JP2685602B2 - Master-slave manipulator system - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a manipulator operated by an operator, and more particularly to a manipulator system suitable for surely performing work in an environment that is unbearable for human beings and in outer space. .

[Conventional technology]

Conventional manipulators tend to rely on the skill of the operator to perform complex manipulator operations.
For example, in the master-slave type, since the master arm and the slave arm have the same shape or similar shapes, the master arm has a structure unsuitable for human operation, or the operator himself interferes with the operation of the master arm. In some cases, it was difficult to perform detailed operations.

Recently, due to rapid advances in computer technology, computers have been incorporated into the control of manipulators and robots to increase the speed. As an example, as shown on pages 40 to 45 of I-Econ'85 (IECON'84), the movement of the hand of a master arm and a slave arm having different shapes is calculated by high-speed coordinate using a computer. 1 by conversion operation
There is a one-to-one correspondence.

If you use a variant master-slave system like this,
The slave arm can be configured to widen the movable range, and the master arm can be configured according to the human body to improve the operation performance.

As described above, if a computer is used, the operability and workability can be improved, but by further studying the mechanism of the master and slave arms, the value of using the computer can be further increased. Such research is based on P3 of the October 1986 issue of the Robotics Society of Japan, 4th issue, 5th issue.
~ P13 and P14 ~ P21 are being advanced.

However, such researches are limited to the followability and the calculation time, and the usability is not sufficient.

The publication showing the structure of the master arm in relation to the ease of use has a document of the above-mentioned journal of the Robotics Society of Japan, but it has not been solved as a system including a slave arm.

As a patent for the structure of the master arm from the viewpoint of workability, there is, for example, JP-A-63-22283.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

From the viewpoint of ease of use, the relationship between the human eye and hand, the bending angle of the wrist, the twist angle, the front-back inclination angle, etc., the degree of freedom of the arm and the vertical, front-back, and left-right movement range The desired structure of must be determined.

The structure of the slave arm is restricted by the work content, the foldability during transportation, and the movable area.

In addition to operability and workability, special points must be taken into consideration.

The structure of the master arm is determined by the relationship with the physical constitution of the human, and the slave arm has a different structure and a similar part because the desired structure is determined by its use.

In order to use the arms having greatly different sizes and shapes as the master-slave manipulator, the relationship between them must always be one-to-one. For this purpose, a coordinate transformation device is required. In addition, when it is desired to move the large slave arm largely with the small master arm, it is necessary to expand the operation ratio. Further, in the same arm as described above, when it is desired to perform detailed work in each part of the wide operation area of the slave arm, it is necessary to shift the base point of the operation point or reduce the operation ratio.

For the above, a coordinate transformation addition device for further transforming the data of the coordinate transformation device is required. Both the master arm and the slave arm require 6 degrees of freedom, but if any of the axes coincides with each other during operation, the axis to be operated cannot be determined. In order to solve such strengths, the master arm must be structurally resolved and the slave arm must be controllably resolved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a master-slave manipulator system that has high operability and is easy to install and transport.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a master arm having 6 or more axes, an articulated slave arm having 6 or more axes, and In a master-slave manipulator system including a hand coupled to an end, the master arm includes an arm body and a wrist mechanism coupled to the arm body, and the wrist mechanism has a space of a predetermined size. Is for the operator to operate the wrist in the X, Y, Z directions with the hand, and the wrist mechanism includes a pitch axis, a yaw axis, and a roll arranged outside the space. And the pitch axis, the yaw axis, and the roll axis have an output shaft extending in the wrist direction, and the pitch axis of the master arm, the yaw axis, and the yaw axis. Axis, and each of the support portions of the roll shaft is positioned away from the end of the arm body, moreover, the pitch axis,
The output shafts of the yaw shaft and the roll shaft are oriented toward the end of the arm body, while the slave arm has a predetermined X,
A wrist mechanism including a pitch axis, a yaw axis, and a roll axis adjusted within a dimension that does not exceed an operating range of an operator's arm in at least two directions of Y and Z directions, and the wrist mechanism of the slave arm is provided. The pitch axis, the yaw axis, and the roll axis each have a mounting portion and an output shaft provided away from the mounting portion. Further, the slave arm is arranged so as to follow the movement of the hand of the master arm. It is characterized by comprising means for controlling.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in terms of control.

