JP3211422B2 - Robot controller - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for a robot used in addition to an NC machine tool.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a robot is added to an NC machine tool and a workpiece is supplied to the NC machine tool by the robot, the operation of the NC machine tool and the operation of the robot are independent of each other. . Further, by connecting the NC machine tool and the robot with signal lines, simple signals such as an operation command signal from the NC machine tool to the robot and an operation completion signal from the robot to the NC machine tool are communicated with each other. Therefore, operations such as creation, deletion, and storage of a program used when machining a workpiece using the NC machine tool are performed using an operation panel of a numerical control device connected to the NC machine tool, and operation of the robot is performed. Creation, deletion, storage, and the like of a program have been performed by operating a terminal device connected to the robot controller.

On the other hand, by connecting the NC machine tool and the robot via a unique input / output control unit, in addition to the above communication contents, the position information of the robot can be commanded from a numerical controller connected to the NC machine tool. Some things could be done.

[0004]

However, in the former method, the operator has two methods of operating the numerical controller for controlling the operation of the NC machine tool and operating the robot controller for controlling the operation of the robot. It is necessary to learn the operation method as follows. Also, when storing an operation program of an NC machine tool or a robot in an external storage device, two types of storage media may be required, and the operation is very complicated for an operator.

In the latter method, when the robot is to be combined with another NC machine tool, the robot cannot be mounted on an NC machine tool having no dedicated input / output control unit. is there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a robot control apparatus which enables an operator to easily and easily operate a machine tool and a robot used in addition thereto. It is intended to provide.

[0007]

To achieve this object, a robot controller according to the present invention comprises a first CPU (16) for controlling the operation of the robot and a second CPU (16) for controlling the drive of the machine tool. 2 CPU (12) and the second CP
U (12), input means (7, 11) for inputting command data for controlling the machine tool or command data relating to the operation of the robot, and the first CPU (1).
6) and the second CPU (12).
A common RAM which is readable and writable from the PUs (16, 12) and stores command data relating to the operation of the robot input by the input means (7, 11);
(2) an interface means (15) connected to the first CPU (16) for connecting an external device for inputting command data relating to the operation of the robot; A program storage RAM (18) for storing command data relating to the operation of the robot input from the interface means (15) or command data relating to the operation of the robot stored in the common RAM (2) ; The first CPU (1
6) is a command from the common RAM (2),
The operation of the robot stored in the common RAM (2).
Command data stored in the program storage RAM (18).
And store the data in the robot based on the stored data.
And the interface means (15)
If a command to operate the bot is entered,
According to the contents stored in the RAM storage RAM (18),
The robot is controlled.

[0008]

In the robot control apparatus of the present invention having the above-described structure, command data relating to the robot is input from input means connected to the second CPU for controlling the numerical controller, and the data is transmitted to the first CPU. Connected common RA
M. The first CPU receives instructions from the common RAM.
If the command data stored in the common RAM is
Data in the RAM for storing programs, and
Control the robot based on the data.

When the first CPU determines that a command to operate the robot has been input through the interface means , the first CPU controls the robot based on the command data stored in the program storage RAM .

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a state in which a robot controller 3 for controlling the operation of a robot 5 is added to a numerical controller 1 for controlling the operation of an NC machine tool 4.

The robot controller 3 has a central processing unit (CPU) 16 and a common RAM 2 connected to the CPU 16.
, A ROM 13, a RAM 14, a first interface 15, a second interface 17, and a robot program storage RAM 18. ROM
13 stores a program for determining a command from the common RAM 2 and a command from the first interface 15, a program for controlling the operation of the robot 5, and the like. A terminal device (not shown) for inputting a robot program is connected to the first interface 15.

The numerical controller 1 includes a display device 6 connected to the CPU 12 with the CPU 12 as a center.
Operation panel 7, RAM 8 for storing programs, and ROM
9, a RAM 10, and an external storage device 11. The operation panel 7 inputs a program for driving the NC machine tool 4,
The operation command is used for inputting the operation command, and the input content is displayed on the display device 6. In the ROM 9, in addition to the operation program for controlling the operation of the numerical controller 1, the NC machine tool 4 stored in the program storage RAM 8 is stored.
And a control program for editing and deleting the robot program, outputting the robot program to the external storage device 11, and the like.

The numerical controller 1 and the robot controller 3 are connected via the CPU 12 of the numerical controller 1 and the common RAM 2 of the robot controller 3.

In the numerical controller 1 having the above configuration, the ROM 9
Are executed based on the operation program stored in the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, first, it is determined whether or not a command has been input to the operation panel 7 (S1). If there is a command from the operation panel 7 (S1: Y
ES), any one of steps S2 to S9 is executed based on the command.

In S2, an NC program or a robot program is created and changed, and those programs are registered in the program storage RAM 8. In S3, the NC program or the robot program registered in the program storage RAM 8 is output to the external storage device 11, or the NC program or the robot program stored in the external storage device 11 is stored in the program storage RAM.
Register within 8. In S4, the program storage RAM 8
Delete the NC program or robot program registered in the. In S5, the RAM for storing the program
The NC machine tool 4 is operated based on the NC program registered in the NC machine 8. In S6, the NC machine tool 4 is jogged. In S7, the program storage RAM 8
Robot programs registered in the common RAM2
Write to. At S8, the robot program storage RA
A command to operate the robot 5 is written in the common RAM 2 based on the robot program registered in M18. In S9, a command to jog the robot 5 is written in the common RAM 2.

In the robot controller 3 having the above configuration, the RO
Processing based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, which is a program stored in M13, is executed.

