p (i + 1) selected immediately before, and the movement point on the further downstream side in the movement direction than that movement point. A combination of two moving points with p (i + 2) is selected, and the process returns to step e2.

  If it is assumed in step e8 that all combinations of two movement points p (i) and p (i + 1) adjacent in the movement direction have been selected, the process proceeds to step e9 and the evaluation value calculation operation is terminated. In this way, evaluation values are obtained for each combination of two movement points adjacent in the movement direction, for each upstream solution candidate, and for each downstream solution candidate. Further, the data creation unit 30 may obtain all the evaluation values by a procedure different from the procedure shown in FIG. 6 described above.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the data structure of the travel time t (i + 1) _k_j created in the storage unit 22 by the data creation unit 30. FIG. 8 shows a case where there are m solution candidates for each moving point. T (i + 1) _k_j indicates an evaluation value. Here, i indicates the number of the upstream moving point p (i) of the two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) adjacent in the moving direction. Further, j represents the number of solution candidates at the upstream moving point p (i), and k represents the number of solution candidates at the downstream moving point p (i + 1).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, one solution candidate c (i + 1) _k at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) of the two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) is upstream. There are combinations corresponding to the respective solution candidates c (i) _j at the moving point p (i) on the side. For example, in FIG. 8, among the combinations (p1 → p2) of the first movement point p1 in the movement direction and the second movement point p2 in the movement direction, the first solution candidate c2_1 at the second movement point p2 and the first one There are m moving times t2_1_1 to t2_1_m respectively obtained for each solution candidate c1_j at the moving point p1. In addition, there are m moving times t2_2_1 to t2_2_m respectively obtained from the second solution candidate c2_2 at the second moving point p2 and the solution candidates c1_j at the first moving point p1. This is the same when the combination of the two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) is different. Therefore, in the present embodiment, m × m × (N−1) evaluation values are stored in the storage unit 22. In other words, the data creation unit 30 calculates the evaluation value m × m × (N−1) times.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure in which the data search unit 31 calculates an optimal combination of solution candidates in step a3. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a combination of globally optimal solution candidates obtained by the data search unit 31. FIG. 10 corresponds to FIG. 7 described above, and two solution candidates connected by a line with an arrow are one solution candidate c (i + 1) _k of the moving point p (i + 1) on the downstream side and the solution candidate. The solution candidate c (i) _J having the highest evaluation value among the solution candidates at the upstream moving point p (i) is shown. A numerical value shown below each solution candidate indicates a cumulative evaluation value in a combination of two solution candidates.

  As shown in FIG. 9, when all evaluation values are obtained in step f0, the process proceeds to step f1 to start an operation of calculating an optimal solution candidate combination. In step f1, the most upstream moving point p1 in the moving direction in which the hand is moved and the second moving point p2 adjacent to the downstream side in the moving direction of the most upstream moving point are selected, and the process proceeds to step f2. In step f2, among the two selected movement points p (i) and p (i + 1), the solution associated with the first number among the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream movement point p (i + 1). Candidate c (i + 1) _1 is selected, and the process proceeds to step f3.

  In step f3, for each solution candidate c (i + 1) _k at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) of the two moving points selected immediately before, each upstream moving point p (i) Cumulative evaluation values T (i + 1) _k_1 to T (i + 1) _k_m are obtained for the solution candidates c (i) _1 to c (i) _m, respectively. Then, the solution candidate c (i) _J of the upstream moving point p (i) having the highest cumulative evaluation value is extracted. The cumulative evaluation value T (i + 1) _k_j is the solution of the evaluation value t (i + 1) _k_j obtained by the combination of two solution candidates c (i) _j and c (i + 1) _k and the upstream moving point p (i). This is a value obtained by adding the cumulative evaluation value T (i) _k_J already associated with the candidate c (i) _j. Here, for each solution candidate c1_j at the most upstream moving point p1, there is no associated cumulative evaluation value T (1) _k_J, and it is associated as zero for convenience during calculation.

  For example, for the first solution candidate c3_1 at the third movement point p3 shown in FIG. 7, the third solution candidate c2_3 is extracted from the solution candidates c2_1 to c2_4 at the second movement point p2. In this case, the cumulative evaluation value T3_1_J is an evaluation value t3_1_j obtained by a combination of two solution candidates c (2) and c (3) of the second movement point p2 and the third movement point p3, and the upstream side Is a value obtained by adding zero, which is a cumulative evaluation value T2_k_J, already associated with the third solution candidate c2_3 of the second moving point p2. In this way, the data search unit 31 has a solution candidate at the upstream moving point p (i) where the cumulative evaluation value T (i + 1) _k_J is the highest with respect to the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k selected in step f2. When one c (i) _j is extracted, the process proceeds to step f4.

  In step f4, the cumulative evaluation value T (i + 1) _k_J having the highest evaluation obtained in step f3 is associated with the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k of the downstream moving point p (i + 1) extracted in step f3. The cumulative evaluation value T (i + 1) _k_J, the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k of the downstream moving point p (i + 1) selected immediately before, and the solution candidate c () of the extracted upstream moving point p (i) i + 1) _J and a combination of two movement points are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit 22. When the storage is completed, the process proceeds to step f5.

  In step f5, it is determined whether or not there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected from among the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream movement point p (i + 1) at the two movement points selected at the present time. to decide. If it is determined that there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected, the process proceeds to step f10.

  In step f10, solution candidates that have not been selected are selected from the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream movement point p (i + 1) at the two movement points selected at the present time. Return. Specifically, the solution candidate c (i + 1) _k + 1 associated with the next number of the one solution candidate c (i + 1) _k at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) selected immediately before is selected.

  In step f5, assuming that all the solution candidates among the solution candidates c (i + 1) at the downstream moving point p (i + 1) have already been selected at the two moving points selected at the present time, the process goes to step f6. move on. In step f6, it is determined whether or not all combinations of two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) adjacent in the moving direction have been selected, and it is determined that there is a combination of two moving points that have not yet been selected. Then, the process proceeds to step f11. In step f11, of the two movement points p (i) and p (i + 1) selected immediately before, the movement point p (i + 1) on the downstream side in the movement direction, and the movement point further downstream in the movement direction than the movement point A combination of two moving points with p (i + 2) is selected, and the process returns to step f2.

  If it is assumed in step f6 that all combinations of two moving points p (i) and p (i + 1) adjacent in the moving direction have been selected, the process proceeds to step f7. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the data structure of the cumulative evaluation value T (i + 1) _k_J created in the storage unit 22 by the data search unit 31. FIG. 11 corresponds to FIG. 8, and T (i + 1) _k_J indicates a cumulative evaluation value associated with each solution candidate. There are as many cumulative evaluation values as the number of moving points of the second moving point p2 to the most downstream moving point pN. For example, if m solution candidates exist at the second movement point p2, there are m cumulative evaluation values at the second movement point p2. The same applies to the third moving point p3 to the most downstream moving point pN. Therefore, in the present embodiment, m × (N−1) cumulative evaluation values are stored in the storage unit 22.

  Returning to FIG. 9, in step f7, among the solution candidates cN_1 to cN_m of the most downstream moving point pN, a solution candidate having the highest associated cumulative evaluation value TN_1_J to TN_m_J is extracted. In other words, a combination of solution candidates having the highest cumulative evaluation value is extracted from the combination of the most downstream moving point pN and the immediately preceding moving point p (N−1). Once extracted, the process proceeds to step f8.