First, before describing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, the principle of operation of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this figure, 101 is a master arm, 102 is a slave arm, and in this example, the slave arm 102 is the master arm 1
It is formed in a structure different from 01. Now, the reference coordinate system of the master arm 101 is M, and the coordinate conversion matrix from this reference coordinate system M to the hand of the master arm 101 is ▲ T ^m _6.
▼, the reference coordinate system of the slave arm 102 is S, the coordinate conversion matrix from this reference coordinate system S to the hand of the slave arm 102 is ▲ T ^s ₆ , and the above-mentioned coordinate conversion matrix is ▲ T ^m ₆ ▼, ▲ T. Assuming that the scale conversion matrix between ^s ₆ ▼ is K, the procedure of coordinate mark conversion calculation is as follows.
That is, it is possible to obtain the coordinate transformation matrix parameters for each link in the master arm 101 to the master arm hand described above and a position of each link connecting shaft ▲ T ^m ₆ ▼. Next, the coordinate conversion operation including the scale conversion and the base point shift between the coordinate conversion matrix up to the master arm tip ▲ T ^m ₆ ▼ and the coordinate conversion matrix up to the slave arm tip ▲ T ^s ₆ ▼ is as follows. It is expressed by the equation 1).

Where K is Then, when d = e = f = 0, ▲ T ^s ₆ ▼ is ▲ T ^m ₆ ▼ times s times in the x-axis direction of the reference coordinate system M of the master arm 101,
It is b times in the y-axis direction and c times in the z-axis direction. Then, in the case of expanding uniformly in the three-axis directions, it is sufficient to set a = b = c. Then, with respect to the conversion matrix (T ^s ₆ ) obtained by the above-mentioned equation (1), the slave arm
The link parameter of 102 is given, and the target value of each axis of the slave arm is obtained by the inverse coordinate transformation calculation. With respect to the target value of each axis of the slave arm 102 thus obtained,
If the servo control is performed for each axis, the slave arm 102 can be operated within the movable region of each arm by arbitrarily expanding or reducing the movement of the master arm 101 regardless of the shape of the arm.

Next, when a = b = c = 1, ▲ T ^s ₆ ▼ is parallel to T ^m ₆ ▼ d in the x-axis direction of the reference coordinate system M of the master arm 1, e in the y-direction, and f in the z-direction. It will be moved. And
The transformation matrix ▲ T ^s ₆ obtained by the above equation (1)
To ▼, the link parameter of the slave arm 102 is given, and the target value of each axis of the slave arm 102 is obtained by inverse conversion calculation. Slave arm 10 obtained in this way
By performing servo control for each axis with respect to the target value of each axis of 2, it is possible to operate by arbitrarily shifting the reference point of the master arm and the reference point of the slave arm.

Next, based on the above-described principle of the present invention, the configuration of an embodiment of the device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this figure, 101 is a master arm, 102 is a slave arm, and this slave arm 102 is the master arm 1
It has a different shape from 01. A central processing unit 105 performs coordinate conversion calculation and control of both arms.

Reference numeral 118 is a coordinate conversion adding device, which is a feature of the present invention, and creates K of the formula (2) based on the input from the keyboard, and gives the central processing unit 105 an instruction to add the coordinate conversion shown in the formula (1).

Reference numeral 104 denotes an input / output device of the master arm 101, which inputs each joint angle of the master arm 101 to the central processing unit 105, and servo-amplifies a command value from the central processing unit 105 to the master arm 101 to Acts to drive the actuator of each joint. 106 is a slave arm 102
The joint input / output device of each slave arm 102 is input to the central processing unit 105, and the command value from the central processing unit 105 to the slave arm 102 is servo-amplified to drive the actuator of each joint of the slave arm 102. Work.

