JP5729226B2 - Robot position and orientation interpolation method and robot control apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides a method for interpolating the position and the posture after teaching the position to move the hand and the posture of the hand so as to change the distance from the hand to the target of a vertical articulated robot. The present invention relates to a robot control device.

  When teaching a robot, generally, a position along a trajectory for moving the hand of the robot is taught, and a posture to be taken by the hand of the robot is taught at the teaching point. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to teaching and subsequent interpolation.

JP 2005-275484 A

  By the way, if you attach a camera to the robot's hand and move the camera to capture an image of a fixed workpiece, the robot's posture when teaching is naturally fixed. It is desirable to be determined so that it is in the direction of capturing the workpiece being processed.

  When taking images while moving the camera and changing the focal length at which the camera captures the workpiece, after teaching the position of the robot's hand, for example, a spline curve between the teaching positions so that the movement locus is smoothly connected Is interpolated using a free curve. For each teaching point, teaching is performed so that the line of sight of the camera faces the direction of the work, but it is desirable that the line of sight of the camera faces the direction of the work even at the interpolated position. However, conventionally, there has been no technique for performing interpolation so as to satisfy a certain condition for the hand posture.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a robot position / orientation interpolation method and a robot control apparatus capable of performing interpolation so that the attitude of the hand of the robot satisfies a certain condition. .

According to the position and orientation interpolation method of claim 1, the interpolation point is generated by interpolating the position between the teaching points with the movement order so that the moving locus passing through each teaching point becomes a free curve (first). step), for each teaching point, determine the coordinates of the put that goal point in the same coordinate system as the teaching point (second step), between coordinates of each target point corresponding to the respective taught points, same as in the first step An interpolation point with the same movement order as that in the first step is generated by interpolation using a free curve of the algorithm (third step). For the first to third steps, there is no problem even if the execution order is appropriately changed. For example, when the coordinates of the target points corresponding to the teaching points are first interpolated, the same movement order may be assigned to the points interpolated between the teaching points.

Here, regarding the normalized posture vector obtained by decomposing the posture angle of the hand at the teaching point in three directions, the direction from the hand toward the target point of the object is defined as the first posture, and the other is defined as the second and third postures. The first normalized posture vector (first posture vector) corresponds to an approach vector, and the second and third normalized posture vectors (second and third posture vectors) correspond to either a normal or an orientation vector .
Then, a first posture vector starting from the interpolation point generated in the first step and ending in the interpolation point generated in the third step is obtained for all the interpolation points generated in the first step (fourth step). ). That is, in the fourth step, the length (norm) of the first posture vector is not changed to a normalized constant length (unit length) but is changed according to the distance from the object.

Then, when interpolating the rotation angle of the second figure Zeibe vector at each interpolation point between two taught points (fifth step), the outer product between the first position vector and the second posture vector stand each interpolation point The third posture vector is obtained (sixth step), and the hand posture at each interpolation point is determined from the interpolation point generated in the first step and the coordinates of each posture vector obtained in the fourth to sixth steps. (Seventh step). Since the purpose is to determine the posture of the hand, it does not matter whether the length is normalized when the third posture vector is obtained.
That is, in the fourth step, since the length of the first posture vector is changed according to the distance of the target object, the hand posture that is determined together with the second and third posture vectors is always the first posture vector. Interpolation processing is performed so as to face the object. Therefore, when the hand position is interpolated, the hand position at each interpolation point can be interpolated at least in the direction of the object.

According to the position and orientation interpolation method of the second aspect, the first to fourth steps are executed in the same manner as the first aspect. Then, for each of the second and third posture vectors, an angle θi formed by two vectors standing at two adjacent teaching points i and (i + 1) is obtained (fifth step), and the second and third posture vectors are calculated. For each interpolation point j interpolated between two teaching points i and (i + 1), an angle θj formed by two vectors respectively standing at the teaching point i and the interpolation point j is obtained (sixth step).
Next, for either one of the second and third posture vectors, the cross product Pi of the two vectors respectively standing at the two teaching points i and (i + 1) is obtained, and the obtained cross product Pi is normalized to obtain the normalized vector nPi. Obtained (seventh step), a normalized quaternion Qj having the normalized vector nPi as the rotation axis and the angle θj as the rotation angle is obtained for the normalized vector nPi (eighth step).