  In step f8, solution candidates related to the combination of solution candidates extracted in step f8 are sequentially extracted for each moving point, and the extracted combination of solution candidates for each moving point is stored as an optimal combination of solution candidates. Specifically, based on the information about the accumulated evaluation value stored in the storage unit 22, when combined with the solution candidate for the most downstream moving point extracted in step f8, the moving direction in which the accumulated evaluation value is highest A solution candidate for an upstream moving point is extracted, and when combined with the extracted solution candidate, a solution candidate for an upstream moving point is further extracted in the moving direction in which the cumulative evaluation value is highest.

  In other words, using the database in which the cumulative evaluation values are stored, the solution of the combination of the cumulative evaluation values with the highest evaluation for each moving point is traced back to the upstream side in the movement direction from the extracted solution candidate for the most downstream movement point. The candidates are traced sequentially, and the traced solution candidates are extracted sequentially for each moving point. The combination of solution candidates extracted for each moving point in this way is the combination of solution candidates having the highest overall evaluation value, that is, the optimal combination of solution candidates. When the optimum combination of solution candidates is extracted, the process proceeds to step f9, and the calculation operation of the optimum solution candidate combination is terminated. In this embodiment, the direction in which the hand moves the moving point is calculated as the evaluation direction. However, even if the calculation is sequentially performed with the direction opposite to the direction in which the hand moves the moving point as the evaluation direction, the movement with the highest evaluation is performed. A combination of solution candidates for each point can be obtained.

In the present embodiment, the number of calculations to be repeated after calculating all the evaluation values obtained for each combination of two solution candidates as shown in FIG. 8 until searching for the optimal combination of solution candidates is m Xmx (N-1) times. On the other hand, when the whole area search method is used without using the cumulative evaluation value, the number of calculations to be repeated before searching for the optimal combination of solution candidates is m ^N times. Here, as described above, m is the number of solution candidates acquired at one moving point, and N is the number of moving points. Therefore, if the step size for changing the angular position of the redundant joint is made fine, the number of iterations required for the search increases exponentially when the cumulative evaluation is not used. On the other hand, in this embodiment, even if the step size is made fine, it increases only proportionally, and the increase in the number of repeated calculations can be suppressed extremely effectively.

For example, when N = 30 and m = 800, when the cumulative evaluation is not used, the calculation must be repeated about 1.2 × 10 ⁸⁷ times, whereas in the present embodiment, about 1.9 × 10 6 is required. ^It is only necessary to repeat the calculation ^seven times. Therefore, it is possible to search for an optimal combination of solution candidates in a short time without the need for a processing circuit having a high calculation capability.

  FIG. 12 is a graph showing simulation results of changes in travel time between the calculation result and before the calculation. In FIG. 12, the movement time between the movement points when the hand is sequentially moved with the combination of the joint forms for each movement point in the initial state input by the operator is indicated by a broken line. In addition, the movement time between movement points in the combination of joint forms for each optimum movement point calculated by the teaching support device 20 is indicated by a solid line.

  As described above, the teaching support device 20 outputs a combination of joint forms that minimizes the amount of movement of the maximum moving joint between moving points. Therefore, by applying the combination of the joint forms of the calculation result, the overall movement time can be shortened compared to the initial state. In the present embodiment, by adopting the calculation result, the total movement time from the first movement point to the 28th movement point can be shortened by 47.4% compared to the initial state. By using the calculation result in this way, the movement time of the robot can be greatly shortened, and the work efficiency during the robot operation can be improved.

  Table 1 shows the calculation conditions and calculation time of this embodiment. As shown in Table 1, in this embodiment, about 12 minutes was spent in the calculation time. However, when the cumulative evaluation is not used, an optimal combination of solution candidates can be searched even if 2 hours are spent. There wasn't.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a change in the joint form of the robot according to the calculation result related to FIG. 12, and the joint form of the robot proceeds in the order of FIG. 13 (1) to FIG. 13 (12). FIG. 14 is a diagram showing changes in the joint form of the robot in the initial state related to FIG. 12, and the joint form of the robot proceeds in the order of FIGS. 14 (1) to 14 (12). Compared with the joint shape change in the initial state shown in FIG. 14, the change in the joint shape of the robot based on the calculation result shown in FIG. Can be omitted.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the entire search for solution candidates is performed for each angular position of the redundant joint and for each discrete form. Then, all movement times between moving points are obtained for each combination of solution candidates, and for each solution candidate on the downstream side, a combination of solution candidates on the upstream side having the shortest movement time is extracted. Based on the extraction result, a search is made for a combination of solution candidates that minimizes the overall movement time for moving the hand from the start point to the end point.

  In this way, by finding the optimal solution candidate combination for all solution candidate combinations, the optimal solution candidate combination can be reliably obtained as compared with the gradient method that may fall into a local solution. be able to. In addition, by searching for an optimal combination of solution candidates except for a combination with a low evaluation, it is possible to obtain an optimal combination of solution candidates in a short time compared to a global search method that does not exclude a combination with a low evaluation. . Specifically, as described above, when the step size for changing the angular position of the redundant joint is made fine, the number of iterations required for the search increases exponentially when the cumulative evaluation is not used, whereas this implementation is performed. The form increases only proportionally, and the increase in the number of repeated calculations can be extremely effectively suppressed. As a result, the number of moving points can be increased, and the area that can be moved at a time can be increased. Further, the step size can be reduced, and a more optimal solution candidate combination can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the teaching support apparatus 20 obtains the optimal combination of solution candidates for the robot having the tilt joint. A robot having an inclined joint has many singular points, and the nonlinearity of the movement time becomes high. Also, the change in the angular position of the joint is irregular to move the hand. In such a robot, it is difficult for an operator to manually estimate a solution candidate having the shortest overall movement time. By using the teaching support apparatus according to the present embodiment, the operator can grasp the optimal combination of solution candidates that are difficult to estimate manually. Therefore, the teaching support apparatus can effectively achieve teaching work support.

  Further, as the second embodiment of the present invention, the teaching support apparatus 20 may receive information regarding an obstacle to the robot from the input unit 23. Hereinafter, the teaching support apparatus 20 that obtains an optimal combination of joint forms while avoiding obstacles will be described. Even in the case of obtaining a joint form in consideration of an obstacle, the teaching support apparatus 20 includes a calculation unit 21, a storage unit 22, an input unit 23, and an output unit 24 that are the same as those in FIG. The teaching support apparatus 20 outputs the calculation result by the same operation procedure as that in FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the input unit 23 in the robot teaching support apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. When the input unit 23 is operated by the worker in step g0, the process proceeds to step g1 and starts an input receiving operation.

  The input unit 23 performs the same operations as steps b1 and b2 shown in FIG. 3 in order at steps g1 and g2, and then proceeds to step g3. In step g3, the input unit 23 receives an input of an obstacle. When the operator inputs information on an obstacle to the robot, that is, information on an entry-prohibited area where entry of the robot is prohibited, the information is input to the calculation unit 21 and the process proceeds to step g4. The input unit 23 sequentially performs the same operations as steps b3 and b4 shown in FIG. 3 in steps g4 and g5, and ends the input receiving operation.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the data creation unit 30 obtains all solution candidates in step c2 in the second embodiment. The second embodiment is similar to the operation shown in FIG. 5 and includes an extra step d14 for determining whether the arithmetic solution interferes with an obstacle. Therefore, the description of similar steps is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given.