Reference numeral 107 denotes a joystick, which outputs a command value for the slave arm 102 instead of the master arm 101 and an animation image described later by switching inside the central processing unit 105. 108 is an input / output device for the joystick 107,
The central processing unit 1 for the signal of the tilt angle of the joystick 107, etc.
Further, it has a function of driving the actuator of the joystick 107 by servo-amplifying the force feedback signal from the central processing unit 105 to the joystick 107.

An image input device 109 monitors the operation of the slave arm 102 from various directions. An image processing device 110 performs an operation such as FFT on the image input by the image input device 109 to perform pattern identification.

Reference numeral 111 denotes an animator simulator, which is an animation calculator for displaying a slave arm by computer graphics in real time. 112 is a graphic display, in addition to displaying an animation image by the animator simulator 111, it is also possible to display the animation image and the actual image input by the image input device 109 in a superimposed manner, and further start menu display such as mode switching,
It is also used for the output for the interaction of the man-machine interface with the central processing unit 105 and the animation data simulator 111. 113
Denotes a television monitor, which displays an image of the image input device 109. A keyboard 117 is used to input a scale conversion constant and a base point shift instruction menu, and to input a man-machine interface with the central processing unit 105 and the animator simulator 111.

201 is a vacuum chamber, 202 is a work target, and the slave arm 10
2 has to work on the work object 201 in a wide range in the vacuum chamber 201. Incidentally, 202 is a support base of the master arm 101.

Next, a main signal flow of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, although the master arm, the slave arm, and the joystick actually have six degrees of freedom, the following description will be given with three degrees of freedom for simplicity.

114A to 114C are position detection sensors provided on each joint axis of the master arm 101, and this signal is processed by the master arm input / output device 104 and input to the central processing unit 105. 115A
~ 115C is a position detection sensor provided on each joint axis of the slave arm 102, and this signal is a slave arm input / output device.
The data is processed by 106 and input to the central processing unit 105. Based on the above signals, the central processing unit 105 performs coordinate conversion calculation to generalized coordinates, and further performs coordinate conversion to second generalized coordinates based on an instruction from the coordinate conversion addition unit 118, so that the slave arm 102 is reached. Determine the specified value of. This signal drives actuators 116A to 116C provided on each joint axis of the slave arm 102 via the slave arm input / output device 106. At the same time, a signal is sent from the central processing unit 105 to the animator simulator 111, and the graphic display 112
Display an animated image of the slave arm on top.

Next, 117A to 117C are position detection sensors that also detect the angle of the joystick, and this signal is processed by the joystick input / output device 108 and input to the central processing unit 105.
When determining the command to the slave arm, the central processing unit 105 determines which of the master arm and the joystick is to be referred to, based on the switching signal from the outside.

In addition, the image input by the image input device 109 is subjected to FFT and pattern identification by the image processing device 110, and then a real image is displayed on the TV monitor 113 and at the same time sent to the animator simulator 111, and the graphic display 1 is displayed if necessary.
At 12, the image is displayed so as to overlap the animation image.

Next, a specific example of processing the signals from the position detection sensors 114A to 114C by the master arm input / output device 104 is shown in FIG. This is the same for joysticks and slave arms. In FIG. 3, rotary pulse generators are used as the position detection sensors 114A to 114C. From the position detection sensors 114A to 114C, a pair of pulse signals 90 degrees out of phase, that is, A phase and B phase, are generated according to the rotation angle. This signal is input to the direction determination circuit 301 to determine the direction of the rotation angle. On the other hand, an A-phase or B-phase signal is input to the counter 302, and the number of pulses is counted. Direction signal 303 output from the direction determination circuit 301
Is input to the counter 302 and the increase / decrease of the pulse number is switched. Therefore, the value of the counter 302 increases and decreases in accordance with the increase and decrease of the rotation angle, so that the rotation angle can be detected by reading the output 304 of the counter 302 from outside.

FIG. 4 shows a specific configuration example of the central processing unit 105.
Among them, a processor 401 for controlling input / output of data and addition / subtraction, a memory 402 for storing data such as a trigonometric function table and link parameters of a manipulator, a multiplier 403 and a divider 404 are connected by a bus circuit 405. I have. Further, serial or parallel interface circuits 406A to 406E are connected to the bus circuit 405. Each arm input / output device, animator simulator, and coordinate conversion adding device are connected to the interface circuits 406A to 406E.
The processor 401 can access all devices connected to the bus circuit 405 via the bus circuit 405 and process data.

Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When the master arm 101 is operated, the master arm 1
Each joint angle of 01 is detected by the position detection sensors 114A to 114C. This detection signal is input to the central processing unit 105 via the master arm input / output device 104. Central processing unit 105
Stores the relative positional relationship of the hand coordinate system MC of the master arm 101 with respect to the master arm reference coordinate system M as a coordinate conversion matrix (T ^m ₆₎ , and performs coordinate conversion calculation into generalized coordinates. Further, based on the input from the keyboard 117, the coordinate adding device 118 determines the dimensional ratio of the hand movement of the slave arm 102 to the hand movement of the master arm 101, that is, the scale conversion constant, and the position of the tip of the master arm 101 and the tip of the slave arm 102. The matrix K indicating the shift amount of the reference point at the position is stored, and the central processing unit 105 is instructed to add coordinate conversion. Then, the central processing unit 105 causes the master arm coordinate conversion matrix ▲ T ^m ₆ ▼.
Then, K is operated to obtain a slave arm coordinate conversion matrix (T ^s ₆₎ . Then the slave arm
The relative position of the hand coordinate system SC of 102 to the slave arm reference coordinate system S is the slave arm coordinate conversion matrix ▲ T
^The joint axis target value of the slave arm 102 when it is made to coincide with ^s ₆ ▼ is obtained by inverse coordinate conversion calculation, and this is output to the slave arm input / output device 106. The slave arm input / output device 106 drives the actuators 116A to 116C. Thereby, the movement of the hand of the master arm 101 can be transmitted to the movement of the hand of the slave arm 102 by performing scale conversion, shift of the base point, or both. As a result, in the movable area of each arm, the movement of the master arm 101 can be arbitrarily expanded or reduced and transmitted to the slave arm 102 regardless of the shape of the arm, and the slave arm 102 can be operated with respect to the operation of the master arm 101. The arm 102 can be finely moved, and a coarse but large motion can be given.

In addition, the coordinate conversion adding device 1
In response to the command from 18, the central processing unit 105 temporarily disconnects the slave arm 102 from the master arm 101 to make it stand still, and the operator moves only the master arm 101 to an arbitrary position. Re-stores the amount of positional deviation between the master arm 101 and the slave arm 102 in the d, e, and f portions of the equation (2), so that the master arm 101 and the slave arm 102 can be interlocked again by the input of the keyboard 117. As a result, the operation reference points of the master arm 101 and the slave arm 102 can be freely set, and the master arm 101 can always be moved to a position where the operator can easily operate.

Next, the master arm 101 and the slave arm 102 shown in FIG. 2 will be described in terms of structure.

Since the structure of the master arm 101 has a close relationship with a human arm or wrist, the arrangement of the human and the master arm 101 will be described first.

In order to simplify the explanation, the case of operating with the right hand of 601 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a view seen from above the human. In order to arrange the human-operated master arm 602 so as not to disturb the visual field, the position behind the right hand 601 from the eyes, that is, the position of 603 is desirable.

Next, when a person moves his or her hand, it is easy to move only the tip of the elbow 604 as much as possible. Therefore, the center axis of 606 of the X-axis device 605 involved in the movement in the X-axis direction is preferably on the extension line between the center of the right hand 601 and the center of the wrist of 607 and in front.

As shown in FIG. 6, the movement beyond the wrist 607 has a margin in the direction toward the center line of the body of 608, so that the center axis 606 is
About 50 mm is allowed to shift to the center line 608.

Also, 610 of the Y-axis device of 609 involved in the movement in the Y-axis direction.
It is desirable that the central axis of the is close to the position of the wrist center 607 where the right hand 601 is easily extended.