  Then, a posture vector Rbj obtained by rotating the posture vector selected as the normalized vector nPi by the normalized quarterion Qj is obtained (9th step), and the first posture vector Raj standing at the interpolation point j and the rotated posture vector Rbj The posture vector Rcj that is not selected as a normalized vector and stands at the interpolation point j is obtained (tenth step). Then, the posture vector Rbj is obtained again from the outer product of the posture vectors Raj and Rcj (11th step), and the posture angle of the hand at the interpolation point j is obtained from these three posture vectors Raj, Rbj, Rcj (12th step). .

  That is, in the case of the method of claim 1, as a result of interpolating the posture with reference to the interpolation point, it is assumed that the rate at which the hand posture changes in accordance with the change in the hand position is not linear. On the other hand, according to the method of claim 2, with respect to the normalized vector nPi, a normalized quarteranion Qj having the angle θj as a rotation angle is obtained, and a posture vector Rbj rotated by the normalized quarteranion Qj is obtained. Then, the remaining posture vector Rcj is obtained from the first posture vector Raj and the posture vector Rbj standing at the interpolation point j, and again the posture vector Rbj is obtained from the outer product of the posture vectors Raj and Rcj, and these three posture vectors Raj , Rbj, Rcj, the posture angle of the hand at the interpolation point j is obtained, so that the rate of change of the hand posture corresponding to the change in the hand position can be made linear, and the posture can be changed more smoothly.

  The fifth to seventh steps in claim 1 and the fifth to twelfth steps in claim 2 are the steps for determining the second posture vector and the third posture vector. The second and third posture vectors are determined in the order of the vector and the third posture vector, whereas the second and third posture vectors are determined in the order of the second and third posture vectors. Except for this difference, the fifth to twelfth steps in claim 2 are equivalent to the more detailed and specific description of the procedure of the fifth to seventh steps in claim 1 (for example, in the fifth step above). The rotation angle interpolation processing is limited to being performed using the normalized quarteranion Qj).

The flowchart which is 1st Example and shows the process which interpolates the position and attitude | position between teaching points about the position and attitude | position of the hand of a robot main body. The figure which shows the image corresponding to the process of FIG. 1 with a vector model (the 1) The figure which shows the image corresponding to the process of FIG. 1 by a vector model (the 2) Diagram explaining the significance of changing the length of the approach vector Diagram showing configuration of control system including vertical articulated robot Functional block diagram of control system FIG. 1 equivalent view showing the second embodiment (part 1) Figure 1 equivalent (part 2) The figure explaining the state which has produced the shift | offset | difference with respect to the direction of the imaging target object of the orientation vector Ai The figure explaining the effect which uses normalization quaternion Qnj (the 1) The figure explaining the effect which uses normalized quaternion Qnj (the 2)

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a control system including a vertical articulated (6-axis) robot. The robot body 1 has a 6-axis arm on a base (rotating shaft) 2 in this case, and a tool such as a hand (not shown), a camera described later, and the like are attached to the tip of the arm. A first arm 3 is rotatably connected to the base 2 via a first joint J1. A lower end portion of a second arm 4 extending upward via the second joint J2 is rotatably connected to the first arm 3, and a third portion is connected to a tip portion of the second arm 4. The third arm 5 is rotatably connected via the joint J3.

  A fourth arm 6 is rotatably connected to the tip of the third arm 5 via a fourth joint J4, and a fifth arm is connected to the tip of the fourth arm 6 via a fifth joint J5. 7 is rotatably connected, and the sixth arm 8 is rotatably connected to the fifth arm 7 via a sixth joint J6. In addition, in each joint J1-J6, each arm 3-8 is rotationally driven by the servomotor which is not shown in figure.

  The robot body 1 and the control device 11 are connected by a connection cable 12. Accordingly, the servo motor that drives each axis of the robot body 1 is controlled by the control device 11. The operation pad (input means) 13 is provided with gripping portions 15L and 15R for the user to hold with both left and right hands, for example, on both ends of the horizontally long main body 14, and the user holds the gripping portions 15L and 15R with both hands. Operation sticks 16L and 16R that can be pressed with the thumb while being held are arranged. In addition, buttons 17L and 17R that can be pressed with an index finger are arranged above the gripping portions 15L and 15R in the drawing.

  A camera (imaging means) 21 using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS image sensor is attached to the arm 8 of the robot body 1, and the imaging target (work) 22 is captured by the camera 21 as an image. A personal computer (personal computer) 23 is connected to the control device 11 via a cable 24.