  In the second embodiment, when it is determined in step d5 that the arithmetic solution obtained by performing the inverse transformation is a mechanical solution, the process proceeds to step d14. In step d14, the data creation unit 30 determines whether or not a part of the robot enters the entry prohibition area in a state where the hand is positioned in the position and orientation determined as the moving point in the joint form according to the calculation solution, so-called interference. Check. If it is determined that a part of the robot enters the entry prohibited area, the process proceeds to step d11. If it is determined that a part of the robot does not enter, the process proceeds to step d6. The other configuration is the same as the operation shown in FIG. According to the second embodiment, solution candidates that have a possibility of interference are not used in the storage unit 22, and practical solution candidates that do not collide with an obstacle are stored in the storage unit 22. In the second embodiment, the other procedures are the same as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an interference check method. In the present embodiment, the data creation unit 30 performs interference determination calculation using an OBB (Oriented Bounding Box). As shown in FIG. 17, when the entry prohibition area is a rectangular parallelepiped and the link body is a line segment, it is determined whether or not the line segment enters the rectangular parallelepiped. The data creation unit 30 performs a forward conversion operation based on the solution candidate obtained in step d4 to obtain a three-dimensional position and a direction vector of the line segment when each link body is a line segment. The above-described interference check is performed every time.

  In the interference determination calculation using the OBB, if at least one of the coefficient combinations shown in Table 2 satisfies the relationship expressed by R> R0 + R1 + ε, it is determined that there is no interference. Here, ε is an interference margin and is set to be equal to or larger than the radius of the link body. By making the predetermined amount larger than the radius of the link body, it is possible to determine that interference has occurred even in the state of being close to the obstacle. In step g3, ε is input from the operator along with the obstacle information.

In Table 2, a ₀ is the longitudinal dimension from the center of gravity when the obstacle and rectangular to the end face. a ₁ is the transverse dimension from the center of gravity when the obstacle and rectangular to the end face. a ₂ is the width dimension of the center of gravity to the end face of when the obstacle a rectangular parallelepiped. Ω is a vector indicating the direction in which the line segment extends when the link body is a line segment. A ₀ is a unit vector indicating the vertical direction when the obstacle is a rectangular parallelepiped, and A ₁ is a unit vector indicating the horizontal direction when the obstacle is a rectangular parallelepiped. A ₂ is a unit vector indicating the width direction when the obstacle is a rectangular parallelepiped. D is a vector indicating the direction connecting the midpoint when the link body is a line segment and the center of gravity when the obstacle is a rectangular parallelepiped. “×” represents an outer product of vectors, and “·” represents an inner product of vectors.

  Here, the interference check shown in FIG. 17 is an example, and other interference check methods may be used to perform the interference check when the hand is positioned at the position and orientation determined as the moving point.

  FIG. 18 is a graph showing a simulation result of a change in travel time between the calculation result and before the calculation when an obstacle is avoided. In FIG. 18, the movement time between the movement points when the hand is sequentially moved with the combination of the joint forms for each movement point in the initial state input by the operator is indicated by a broken line. In addition, the movement time between movement points in the combination of joint forms for each optimum movement point calculated by the teaching support device 20 is indicated by a solid line.

  The teaching support apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment outputs a combination of joint forms such that the movement amount of the maximum moving joint is minimized between moving points after avoiding an obstacle. In this case as well, the overall movement time can be shortened by applying the combination of joint forms obtained as a result of the calculation compared to the combination of joint forms in the initial state. In the present embodiment, by adopting the calculation result, the total travel time can be shortened by 17.2% compared to the initial state. By using the calculation result in this way, it is possible to reduce the movement time of the robot while avoiding obstacles, and to improve the working efficiency during the robot operation. Table 3 shows calculation conditions and calculation time of the present embodiment. When obstacle information is input, the effect of shortening the movement time of the robot is reduced, but a practical solution can be output. In addition, the interference check itself has a relatively large calculation load, but the solution candidates are narrowed down by the interference check, so that iterative calculation in the subsequent calculation processing can be reduced, and compared with the case where no obstacle is taken into consideration. In some cases, it is possible to shorten the calculation time.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a change in the joint form of the robot according to the calculation result for avoiding the obstacle related to FIG. 18, and the joint form of the robot proceeds in the order of FIG. 19 (1) to FIG. 19 (12). . FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating changes in the joint form of the robot in an initial state in which the obstacles related to FIG. 18 are avoided. The joint form of the robot proceeds in the order of FIGS. 20 (1) to 20 (12). . The robot joint shape change based on the calculation result shown in FIG. 19 avoids an obstacle, and the movement amount of the maximum movable joint is small for each movement point compared to the joint shape change in the initial state shown in FIG. Undesirable angular displacement of the joint can be omitted.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. The first evaluation criterion determined based on the evaluation value and the second evaluation criterion determined based on the presence / absence of interference between the robot and the obstacle provide a comprehensive evaluation criterion. An interference check with an obstacle is performed, and an optimal combination of solution candidates is calculated from the solution candidates that are prevented from coming into contact with the obstacle. Thus, a combination of solution candidates that can be actually applied can be obtained, and the teaching support apparatus 20 can be suitably used for off-line teaching. In addition, as shown in step d14 of FIG. 16, the evaluation process and the search process are performed in a state where the solution candidates that the obstacle and the robot may contact are excluded. As a result, the number m of solution candidates corresponding to one moving point can be reduced, and the calculation time spent in the evaluation process and the search process can be shortened compared to the case where calculation is performed without taking obstacles into consideration. it can. This may reduce the overall calculation time. In addition, by entering information about obstacles, even if the worker is greatly different from the robot form originally assumed, the robot can be prevented from entering the prohibited area, and the robot and the obstacle can collide. Can be prevented. Further, by storing the evaluation value and the solution candidate in the storage unit 22, even if the information on the obstacle is updated or changed, the evaluation value and the solution candidate value calculated before are used, so that the optimum value can be obtained in a short time. A combination of solution candidates can be obtained.

As a third embodiment, in addition to the second embodiment, the teaching support apparatus 20 determines whether or not a part of the robot collides with an obstacle while moving the hand from one movement point to the other movement point. FIG. 21 illustrates a procedure for the data search unit 31 to calculate an optimal combination of solution candidates in step a3 in the third embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows. The third embodiment is similar to the operation shown in FIG. 9, and determines whether or not a part of the robot collides with an obstacle while moving the hand from one moving point to the other moving point. Step f12 and step f13 related thereto are included in excess. Therefore, the description of similar steps is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given.

  In the third embodiment, whether or not a part of the robot enters the entry prohibition area while moving between two corresponding movement points for the two solution candidates having the highest cumulative evaluation value in step f3. Determine whether. Specifically, according to the extracted two solution candidates, when moving from one moving point to the other moving point, for each joint form of the robot that will change at a predetermined time interval from one moving point The static interference check shown in step d14 is repeated. If it is determined that the robot enters the entry prohibition area even once during the static interference check, the process proceeds to step f13.

  In step f13, the upstream moving point candidate previously obtained in step f3 is excluded, and the process returns to step f3. In step f3, the solution candidate having the highest cumulative evaluation value is extracted from the remaining solution candidates at the upstream moving point except for the solution candidates excluded in step f13, and the process proceeds to step f12.

  If it is determined in step f12 that the robot never enters the entry prohibited area while repeating the static interference check, the process proceeds to step f4. In step f4, a solution candidate combination having the highest cumulative evaluation value is stored without interference. The other configuration is the same as the operation shown in FIG. According to the third embodiment, a combination of practical solution candidates that do not collide with an obstacle is stored in the storage unit 22 without using a combination of solution candidates that may cause dynamic interference. In the third embodiment, the other procedures are the same as in the second embodiment.

  In general, a calculation amount (D4α) for obtaining a solution candidate in step d4, a calculation amount (D14α) for performing static interference check in step d14, a calculation amount (F3α) for extracting a cumulative evaluation value having the highest evaluation in step f3, In step f12, the calculation load increases in the order of the calculation amount (F12α) for the dynamic interference check (F12α> F3α> D14α> D4α).

