JP4241589B2 - robot - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a robot in which a plurality of links are rotatably connected via joints. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for laying a wiring across a joint when laying a wiring along a plurality of links.

The robot is configured such that a plurality of links are rotatably connected via joints. The robot walks, holds objects, and manipulates objects by adjusting the joint angle of each joint (the rotation angle of the other link with respect to one link).
The robot includes an actuator, a sensor, and the like for adjusting the joint angle of the joint. Actuators and sensors are arranged in the vicinity of each joint. The robot also includes a battery for supplying power to the actuator group, a computer for processing the output signal of the sensor group, and controlling the operation of the actuator group. A battery, a computer, and the like are disposed on the body of the robot. In a robot, an electric device arranged in each part of the robot such as an actuator or a sensor and an electric device arranged in a body portion such as a battery or a computer are connected by a plurality of wires. The plurality of wirings are installed along a plurality of links, and the links are installed across the joints.
When laying wires across joints, care must be taken not to apply excessive force to the wires when the joint angle changes. Therefore, for example, in the vicinity of the joint, a margin (sag) is given to the wiring. By forming the slack in the wiring, the slack is deformed following the change in the joint angle, and an excessive force is prevented from being applied to the wiring.

Robots are becoming increasingly articulated, and the number of wires installed across joints is also increasing. When the slack is given to each wiring, it is necessary to provide a gap between the wirings so that the wirings do not interfere with each other even when the slack is deformed. Therefore, as the number of wirings increases, the amount of slack in the entire wiring increases. As a result, the slack of the wiring protrudes in the vicinity of the joint, and the design and operation of the robot are unnecessarily limited. In order to increase the number of joints of robots, it is necessary to have technology that can suppress the amount of slack in the entire wiring while providing the slack necessary for each wiring when the wiring is laid across the joints. ing.
The present invention solves the above problems. According to the present invention, when a plurality of wires are installed across the joints of a robot, a technique is provided that can suppress the amount of slack in the entire wires while giving a slack necessary for each wire.

  A robot embodied by the present invention includes a first link, a second link rotatably connected to the first link via a joint, and a bridge straddling the joint from the first link side to the second link side. A plurality of wirings, a first wiring stay that supports the plurality of wirings on the first link side, and a second wiring stay that supports the plurality of wirings on the second link side. Yes. A wiring group composed of at least two of the plurality of wirings is supported in a line at the first wiring stay and is also supported in a line at the second wiring stay. The arrangement direction of the wiring group in the first wiring stay extends along the rotation direction of the joint. The arrangement direction of the wiring groups in the second wiring stay extends in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the joint.

In this robot, the wiring group spanning the joints is supported by the first wiring stay on the first link side and supported by the second wiring stay on the second link side. Between the first wiring stay and the second wiring stay, a predetermined slack can be formed in each wiring by giving a margin of a predetermined length to each wiring.
When the joint angle changes, the slack of each wiring is deformed following the change. At this time, when the wiring group is arranged in a line along the rotation direction of the joint in the first wiring stay, and the wiring group is arranged in a line parallel to the rotation axis of the joint in the first wiring stay, The deformation direction of the slack (the moving direction of the wiring in the slack portion) is relatively coincident. That is, when the wiring group deforms the slack, the relative position between the wirings does not change much. Since the relative positional relationship between the wires does not change so much, the wires hardly interfere when the slack is deformed. Therefore, when the slack is given to each wiring in advance, the slack can be given with the wirings relatively adjacent to each other. Since it is not necessary to provide an excessive gap between the wirings, it is possible to suppress the amount of slack in the entire wiring group.
According to this robot, when a plurality of wirings are installed across the joints, the overall wiring can be kept relatively small while giving sufficient slack to each wiring.

When the wiring group includes at least three wires, at least one of the pair of wires supported adjacent to each other in the first wiring stay and another wire in the middle in the second wiring stay. It is preferable that it is supported in the state of being.
Thereby, a larger interval can be provided between at least a pair of wirings without increasing the sag of the entire wiring group.

It is preferable that at least one of the first wiring stay and the second wiring stay supports the wiring group so as to be rotatable around an axis extending along the arrangement direction.
This prevents the wiring group from being bent in the vicinity of the wiring stay. When the slack of the wiring group is deformed, the relative position change of each wiring can be further suppressed.

  According to the present invention, a technique useful for promoting the articulation of a robot is provided.

