JPH03182908A - Numeric controller of robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize an efficient processing by dividing instructions to be treated into an instruction group which needs time for the processing and an instruction group which can promptly be executed and multiplex-processing the instructions. CONSTITUTION:Among robot control instructions, the instruction which needs the processing by waiting for the termination of a robot operation is transmitted by a first communication line 3 and the prompt execution instruction except for said instruction is transmitted by a second communication line 3'. Then, they are stored in first and second temporary storage parts 8 and 8'. An analysis part 9 reads the subsequent instruction when the execution of the instruction by an execution part 10 terminates. Since a robot control instruction from the second temporary storage part 8' is the prompt execution instruction, the processing corresponding to the instruction is immediately processed in the analysis part 9. Thus, the instruction can efficiently be processed and the probability of the occurrence of a deadlock in the execution part 10 is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A numerical control device for a robot according to the present invention will be explained according to the following items.

A. Industrial field of application B8 Summary of the invention C9 Prior art [Figures 11 and 12] a. General background Conventional examples [Figures 11 and 12] Figure 2 Problems to be solved by the invention [Figure 813] , Fig. 14 (E) Embodiment of means for solving the problem [Fig. 1 to Fig. 10 C1, First embodiment [Fig. 1 to Fig. 3] a, Basic configuration
Fig. 1, Fig. 2 (b), Configuration example [Fig. 3 (Fig. 3) C1 Effect F-2, Second embodiment [Figs. 4 to 7] a, Configuration [Fig.
Fig. 4] b. Operation [Fig. 5 C8 modification "Fig. 6, Fig. 7] 3. Third embodiment [Fig. 8 to 10] a. Configuration [Fig. 8, Fig. 9] Figure] b, Operation [Fig. The present invention aims to provide a new robot numerical control device that improves processing efficiency by devising ways to perform the same processing, and prevents deadlock when setting instructions to the execution means. It is something.

(B. Summary of the Invention) The first aspect of the present invention is to store information in the order in which it was received, upon receiving information including an instruction regarding a robot operation and/or an instruction to be processed after waiting for the completion of the robot operation. upon receiving information including a first temporary storage means for moving and instructions that can be processed without waiting for the completion of the robot motion;
a second temporary storage means that stores information in the order in which it is received; an analysis means that sequentially reads and analyzes information from the first temporary storage means and the second temporary storage means; The second aspect of the present invention further includes an execution means for performing processing related to robot motion control and robot management, and the second aspect of the present invention further includes a method for transmitting instructions read by the analysis means from the first temporary storage means to the execution means. The reading of the command from the first temporary storage means is stopped until the execution of the command is completed, and the command read from the second temporary storage means by the analysis means is a command related to robot movement or a robot movement instruction. When the instruction is to be processed after waiting for completion, information including the same instruction is sent to the first temporary storage means. A temporary storage means for storing instructions given a priority when they are manually input; a temporary storage means for storing the instructions; and a temporary storage means for arranging instructions from highest priority to highest priority for reading or referencing instructions; The ordering consists of a means, an analysis means that analyzes the instructions after reading or referencing them from the temporary storage means, and an execution method that performs processing related to robot operation control and robot management based on the analysis results of the analysis means. After the analysis means reads out and analyzes the instruction that is ranked first among the instructions stored in the temporary storage means, it transfers the instruction to the execution means and executes it, until the execution of the instruction is completed. The analysis means only refers to the next command that has been moved up to the highest rank, and if the command can be processed without waiting for the completion of the robot operation, the analysis means immediately processes it or the execution means These instructions allow execution processing to be carried out according to the nature of the instruction, so instructions can be processed efficiently without delaying processing or complicating communication means. It is also possible to prevent deadlocks due to programming errors.

(C, Prior Art) [Figures 11 and 12 (a, - background inside the membrane) Industrial robots are compatible with high-mix, low-volume production due to their inherent flexibility, and in recent years have been used in various production processes. It has come to be widely used. As computer software technology has improved, these robots are now required to operate within a computer-based integrated production system, and for this reason, the numerical control equipment that controls the robots is required to interact with external devices, etc. Communication boats are being installed for communication purposes.