  In addition, since the number of calculation targets (D14β) for which the static interference check is performed in step d14 is performed for the solution candidates narrowed down in step d5, the number is smaller than the number of calculation targets (D4β) for which solution candidates are obtained in step d4. Further, the number of calculation objects (D4β) from which the cumulative evaluation value with the highest evaluation is extracted in step d4 is calculated for the calculation objects further narrowed down by the static interference check. In addition, the number of calculation objects (F12β) for which the dynamic interference check is performed in step f12 is performed for the calculation objects further narrowed down in step d4. Therefore, the number of objects to be calculated is narrowed down as the calculation process proceeds (D4β> D14β> F3β> F12β).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the same effects as those in the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain an optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point that can prevent an obstacle from colliding even while the hand moves between the moving points. Candidate solutions can be obtained. Further, in the present embodiment, a large amount of operations with a small calculation load are implemented as a database, and operations with a large calculation load are executed only for calculation objects narrowed down in the previous step. As a result, the number of repetitions of calculations with a large calculation burden can be suppressed, the calculations can be performed efficiently, and an increase in calculation time can be suppressed.

  In addition, by storing all solution candidates and all evaluation values previously calculated in the database, the obstacle information is re-input by the operator after calculating the optimal solution candidates for each moving point or The solution candidate can be re-extracted using the joint form stored in the storage means, such as when the entry prohibition area is updated, and the solution candidate and all evaluation values are calculated each time obstacle information is input. Compared to the case, the solution candidate can be obtained in a short time. As a modification of the third embodiment, a dynamic interference check may be performed on the optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point obtained by the second embodiment. If it is found by the motion interference check that the robot and the obstacle interfere with each other, an optimum combination of solution candidates is obtained again, excluding the combination of solution candidates. By doing in this way, the optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point may be obtained in a short time.

  The robot in the embodiment described above moves the hand from the start point to the end point. On the other hand, the teaching support apparatus of the present invention can be applied to a case where the robot circulates and moves the hand along a circular circulation movement path connecting the movement points. For example, the robot proceeds in order of the first movement point p1, the second movement point p2, the third movement point p3, the fourth movement point p4, and the first movement point p1, and goes around the circulation movement path. In the present embodiment, a case where no obstacle exists around the robot will be described for easy understanding.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the operation of the calculation unit 21 when the robot circulates the hand along the circulation movement route. FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining the calculation procedure of the optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point.

  In step h0, information necessary for obtaining the evaluation value is input from the operator to the input unit 23. When the input unit 23 provides the necessary information to the calculation unit 21, the process proceeds to step h1 to start the operation. When the hand moves on the circulation movement route, the operator inputs one of the plurality of circulation movement points p1 to p4 as the start point p1 in addition to the information given in steps b1 to b3 shown in FIG. 3 described above. Then, the circulating movement point upstream in the movement direction with respect to the start point p1 is input as the end point p4.

  In step h1, the calculation unit 21 selects a start point and an end point from a plurality of moving points based on information input from the operator, and proceeds to step h2. In the present embodiment, the first movement point p1 is selected as the start point, and the fourth movement point p4 is selected as the end point. Accordingly, the calculation unit 22 serves as a selection unit that selects a start point and an end point. In step h2, the start point p1 selected in step h1 is set as the most upstream moving point in the moving direction, and the end point p4 is set as the moving point on the most downstream side in the moving direction. Steps d1 to d10 shown in FIG. 5 and step e1 shown in FIG. -E9, the operations shown in steps f1 to f7 shown in FIG. 9 are sequentially performed, and as shown in FIG. 23, when the cumulative evaluation value T4_k_J is associated with each solution candidate c4 at the end point p4, the process proceeds to step h3.

  In step h3, the solution candidate c4_1 associated with the first number is selected from the solution candidates c4 at the end point p4, and the process proceeds to step h4. In step h4, a solution candidate c1 at the start point p1 is selected, which is obtained by sequentially tracing a solution candidate having the highest cumulative evaluation value from the solution candidate c4_k at the end point p4 selected immediately before to the upstream side in the movement direction, and step h5 Proceed to In this case, the solution candidate c1 of the starting point p1 selected in step h3 has only one relationship with the one solution candidate c4 of the end point p4.

  In step h5, evaluation values of the solution candidate c4 at the end point p4 selected immediately before and the solution candidate c1 at the start point p1 selected immediately before are obtained, and the process proceeds to step h6. For example, in FIG. 23, the movement time for moving the hand from the joint form indicated by the first solution candidate c4_1 at the end point p4 to the joint form indicated by the fourth solution candidate c1_4 at the start point p1 is calculated as an evaluation value. Next, a value obtained by adding the evaluation value to the cumulative evaluation value associated with the solution candidate c4 of the end point p4 is obtained as a cyclic cumulative evaluation value associated with the two solution candidates of the end point P4 and the start point p1 selected immediately before. . Next, the obtained circulation cumulative evaluation value is associated with the two solution candidates, stored in the storage unit 22, and the process proceeds to step h6.

  In step h6, it is determined whether there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected from among the solution candidates at the end point p4. If it is determined that there is a solution candidate that has not yet been selected, the process proceeds to step h9. In step h9, a solution candidate that has not yet been selected is selected from the solution candidates at the end point, and the process returns to step h4.

  If all the solution candidates at the end point p4 have already been selected in step h6, the process proceeds to step h7. In step h7, as shown in FIG. 22, the cyclic accumulated evaluation value is associated with each combination of two solution candidates of the end point P4 and the start point p1. The calculation unit 22 extracts a solution candidate having the highest circulation accumulation evaluation value from the combination of solution candidates of the end point P4 and the start point p1, and proceeds to Step h8.

  In step h8, the solution candidates for each moving point related to the solution candidate for the via point are sequentially transferred from the solution candidate for the start point p1 extracted in step h7 to the solution candidate for the end point p4 extracted in step h7. The extracted solution candidate combinations for each moving point are extracted and stored as optimum solution candidate combinations. Specifically, on the basis of the information related to the circulating cumulative evaluation value stored in the storage unit 22, when combined with the solution candidate of the starting point p1 extracted in step h7, for each moving point having the highest cumulative evaluation value. Solution candidates are extracted sequentially.

  In other words, the solution candidate of the end point p4 extracted in step h7 is extracted, and the solution of the combination of the cumulative evaluation values having the highest evaluation for each movement point from the solution candidate of the end point p4 extracted to the upstream side in the movement direction. The candidates are traced sequentially, and the traced solution candidates are extracted sequentially for each moving point. The combination of solution candidates extracted for each moving point in this way is the combination of solution candidates having the highest overall evaluation value, that is, the optimal combination of solution candidates. When the optimum combination of solution candidates in the circular movement route is extracted in this way, the process proceeds to step h8, and the calculation operation of the optimum combination of solution candidates is completed. Then, the teaching support device 20 outputs and displays an optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point on the circular movement route.

  In the present embodiment, in step h6, by obtaining an evaluation value when moving from the end point p4 to the start point p1, the joint form in which the hand is aligned with the start point, and the circulation movement route from the state, the hand moves again. It is possible to calculate an optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point with the same joint form that is aligned with the starting point. As a result, after making one round with reference to the starting point, it is possible to quickly start moving again from the starting point, and to smoothly circulate the hand along the circulation movement path.

