JP2009176162A - Failure detecting means of industrial robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly and quickly determine an operating abnormality of a touch panel and a key switch, to prevent runaway of a body device beforehand without causing a determination mistake of an operator, to prevent a coordinates position input conversely in an erroneous way and key information determination from being operated erroneously, and also to detect an abnormality at an early stage on the basis of detailed information. <P>SOLUTION: A touch panel failure detecting device is a system provided with: checking the states of a touch panel 4 and a key switch for a fixed period when starting software; determining an abnormality if an input longer than the fixed period is made before an operable screen is displayed; notifying an operator of the abnormality at an early stage; and preventing an erroneous operation beforehand. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an abnormality detection of a touch panel provided in a teaching pendant that controls the entire robot.

The robot system is composed of a robot, a robot control device that controls the robot, and a teaching pendant that is connected to the robot control device and operates by an operator's operation, creates and edits a work program, or makes various settings of the robot system. Has been.
This teaching pendant is equipped with a display device such as an LCD panel that displays the work program, which is the work procedure performed by the robot, and displays the position, input / output, etc. More and more are equipped with touch panels.

The detection method at the time of abnormality of the apparatus in which this touch panel is mounted is a technique known conventionally, for example, there is the following Patent Document 1.
In Patent Document 1, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the analog touch panel 210 is substantially the same shape as the display screen 216, has an insulating property like a glass plate, and has a predetermined strength. By overlapping the operation plate 226 made of a flexible transparent sheet via a spacer (not shown), the substrate 224 and the operation plate 226 are disposed so as to be accessible with a minute gap 228.
Further, on the opposing surface of the substrate 224 and the operation plate 226, the first electrode 230 and the second electrode 232 for coordinate detection made of a resistance film having a predetermined resistance value are disposed over substantially the entire surface, By providing the coordinate position detection means 220, it is possible to detect the press instruction coordinates for the operation plate 226.

Further, the coordinate position detection unit 220 applies the reference voltage Vo in the left-right direction to both ends of the second electrode 232 provided on the substrate 224 side via the on / off switches 236 and 238 and the changeover switch 240 shown in FIG. In this state, the voltage at the contact position is converted into a digital value by the A / D converter 242 through the first electrode 230 on the operation plate 226 and taken out. Then, the voltage value Vx coincides with the value obtained by dividing the reference voltage Vo applied in the lateral direction of the second electrode 232 at the contact position with the first electrode 230, and therefore the voltage dividing ratio between the reference voltage Vo and the detected voltage Vx. From the lateral length of the second electrode 232, for example, the coordinate in the X-axis direction with the left edge of the operation plate 226 as the origin is obtained by calculation processing in the calculation unit 256.
For the Y-axis direction coordinates, the other on / off switches 236a and 238a are turned on, and the changeover switch 240 is switched contrary to the above case. Then, since the reference voltage Vo is applied in the vertical direction in FIG. 23 to the first electrode 230 side, by taking out the detection voltage Vy from the second electrode 232 side through the A / D converter 242a, for example, an operation plate The coordinates in the Y-axis direction with the upper edge of 226 as the origin can be obtained by calculation.

In addition to the above configuration, an electrode layer 244 is further provided on the operation surface 218 located on the front side of the operation plate 226, and an operation timing detection unit 248 using the electrode layer 244 as an electrode for detecting the operation timing is provided. Proposed.
JP 2000-112660 A

In the conventional technique described above, an error is detected when the coordinate position signal is input when the operation time signal is not input, but the operation time signal is input when welding is performed on the hardware device side that detects the touch panel. Since the coordinate position is input because the touch panel has been pressed, the operator cannot be notified of the malfunction.
In a device used in a production line of a factory, a delay in response when the touch panel malfunctions may cause a huge loss, or even a life threatening.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system including a failure detection means that can accurately and quickly cope with a touch panel abnormality by notifying an operation failure of the touch panel and the keyboard before the operator operates the teaching pendant. The purpose is to provide.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is configured as follows.
The invention according to claim 1 is a robot system comprising a teaching pendant for operating a robot, and a robot control device for controlling the entire robot to which the teaching pendant and the manipulator are connected. A display device; input detection means from the touch panel; and an abnormality detection means for the touch panel when the power is turned on. The abnormality detection means is a touch panel when the operation coordinate position of the touch panel is continuously input for a predetermined time. It is characterized by determining that there is an abnormality.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the touch panel abnormality detection means performs abnormality determination of the touch panel when shifting to a teaching mode for teaching the robot instead of when the power is turned on. To do.
The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the touch panel abnormality detection means always performs abnormality determination of the touch panel instead of when the power is turned on.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the touch panel abnormality detection means displays an abnormality message on the display means in addition to the abnormality determination of the touch panel.