(b, Conventional example) [Figs. 11 and 12] Fig. 11 shows m robots a in which a plurality of robots are controlled by communication.

b is a central computer, which is the center of control for each of the robots c, c, etc., and the robot control program stored in the central computer is sequentially analyzed to be understood by the robot control device. After converting the command into a motion command written in a language that can be used, the command is transmitted to each robot control device e, e, . . . via communication lines d, d, .

Note that information from the robot control devices e, e, . . . is sent to the central computer via communication lines d', d', .

In the robot control device e, commands sent from the central computer via the communication line d are converted from the physical (electrical) level for communication to the logical level by the receiving interface f, and then sent to the receiving buffer g. are stored in the order of arrival. This reception buffer g is rFirst-I
n, First-Out J (hereinafter referred to as rF I FO
Say J. ) format, the subsequent instruction analysis section can only read instructions in the order in which they arrive.

Then, the instruction analysis section analyzes the contents of the instruction to the extent that the subsequent instruction execution section i can understand it, determines a specific execution method, and instructs the instruction execution section i.

Then, the command execution unit i generates a robot control signal and sends it to the robot C according to the instructed content.

Further, depending on the content of the command, there may be information that must be sent back to the central computer, and in this case, the instruction execution unit i sends the information via the transmission interface j to the communication line d' and returns it to the central computer. Note that this type of command includes, for example, a command to report the current position of the robot, a command to report parameters for servo control, and the like.

Figure 12 shows the L of a computer that is widely used these days.
This is another example k in which the local area network (AN) technology is applied to a management system for a group of robots.

In this example, the communication line ℃ is shared with the - high-speed communication line as the main trunk, and the information transmission between each robot control device m, m, etc. is a connection form where the communication line ℃ is branched (multi-drop).
This is done through communication.

That is, the central computer n sends instructions to the robots 0, 0, . . . as packets over the communication line. Since the packet includes address information of the transfer destination (that is, which robot control device to send the command to), the protocol controllers p, p, of the robot control devices m, m, . . .
... or only predetermined packets are selected by recognizing this information.

Therefore, all packets or each protocol controller p
, p, . . . even though the packet does not correspond to its own address, it is discarded, and as a result, the command is delivered to the desired transfer destination even if there is only a single communication line °C.

The commands for each robot received by the protocol controllers p, p, ... are stored in the FIFO for reception.
They are stored in buffers q, q, . . . in the order of arrival. F
The instructions stored in the IFO buffers q, q, ... are read out from the one that arrived first, and then sent to the instruction analysis section r, r, ...
The contents are analyzed by , and the analysis results are sent to the subsequent instruction execution units s, s, .

Therefore, the instruction execution units s, s, ... are the instruction analysis units r, r
, . . . Generate robot control signals according to the instructions and send them to each robot 0.0, . . .
The information that has to be sent back to the central computer n is packetized through the protocol controllers p, p,...
The data is sent back by specifying the central computer n as the forwarding destination.

(D. Invention or problem to be solved) [Figure 13, 1
[Figure 4] By the way, robot commands can be broadly divided into commands that are directly related to the robot's movements and commands that are not directly related to the robot's movements but are related to system procedures and management. However, the latter is of a nature that can be executed immediately.

However, in the example mentioned above, the characteristics of such commands are not differentiated and they are treated equally. Problems include problems such as low processing efficiency and inability to effectively utilize resources, as no instructions are read or executed, and problems such as resource contention between multiple processes due to program errors, resulting in a deadlock situation. There is.

For example, assume a situation where an abnormality occurs in one of the robots that make up the system and the entire system must be stopped.

In this case, when the central computer learns of the occurrence of an abnormality, it generates an emergency stop command and sends it to the FIFO buffer (g or q) of each robot control device via communication.

FIG. 13 conceptually shows instructions stored in the FIFO buffer in the order of arrival, rCA, J (n=1.2, .
) indicates a command related to robot operation, "n" indicates the order of arrival, and rcEJ indicates an emergency stop command sent from the central computer. Further, arrow "A" conceptually represents the reading direction of instructions in the FIFO buffer.