  In step h1 described above, the operator inputs the start point p1 and the end point p4 from the plurality of movement points p1 to p4. However, the calculation unit 22 may determine the start point p1 and the end point p4. In this case, the calculation unit 22 selects one of the movement points as the start point, and sets the movement point upstream of the movement direction of the start point as the end point. Also in the case of a circular movement route, it is possible to calculate a combination of solution candidates for each movement point in consideration of obstacles.

  FIG. 24 is a graph showing a calculation result in consideration of the circulation movement route and a simulation result of a change in the movement time before the calculation. In FIG. 24, the movement time between the movement points when the hand is sequentially moved with the combination of the joint forms for each movement point in the initial state input by the operator is indicated by a broken line. In addition, the movement time between movement points in the combination of joint forms for each optimum movement point calculated by the teaching support device 20 is indicated by a solid line.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the teaching support apparatus 20 uses the same joint form before and after the first round when moving the hand on the circulation movement route, and then determines the maximum movement joint between the movement points. A combination of joint forms that outputs the smallest amount of movement is output. By applying the combination of the joint forms of the output calculation results, the overall movement time can be shortened compared to the initial state. In this embodiment, by adopting the calculation result, compared with the initial state, the total movement time from the first movement point to the 28th movement point and from the 28th movement point to the first movement point again is obtained. 38.6% could be shortened. By using the calculation result in this way, the movement time of the robot can be greatly shortened, and the work efficiency during the robot operation can be improved. It can also be obtained in the same way when there are obstacles around.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining another procedure for obtaining a combination of solution candidates on the circular movement route. The calculation unit 21 obtains a cumulative evaluation value when moving from the end point to the start point when any one of the movement points is selected as the start point. Next, when a moving point other than the already selected moving point is selected as the starting point among the moving points, a cumulative evaluation value is obtained when moving from the end point to the starting point. Such an operation is repeated by the number of moving points, and the accumulated cumulative evaluation values when moving from the end point to the starting point when each moving point is adopted as the starting point are obtained. Among them, the one having the highest circulation cumulative evaluation value is extracted and set as a combination of solution candidates for each moving point on the circular movement route. This makes it possible to obtain a further optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point.

  For example, when there are four moving points, the procedure shown in FIG. 22 is performed for each of the first to fourth moving points p1 to p4 as the starting points, and the movement from the ending point to the starting point is performed among them. The one with the highest circulating cumulative evaluation value is output. This makes it possible to obtain a further optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point. Here, the movement point selected as the start point and the movement point selected as the end point do not have to coincide with the start point where the movement of the hand actually starts and the end point where the movement of the hand ends.

  In the present embodiment, the hand is moved along the circular movement path. However, when it is not necessary to make the joint form equal at each movement point of the forward path and the return path, the predetermined movement path is reciprocated. In the same way, an optimal combination of solution candidates for each moving point can be obtained in the same manner. Also, if it is necessary to make the joint form equal at each movement point on the forward and return paths, it is possible to cope with this by finding the optimal combination of solution candidates from the start point to the end point of either the forward path or the return path can do.

  FIG. 26 is a front view showing an articulated robot whose joint form is calculated by the teaching support apparatus of the present embodiment. The articulated robot is a robot having seven degrees of freedom, and includes six link bodies 3 to 8 and seven joints 9 to 15 that rotatably connect two adjacent link bodies. Each link body 3-8 is comprised, respectively, and comprises the arm structure 16 extended in series. Further, the articulated robot 1 includes a base 17 connected to the base end connected to the base end of the arm structure 16 and a hand that is an end effector 18 connected to the tip of the arm structure 16. Have. The base 17 is fixed in advance to a fixing part such as a wall part or a floor part. The robot has reference coordinates set on the base 17 and moves the hand to an arbitrary position and orientation according to the reference coordinates.

  Each joint 9-15 is either one of a coaxial joint and an inclined joint. The coaxial joint connects adjacent link bodies so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis coaxial with the axis of each link body. The inclined joint connects one of two adjacent link bodies so as to be conically rotatable about a rotation axis inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of each link body. The rotation axis of the inclined joint axis is inclined at 45 degrees with respect to the axis of each link body to be connected.

  The joints 9 to 15 are arranged in order from the base 17 to the first to seventh joints 9 to 15. Specifically, the first joint 9, the fifth joint 13, and the seventh joint 15 are coaxial joints. The second joint 10, the third joint 11, the fourth joint 12, and the sixth joint 14 are inclined joints. As the angular positions of the joints 9 to 12 move, the arm structure 16 is configured to be deformable into a state in which the respective axes of the link bodies 3 to 6 are arranged coaxially and extend in a straight line. In a state where each link body extends in a straight line, the rotation axes of the second joint 10 and the third joint 11 are parallel, and the rotation axes of the third joint 11 and the fourth joint 12 are vertical. Further, the robot 1 of the present embodiment intersects at a three-axis intersection point P where the rotation axes of the fifth joint 13, the sixth joint 14, and the seventh joint 15 become one point. In this way, the respective rotation axes of the three joints continuously arranged from the one end portion in the series direction toward the other end portion in the direct direction intersect at the three-axis intersection point P. In the present embodiment, the first joint 9 is set as a redundant joint.

  The articulated robot 1 can move the angular positions of the joints 9 to 12 to deform the arm structure 16 like a snake and position the hand 18 at an arbitrary position and an arbitrary posture within a movable range. It is. Since the articulated robot 1 has seven degrees of freedom, there are an infinite number of possible combinations of the angular positions of the joints in a state where the position and posture of the hand are positioned. Each of the link bodies 3 to 8 incorporates a motor that is individually driven to rotate. Each motor is configured to be capable of displacing two members connected by a joint at an arbitrary angle around a rotation axis thereof. Accordingly, one of the two link bodies connected by the joint is rotated by the motor around the rotation axis of the joint with respect to the other link body. With the state where the arm structure 16 extends in a straight line as a reference state, the angular displacement amount of the link body connected to each joint is defined as the angular position of the joint.

  The robot 1 is controlled by the control device 2. The control device 2 has an input unit, a central processing unit, and an output unit. By controlling the motor provided for each joint by the control device 2, the link bodies are angularly displaced from each other around the angular displacement axis of the joint, and the shape of the robot is changed to bring the hand to the target position and orientation. Can be positioned. Here, the form of the robot means an external form such as the shape and posture of the robot.

  The reverse conversion execution process of step d4 which the data preparation part 30 performs with respect to the robot 1 of this Embodiment is demonstrated. In the robot 1 of the present embodiment, the structures of the joints 9 to 15 and the lengths of the link bodies 3 to 8 are known. Thereby, when the hand 18 is positioned at a predetermined position and posture, the three-dimensional position of the three-axis intersection P can be uniquely determined. In this case, using the angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 as variables, three forward conversion relational expressions for obtaining the X coordinate position, the Y coordinate position, and the Z coordinate position of the three-axis intersection P, and redundant joints, respectively Based on the angular position of the first joint 9 and the three-dimensional position of the three-axis intersection P, the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 that can position and arrange the three-axis intersection P at the three-dimensional position are analyzed. Can be determined.

  Specifically, the angle of the first joint 9 that is a redundant joint is added to three simultaneous equations for obtaining the three-dimensional position of the three-axis intersection P, with the angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 as variables. By substituting the position and the three-dimensional position of the three-axis intersection P, a three-way simultaneous equation having three unknowns can be derived, and by solving the three-way simultaneous equation, the three-axis intersection P is moved to the three-dimensional position. The first to fourth joints 9 to 12 that can be positioned and arranged can be analytically determined. Moreover, the relationship which calculates | requires the angular position of the 2nd-4th joints 10-12 by making the angular position of the 1st joint 9 and the three-dimensional position of the 3-axis intersection P into a variable by changing the ternary simultaneous equation mentioned above. An expression can be derived.