As shown in FIG. 6, the master arm 101 is 603.
The center axis 606 of the X-axis device 605 in the X-axis direction is substantially aligned with the center of the right hand 601, and the Y-axis device 609 in the Y-axis direction is placed.
The central axis 610 of the right hand 601 is provided at the wrist center 607 where the right hand 601 is easily extended. That is, the master arm 101 has 6 right hands.
The structure will surround 01 and will be installed at such a position.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an arrangement in which FIG. 6 is viewed from the front toward the position 603.

At the installation position 603 of the master arm 101, the X-axis direction 605 in the X-axis direction (the front-back direction of the paper in FIG. 7) shown in FIG. 6 is provided above the right hand 601 in FIG. When the X-axis device 605 is composed of a rotating device having the central axis 606 as a center, the wrist 607 can be operated without moving the elbow 604 simply by moving the wrist 607 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface (X-axis direction). If it is a translation device, it will move the elbow 604 and the stroke is 100 mm.
I get tired when I pass. This is easiest when there is a gap of about 50 mm between your elbows and your body, and you need to lean your body above 100 mm.

The Y-axis device 609 related to the operation in the Y-axis direction is provided above the right hand 601 similarly to the X-axis device 605. If the Y-axis device 609 is constituted by a rotating device having a central axis 610, the movement of the elbow 604 is small when the wrist 607 is moved in the Y-axis direction. If it is a translation device, the travel limit is about 120 mm.

In FIG. 7, the X-axis device 605 and the Y-axis device 609 are the right hand 601.
Although it is provided above, even if it is provided downward, the direction of the wrist 607 is changed and the operability is not greatly changed.

Further, with respect to the X-axis device 605, the same result can be obtained by using a turning device such as 701. In that case, 702 becomes the axis of rotation.

The two-dot chain line lever shown in FIG. 7 is a virtual lever for applying an operating torque, and the actual structure of the master arm 101 is as shown in FIG. It is attached in order from the support base 203 toward the hand end.

An embodiment based on the examination of FIGS. 6 and 7 is shown in FIG.
This is shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11.

FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the master arm 101 shown in FIG. 203 is a support for the master arm 101.
Reference numeral 801 denotes the first axis of the master arm 101, which can rotate the rest of the master arm 101 around the central axis of 802. 803
Is the second axis, which can rotate entirely around the central axis of 804. 8
Reference numeral 05 denotes an arm, which is supported by a link of 806 and a rod of 807 and rotates a tip end portion around an axis of rotation of 808. 809 is a pitch axis and can rotate around the central axis of 810. 811 is a yaw axis, which rotates around the central axis of 812. The roll axis 813 can rotate the grip of 815 around the central axis of 814.

When operating the master arm 101, the operator holds the grip 815 with his right hand and operates it at the position shown in FIG.

The X-axis device 605 shown in FIG. 6 has a second shaft 803 in FIG.
The central axis 606 corresponds to the central axis 804 in FIG.

The Y-axis device 60 that operates in the Y-axis direction is an arm 805 in FIG. 8, and its central axis 610 is the central axis 808.

The movement in the Z-axis direction is performed by moving the first shaft 201 around the central axis 802. The translation device in the Z direction is very cramped for the right hand 601, and since it is necessary to move the body even about 50 mm, the rotation device is preferable.

The overall structure of FIG. 8 is in the area 603 of FIG. 6 and outside the field of view.

The wrist composed of the pitch axis 809, the yaw axis 811 and the roll axis 813 is also designed in consideration of the human wrist structure.
Since the twist of a human wrist can be rotated around the axis of the arm by fixing the elbow, the central axis 814 of the roll axis 813 is gripped.
Penetrate through the center of 815 to match elbow 604.

The left and right swings of a human wrist (bending toward the heart or bending in the opposite direction with the thumb up) are suitable for fixing the arm and repeating the action. Therefore, the central axis 812 of the yaw axis 811 is configured to be orthogonal to the central axis 813 at a position closer to the human than the grip 815, and the human wrist joint is exactly there.

The swings of the human wrist up and down are not persistent with the thumb up. If you twist your wrist and put your thumb inwards, the wrist joint that was swung left and right above will be in a state where it is easy to bend up and down, but since the twist of the wrist does not always maintain this state, such a wrist joint You can't expect to swing up and down.