As shown in the figure, there remains an instruction CAo (n=1.2,...) in the FIFO buffer (g or q) that has not yet been analyzed by the instruction analysis unit (h or r).
The emergency stop instruction CE is placed at the end of the FIFO buffer, and after the emergency stop instruction CE is read and analyzed by the instruction analysis unit, the previous instruction CAo (n=1.2 , . . ), which causes the inconvenience that the emergency stop command becomes meaningless.

Therefore, prepare an independent input terminal for the emergency stop signal for each robot control device, and if you want to stop the entire system when an abnormality occurs in the parts that make up the system, input the emergency stop signal to that terminal. One method is to send out a command to make the robot come to an emergency stop, but this requires a separate system of wiring for the command system that handles the management of emergency stops, etc., which increases the number of management details and makes them more complex. Problems such as an increase in the number of wiring systems and signal delays become noticeable.

There is also a method of giving priority to instructions based on the concept of prioritized packets. That is, as shown in FIG. 14, priority is given to the emergency stop command CE so that it is processed with priority over any other command, and when the emergency stop command CE is input to the FIFO buffer, the temporal order is This is a method of forcibly inserting the emergency stop command CE at the beginning of the FIFO buffer while ignoring the relevant information.

However, even with this method, the instruction analysis unit does not read out the instructions in the FIFO buffer while the robot is executing the previous instruction, so the emergency stop will not occur until the currently executing instruction is finished. However, the problem remains that it does not take much time.

(E. Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the numerical control device for the robot of the present invention provides commands and/or commands related to robot operations.
Alternatively, upon receiving information including an instruction to be processed after waiting for the completion of the robot operation, the first temporary storage means stores the information in the order in which it was received, and the first temporary storage means includes an instruction that can be processed without waiting for the completion of the robot operation. a second temporary storage means that, upon receiving the included information, stores the information in the order in which it is received;
It includes an analysis means that sequentially reads and analyzes information from the first temporary storage means and the second temporary storage means, and an execution means that performs processing related to robot operation control and robot management based on the analysis results by the analysis means. At the same time, the instruction read by the analysis means from the first temporary storage means is transferred to the execution means for execution, and reading of the instruction from the first temporary storage means is stopped until the execution of the instruction is completed, and the analysis means When the command read from the second temporary storage means is a command related to robot movement or a command to be processed after waiting for the robot movement to complete, information containing the same command is sent to the first temporary storage means. or a temporary storage means for storing instructions given a priority in advance when they are input; and a temporary storage means for storing instructions given priority in advance; There is an ordering means for arranging instructions with the same priority in the order in which they are received, an analysis means for analyzing the instructions after reading or referencing them from the temporary storage means, and an analysis means for controlling the robot's motion and controlling the robot based on the analysis results of the analysis means. and an execution means for performing processing related to the management of the data, and after the analysis means reads out and analyzes the instruction that is ranked first among the instructions stored in the temporary storage means, the analysis means transfers the instruction to the execution means. Until the execution of the command is completed, the command only refers to the next command that has been moved up to the highest rank, and if the command can be processed without waiting for the completion of the robot operation, is processed immediately by the analysis means or transferred to the execution means for execution.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the instructions to be handled are divided into a group of instructions that require time to process and a group of instructions that can be executed immediately, and the instructions are processed multiplexed, so that the former instruction is executed. Since the latter instruction can be processed immediately, efficient processing can be achieved, and if the instruction is placed on the wrong processing path due to program corruption, it can be placed on the original processing path. By correcting this, it is possible to prevent deadlocks and improve safety.

(F. Embodiment) [FIGS. 1 to 10] Details of the numerical control device for the robot of the present invention will be described below according to the illustrated embodiments.

(F-1, First Embodiment) [Figs. 1 to 3] Figs. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment 1 of a numerical control device for a robot according to the present invention.

Before explaining the basic configuration of the robot numerical control device 1,
First, we will classify the commands handled by the robot system.

In a robot system, it is necessary to handle at least the following commands.