  Further, when a solution for any of the angular positions of the second to fourth joints 10 to 12 cannot be obtained, it means that the robot's movable limit is exceeded and no mechanical solution exists. Also, considering the robot's movement margin, it is determined that there is no mechanistic solution even when the angular position is located on the movable limit side from a predetermined angle that is set in advance with respect to the movable limit, and the limited angular position set in front. May be.

  If it is determined that the angular positions of the second to fourth joints 10 to 12 have not reached the movable limit, the determined angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 and the positions and postures of the hands are determined. Based on this, the angular positions of the fifth to seventh joints 13 to 15 can be analytically determined by performing inverse transformation. Specifically, the posture of the fourth link body 6 is determined from the angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12, and the fifth case where the hand has a predetermined position and posture based on the determined posture. -The angular positions of the seventh joints 13-15 can be uniquely determined.

  Therefore, the data creation unit 30 described above includes (1) a calculation program representing an equation capable of obtaining the three-dimensional position of the three-axis intersection P from the position and orientation of the hand, (2) the angular position of the redundant joint, and three axes A calculation program representing an equation capable of obtaining the angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 based on the three-dimensional coordinates of the intersection point P; and (3) the angles of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12. A calculation program for determining whether or not a position solution exists; and (4) the angles of the fifth to seventh joints 13 to 15 based on the angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 and the position and orientation of the hand. A calculation program representing an equation capable of obtaining the position is stored. The data creation unit 30 executes the calculation programs (1) to (4) described above in order to select the first position and orientation of the hand at the moving point and the angular position of the first joint 9 in the first state. The respective angular positions of the seventh joints 9 to 15 can be calculated.

  Thus, in this Embodiment, a solution candidate can be analytically calculated | required by selecting any one of a 1st joint-a 4th joint as a redundant joint. On the other hand, when one of the fifth to seventh joints is selected as a redundant joint, an analytical solution of a solution candidate cannot be obtained. In addition, when the three-axis intersection P is configured by the first to third joint portions, the solution candidate can be analytically obtained by selecting any of the fourth to seventh joints as the redundant joint. .

  That is, it includes seven joints that are connected to each other via a link body so as to be angularly displaceable and arranged in series, and among the seven joints 9 to 15, three joints arranged from one end in the series direction toward the other end in the series direction In a seven-degree-of-freedom multi-joint robot having three intersection-forming joints that form a three-axis intersection where the rotation axes of the arms intersect at one point, the position and posture of the other end relative to one end of the arm structure are input as fixed conditions When one of the four joints of interest other than the three intersection forming joints is input as a redundant joint, the angles of the joints 9 to 15 can be analytically obtained in the form changing operation. .

  For example, in the present embodiment, the angular position q4 of the fourth joint 12 can be obtained by substituting the angular position q1 of the first joint 9 into the expression (1).

  In Expression (1), the angular positions of the first to fourth joints 9 to 12 are q1 to q4, respectively. The lengths of the first to third link bodies 3 to 5 are L1 to L3, respectively, and the distance from the fourth joint 12 to the triaxial intersection point P is L4. Arccos means an inverse cosine function (arc cosine function). A plus or minus code attached to arccos is called a discrete form code.

  When there is only one angular position q4 of the fourth joint 12, the angular position of the fourth joint is located at a singular point that is the movable limit. When the absolute value of the arc cosine variable exceeds 1, it can be determined that there is no solution, the movable limit is exceeded, and there is no mechanism solution. When the angular position of the fourth joint 12 is obtained, the angular position of the third joint 11 and the angular position of the second joint 10 can be obtained sequentially, and further the angular positions of the fifth to seventh joints 12 to 15 are obtained. be able to. In addition, since discrete form codes are also given to the equations for obtaining the angular position of the third joint and the angular position of the sixth joint, respectively, the multi-joint robot is in the case where the angular position of the first joint is determined to be one. There are eight combinations of angular positions of the second to seventh joints. When selecting the discrete form in FIG. 5, the data creation unit 30 selects one of the positive and negative of the discrete form code, thereby selecting one of the eight combinations for each angular position of one redundant joint. You can ask for one.

  Also, the distance between the first joint 9 and the second joint 10 is L1, the distance between the second joint 10 and the third joint 11 is L2, and the distance between the third joint 12 and the fourth joint 13 is When the distance is L3 and the distance between the first joint 9 and the fourth joint 13 is Lw, if Lw + L2> L1 + L3, Lw> L2, L1> L3, Lw-L2 <L3-L1, Is in a rotating and swinging state. In the rotating and swinging state, the angle range of the first joint is changed with the first joint as a redundant joint, and the angular position of the first joint reaches the movable limit, and it is not possible to calculate all the angular positions that the robot can take. is there. For example, by selecting two of the first joint 9 and the second joint 10 and one of the third joint 11 and the fourth joint 12 as redundant joints, the robot can Even if the rotation / swing state is reached, the entire range that the robot can take can be calculated. Since Lw changes with each deformation | transformation form, the robot may fall into a rotation rocking | fluctuation state depending on a deformation | transformation form.

  For example, the data creation unit 30 selects one of the first joint 9 and the second joint 10 and selects one of the third joint 11 and the fourth joint 12. By performing the operation shown in FIG. 5, the number of solution candidates that can be obtained can be increased even when the deformation form falls into a rotational swing state, and a more optimal solution candidate combination can be obtained. Can do.

  Among the plurality of (S1) joints to be noticed in this way, the number of remaining joints (S1-S2) excluding the number of redundant joints (S2) determines the position to be moved set in the robot as a predetermined position and By selecting at least one of a plurality of joints of interest as a redundant joint so as to coincide with the number (T) constrained according to the constraint including at least one of the postures, the angle of the redundant joint and the constraint are determined. Based on the angular angle of multiple joints as a variable, the relational expression for determining the position or orientation of the set part is solved, and the angular position of each joint when the movement target part is constrained by the constraint condition is analytically obtained. be able to. By finding the solution candidate analytically, the hand is prevented from being shifted with respect to the input moving point, and the hand can be accurately moved along the moving path.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of performing the inverse transformation analytically has been described. However, an approximate solution may be used when performing the inverse transformation execution operation in step d4. In this case, when the data creation unit 30 changes the angular position of the first joint, which is a redundant joint, based on the Jacobian matrix indicating the relationship between the movement amount of the hand and the angle of each joint, the hand is almost A candidate solution may be obtained by obtaining the angular positions of the remaining joints to be fixed positions.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram showing another type of robot. The teaching support apparatus 20 of each embodiment described above can also obtain an optimum combination of joint forms for each moving point other than a robot having a tilt joint. For example, as shown in FIG. 27, a seven-axis robot system including a traveling device 101 configured to operate along a predetermined traveling axis, a six-axis articulated robot 100 that includes a vertical joint and a coaxial joint and does not have an inclined joint. Even so, the optimal combination of joint forms for each moving point can be obtained. In the present embodiment, a single-axis redundant robot has been described. However, a robot having two or more axes of redundancy is applicable. In this case, solution candidates can be obtained by selecting the angular positions of a plurality of redundant joints.

  In addition, it can also be applied to a vertical articulated 6-axis robot. For example, when the 3D position of the hand is set as a restraint condition and there is no restriction on the hand position, and when the hand is restrained with a predetermined number of degrees of freedom, there are multiple joint forms that the robot can take. Applicable.