  The personal computer 23 includes a storage device (storage means) such as a memory or a hard disk. The operation pad 13 is connected to the personal computer 23 via the connection cable 18 and executes high-speed data transfer with the personal computer 23 via the communication interface. Information such as operation signals input by operating the operation sticks 16L, 16R and the like is transmitted from the operation pad 13 to the control device 11 via the personal computer 23. The camera 21 is connected to the personal computer 23 via the cable 25, and image data captured by the camera 21 is transmitted to the personal computer 23 and displayed on the display 23D.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the control device 11 includes a CPU 31 as a control unit, a drive circuit 32 as drive means for driving the motor 30 of each joint, a detection circuit 33, and the like. The CPU 31 is connected to a ROM 34 storing system programs for the entire robot, a RAM 35 storing operation programs for the robot body 1, and an interface 36 for connecting the teaching pendant 3. In FIG. 6, the shoulder portion 5, the lower arm 6, the upper arm 7, and the wrist 8 are shown as a single block as a movable portion, and only one motor 30 that is a driving source for these joints is shown accordingly. .

  The detection circuit 33 is for detecting the current position (rotation angle) and current speed (rotation speed) of each joint. The detection circuit 33 includes a rotary encoder provided in the motor 30 that drives each joint. 37 is connected. The rotary encoder 37 serves both as a position sensor and a speed sensor, and outputs a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation angle of each motor 30, and the pulse signal is given to the detection circuit 33. The detection circuit 33 detects each motor 30 and thus the current position of each joint based on the pulse signal from each rotary encoder 37, and each motor 30 based on the number of pulse signals input from each rotary encoder 37 per unit time. Eventually, the current speed of each joint is detected, and information on the position and speed is supplied to the drive circuit 32 and CPU 31 of each motor 30.

  Each drive circuit 32 compares the position command value and speed command value given from the CPU 31 with the current position and current speed given from the detection circuit 33, and supplies each motor 30 with a current corresponding to the deviation. Drive them. As a result, various operations are performed by the movement of the central portion of a flange (not shown), which is the tip (hand) of the robot arm, following a path that sequentially passes through the command position.

  The movement path of the tip of the robot arm is given by a teaching operation performed using the operation pad 13 (or a teaching pendant (not shown)). In this teaching work, a plurality of positions on the locus that the robot arm tip should follow are sequentially taught as command positions. In the conventional teaching operation, the posture of the tip of the robot arm at each command position is also taught. In this embodiment, the posture is automatically determined as described later. The taught command position and the determined posture are stored in the RAM 35. In actual robot work, the control device 11 sets a curve that smoothly interpolates between a plurality of given command positions and smoothly follows the command positions, and controls so that the tip of the robot arm moves on the curve. To do.

  Note that the position of the tip of the robot arm is indicated by the position of the origin of the three-dimensional coordinates (tool coordinates) fixed to the tool (FIG. 5c) on the robot coordinates (base coordinates, base coordinates). The posture of the tip of the robot arm is defined by the orientation indicated by the three-axis unit vector (normal, orientation, and approach normalized posture vectors) of the tool coordinates fixed to the tool on the robot coordinates.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a process of interpolating the position and posture of the hand between teaching points after teaching the position and posture of the hand (TCP) of the robot main body 1. FIG. 2 and FIG. An image corresponding to the process 1 is represented by a vector model. Note that the flowchart shown in FIG. 1 shows an outline of processing in principle for easy understanding, and a more detailed processing procedure will be described in the second embodiment.

  First, for each teaching point, the hand coordinates; TCP coordinates Pi (Xi, Yi, Zi) and posture angles (Rxi, Ryi, Rzi), which are rotation angles of the respective axes, are recorded (S1). At this time, the posture of the hand is taught so that the line of sight (Z axis) of the camera 21 faces the direction of the imaging object 22. Subsequently, the distance to the imaging target 22 is obtained and set for each teaching point (S2). When the camera 21 is used, the above distance is a focal length (see FIG. 2A).

  Then, interpolation is performed between the taught TCP coordinates Pi using, for example, a free curve such as a spline curve (S3, see FIG. 2B, first step, position interpolation means), and the object 22 to be imaged from each taught point. As for the coordinates (Ti, Ti + 1, Ti + 2) having the distance up to the vertex as in step S3, interpolation is performed using, for example, a free curve such as a spline curve (S4, see FIG. 2 (c), second And third step, target point coordinate determination means, target point position interpolation means). The coordinates (Ti, Ti + 1, Ti + 2) are represented in the same coordinate system as the teaching point. “I”, “i + 1”, and the like indicate the movement order of the hand position.

