JP2649187B2 - manipulator - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a manipulator used for gripping an exterior component and attaching it to an airframe such as an aircraft, and in particular, an excessive force is applied to the gripped exterior component. No manipulators so improved.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the structure of a conventional manipulator for mounting an exterior component. The armored product 4 (in this example, a missile) is gripped by the robot arm 3 of the manipulator 2 installed on the transporting trolley 1 and transported to the aircraft position of an aircraft (fighter in this example) to which the exterior device 4 is to be mounted. , The manipulator 2 was operated for mounting.

In mounting an exterior component on an airframe of an aircraft using such a conventional manipulator, it is generally performed manually mainly according to the following procedures (1) to (4).

(1) First, take out the exterior product from the exterior product warehouse and place it on the transport trolley.

(2) Next, the vehicle travels on the ground surface while operating the transport trolley, and is transported to the vicinity of the aircraft installed in the aircraft hangar, which is the hangar of the aircraft.

(3) Operate the manipulator installed on the trolley to lift the exterior components, and further operate the trolley and the manipulator to move the exterior components to the fitting position of the fuselage, and fine-tune the three-dimensional position of the mounted object; Perform positioning.

(4) Finally, the exterior component is mounted on the suspension mechanism of the fuselage to complete the mounting.

[Problem to solve the invention]

In the conventional manipulator for mounting an external component described above, the manipulator is operated while visually confirming the mounting position of the external component. Therefore, in order to prevent a large force from being applied so as not to damage the expensive body and exterior parts, the fitting position of the body and exterior parts must be accurately aligned so that they do not shift from the mounting position of the exterior parts. This requires a large number of people and time-consuming work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a manipulator for mounting an external component which can be operated quickly without manual operation.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention relates to a manipulator having a robot hand having a base mounted on a robot flange and holding an exterior component on a head, wherein the force sensor mounted on the robot flange and detecting a force applied to the robot hand; Interposed between the flange and the robot hand, prohibits the rotation of the robot hand until the force applied to the robot hand reaches a predetermined magnitude, and becomes rotatable when the force exceeds a predetermined magnitude. A compliance device having a mechanism for releasing the force.

Preferably, the compliance device is provided with a means for applying to the force sensor a force obtained by subtracting only the force of the predetermined magnitude from the force applied to the robot hand. Further, it is desirable that the force sensor be a six-axis sensor.

(Operation)

In the present invention, since the manipulator is configured as described above, the compliance device becomes rotatable when a force applied to the robot hand when the external component is attached becomes larger than a predetermined value. Therefore, the escape movement can be performed without applying excessive force to the exterior component. In addition, if the exterior component is removed and the load is removed, the rotation of the robot hand is prohibited. Thus, safe work can be performed without damaging the expensive exterior parts.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a manipulator showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this drawing, a portion of the robot hand at the tip of the manipulator is taken out and shown. The robot hand 3 is used for gripping the exterior component 4 and has a configuration in which a control mechanism (not shown) grips the exterior component 4 from the left and right as shown in the drawing. The base of the manipulator is mounted on a robot flange 30, and the robot hand 3 is provided on the head. A distance sensor 40 is mounted near the robot hand 3, and detects that the robot hand 3 abnormally approaches the body when the exterior component 4 is mounted on the body, and stops the operation of the robot hand 3. Used for

The type of the distance sensor 40 is not limited, and any of an ultrasonic type, an optical type, and a contact type can be adopted as necessary.

On the other hand, the force sensor 20 is mounted on the robot flange 30. This force sensor 20 is used to detect the weight of the exterior component 4 held by the robot hand 3 as described later. It is preferable that a six-axis force sensor be used as the force sensor 20 so that forces from all directions can be detected.

The compliance device 10 is provided between the robot flange 30 and the robot hand 3. The compliance device 10 has a spring 12 having one end supported on the surface of the robot flange 30 and the other end attached to a support base 11. The spring 12 is normally configured so as to push the support base 11 upward by a predetermined force by the spring force, whereby the engaging portion 15 of the upper lid 13 and the lower lid 14 comes into close contact with each other, and the robot hand 3 The structure is such that rotation is prohibited. Therefore, when the robot hand 3 receives an external force of a predetermined force or more, the pressing portion 16 provided substantially at the center of the upper lid 13 pushes down the support base 11 and pushes down the spring 12 downward against the spring force. The engagement of the portion 15 is released, and the robot hand 3 can rotate freely.