First, main forms of the embodiments described below are listed.
(Mode 1) The robot is a humanoid robot.
(Mode 2) The robot is almost entirely covered with a cover.
(Mode 3) The electrical wiring is connected to an encoder provided in the servo motor. The electrical wiring includes a plurality of conductive wires.
(Mode 4) The electrical wiring is wiring for supplying power to a plurality of servo motors. The electrical wiring includes a plurality of conductive lines.

(Example 1)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of the robot 2 according to the present embodiment. The robot 2 mainly includes a head 4, a trunk 6, a right arm 8, a left arm 10, a right leg 12 and a left leg 14. The head 4, the right arm 8, the left arm 10, the right leg 12, and the left leg 14 are swingably connected to the trunk 6. As shown in FIG. 1, the robot 2 is a humanoid robot made to imitate a person. It is assumed that the robot 2 is used in an environment where it contacts humans.
A basic configuration of the robot 2 will be described by taking the left arm portion 10 as an example. The left arm portion 10 includes an upper arm link 20 and a lower arm link 28 that is rotatably connected to the upper arm link 20 via an elbow joint 24. The torso 6 side of the upper arm link 20 is connected to a link (not shown) constituting the torso 6 via a shoulder joint 18. A robot hand 32 is connected to a terminal side of the lower arm link 28 (an anti-elbow joint 24 side) via a wrist joint 30.
Similarly, the right arm portion 8, the right leg portion 12, and the left leg portion 14 are configured by a plurality of links that are rotatably connected via joints. And the link group which comprises the right arm part 8, the right leg part 12, and the left leg part 14 is rotatably connected with the link which comprises the trunk | drum 6 via the joint. In the robot 2, a large number of links are rotatably connected via joints, and the large number of joints are formed at positions over the entire robot 2. Specifically, more than 30 joints are formed at positions over the entire robot 2.
The robot 2 can walk, hold an object, and operate an object by adjusting the joint angle of each joint (the rotation angle of the other link with respect to one link).
In the left arm portion 10 of the robot 2, the upper arm portion from the shoulder joint 18 to the elbow joint 24 is covered with an upper arm cover 22. Further, the lower arm portion from the elbow joint 24 to the wrist joint 30 is covered with a lower arm cover 26. These covers 22 and 26 prohibit the internal structure of the left arm 10 from being exposed to the outside. In the robot 2, other parts are similarly covered with a cover. Thereby, a person in contact with the robot 2 is prevented from being damaged by a component such as the left arm portion 10. In addition, there is an effect that a person in contact with the robot 2 can easily feel a sense of familiarity with the robot 2.

The robot 2 includes an actuator and a sensor for adjusting the joint angle of each joint. The robot 2 includes actuators and sensors for almost all joints. Each actuator and each sensor for adjusting the joint angle of each joint is disposed in the vicinity of each joint. That is, in the robot 2, a large number of actuators and sensors are arranged at positions throughout the robot 2. For example, a servo motor group 34 that adjusts the joint angles of the wrist joint 30 and the robot hand 32 is disposed near the wrist joint 30 of the left arm 10. The servo motor group 34 includes five servo motors. Three of the servo motors adjust the joint angle of the wrist joint 30 with three degrees of freedom (yaw angle, roll angle, pitch angle). The other two servo motors adjust the joint angles of the robot hand 32. Each servo motor is provided with an encoder for measuring the rotation angle of the servo motor.
The robot 2 includes a battery 42 for supplying electric power to the actuator group, a computer 40 that processes the output signal of the sensor group, and controls the operation of the actuator group. The battery 42 and the computer 40 are built in the body 6.
Actuator groups and sensor groups arranged at positions throughout the robot 2 are connected to the battery 42 and the computer 40 built in the body 6 using electrical wiring. For example, a servo motor group (including an encoder group) 34 in the vicinity of the wrist joint 30 is also connected to the battery 42 and the computer 40 by electric wiring. Electrical wires 51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 53 a, 53 b and 55 (shown in FIG. 2) connecting the servo motor group 34 to the battery 42 and the computer 40 are installed along the left arm portion 10. Specifically, it is constructed along the lower arm link 28 from the upper arm link 20, and is constructed across the elbow joint 24. The plurality of electric wires 51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 53 a, 53 b, 55 are accommodated inside the covers 22, 26 in the left arm portion 10.