  Next, an approach vector (first posture vector) is generated from the interpolation point of each teaching point obtained in step S3 and the interpolation point of the vertex coordinates obtained in step S4 corresponding to this interpolation point ( S5, see FIG. 3A), fourth step, first posture vector determining means). This approach vector coincides with the Z axis that is the viewing direction of the camera 21. Obviously, there is no problem even if the execution order is moved before S2 or S3.

Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the significance of determining the approach vector as described above. FIG. 4A shows an interpolation process according to the prior art. Conventionally, since only the position P12 between the teaching points P1 and P2 is interpolated, the approach vectors of the teaching points P1 and P2 are targets (imaging objects). Even if it faces in the direction of 22), the approach vector at the interpolation point P12 does not always face in the direction of the target. In this case, the length of the approach vector at each interpolation point is always a constant unit length.
FIG. 4B shows the interpolation processing according to the present embodiment, and the approach vector at the interpolation point P12 is calculated based on 2 points of the interpolation point of each teaching point and the interpolation point on the imaging object 22 side corresponding to this interpolation point. By generating from the points, the length of the approach vector at each interpolation point is not constant but changes, so it is guaranteed that the approach vector points in the direction of the target.

Refer to FIG. 1 again. The other two-axis vectors that determine the posture of the hand are the orientation vector and the normal vector, but for either one of them, the rotation angle is interpolated around the rotation axis between the teaching points, and the orientation corresponding to the interpolation trajectory Alternatively, a normal vector is generated (S6, fifth step, rotation angle interpolation means).
Here, FIG. 3 (b) ~ (d) is an image processing for interpolating the rotation angle when generating the normal vector (second posture vector) in step S6, FIG. 3 (b), FIG. 3A shows normal and orientation vectors when the direction of the imaging object 22 is viewed along the approach vector from the A side and the teaching point side shown in FIG. FIG. 3 (c) shows a curve of the angle change when the rotation angle θ of the normal vector at each teaching point is spline-interpolated, and FIG. 3 (d) is interpolated as shown in FIG. 3 (c). As a result, the rotation angle θ indicated by the normal vector at the interpolation point.

  In S7 shown in FIG. 1, if one of the normal and orientation vectors is determined in S6, the other vector (third posture vector) can be obtained by the outer product with the approach vector under the orthonormal condition (seventh step, Third posture vector determining means). As a result, three posture vectors for each interpolation point; normal, orientation, and approach vectors are determined, and the posture is determined based on these vectors (eighth step, posture determination means). Therefore, the approach vector of the hand at each interpolation point faces the direction of the imaging object 22, and the rotation angle of the normal and orientation vectors from the certain teaching point through the interpolation point to the next teaching point changes smoothly. The hand posture is interpolated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, interpolation points are generated by interpolating the positions between teaching points so that the movement trajectory passing through each teaching point becomes a spline curve, and the interpolation order is generated for each teaching point. Then, the coordinates of the imaging target 22 in the same coordinate system as the teaching points are obtained, and interpolation points between the coordinates of the imaging target 22 corresponding to each teaching point are interpolated by a spline curve to generate the interpolation points having the same movement order. . Then, an approach vector having the interpolation point on the teaching point side as the start point and the interpolation point on the imaging target object 22 side as the end point is obtained for all the interpolation points, for example, rotation of a normal vector at each interpolation point between the two teaching points. When the corner is interpolated, an orientation vector is obtained from the outer product of the approach vector and the normal vector that stands at each interpolation point, and the hand posture at each interpolation point is determined from the coordinates of each interpolation point and the three posture vectors.

  That is, since the length of the approach vector is changed according to the distance to the imaging object 22, the hand posture determined together with the normal and orientation vectors is interpolated so that the approach vector always faces the object. It is processed. Therefore, when the hand position is interpolated, the hand position at each interpolation point can be interpolated so as to face at least the direction of the imaging object 22. In addition, the posture of the hand can be interpolated so that the rotation angle of the normal and orientation vectors from one teaching point through the interpolation point to the next teaching point changes smoothly.

(Second embodiment)
7 to 11 show a second embodiment. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, different parts will be described. As described above, the second embodiment shows the processing procedure shown in the first embodiment in more detail and specifically. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 7A, first, when the TCP coordinates Xci and the attitude angles (Rx, Ry, Rz) are taught for each teaching point (S11, presupposed in the first embodiment), each TCP coordinate ( For example, interpolation is performed using a free curve such as a spline curve, for example, between Xci and Xci + 1) to generate a trajectory including an interpolation point (S12, first step, position interpolation means). The subscripts “i” and “i + 1” are numbers sequentially assigned to the teaching points, and are hereinafter referred to as “key frame numbers”.