(1) Robot movement commands that are directly related to the robot's movements (2) Current position report commands to report the robot's current position (3) Status report commands to report the robot's internal status (4) When an abnormality occurs Emergency stop command to immediately stop the robot (5) Peripheral device control command to control peripheral devices connected to the robot (6) Peripheral device status report command to report the status of peripheral devices connected to the robot Here , if these instructions are classified according to their properties, 2
It can be broadly divided into

The symbol (-) is a robot motion command as in (1) above, which requires a relatively long time from the start of the motion corresponding to the command to the completion of the motion. Note that the robot's operation commands include not only simple commands such as simply moving the arm between two points, but also macro commands that represent a series of motions with - commands (for example, grasping and transporting an object). etc.) are included. In the following, the command (1) will be referred to as a "robot operation command" and will be represented by the symbol 'CAn' (the subscript n is an ordinal number indicating the order of arrival of the commands).

In addition, execution of all other instructions (2) to (6) is completed immediately, and these are called "immediate execution instructions".
I will call it.

Of the instructions included in the immediate execution instructions, (2), (3), (
Commands 4) are related to system management, and commands (2) to report the current position and (3) to report the status are used when the central computer receives the report and changes the robot's subsequent behavior. Other commands do not directly affect the robot's operations. Moreover, the emergency stop command (4) is a command that needs to be processed with the highest priority over the Ike command due to its nature.

In the following, these instructions (2), (3), and (4) will be collectively referred to as "robot management instructions" and will be expressed with the symbol "CMn" (the subscript n is an ordinal number indicating the order of arrival of the instructions). The emergency stop command will be represented by the symbol rcEJ.

In addition, commands (5) and (6) are commands related to peripheral devices, and can be completed with a one-time operation of setting these commands from the robot's numerical control device to the peripheral devices, which allows immediate execution of the commands. Numerically speaking, these are included in the immediate execution instructions because they often end. This is because in a robot numerical control device, peripheral devices are generally connected via a boat, and the peripheral devices themselves are also connected to M
This is because more and more devices are equipped with a PU to provide multiple functions.

However, some commands may require time to control; however, such commands may be treated in the same manner as robot operation commands and included in the scope of such commands. In the following, instructions (5) and (6) will be referred to as "robot peripheral instructions" and will be represented by the symbol 'CPn' (the subscript n is an ordinal number indicating the order of arrival of the instructions).

The above classification results are summarized as shown below.

・Robot operation command...CA.

・Immediate execution command ・Robot management command...CM.

(Emergency stop command...CE) - Robot peripheral command...CPn (a, basic configuration) [Figures 1 and 2] Figure 1 shows the basic configuration of the robot's numerical control device 1. be.

2.2, . . . in the figure are robot control units, and communication lines 3
．． 3,..., 3', 3',..., and 4.4,...
Information is exchanged with the central computer 5 via... And robot control section 2.2
, . . . send control signals according to commands from the central computer 5 to the robots 6, 6, .
．． 7, . . . for controlling each of them by sending control signals to them.

The robot control unit 2 is equipped with two temporary storage units 8.8', the first temporary storage unit 8 receives commands via the communication line 3 and stores them in the order of arrival, and the second temporary storage unit 8. The storage unit 8' receives commands via the communication line 3' and stores them in the order in which they arrive.

Here, certain rules are established for the communication line based on the agreement shown below.

Rule (1) - Robot motion commands are transmitted only through the first communication lines 3.3, .

Rule (II) - Among the robot management commands, commands that need to be processed after waiting for the end of the robot operation (for example, a command to report on the robot operation completion state, etc.) are sent to the first communication line 3.3...
. . , and other immediate execution instructions are transmitted via second communication lines 3', 3', . . . .