FIG. 2 shows the vicinity of the elbow joint 24 of the left arm 10 with the upper arm cover 22 and the lower arm cover 26 removed. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper arm link 20 and the lower arm link 28 are connected via an elbow joint 24 and can rotate around the rotation axis C (arrow R in the drawing). An actuator 36 (servo motor) for adjusting the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 is arranged in the vicinity of the elbow joint 24.
As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of electric wires 51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 53 a, 53 b, 55 (hereinafter may be abbreviated as electric wires 51 a to 55) straddling the elbow joint 24 from the upper arm link 20 side. It is constructed to the lower arm link 28 side. Some of the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, 53a, 53b are signal lines extending from the encoder of the servo motor group 34 described above. Each of the electric wirings 51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 53 a, 53 b extends from each encoder of the servo motor included in the servo motor group 34. The electric wires 51a, 51b, 51c, 53a, 53b, which are signal wires from the encoder, are multi-axis wires each having a plurality of conductive wires, and have a relatively large wire diameter. The electrical wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, 53a, 53b have substantially the same wire diameter. The electrical wiring 55 is a power line that supplies power to the servo motor group 34. The electric wiring 55 is a bundle of power lines that supply electric power of the five servo motors of the servo motor group 34. The wire diameter of the electric wiring 55 is larger than the wire diameters of the other electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, 53a, 53b. In FIG. 2, some of the electric wirings 51 a to 55 are omitted from the lower arm link 28 side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper arm link 20 is attached with a first wiring stay 61 that supports a plurality of electric wires 51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 53 a, 53 b, 55 on the upper arm link 20 side. The lower arm link 28 is attached with a second wiring stay 62 that supports a plurality of wires 51a to 55 on the lower arm link 28 side. Between the first wiring stay 61 and the second wiring stay 62, a margin of a predetermined length is given to each of the electric wirings 51a to 55, and a predetermined slack (an arrow in the figure) is given to each of the electric wirings 51a to 55. A portion indicated by T) is formed. The slack T of the electric wires 51 a to 55 is formed so as to rise in the direction of the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24.
FIG. 3 shows a state in which the upper arm link 20 and the lower arm link 28 are rotated around the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24. Compared with the state of FIG. 2, in the state of FIG. 3, the upper arm link 20 and the lower arm link 28 are relatively rotated by approximately 120 degrees. That is, the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 changes by approximately 120 degrees. When the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 changes, the shape of the slack T of each of the electrical wirings 51a to 55 changes. Thereby, when the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 is changed, it is prevented that an excessive force is applied to each of the electric wires 51a to 55.

FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 5 in the form of supporting the electrical wirings 51a to 55 in the first wiring stay 61 and the second wiring stay 62. FIG. FIG. 4 shows a state when the vicinity of the elbow joint 24 is viewed from the direction of the rotation axis C, and well shows the support form of the electric wirings 51 a to 55 in the first wiring stay 61. In the first wiring stay 61, a plurality of electric wirings 51a to 55 are supported in a line in order. The arrangement direction of the electric wirings 51 a to 55 in the first wiring stay 61 extends along the rotation direction (arrow R in the drawing) around the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24.
Note that the arrangement of the electric wires 51a to 55 along the rotation direction around the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24 strictly means that the electric wires 51a to 55 are arranged on the circumference around the rotation axis C. To do. However, depending on the relationship between the number of wires, the wire diameter, the elbow joint 24, and the like, even if the electrical wires 51a to 55 are arranged on a tangent line that touches the circumference around the rotation axis C, the former state is actually Will be in a state without much difference. In such a case, even in the latter state, it can be said that the wires are arranged along the direction around the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24.
In the first wiring stay 61, as shown in FIG. 5, the extending directions of the respective electric wirings 51 a to 55 are not perpendicular to the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24. It is inclined upward in the direction of the rotation axis C at a predetermined angle θ from the direction. That is, the extending directions of the electric wirings 51 a to 55 are supported so as to follow the shape of the deflection T. By supporting the electrical wirings 51 a to 55 in this way, it is possible to prevent the electrical wirings 51 a to 55 from being strongly bent in the vicinity of the first wiring stay 61. Said predetermined angle (theta) is good to adjust according to the magnitude | size of the slack T formed in the electrical wiring 51a-55.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV in FIG. 4 (a cross-sectional view parallel to the rotation axis C), and well shows a support form of the electric wirings 51 a to 55 in the second wiring stay 62.
In the second wiring stay 62, electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c (hereinafter also referred to as the first wiring group 51) are supported in a line. The arrangement direction of the first wiring group 51 in the second wiring stay 62 extends in a direction parallel to the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24. The first wiring group 51 is arranged in the order of the electric wiring 51a, the electric wiring 51c, and the electric wiring 51b from the lower side of the drawing. That is, in the case of the first wiring group 51, the first wiring stay 61 has the adjacent electric wiring pairs 51 a and 51 b supported adjacently, and the second wiring stay 62 has the other electric wiring 51 c in the middle. It is supported by.