  Next, a normalized posture vector (Ni, Oi, Ai) standing at each teaching point is obtained from the posture angles (Rxi, Ryi, Rzi) (S13). Then, the length (ni, oi, ai) of the posture vector starting from the TCP coordinates when the coordinates (Xt, Yt, Zt) are described using the posture vector (Ni, Oi, Ai) is obtained (S14). , Second step), the coordinates Xti of the vertexes when the length of the posture vector (Ni, Oi, Ai) is (ni, oi, ai) are obtained (S15, target point coordinate determining means, FIG. 7B) reference). That is, the coordinate Xti is a coordinate indicating the position of the imaging object 22 with respect to the TCP coordinate.

  Here, when the direction of the posture vector Ai completely coincides with the direction of the imaging target 22, the coordinate Xti indicates the length of the posture vector Ai, and the lengths ni and oi of the other posture vectors are zero. However, if the direction of the posture vector Ai deviates from the direction of the imaging target 22, the lengths ni and oi of other posture vectors also show predetermined values (see FIG. 9).

  Next, assuming that the length of the approach vector Ai is ai, the trajectory including the interpolation point is generated by interpolating between the tip coordinates of the vector Ai by a spline curve as in S12 (S16, third and fourth steps). , Target point position interpolation means). Then, a vector (normalized approach vector Aj for each field) that connects the coordinates of the teaching point TCP and the field coordinates (interpolated coordinates) Xcj and Xtj for the spline interpolation trajectory at the tip of the approach vector Ai of length ai is obtained. (See S17, first posture vector determination means, FIG. 7C). Note that the subscript “j” is a number sequentially attached to the interpolation points, and is hereinafter referred to as “field number”.

  Then, the inner product of the normal vectors Ni and Ni + 1 at the teaching points Xi and Xi + 1 is calculated to obtain an angle Θni (i = 0,..., N) formed by the two (S18, teaching point vector angle calculating means), and the angle Θni Also, the angle Θnj indicated by the normal vector at each interpolation point is obtained by performing spline interpolation (S19, interpolation point vector angle calculating means). Similarly, the inner product is calculated for the orientation vectors Oi and Oi + 1 at the teaching points Xi and Xi + 1, the angle Θoi (i = 0,..., N) formed by the two is obtained (S20), and spline interpolation is also performed for the angle Θoi. Thus, the angle Θoj indicated by the orientation vector at each interpolation point is obtained (S21). S18 to S21 correspond to the fifth step.

Subsequently, in the process shown in FIG. 8A, the outer product Npi of the normal vectors Ni and Ni + 1 of the teaching points is calculated, and the result is used as a temporary rotation center of the normal vector (see S22, FIG. 8B). ). If the value of the outer product Npi is not zero (S23: YES), the outer product Npi is normalized (S24, seventh step, normalization vector determining means), and the normalized quaternion Qnj by the rotation angle θnj with the normalized vector Npi as the rotation axis (S25, 8th step, normalized quota calculation means). The rotation angle θnj is
θnj = Θnj−Θni (1)
In the case where the field number j is between the key frame numbers i and i + 1, the rotation angle of the normal vector changes between the teaching point Xi and the interpolation point Xj (sixth step). The rotation angle θnj may be obtained before obtaining the normalized quota Qnj in S25. Further, the normalized quarteranion Qnj is obtained by equation (2).

尚、Ｎｐｊは、教示点Ｘｉ，補間点Ｘｃｊにおけるノーマルベクトルの外積である。

Npj is the outer product of normal vectors at the teaching point Xi and the interpolation point Xcj.

  Next, a normal vector Nj obtained by rotating the normalized normal vector Ni with the normalized quarteranion Qnj is obtained by the expression (3) (see S26, FIG. 8 (c), ninth step, rotation attitude vector calculation means).