In the vertical swing motion of the human wrist, bending of the elbow is generally used. Therefore, the center axis 810 of the pitch axis 809 passes above the center axis 814 (in the Z direction) by about 100 mm so as to match the structure of the human wrist.

 FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the master arm 101.

901 is a support base, and 902 is a pivot for rotating the entire master arm about the central axis of 903. Reference numeral 904 denotes a first arm, which rotates the whole body around the first shaft tip portion of the 905. 906
Is the second arm and rotates around the tip of the first arm 904. 907 is a pitch axis that can be tilted back and forth on the entire wrist.
A yaw shaft 908 is supported by the output part of the pitch shaft 907 and swings the wrist tip part left and right. 909 is a roll shaft and grip 9
Rotate 10.

When operating the master arm shown in FIG. 9, the user grips the grip 910 and operates at the position shown in FIG. 6 in the same manner as the operation of the master arm 101 shown in FIG.

The joint device 605 in FIG. 6 is 902, 903 in FIG. 9, and the joint device 609 is the second arm 906 in FIG.

The overall structure of Figure 9 is outside the area 603 and field of view of Figure 6.

The wrist composed of the pitch axis 907, the yaw axis 908, and the roll axis 909 is taken into consideration in relation to the human wrist joint, but is omitted since it is the same as in FIG.

 FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of the master arm 101.

1001 is a turntable and 1002 is a swivel axis for swiveling the entire master arm around a vertical axis. 1003 is the first
Reference numeral 1004 denotes a second arm, and each of the second arm 1004 performs a rotational movement in a vertical plane. 1005 pitch axis, 1006 yaw axis, 10
Regarding the roll axis of 07 and the gripper of 1008, see FIG.
Since the contents are the same as those shown in FIG. 9, they will not be described here.

 FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the master arm 101.

1101 is a turntable and 1102 is a turning axis for turning the entire master arm about a vertical axis. 1103 is the first
Reference numeral 1104 denotes a second arm, which makes a rotary motion in a vertical plane. 1105 pitch axis, 1106 yaw axis, 11
Regarding the roll axis of 07 and the gripper of 1108, FIG.
Since the contents are the same as those shown in FIG. 9, they will not be described here.

When operating the master arm shown in Figs. 10 and 11,
As with the operation of the master arm 101 in FIG. 8, the gripper 1
Hold 008 and perform at the position shown in FIG.

As for the X-axis device 605 in FIG. 6, a swivel shaft 1002 having the same effect as that of the X-axis device 605 is used as described in FIG. 7 in the case of FIGS.

 The Y-axis device 609 is the second arm 1004 in FIG.

The overall structure of Figs. 10 and 11 is the area of Figs. 6 and 7.
603 and outside the field of view.

Using FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10, and FIG. 11, FIG.
Although the concrete structure of the master arm described in FIG. 7 is shown, the basic idea does not change even if the structure is different.

However, in the case of FIG. 9, the swing shaft 902 and the roll shaft 909
There may be cases where the central axes of the two coincide with each other in a particular state (singular point).

In such a state, the operator cannot use the turning shaft 902 and the roll shaft 909 properly and cannot operate them. Therefore, when the structure of FIG. 9 is used for the master arm, it is necessary to restrict the movement of the master arm so that the central axes of the swivel axis 902 and the roll axis 909 do not coincide.

Next, the structure of the slave arm will be described. As described with reference to FIG. 5, the slave arm is controlled by the target value of each axis being given based on the elementary operation of the master arm 101. Since such target value calculation and control are performed by the central processing unit 105, the problem of the singular point shown in FIG. 9 is controlled so as not to approach the point, or an operation algorithm for passing the point is set. It can be prepared in advance, so it does not matter.

Therefore, the slave arm needs to have a wide operating angle for each axis so that it can operate in the widest possible range in the vacuum chamber 201 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, a structure that is easy to fold is desirable considering the case of being placed in the vacuum chamber 201.

 FIG. 12 shows an example of the slave arm.