  In the second wiring stay 62, electric wirings 53a and 53b (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a second wiring group 53) are supported in a line. The arrangement direction of the second wiring group 53 in the second wiring stay 62 extends in a direction parallel to the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24. In the second wiring stay 62, the electric wiring 55 is supported so as to be aligned with the first wiring group 51 and the second wiring group 53. In the second wiring stay 62, the six electric wirings 51a to 55 are arranged so as to fit in a substantially square range as a whole. Thereby, the second wiring stay 62 is prevented from protruding greatly from the lower arm link 28.

  With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, how the slackness T of the electric wires 51 a to 55 changes when the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 changes will be described by taking the first wiring group 51 as an example. FIG. 6 shows a state where the upper arm link 20 and the lower arm link 28 extend substantially in a straight line, and shows a state where the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 is one limit angle (for example, zero degree). ing. FIG. 6B shows a view on arrow B in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the electrical wirings 51 a, 51 b, 51 c are located relatively close to the slack T on the first wiring stay 61 side. On the other hand, on the second wiring stay 62 side of the slack T, a relatively large space is formed between the electric wires 51a and 51b. This is because the electrical wirings 51a and 51b are supported adjacent to each other in the first wiring stay 61, whereas the second wiring stay 62 is supported in a state where another electrical wiring 61c is interposed in the middle. Because it is.

FIG. 7 shows a state where the upper arm link 20 and the lower arm link 28 are relatively rotated, and shows a state where the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 is the other limit angle (for example, approximately 120 degrees). . FIG.7 (b) has shown the B arrow view in Fig.7 (a). As is apparent from a comparison between FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, when the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 changes, the slack T of the first wiring group 51 is greatly deformed in the direction of the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24. Here, when attention is paid to each of the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, it is shown that the relative positions of the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c are hardly changed. In other words, in the first wiring group 51, the deformation direction of the slack T of each of the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c (the moving direction of the electric wiring in the slack T portion) is relatively coincident. This is because the first wiring group 51 is supported by the first wiring stay 61 side by side in the rotation direction of the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24, and the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24 is supported by the second wiring stay 62. This is due to being supported side by side in a parallel direction. The state in which the first wiring group 51 deforms the slack T seems to be that the three electrical wirings 51a, 51b, 51c are constrained to each other by an invisible insulating tape.
In the first wiring group 51, even when the slack T is deformed, the relative positional relationship does not change so much, so that the wirings hardly interfere with each other. Therefore, when slack is given to each of the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c in advance, it is possible to give slack with the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c relatively adjacent to each other. Since it is not necessary to provide an excessive gap between the electrical wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, the size of the sag T of the entire first wiring group 51 can be suppressed.

  2 and FIG. 3 shows that the relative position of the electrical wirings 53a and 53b is hardly changed in the behavior of the slack T of the second wiring group 53. That is, also in the second wiring group 53, the deformation direction of the slack of each electric wiring 53a, 53b (moving direction of each electric wiring) is relatively coincident. This is because the second wiring group 53 is supported side by side in the rotation direction around the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24 in the first wiring stay 61, and the rotation axis of the elbow joint 24 in the second wiring stay 62. This is due to being supported side by side in a direction parallel to C. Therefore, in the second wiring group 53, it is not necessary to provide an excessive gap between the electric wirings 53a and 53b, so that the size of the slack T of the entire second wiring group 53 can be suppressed. .

  As described above, in the robot 2 of the present embodiment, when the plurality of electric wires 51a to 55 are installed across the elbow joint 24, the size of the slack T of the whole of the plurality of electric wires 51a to 55 is suppressed. Can do. As a result, in the vicinity of the elbow joint 24, the plurality of electrical wires 51 a to 55 can be accommodated inside the upper arm cover 22 and the lower arm cover 26. It can be said that it is suitable for humanoid robots that come into contact with humans without exposing electrical wiring.