尚、Ｑｎｊ^-1は、正規化クオータニオンＱｎｊの逆行列である。すると、補間点ＸｃｊにおけるアプローチベクトルＡｊと、ノーマルベクトルＮｊとが求められたので、これらの外積よりオリエントベクトルＯｊを求めることができる（Ｓ２７，図８（ｄ）参照，第１０ステップ，最終姿勢ベクトル算出手段）。またここで、アプローチベクトルＡｊとオリエントベクトルＯｊの外積からノーマルベクトルＮｊを求め直す（Ｓ２７ａ，第１１ステップ）。

Qnj ⁻¹ is an inverse matrix of the normalized quarterion Qnj. Then, since the approach vector Aj and the normal vector Nj at the interpolation point Xcj are obtained, the orientation vector Oj can be obtained from these outer products (see S27, FIG. 8 (d), 10th step, final posture vector). Calculation means). Here, the normal vector Nj is obtained again from the outer product of the approach vector Aj and the orientation vector Oj (S27a, 11th step).

  As described above, since the approach vector Aj, the normal vector Nj, and the orientation vector Oj are obtained for the field number j, the attitude angle (Rxj, Ryj, Rzj) at the interpolation point Xcj is obtained (S28, see FIG. 8 (e)). , 12th step). Note that Nj (old) shown in FIG. 8E indicates the normal vector Nj obtained before the normal vector Nj is obtained again from the outer product of the approach vector Aj and the orientation vector Oj in the eleventh step.

  On the other hand, if the value of the outer product Npi is zero in S23 (NO), the outer product Opi is calculated using the orientation vectors Oi, Oi + 1 instead of the normal vectors Ni, Ni + 1 of the teaching points used in S22 (S29). ). If the value of the outer product Opi is not zero (S30: YES), the normal vector N in S24 to S27 is replaced with the orientation vector O and the same processing is performed (S31). Further, if the value of the outer product Opi is zero in S30 (NO), it means that the position of the hand has not changed at all (S32), and the processing is ended as it is.

  The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 execute processing for all the field numbers indicating the points interpolated between one key frame number i and the next key frame number (i + 1). The process is executed for all the field numbers indicating the points interpolated between the key frame number (i + 1) and the next key frame number (i + 2), and the field number and the key frame number are sequentially incremented. .

  Next, the effect of using the normalized quarteranion Qnj as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 schematically shows a case in which the rotation angle is interpolated while rotating along a circular arc from position A to position B. There are various interpolation methods. For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, a straight line is drawn between positions A and B, and three points p1, p2, and p3 are determined so that the straight line is divided into four equal parts ( (Refer FIG.10 (c)). If the rotation angle is interpolated using these three points, the positions AB1, AB2, AB3 passing through the points p1, p2, p3 from the center of the circle and reaching the circumference give the rotation angle at each interpolation point. .

  The position AB2 is exactly ½ of the rotation angle between the positions A and B, but the position AB1 is smaller than ½ between the positions A and AB2, and the position AB3 is between the positions AB2 and B. It becomes larger than 1/2. As a result, the change rate of the rotation angle is not linear and does not change smoothly as indicated by the broken line in FIG. In the first embodiment, since the rotation angle interpolation method is arbitrary, it may be assumed that the rotation angle changes as shown by the broken line. On the other hand, when the normal or orientation vector of each interpolation point is determined by rotating using the normalized quarteranion Qnj, the change rate of the rotation angle becomes linear as shown by the solid line in FIG. become.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, interpolation is performed between the respective TCP coordinates that are teaching points using a spline curve, and a trajectory including the interpolation points is generated, thereby obtaining a normalized posture vector standing at each teaching point. When the coordinates (Xt, Yt, Zt) of the imaging object 22 are described using the posture vector (Ni, Oi, Ai), the length of the posture vector (ni, oi, ai) starting from the TCP coordinate And vertex coordinates Xti when the length of the posture vector (Ni, Oi, Ai) is (ni, oi, ai). Next, assuming that the length of the approach vector Ai is ai and interpolating between the tip coordinates of the vector Ai with a spline curve to generate a trajectory including an interpolation point, the coordinates of the teaching point TCP and the approach vector of the length ai A normalized approach vector Aj connecting each field coordinate in the spline interpolation trajectory at the tip of Ai is obtained.

  Then, the inner product of the normal vectors Ni and Ni + 1 at the teaching points Xi and Xi + 1 is calculated, and the obtained angle Θni is spline interpolated to obtain the angle Θnj indicated by the normal vector at each interpolation point. The same applies to the orientation vectors Oi and Oi + 1. The inner product is calculated, and the obtained angle Θoi is spline interpolated to obtain the angle Θoj indicated by the orientation vector at each interpolation point.