  According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the abnormal operation of the touch panel can be accurately and promptly determined and displayed, so that countermeasures such as replacement can be taken promptly and the safety of the operator can be ensured. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Hereinafter, the abnormality detection means of the touch panel according to the present invention will be described based on an example of a teaching pendant used in an industrial robot. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various general-purpose or dedicated data including a touch panel as data input means. Of course, the present invention can be applied to the processing apparatus in substantially the same manner. In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the coordinate position of the touch panel is detected in an analog manner, but the coordinate position detection method is changed to an arbitrary method, such as a method in which the coordinate position is detected digitally with electrodes provided in a matrix. Can also be implemented.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a teaching pendant of the present invention. The configuration of the teaching pendant 1 includes a display unit 2 for displaying screen data, and an input unit for an operator to change the screen or operate a robot or the like with a touch panel 4 and a keyboard 5. Furthermore, there are some equipped with an external storage device 3 and an LED 6 for notifying an abnormal state so that data can be easily backed up.

  Next, the internal configuration of the teaching pendant 1 is shown in FIG. 11 is a CPU for controlling the teaching pendant itself, 14 is a communication unit for communicating with a robot controller (not shown), and 12 is a read / write that stores software and an OS for the CPU to interpret and operate. A possible FLASH memory 13 is a RAM which is a readable / writable memory for temporarily storing data for the CPU 11 to perform processing. Further, as described in FIG. 1, the display unit 2, the external storage device 3, the touch panel 4, the keyboard 5, and the LED 6 are also provided.

Next, the configuration of the touch panel and the detection means will be described with reference to FIG.
The touch panel 4 is of an analog type and is arranged in close contact with the display screen of the display unit 2 and presses an arbitrary position on the operation surface of the touch panel 4 using the touch pen 23 or a fingertip (not shown). When instructed, the coordinates corresponding to the pressed point are analyzed by the touch panel controller 22, and coordinate data based on the analysis result is input to the CPU 11.

The analog touch panel 4 has a transparent conductive film 26 (ITO: a film made of indium oxide).
Between the film 24 and the glass plate 27. And in the state which is not touching, since the two transparent conductive films 26 are not touching by the minute spacer, an electric current does not flow. When the surface of the film 24 is touched, the portion of the film 24 that has been touched is deflected by the pressure, contacts the transparent conductive film 26 of the glass plate 27, and an electric current flows. The touched position (= coordinates) is detected by the touch panel controller 22 and is transmitted to the CPU 11. The CPU 11 notifies the software stored in the FLASH memory 12 via the OS, and the software displays screen information corresponding to the pressed position on the display unit 2 via the CPU 11 and the liquid crystal display controller 21.

The procedure for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step 101, an initialization process for communicating with a robot controller (not shown), a clear process of the RAM 13 in the teaching pendant 1, and the like are executed. In step 102, the timer counter and touch flag used for the touch panel abnormality detection means are cleared. In step 103, the coordinate position data of the touch panel is read and stored in the RAM 13, and then in step 104, it is checked whether or not a certain time has elapsed. If the certain time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 111. Move to 105. As for the setting of the fixed time, there is a means of having a fixed timer value inside the software or managing it with a parameter or the like so that the timer value can be changed universally.

In step 105, if the coordinate position read in step 103 is input, the touch flag is set to "1" in step 106. If the coordinate position is not input, the touch flag is set to "0" in step 107. Set. In step 108, the state of the touch flag is determined. If the touch flag is “1”, the timer counter is incremented (+1 addition) in step 109. If the touch flag is “0” in step 108, the timer counter is cleared to zero in step 110. To do. Then, the process proceeds to step 103, and it is checked whether or not there is an input of a coordinate position until a predetermined time elapses.