1201 is a support base, and 1202 is a pivot, which can be rotated around the support 1101. 1203 is the first arm, the pivot axis
Rotate with the tip of 1202 as the fulcrum. 1204 is a second arm which rotates around the tip of the first arm 1205 of the first arm 1203. 1206
Is a wrist mechanism, from the tip of the 1207th arm of the 2nd arm 1204
A pitch axis of 1208, a yaw axis of 1209, and a roll axis of 1210 are attached, and a hand of 1211 is attached to the tip.

The centers of both the first arm tip portion 1205 and the second arm tip portion 1207 are provided at positions offset from the center line of the first arm 1203 and the center line of the second arm 1204, respectively. The reason is that it is suitable for folding as shown in FIG. 12 (b).

On the other hand, the slave arm 102 is arranged so that the hand, which is the tip of the slave arm 102, can move away from the support base in order to operate in a wide range. This point is designed by concentrating many degrees of freedom within the limited area of the master arm 101, and as shown in FIG.
In contrast, 813 and gripper 815 are configured to approach the support 203.

The first method as shown in Fig. 13 is suitable for folding.
It is also possible to arrange the center line of the arm and the center line of the second arm to be parallel to each other.

As a method of concentrating many degrees of freedom in the master arm 101 within a limited area, in addition to the above, in FIG. 8, the axis centers of the yaw axis 811 and the roll axis 813 are made to coincide with each other, and the gripper 815 is used.
Is arranged in the vicinity thereof, and the axis center of the pitch axis 809 is also oriented with the gripper 805 oriented. That is, the gripper 815 is the center, and the wrist is arranged around the gripper 815 such that the pitch shaft 809, the yaw shaft 811 and the roll 813 are arranged. The movement of the first shaft 801 is the same as the movement of the second shaft 803.
It rotates as an integrated arm up to the tip of the arm, but the relationship with the arm 805 cannot be linear like the first arm 1203 and the second arm 1204 of the slave arm in FIG. Absent. On the contrary, the relationship of the two arms in FIG. 8 is arranged in an orthogonal relationship so as to share the motion direction, and the structure is compact and close to the wrist of a human, and the slave arm expands the motion range. Contrast with the emphasis on.

The configurations shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11 also have the same characteristics as the master arm shown in FIG.

Returning to the slave arm again and considering its features,
Since the slave arm needs to work toward an object like the industrial robot, the size of the wrist should be as small as possible. In this respect, the master arm needs a space to make it easy for the operator to grip the gripper, and the pitch axis, yaw axis, and roll axis are installed in the periphery of the gripper, and the increase in size is not a problem. Contrast with.

However, in order to miniaturize the wrist portion of the slave arm, it is convenient to arrange the roll shaft on the arm side as in the case of a human wrist, because the arm has a substantially axially symmetrical structure. Therefore, in the industrial robot, the roll shaft and the arm are often connected.

However, in the case of master-slave manipulator, 6
It can be said that the operator's operation becomes easier if the degrees of freedom are separately operated rather than the operations at once. If the roll shaft is at the tip, the tip is positioned, the yaw axis,
Even if the pitch axis direction is determined and then independently operated, the other degrees of freedom are not affected. However, when the yaw axis and the pitch axis are at the tip, if they are operated independently, the position of the tip also changes, making it impossible to divide the operation.

Therefore, in the case of a slave arm, it can be said that placing the roll shaft at the tip is necessary even at the cost of increasing the size of the entire wrist.

Further, when it is necessary to effectively utilize a small floor area as in the vacuum chamber shown in FIG. 2, the slave arm is hung from the ceiling or hung on the wall.

The support base of such a slave arm is much smaller than that of a master arm or an industrial robot. This is a requirement for ease of installation and transportation.

On the other hand, in the case of the industrial robot installed on the floor and the master arm shown in Fig. 10, the floor area is large and the weight of the support base is large due to the stability when placed on the floor and human operation is required. For convenience, the mounting position of the first arm is raised to the position of the human waist.

As described above, even when the master arm and the slave arm have different structures so as to meet their respective purposes, the optimum configuration as a modified master-slave system must be achieved.