  Further, when the outer product Npi of the normal vectors Ni and Ni + 1 of the teaching points is calculated and normalized, and the normalized quota nion Qnj by the rotation angle θnj is obtained with the normalized vector Npi as the rotation axis, the normalized normal vector Ni is normalized to the normalized quota A normal vector Nj rotated by Qnj is obtained. Then, the orientation vector Oj is obtained from the outer product of the approach vector Aj at the interpolation point Xcj and the normal vector Nj, the normal vector Nj is obtained again from the outer product of the approach vector Aj and the orientation vector Oj, and the attitude angle at the interpolation point Xcj. (Rxj, Ryj, Rzj) is obtained. That is, when obtaining either the normal or the orientation vector at the interpolation point, the rate of change of the hand posture according to the change of the hand position can be made linear by obtaining the rotation angle using the normalized quarternion Qnj. The posture can be changed more smoothly and naturally.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above or shown in the drawings, and the following modifications or expansions are possible.
The curve used for interpolation is not limited to a spline curve, and other free curves such as a Bezier curve may be used.

  In the drawings, 1 is a robot body, 11 is a control device, 21 is a camera (imaging means), and 22 is an imaging object (work).

Claims (4)

In the method of interpolating the position and the posture after teaching the position to move the hand and the posture of the hand so as to change the distance from the hand of the vertical articulated robot to the object,
A first step of generating an interpolation point by interpolating the positions between the teaching points with a moving order so that the movement locus passing through the teaching points becomes a free curve;
A second step of determining the coordinates of the target point in the same coordinate system as the teaching point for each teaching point with the object as the target point ;
A third step of interpolating between the coordinates of each target point corresponding to each teaching point by a free curve of the same algorithm as in the first step to generate an interpolation point having the same movement order as in the first step;
For the normalized posture vector obtained by decomposing the hand posture angle at the teaching point in three directions, the direction from the hand toward the target point of the target is the first posture, and the others are the second and third postures, corresponding to each posture. The normalized posture vectors are defined as first to third posture vectors, respectively, and the first posture vector having the interpolation point generated in the first step as a start point and the interpolation point generated in the third step as an end point is A fourth step for obtaining all the interpolation points generated in the first step;
For each interpolation point between the two teaching points, a fifth step of interpolating the rotation angle of the second posture vector,
From the outer product of the first orientation vector and the second posture vector stand each interpolation point, a sixth step of obtaining the third posture vector,
A seventh step of determining the posture of the hand at each interpolation point from the interpolation point generated in the first step and the coordinates of each posture vector obtained in the fourth to sixth steps. Characteristic robot position and orientation interpolation method. In the method of interpolating the position and the posture after teaching the position to move the hand and the posture of the hand so as to change the distance from the hand of the vertical articulated robot to the object,
A first step of generating an interpolation point by interpolating the positions between the teaching points with a moving order so that the movement locus passing through the teaching points becomes a free curve;
A second step of determining the coordinates of the target point in the same coordinate system as the teaching point for each teaching point with the object as the target point ;
A third step of interpolating between the coordinates of each target point corresponding to each teaching point by a free curve of the same algorithm as in the first step to generate an interpolation point having the same movement order as in the first step;
For the normalized posture vector obtained by decomposing the hand posture angle at the teaching point in three directions, the direction from the hand toward the target point of the target is the first posture, and the others are the second and third postures, corresponding to each posture. The normalized posture vectors are defined as first to third posture vectors, respectively, and the first posture vector having the interpolation point generated in the first step as a start point and the interpolation point generated in the third step as an end point is A fourth step for obtaining all the interpolation points generated in the first step;
For each of the second and third posture vectors, a fifth step for obtaining an angle θi formed by two vectors standing at two adjacent teaching points i and (i + 1), respectively;
For each of the second and third orientation vectors, two vectors standing at the teaching point i and the interpolation point j are formed for the interpolation point j interpolated between the two teaching points i and (i + 1). A sixth step for determining the angle θj;
For either one of the second and third attitude vectors, a cross product Pi of two vectors respectively standing at the two teaching points i and (i + 1) is obtained, and the obtained cross product Pi is normalized to obtain a normalized vector nPi. The seventh step;
An eighth step of obtaining a normalized quota Qj with the normalized vector nPi as a rotation axis and the normalized vector nPi with the angle θj as a rotation angle;
A ninth step of obtaining a posture vector Rbj obtained by rotating the posture vector selected as the normalized vector nPi by the normalized quarteranion Qj;
A tenth step of obtaining a cross product of the first posture vector Raj standing at the interpolation point j and the rotated posture vector Rbj, and obtaining a posture vector Rcj standing at the interpolation point j and not selected as the normalized vector When,