  As described above, when one of the three-dimensional position and the three-dimensional posture of the hand is not constrained, or when the robot has a plurality of discrete forms, the three-dimensional position and the three-dimensional posture of the hand are determined. Even if all are constrained, there are a plurality of solution candidates, so the present invention can be applied in a broad sense. For example, since a vertical articulated 6-axis robot has 8 types of discrete forms, even if the position and posture of the robot are restricted, by applying the present invention, 8 solution candidates can be obtained per moving point. Among them, the optimal combination of solution candidates can be calculated. Therefore, the effect is particularly great for a robot having seven or more joints, but a similar effect can be obtained even with a robot having six or less joints.

  Each of the embodiments as described above is merely an example of the invention, and the configuration can be changed within the scope of the invention. For example, the teaching support apparatus 20 displays on the display device a change in joint form when the robot 1 is operated according to a combination of solution candidates for each moving point without moving the robot 1, but is used for online teaching. May be. That is, the output result of the teaching support device 20 may be input to the control device of the robot 1. Further, the function of the teaching support device 20 may be incorporated in the robot control device. As a result, the robot can be operated according to a combination of solution candidates determined by the teaching support apparatus. By operating the robot with the calculation result actually calculated by the teaching support apparatus, the operator can determine whether the combination of solution candidates for each moving point is acceptable. The calculation procedure is an example, and the procedure may be changed as appropriate as long as the calculation is possible.

  In this embodiment, when evaluating a combination of solution candidates, the movement time (δmax / v) obtained from the movement amount δmax of the maximum moving joint is used as an evaluation criterion, but other calculations based on two solution candidates are performed. An expression may be used as an evaluation criterion. For example, the maximum value (δmax = max | K1, δ1, K2, δ2,... K6) among the values obtained by multiplying the deviations (δ1 to δ7) of the angular positions of the joints in the two solution candidates by the constant Ki relating to the speed, respectively. · Δ6, K7 · δ7 |) may be used as an evaluation criterion. Here, the constant Ki relating to the speed is a value in consideration of the maximum speed and acceleration / deceleration set for each joint. As a result, a more accurate travel time can be used as an evaluation criterion. Further, the deviation of the angular position of the joint of interest in each joint may be used as the evaluation criterion.

  As the evaluation criterion, the Jacobian matrix J may be used as the evaluation criterion. In the present embodiment, when the Jacobian matrix J changes the joint form from one solution candidate at the moving point upstream in the moving direction to one solution candidate at the downstream in the moving direction, the angle deviation of each joint is determined on the hand side. It is a matrix that converts to a three-dimensional position change. In this case, as an evaluation criterion, a form is selected so that each Jacobian matrix obtained from each combination of two solution candidates is maximized. By determining the evaluation criteria in this way, it is possible to realize a smooth movement of the hand in any direction.

In the present embodiment, the Jacobian matrix J converts the three-dimensional position changes (δPx, δPy, δPz) of the hand by substituting the angular position changes δq1 to δq7 of the first to seventh joints Jt1 to Jt7. It is a matrix and is represented by the following equation.
δP = J · δQ
δP = (δpx, δpy, δpz) ^T
δQ = (δq1, δq2, δq3, δq4, δq5, δq6, δq7) ^T
Here, δpx represents a change in the X coordinate position of the hand, δpy represents a change in the Y coordinate position of the hand, and δpz represents a change in the Z coordinate position of the hand. In this case, the Jacobian matrix J is a 7-row × 3-column matrix, and can be obtained based on a forward conversion formula such as the above-described formula (1). The size of the Jacobian matrix is determined by obtaining the Jacobian matrix J, the absolute value of a value obtained by multiplying a matrix J ^T was transposed Jacobian matrix J. In this way, the size of the Jacobian matrix is obtained, and the combination of two solution candidates having the maximum size is regarded as having the highest evaluation.

  Further, the Jacobian matrix J substitutes the angular position changes δq1 to δq7 of the first to seventh joints Jt1 to Jt7, so that the three-dimensional position changes (δPx, δPy, δPz) and the three-dimensional postures (δPrx, δPry, It may be a transformation matrix for calculating (δPrz). As described above, the Jacobian matrix is also not limited to the above-described arithmetic expression and can be appropriately selected.

  The evaluation criterion may be other than the value related to the travel time as long as it is determined based on two solution candidates. For example, the smallest combination may be searched by using the total deviation Σδi obtained by summing the deviations (δ1 to δ7) of the angular positions of the joints in two solution candidates as an evaluation criterion. If the total deviation Σδi is small, the amount of movement for operating the robot is reduced as a whole, so that a combination of solution candidates for each moving point with the least power consumption can be obtained to move the hand. In addition, among the motion deviations, for the joint on the base side compared to the hand, the combination with the least weight can be obtained more realistically by summing ΣXi · δi with higher weight. it can.

  In addition to the travel time, Jacobian matrix, and power consumption, the accuracy of the robot, the margin between the robot and the obstacle, and the like may be used as evaluation criteria. As described above, the evaluation criterion of the present invention is not limited to the movement time as long as the solution candidates of two movement points are obtained by using each other. For example, it may be an evaluation standard that does not want to move the joint on the base side too much, or an evaluation standard that wants to move the joint on the base side as much as possible.

1 is a block diagram showing a robot teaching support apparatus 20 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an overall flow of operation of the teaching support apparatus 20. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the input part 23 in step a1 shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the data preparation part 30 in step a2 shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the data preparation part 30 calculates | requires all the solution candidates in step c2. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the data preparation part 30 calculates an evaluation value in step c3. It is a figure for demonstrating each evaluation value calculated | required by the data preparation part. It is a figure for demonstrating the data structure of the movement time t (i + 1) _k_j produced in the memory | storage part 22 by the data preparation part 30. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the data search part 31 calculates the optimal combination of a solution candidate in step a3. It is a figure for demonstrating the combination of the global optimal solution candidate calculated | required by the data search part. It is a figure for demonstrating the data structure of the accumulation evaluation value T (i + 1) _k_J produced in the memory | storage part 22 by the data search part 31. FIG. It is a graph which respectively shows the simulation result of the change of the movement time before a calculation result and a calculation. It is a figure which shows the change of the joint form of the robot by the calculation result relevant to FIG. It is a figure which shows the joint form change of the robot in the initial state relevant to FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the input part 23 in the teaching assistance apparatus 20 of the robot which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the data preparation part 30 calculates | requires all the solution candidates in step c2 in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of an interference check. It is a graph which respectively shows the simulation result of the change of the movement time between a calculation result and a calculation in the case of avoiding an obstacle. It is a figure which shows the change of the joint form of the robot by the calculation result which avoids the obstacle relevant to FIG. It is a figure which shows the joint form change of the robot in the initial state which avoids the obstruction relevant to FIG.