In the second wiring stay 62, the first wiring group 51 may be supported in the order of the electric wiring 51b, the electric wiring 51a, and the electric wiring 51c from below in FIG. Even in this configuration, the pair of electric wires 51b and 51c supported adjacent to each other on the first wiring stay 61 is supported on the second wiring stay 62 with another electric wire 51a interposed therebetween. Become.
In the second wiring stay 62, the first wiring group 51 and the second wiring group 53 may be supported in a line. That is, the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, 53a, and 53b may be supported in parallel with the rotation axis C of the elbow joint 24. In this case, since the first wiring stay 61 is arranged in the order of the electric wirings 51a, 51b, 51c, 53a, 53b, the second wiring stay 62 is arranged in the order of the electric wirings 51c, 53a, 51b, 53b, 51a (up and down, for example). No matter what). Further, not limited to this order, the first wiring stay 61 supports at least one pair of electric wirings that are adjacently supported, and the second wiring stay 62 supports at least one other electric wiring in the middle. Good.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the robot 2 according to the present embodiment may be configured to support the first wiring stay 61 in a rotatable manner using a support base 66 that supports the first wiring stay 61 in a rotatable manner. In this case, it is preferable that the first wiring stay 61 is rotatably supported around an axis E extending along the direction in which the electric wirings 51a to 55 are arranged. As a result, the electrical wirings 51 a to 55 are supported by the first wiring stay 61 so as to be rotatable around the axis E. As a result, when the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 is changed, the electric wires 51a to 55 are prevented from being forcibly bent in the vicinity of the first wiring stay. An unreasonable force is prevented from being applied to the electric wires 51a to 55, and when the joint angle of the elbow joint 24 changes, the relative position change of the electric wires 51a to 55 can be more effectively suppressed. Similarly, the second wiring stay 62 may be supported so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the direction in which the first wiring group 51 and the second wiring group 53 are arranged.

Specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, but these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above.
The method of supporting a plurality of electrical wirings described in this embodiment is not a method effective only for electrical wiring. It is self-evident that it is an effective means for wiring that supplies fluid pressure to an actuator or the like that operates using fluid pressure or the like (in this case, the term “pipe” may be appropriate).
The technical elements described in this specification or the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the technology illustrated in the present specification or the drawings achieves a plurality of objects at the same time, and has technical utility by achieving one of the objects.

The schematic diagram which shows the external appearance of a robot. The figure which shows the structure of the vicinity of an elbow joint (state which the elbow joint extended). The figure which shows the structure of the vicinity of an elbow joint (state which bent the elbow joint). The figure when the vicinity of an elbow joint is seen from a rotating shaft direction. VV sectional view taken on the line of FIG. The figure which shows the state of the slack of the 1st wiring group (state which the elbow joint extended). The figure which shows the state of slack of the 1st wiring group (state which bent the elbow joint). The figure which shows the example which carries out rotation support of the 1st wiring stay.

Explanation of symbols

2 .. Robot 4.. Head 6.. Body 8. Right arm 10. Left arm 12. Right leg 14. Left leg 18. Shoulder joint 20 Upper arm link (first link) )
24 ... Elbow joint 28 ... Lower arm link (second link)
30 .. Wrist joint 32 .. Robot hand 34. Servo motor group 40. Computer 42. Battery 51. First wiring groups 51a, 51b, 51c .. Electrical wiring 53 of first wiring group 53. Second Wiring groups 53a, 53b ... Electric wiring 55 of second wiring group ... Electric wiring 61 ... First wiring stay 62 ... Second wiring stay C ... Joint axis R ... Direction around joint axis T ... Electricity Wiring sagging

Claims (2)

The first link,
A second link rotatably connected to the first link via a joint;
A plurality of wires installed across the joint from the first link side to the second link side;
A first wiring stay supporting the plurality of wires on the first link side;
A second wiring stay supporting the plurality of wires on the second link side;
A wiring group consisting of at least three of the plurality of wirings is supported in a row in the first wiring stay and is also supported in a row in the second wiring stay.
The arrangement direction of the wiring group in the first wiring stay extends along the rotation direction of the joint,
The arrangement direction of the wiring group in the second wiring stay extends in a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the joint ,
A robot characterized in that at least one of the pair of wirings supported adjacent to each other in the first wiring stay is supported in a state where another wiring is interposed in the middle in the second wiring stay . 2. The robot according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first wiring stay and the second wiring stay supports the wiring group so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the arrangement direction.

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