In step 111, if the value of the timer counter has reached a certain time, it is determined that some part of the touch panel is welded, and in step 112, the error message in FIG. However, if the value of the timer counter has not reached the predetermined time, it is determined that there is no abnormality, and the process proceeds to robot operation processing (teaching and reproduction processing) at step 124. The description of FIG. 5 will be described later.

Next, means for informing the operator when an abnormality is detected will be described with reference to FIG.
When the touch panel abnormality is detected, a touch panel abnormality detection message 45 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed to inform the operator that the touch panel 4 is abnormal. It is also possible to notify the operator by lighting the LED 6. When the cursor is moved to the detail button 46 by the arrow key in the keyboard 5 on the abnormal message display screen and the enter key in the keyboard 5 is pressed, the details of 47 touch panel welds can be confirmed. However, as shown in FIG. 6, when detecting an abnormality of the touch panel, the coordinate detection position changes when the operator presses with the fingertip 48, and in this case, processing is performed so as not to determine that there is an abnormality.

Furthermore, in touch panel abnormality detection, it is usually impossible for an operator to touch the display unit 2 for a long time, so if the same coordinate value is input continuously for a certain period of time after shifting to online processing, It can be judged. As a result, it is possible to prevent runaway of the main unit without causing an operator's judgment error.

  It is useful industrially as an industrial robot because it can accurately and quickly determine abnormal operation of the touch panel and key switch, and can prevent operator misjudgment and prevent the main unit from running away. .

Configuration diagram of teaching pendant of the present invention Configuration diagram of teaching pendant of the present invention Detailed configuration diagram of the touch panel device of the present invention Anomaly detection flowchart of touch panel and keyboard of the present invention The figure which shows the example of a display of the touch panel abnormality detection of this invention The figure which shows the operation method of the touchscreen apparatus of this invention Schematic configuration diagram of a conventional touch panel device Detailed configuration diagram of a conventional touch panel device The figure which shows the specific structure of the coordinate detection means in the touchscreen apparatus of a conventional structure.

Explanation of symbols

1 Teaching Pendant 2 Display 3 External Storage Device 4 Touch Panel 5 Keyboard 6 LED
11 CPU
12 FLASH memory 13 RAM
14 communication unit 21 liquid crystal display controller 22 touch panel controller 23 touch pen 24 film 25 dot space 26 transparent conductive film 27 glass plate 41 touch panel abnormality detection message 42 detail button 43 touch panel welding part 45 key switch abnormality message 46 detail button 47 key switch welding part 48 Fingertip 210 Touch panel 212 Touch panel detection circuit 214 Display 216 Display screen 218 Operation surface 219 Video display circuit 220 Coordinate position detection circuit 222 Data processing circuit 224 Substrate 226 Operation panel 228 Minute interval (between operation panels)
230 First electrode 232 Second electrode 236 On-off switch 238 On-off switch 240 Changeover switch 242 A / D converter 244 Electrode layer 248 Operation timing detection means 250 Coordinate position signal 252 Operation timing signal 254 Operation state determination means 256 Calculation unit 258 Fingertip

Claims (4)

A robot system comprising a teaching pendant for operating a robot, and a robot control device for controlling the entire robot to which the teaching pendant and manipulator are connected,
The teaching pendant includes a display device, input detection means from a touch panel, and abnormality detection means of the touch panel when power is turned on,
The touch panel failure detection apparatus, wherein the abnormality detection means determines that the touch panel is abnormal when the operation coordinate position of the touch panel is continuously input for a predetermined time.   2. The touch panel failure detection device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel abnormality detection means performs abnormality determination of the touch panel when shifting to a teaching mode for teaching the robot instead of when the power is turned on.   2. The touch panel failure detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel abnormality detection means always performs abnormality determination of the touch panel instead of when the power is turned on.   4. The touch panel failure detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel abnormality detection means displays an abnormality message on the display means in addition to the abnormality determination of the touch panel.

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