It should be pointed out that this does not mean that structures for different purposes can be simply combined in a controllable manner.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the master arm has a structure suitable for human operation of the slave, and can easily move even with a large slave arm by moving around the wrist without swinging the arm largely. It can be operated. In addition, the slave arm should be able to effectively operate its longitudinal dimension so that it can handle the articles that are farthest from the support base, if necessary, and that its longitudinal dimension does not hinder transportation, thus improving its storability. You can

Further, according to the present invention, a master arm system having a structure suitable for human operation and a slave arm having a structure different from that of the master arm in order to effectively utilize the limited arm length can perform a wide range of operations and are suitable for operation. Can be configured.

The structure suitable for the above operation is a structure that conforms to the human body structure, a structure that does not obstruct the human visual field, and each joint is compactly arranged close to the human body so that it can be moved with a light motion. include.

In summary, the present invention can provide a system with high operability and easy installation and transportation that has never been achieved by configuring the master-slave system structurally and constrainedly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a modified master-slave manipulator system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an example of the overall configuration of the system, FIG. 3 is a rotation angle detection circuit, and FIG. Configuration example, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the operating principle of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a top view for explaining the positional relationship between a human and a master arm, FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 6, FIG. 8, FIG.
Fig. 10, Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show the embodiment of the master arm, Fig. 12
Fig. 13 and Fig. 13 are diagrams of an embodiment of the slave arm. Explanation of symbols 101 …… Master arm, 102 …… Slave arm, 105
...... Central processing unit, 202 …… Work target, 203 …… Support stand, 601 …… Right hand, 809 …… Pitch axis, 811 …… Yaw axis, 8
13 …… Roll axis.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshio Nakajima 520 Jinrachicho, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture Machinery Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Hiroshi Yamamoto 520 Jinritsucho, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Hitachi Machinery Research Co., Ltd. In-house (72) Inventor Tachi Aoki 520 Jinrachi-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Mechanical Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (56) Reference Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-150172 (JP, A) Shoukai 62-29285 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A master-slave manipulator including a master arm having 6 or more axes, an articulated slave arm having 6 or more axes, and a hand connected to an end of the master arm. In the system, the master arm includes an arm main body and a wrist mechanism connected to the arm main body, and the wrist mechanism includes a wrist arranged in a space of a predetermined size, and an operator uses the hand to move the wrist to the wrist. For operating in the X, Y, and Z directions, the wrist mechanism including a pitch axis, a yaw axis, and a roll axis arranged outside the space, and the pitch axis, the yaw axis, and the roll axis. Has an output shaft extending in the wrist direction, and the supporting parts for the pitch axis, yaw axis, and roll axis of the master arm are the arm body. Of the pitch axis, the yaw axis, and the roll axis are oriented toward the end of the arm body, while the slave arm is predetermined. X, Y,
A wrist mechanism including a pitch axis, a yaw axis, and a roll axis adjusted within a dimension that does not exceed an operating range of an operator's arm in at least two directions in the Z direction, and the pitch axis of the wrist mechanism of the slave arm , Yaw axis, roll axis,
And a means for controlling the slave arm so as to follow the movement of the hand of the master arm, and a mounting part and an output shaft provided apart from the mounting part. Master-slave manipulator system. 2. A master-slave manipulator system comprising a master arm having 6 or more axes and an articulated slave arm having 6 or more axes, wherein the slave arms are An arm body and a tip, the arm body having an axis, the axis of the arm body being such that the tips of the slave arms can be linearly aligned with each other in their longitudinal direction, Further, at least two axes of the arm body are configured to be arranged in parallel to each other, the master arm has an arm body and an end, and the arm body of the master arm has three arms. It has an axis, and the three axes of the arm body are configured to be orthogonal to each other, and follow the movement of the end of the master arm. Master-slave manipulator system characterized by comprising a means for controlling the end of the slave arm so that. 3. The master-slave manipulator system according to claim 2, wherein the dimension between the base of the master arm and the end of the arm body of the master arm remote from the base is:
A master-slave manipulator system characterized by being within the operating range of the operator's arm that does not exceed the operating range of the operator's arm in the three directions of X, Y, and Z.