Next, the operation of the manipulator shown in FIG. 1 will be described. Now, it is assumed that the total weight of the robot hand 3 and the exterior component 4 held by the robot hand 3 is 200 kg. Here, if the compliance device 10 does not exist, a force having a total weight of 200 kg is applied to the force sensor 20. Furthermore, when a 1 kg weight is applied to the exterior component 4 when attaching the exterior component 4 to the body, the force detected by the force sensor 20 is 201 kg weight, and a force of 1 kg weight is obtained by 201-200 = 1 (kg). Is detected. Therefore, when the compliance device 10 is not used, it is necessary to use a force sensor 20 capable of applying a large force, and in this case, it becomes impossible to detect a small change in force.

Therefore, it is assumed that the compliance device 10 is incorporated as in the present invention, and a force of 220 kg weight is applied upward by the spring 12. As a result, the spring force supports the total weight of the exterior component 4 and the hand 3 of 100 kg, and the force sensor 20
It will add a pulling force of 0kg weight. If a force of 1 kg weight is applied to the exterior component 4 in this state, the pulling force to the force sensor 20 is reduced to a 19 kg surface, and it is detected that a force of 1 kg weight is applied.

By using the compliance device 10 as described above, a force sensor having a structure capable of measuring a small force can be used as the force sensor 20, and a minute change in force can be detected.

When the hand 3 is not gripping the exterior component 4, the force of the weight of the hand 3 alone is applied to the force sensor 20. Assuming that the weight of the hand 3 is 20 kg, a pulling force of 200 kg, which is obtained by subtracting the weight pressure of the hand of 20 kg from the spring force of 220 kg, is applied to the force sensor 20. In this state, the range of the force sensor 20 is exceeded. In this case, since the manipulator does not have the exterior component 4, it is not necessary to measure the force. Further, a force exceeding the range is applied to the force sensor 20, but the force cannot be measured, but the sensor itself is not broken.

Next, the operation of the compliance device 10 will be described. In the above-described structure, when the force applied to the exterior component 4 exceeds 20 kg, all the forces are applied to the spring 12 and the spring is deflected against the spring force. When the spring 12 bends downward,
The lower lid 14 is lowered downward in conjunction with the spring 12, and the support base 11
The engagement state is released from the engagement portion 15 with the support base 11 until then.
The movement of the exterior component 4 and the hand 3, which have been restricted by the above, becomes free, and the hand 3 becomes rotatable. Therefore, even if an excessive force from the body is applied to the exterior component 4, the escape movement can be performed so as not to apply this force. Therefore, it can be mounted without damaging the exterior component 4 and the body. Then, when the force applied to the exterior component 4 is released, the spring 12 rises again and the lower lid 14 also rises.

As described above, in the present invention, since a force sensor capable of detecting a small change in force applied to the exterior component can be used, the output signal of this sensor is coupled to the indirect rotation axis of the robot operation lever. By feeding back to the actuator, the manipulator notifies the operator of the reaction force received from the exterior component 4 via the control lever, and control can be performed so that excessive force is not applied to the exterior component 4.

Alternatively, the six-axis output of the force sensor 20 in the robot posture immediately before the exterior component 4 comes into contact with the machine body may be stored, and this value may be set to 0 to detect a variation after the contact. In the above-described embodiment, when the force applied to the exterior component 4 exceeds a predetermined magnitude, the robot hand 3 can freely rotate. At the same time, the robot is instantaneously stopped and the mechanical brake is operated. You can also

〔The invention's effect〕

As described in detail based on the above embodiments, the present invention uses a combination of a force sensor and a compliance device, so that the operation is more reliable and quicker than a conventional manipulator that is operated by checking with the naked eye. Becomes possible. Further, since the force applied to the exterior component can be limited, the operation can be performed safely without damaging the exterior component or the body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a manipulator showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional manipulator. 3 ... robot hand, 4 ... exterior parts, 10 ... compliance device, 11 ... support base, 12 ... spring, 13 ... upper cover, 14 ... lower cover, 15 ... engagement part, 16 ... Pressing part, 30 ……
Robot flange, 40 Distance sensor.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A manipulator having a base mounted on a robot flange and having a robot hand on a head for gripping an exterior component, a force sensor mounted on the robot flange and detecting a force applied to the robot hand; Interposed between the robot flange and the robot hand, the rotation of the robot hand is prohibited until the force applied to the robot hand reaches a predetermined magnitude, and when the force exceeds a predetermined magnitude, the robot hand is freely rotatable. And a compliance device having a mechanism for releasing the force. 2. The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the compliance device includes a means for applying to the force sensor a force obtained by subtracting the predetermined magnitude of force from the force applied to the robot hand. 3. The manipulator according to claim 1, wherein said force sensor is a six-axis sensor.