It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the data search part 31 calculates the optimal combination of a solution candidate in step a3 in 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the calculating part 21 when a robot circulates and moves a hand along a circulation movement path | route. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation procedure of the optimal combination of the solution candidate for every moving point. It is a graph which respectively shows the calculation result in consideration of the cyclic | annular movement path | route, and the simulation result of the change of the movement time before a calculation. It is a figure for demonstrating the other procedure which calculates | requires the combination of a solution candidate in a cyclic | annular movement path | route. It is a front view which shows the articulated robot by which a joint form is calculated by the teaching assistance apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the robot of another form. 6 is a graph showing changes in the robot movement time when the angular position of each joint of the robot is changed when the hand position of the robot is moved between two movement points in a robot having one redundant joint.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Articulated robot 20 Teaching support apparatus 21 Computation part 22 Storage part 23 Input part 24 Output part 30 Data preparation part 31 Data search part 32 Moving point information storage part 33 Solution candidate memory | storage part 34 Evaluation value memory | storage part 35 Robot type | mold memory | storage part

Claims (7)

(A) When moving a predetermined movement target part of an articulated robot having a plurality of joints so as to sequentially pass through a plurality of movement points, the angular position of each joint when the movement target part passes through the movement points. A teaching support device for supporting robot teaching work by seeking a combination of joint forms represented by
(B) input means for inputting moving point information for specifying each moving point;
(C) a solution candidate calculation means for calculating each solution candidate for each movement point, with a joint form that can place the movement target part of the robot as a movement point as a solution candidate;
(D) Evaluation calculation means for evaluating a combination of solution candidates selected for each moving point,
(D1) One of the moving direction in which the passing order is from the first moving point to the last moving point, and the passing order is the direction opposite to the moving direction from the last moving point to the first moving point. One is the evaluation direction,
(D2) Each of one of the solution candidates at the most upstream moving point and one of each of the solution candidates at the second moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the most upstream moving point in the evaluation direction For each combination, an evaluation value is obtained according to a predetermined evaluation criterion, and the combination having the highest evaluation value is extracted for each solution candidate at the second moving point, and the second is determined for each solution candidate at the second moving point. Determining one combination of one of the solution candidates at the moving point and one solution candidate at the most upstream moving point extracted in relation thereto,
(D3) From the third moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the second moving point, to the moving point on the most downstream side in the evaluation direction, the moving point of interest for each solution candidate at each moving point sequentially in the evaluation direction For each combination of one of the solution candidates in and the one of each solution candidate at the moving point adjacent upstream in the evaluation direction with respect to the moving point of interest, an evaluation value is obtained according to the evaluation criterion, The evaluation value of the combination of these two solution candidates, and each of the two movement candidates that have already been determined for the solution candidate at the movement point upstream of the evaluation direction among the two solution candidates for which the evaluation value has been obtained For each solution candidate, obtain a cumulative evaluation value that combines the total evaluation value for each solution candidate, extract the combination with the highest cumulative evaluation value for each solution candidate at the moving point of interest, and obtain a solution candidate at the moving point of interest every , One of each solution candidate in a mobile point of interest to determine one combination of solution candidates in a mobile points adjacent to the evaluation direction upstream extracted in connection therewith,
(D4) Out of the solution candidates at the most downstream moving point in the evaluation direction, the solution candidate with the highest cumulative evaluation value is extracted, and the combination of each solution candidate for each moving point already determined in relation to this solution candidate Evaluation calculation means for obtaining a combination of joint forms for each moving point;
(E) A robot teaching support apparatus including output means for outputting a calculation result by the evaluation calculation means. (A) When the movement target part passes through each of the movement points when the movement target part of the articulated robot having a plurality of joints is circulated through the circular circulation movement path by sequentially passing through the plurality of movement points. A teaching support apparatus for supporting a robot teaching operation by obtaining a combination for each moving point of the joint form represented by the angular position of each joint;
(B) input means for inputting moving point information for specifying each moving point;
(C) Among the moving points, a selection means for selecting the first moving point that virtually starts the circular movement and the last moving point that is upstream in the moving direction of the first moving point;
(D) solution candidate calculation means for calculating a joint form capable of placing the movement target part of the robot at the movement point as a solution candidate and calculating all solution candidates for each movement point;
(E) Evaluation calculation means for evaluating a combination of solution candidates selected for each moving point,
(E1) One of the moving direction in which the passing order is from the first moving point to the last moving point, and the passing order is the direction opposite to the moving direction in which the passing order is from the last moving point to the first moving point One is the evaluation direction,
(E2) Each of one of the solution candidates at the most upstream moving point and one of each of the solution candidates at the second moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the most upstream moving point in the evaluation direction For each combination, an evaluation value is obtained according to a predetermined evaluation criterion, and the combination having the highest evaluation value is extracted for each solution candidate at the second moving point, and the second is determined for each solution candidate at the second moving point. Determining one combination of one of the solution candidates at the moving point and one solution candidate at the most upstream moving point extracted in relation thereto,
(E3) A moving point of interest for each solution candidate at each moving point sequentially from the third moving point adjacent to the downstream side in the evaluation direction of the second moving point to the moving point downstream in the evaluation direction. For each combination of one of the solution candidates in and the one of each solution candidate at the moving point adjacent upstream in the evaluation direction with respect to the moving point of interest, an evaluation value is obtained according to the evaluation criterion, The evaluation value of the combination of these two solution candidates, and each of the two movement candidates that have already been determined for the solution candidate at the movement point upstream of the evaluation direction among the two solution candidates for which the evaluation value has been obtained For each solution candidate, obtain a cumulative evaluation value that combines the total evaluation value for each solution candidate, extract the combination with the highest cumulative evaluation value for each solution candidate at the moving point of interest, and obtain a solution candidate at the moving point of interest every , One of each solution candidate in a mobile point of interest to determine one combination of solution candidates in a mobile points adjacent to the evaluation direction upstream extracted in connection therewith,
(E4) For each solution candidate at the moving point downstream in the evaluation direction, one of the solution candidates at the moving point downstream in the evaluation direction and the moving point at the upstreammost evaluation direction determined in relation to the solution candidate For a combination with one solution candidate, an evaluation value is obtained according to a predetermined evaluation criterion, the evaluation value of the combination of these two solution candidates, and the cumulative evaluation value of the solution candidate at the most downstream moving point in the evaluation direction for which the evaluation value is obtained , And a solution candidate combination with the highest circulation accumulation evaluation value is extracted, and each solution candidate combination determined for each moving point determined in relation to the solution candidate of this combination is moved. Evaluation calculation means to obtain as a combination of joint form for each point;
(F) A robot teaching support apparatus comprising: output means for outputting a calculation result by the evaluation calculation means. The input means inputs prohibition area information related to an entry prohibition area where an articulated robot is prohibited from entering,
The solution candidate calculation means excludes, from the solution candidates, a joint configuration in which at least a part of the robot enters the entry prohibition area among the joint configurations in which the movement target part of the robot can be arranged at the movement point. 3. The robot teaching support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the robot teaching support apparatus is a robot. The input means inputs prohibition area information related to an entry prohibition area where an articulated robot is prohibited from entering,
The evaluation criterion includes a first evaluation criterion determined based on an evaluation function having a joint form represented by each solution candidate at two moving points adjacent in the evaluation direction as a variable, and between the two moving points adjacent in the evaluation direction. Including a second evaluation criterion based on the fact that at least a part of the robot does not enter the entry prohibition area while moving the movement target part with respect to
The evaluation calculation means moves the upstream of the evaluation direction among the two movement points adjacent to the evaluation direction with respect to the solution candidate at the movement point downstream of the evaluation direction among the two movement points adjacent to the evaluation direction. A first evaluation value according to the first evaluation criterion is obtained for each solution candidate at a point, and among them, the second evaluation criterion is calculated in the order of combination having the highest first evaluation value, The robot teaching support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a combination that satisfies two evaluation criteria and that has the highest first evaluation value is extracted as a combination that has the highest evaluation value. .   4. The evaluation value according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation value is determined based on an evaluation function using a deviation of an angular position of each joint at two movement points adjacent in the evaluation direction as a variable. The robot teaching support apparatus described. A storage means for storing all joint forms calculated by the solution candidate calculation means and capable of arranging a movement target part of the robot at a movement point;
The robot teaching support apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the evaluation calculation means reads out the joint forms stored in the storage means as solution candidates, and obtains a combination of joint forms for each moving point.   A computer-readable program for causing a computer to perform the operation of the robot teaching support apparatus according to claim 1.

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