In the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, it is determined whether or not there is a command from the common RAM 2 (S20). If there is a command from the common RAM 2 (S2
0: YES), any one of S21 to S23 is executed. In S21, the robot program is read from the common RAM 2 and the robot program storage RAM 1 is read.
Register within 8. In S22, the robot 5 is operated based on the robot program registered in the robot program storage RAM 18. In S23, the robot 5 is jogged.

On the other hand, if there is no command from the common RAM 2 (S20: NO), or if the above-mentioned S21 through S2
After the process shown in FIG. 3 is completed, the first interface 1
It is determined whether a command has been input from the terminal device connected to 5 (S24). If a command has been input from the terminal device (S24: YES), one of the processes of S25 to S27 is executed. In S25, a robot program is created and changed, and the robot program storage R
Register in AM18. In S26, the robot 5 is operated based on the robot program registered in the robot program storage RAM 18. In S27,
The robot 5 is jogged. If there is no command from the terminal device (S24: NO), or after the above-described processing of S25 to S27 is completed, the process returns to S20 and repeats the above processing.

In order to operate the NC machine tool 4, an NC program is input in advance from the operation panel 7 by a key, or an NC program stored in a storage medium is input from the external storage device 11, and the program storage RA is stored.
M8 is stored, and the CPU 12 reads out the NC program and instructs the NC machine tool 4 to execute the program. Further, the user may delete an NC program registered in the program storage RAM 8 by operating the operation panel 7, or change the NC program via the external storage device 11.
The program can be stored in a storage medium.

Next, a method of operating the robot 5 with the NC machine tool 4 and the robot 5 connected will be described.

In the same manner as when operating the NC machine tool 4, a robot program is input in advance from the operation panel 7 by a key, or a robot program stored in a storage medium is input from the external storage device 11 and stored. The robot program is stored in the RAM 8 and the operation of transferring the robot program is performed from the operation panel 7. Then, the robot program is transferred from the program storage RAM 8 to the CP.
The data is written into the common RAM 2 through U12 and the CPU 16
Recognizes it and saves the robot program RAM 18
Register the robot program inside.

Thereafter, when a robot program operation is performed from the operation panel 7, the robot program operation command is written into the common RAM 2 via the CPU 12, and
The CPU 16 recognizes this, reads out the robot program registered in the robot program storage RAM 18, and instructs the robot 5 to execute the robot program operation.

When a robot jog movement operation is performed from the operation panel 7, the robot jog movement command is
The data is written to the common RAM 2 via U12 and the CPU 16
Recognizes this and instructs the robot 5 to perform a jog movement, whereby the robot jog movement is executed. The robot program registered in the program storage RAM 8 is deleted or stored via the external storage device 11 by operating the operation panel 7 in the same manner as the NC program for operating the NC machine tool 4. It can also be stored on a medium.

Further, in this embodiment, only the robot 5 can be used alone. That is, the common RAM
2, the numerical control device 1 is separated. In this case, an operation command to the robot 5 is issued by a terminal device connected to the first interface 15. In order to operate the robot 5, a robot program is input from a terminal device in advance by a key and registered in the robot program storage RAM 18. Thereafter, when the robot program is operated from the terminal device, the CPU 16
Recognizes it, and saves the robot program RAM 18
The robot program operation is executed by reading a robot program registered in the robot and instructing the robot 5. When a robot jog movement operation is performed from the terminal device, the CPU 16 recognizes the operation and instructs the robot 5 to perform a jog movement, whereby the robot jog movement is executed.

When a general NC machine tool is connected to the present robot, the external input / output terminals of the NC machine tool and the second interface 17 are connected by signal lines, and each of them is operated by a program. If the NC program is caused to perform the processing of outputting the M code and the robot program is performed to read and operate the state of the second interface 17, the NC machine tool and the robot can be synchronized.

With this configuration, there is an effect that an NC machine tool, a sequence controller, and the like to be connected can be freely selected.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the robot controller of the present invention, the robot can be operated by the numerical controller that controls the operation of the machine tool.
The user can operate the machine tool and the robot only by learning the operation method of the numerical control device, so that the operation can be simplified and the robot can be operated by itself.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a state in which a robot is added to an NC machine tool according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation by a program stored in a ROM in the numerical controller.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation according to a program stored in a ROM in the robot control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Numerical control device 2 Common RAM 3 Robot control device 4 NC machine tool 5 Robot 12 CPU 15 First interface 16 CPU 22 c Previous displacement amount storage unit 23 b Monitoring displacement amount storage unit 23 f Correction switching storage unit 30 NC data 40 Motor control unit 50 Motor unit 60 Detector

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05B 19/18-19/46 B25J 3/00-3/10 B25J 9/10-9/22 B25J 13/00-13 / 08 B25J 19/02-19/06

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A robot controller for controlling the operation of a robot that is used in addition to a machine tool, wherein the first CPU controls the operation of the robot.
And a second CPU (12) for controlling the driving of the machine tool.
Input means (7, 11) connected to the second CPU (12) for inputting command data for controlling the machine tool or command data relating to the operation of the robot; and the first CPU (16) And the second CPU (1
2), which can be read and written from both CPUs (16, 12) and the input means (7, 1).
A common RAM (2) for storing command data relating to the operation of the robot input by 1), and an external device connected to the first CPU (16) for inputting command data relating to the operation of the robot; Interface means (15) for connecting to the first CPU (16), and command data relating to the operation of the robot input from the interface means (15) or the robot operation stored in the common RAM (2). and a program storage RAM for storing (18) the command data relating to the first CPU (16) from said common RAM (2)
In the case of the command of the common RAM (2),
Command data related to bot operation is stored in the program
And store the data in the RAM (18).
Controlling the robot based on the interface
A command to operate the robot is input from the means (15).
Is stored in the program storage RAM (18).
A robot control device for controlling the robot according to specified contents .