Again, an eleventh step for recalculating the posture vector Rbj from the outer product of the posture vectors Raj and Rcj;
A robot position / orientation interpolation method comprising: a twelfth step of obtaining an attitude angle of the hand at the interpolation point j from the three attitude vectors Raj, Rbj, and Rcj. In the robot control apparatus for interpolating the position and the posture after teaching the position to move the hand and the posture of the hand so as to change the distance from the hand of the vertical articulated robot to the target,
Position interpolation means for interpolating the positions between the teaching points with a moving order so that the movement trajectory passing the teaching points becomes a free curve, and generating interpolation points;
Target point coordinate determining means for determining the coordinates of the target point in the same coordinate system as the teaching point for each teaching point , with the object as the target point ;
Interpolate between the coordinates of each target point corresponding to each teaching point with a free curve of the same algorithm as the position interpolation means to generate an interpolation point with the same movement order as the movement order given by the position interpolation means Target point position interpolation means to perform,
For the normalized posture vector obtained by decomposing the hand posture angle at the teaching point in three directions, the direction from the hand toward the target point of the target is the first posture, and the others are the second and third postures, corresponding to each posture. First normalized posture vectors are defined as first to third posture vectors, a first posture having an interpolation point generated by the position interpolation means as a start point and an interpolation point generated by the target point position interpolation means as an end point. First posture vector determination means for obtaining a vector for all interpolation points generated by the position interpolation means;
For each interpolation point between the two teaching points, a rotation angle interpolation means for interpolating the rotation angle of the second posture vector,
From the outer product of the first orientation vector and the second posture vector stand each interpolation point, and the third posture vector determining means for determining a third orientation vector,
A robot control apparatus comprising: posture determining means for determining the posture of the hand at each interpolation point from the interpolation point generated by the position interpolation means and the coordinates of each posture vector. In the robot control apparatus for interpolating the position and the posture after teaching the position to move the hand and the posture of the hand so as to change the distance from the hand of the vertical articulated robot to the target,
Position interpolation means for interpolating the positions between the teaching points with a moving order so that the movement trajectory passing the teaching points becomes a free curve, and generating interpolation points;
Target point coordinate determining means for determining the coordinates of the target point in the same coordinate system as the teaching point for each teaching point , with the object as the target point ;
Interpolate between the coordinates of each target point corresponding to each teaching point with a free curve of the same algorithm as the position interpolation means to generate an interpolation point with the same movement order as the movement order given by the position interpolation means Target point position interpolation means to perform,
For the normalized posture vector obtained by decomposing the hand posture angle at the teaching point in three directions, the direction from the hand toward the target point of the target is the first posture, and the others are the second and third postures, corresponding to each posture. First normalized posture vectors are defined as first to third posture vectors, a first posture having an interpolation point generated by the position interpolation means as a start point and an interpolation point generated by the target point position interpolation means as an end point. First posture vector determination means for obtaining a vector for all interpolation points generated by the position interpolation means;
Teaching point vector angle calculating means for obtaining an angle θi formed by two vectors standing at two adjacent teaching points i and (i + 1) for each of the second and third posture vectors;
For each of the second and third orientation vectors, two vectors standing at the teaching point i and the interpolation point j are formed for the interpolation point j interpolated between the two teaching points i and (i + 1). An interpolation point vector angle calculating means for obtaining an angle θj;
For either one of the second and third attitude vectors, a cross product Pi of two vectors respectively standing at the two teaching points i and (i + 1) is obtained, and the obtained cross product Pi is normalized to obtain a normalized vector nPi. Normalization vector determining means;
A normalization quaternion calculating means for obtaining a normalization quaternion Qj with the normalization vector nPi as a rotation axis and the normalization vector nPi with the angle θj as a rotation angle;
Rotation posture vector calculation means for obtaining a posture vector Rbj obtained by rotating the posture vector selected as the normalized vector nPi by the normalization quaternion Qj;
A final posture vector for obtaining a cross product of the first posture vector Raj standing at the interpolation point j and the rotated posture vector Rbj and obtaining a posture vector Rcj standing at the interpolation point j and not selected as the normalized vector. A calculation means;
Posture angle determining means for obtaining again the posture vector Rbj from the cross product of the posture vectors Raj and Rcj, and obtaining the posture angle of the hand at the interpolation point j from the three posture vectors Raj, Rbj, Rcj. A robot control device.

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