In this way, there is a division of roles in the reception of commands by each temporary storage section 8, 8', and in principle only a part of the robot operation command or robot management command exists in the first temporary storage section 8. There are other immediate execution instructions in the second temporary storage section 8'.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an analysis section which reads out and analyzes the instructions in the temporary storage section 8.8' on a first-come, first-served basis, processes them so that the subsequent execution section 10 executes them, and then exits to the execution section 10. ing. In this analysis section 9, while the execution section 10 is executing an instruction, reading out the next instruction in the temporary storage section from which the instruction was read is suspended, and when the execution of the instruction is finished, the next instruction is read out. It is designed to read. However, since the robot management command from the second temporary storage section 8' is an immediate execution command according to the second half of the above rule (1), processing corresponding to the command is immediately performed in the analysis section 9. For example, the robot's internal variables (
If the coordinates of a predetermined point (hereinafter referred to as a "point variable") or the current state of the robot are simply to be reported, they are reported to the central computer 5 via the communication line 4.

The execution unit 10 generates control signals in response to commands sent from the analysis unit 9 to control the movement of the robot 6 and peripheral devices 7, or sends status values via the communication line 4 when reporting these statuses. The data is sent back to the central computer 5. It is preferable that the execution unit 10 is configured so that multiple IAs can be filled at the same time by time-sharing processing.

Thus, the operation of the robot numerical control device 1 is performed as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

Initially, no instructions are stored in the temporary storage unit 8.8', and as shown in FIG.
), and it is assumed that the execution unit 10 is not executing any instructions.

In this state, according to rule (1), the robot movement command CA is manually input to the first storage unit 8 via the first communication line 3, and then the robot movement command CA2 is manually input to the first storage unit 8. Then (see FIG. 2(B)), the analysis unit 9 first analyzes the contents of the robot movement command CAI (second
(See FIG. 2(C)) The execution unit 10 executes the instruction (see FIG. 2(D)).

In this state, even if any command (eg, CA) is added to the first temporary storage unit 8, it will not be executed immediately.

However, since the second temporary storage unit 8' is still in an "empty" state, the immediate execution command according to the second half of rule (11), for example, the emergency stop command CE of the robot management commands, is sent to the second communication The data is manually input to the second temporary storage section 8' via the line 3' (see FIG. 2(D)).

Then, the analysis unit 9 immediately reads this emergency stop command CE and issues an emergency stop command C to the execution unit 10 even though the execution unit 10 is currently executing the robot movement command CA1.
E is requested to be executed temporarily, and as a result, the emergency stop command CE is immediately executed and the entire system is stopped (see FIG. 2(E)).

By establishing regulations (I) and (II) regarding communication lines as described above, processing that takes advantage of the nature of commands is possible.In other words, if we compare it to a postal system, the first communication line 3.3.
... corresponds to "regular mail" which takes time to "deliver" the message (command), and the second communication lines 3', 3', ... correspond to so-called "express mail". This makes it possible to efficiently embed instructions in the IA. Furthermore, the possibility of a putlock occurring in the execution unit 10 is reduced.

(b. Configuration example) [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows a configuration example of the robot control section 2.
The first communication lines 3.3, . . . and the second communication lines 3', 3'
,... using two independent interfaces (e.g. R3-232C, etc.) for communication lines 4.4,...
- shows an example using an interface different from these.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a communication interface section, which is composed of reception interfaces 12, 12' and transmission interface 13.

12 refers to robot operation commands and rules (I+) related to rule (I).
) is a receiving interface for robot management commands related to the first half of the interface 12, and robot operation commands and the like are stored in the first FIFO buffer 14 through the interface 12. This first FIFO buffer 14 corresponds to the first temporary storage section 8 .

12' is a reception interface for immediate execution commands related to the latter half of rule (I+), and immediate execution commands other than some robot management commands are received through this interface 12.
' is stored in the second FIFO buffer 14'. This corresponds to the second FIF◯ buffer 14' or the second temporary storage section 8'. Note that this second FIFO buffer 14 is always in a state where it can receive instructions when an instruction is not being processed by the auxiliary analysis section, which will be described later.

The analysis unit 9 includes a main analysis unit 15 that analyzes instructions read from the beginning of the first FIFO buffer 14, and a second FIFO buffer 14.
It consists of an auxiliary analysis section 16 that analyzes instructions read from the beginning of the O buffer 14'.

It should be noted that it is not essential to divide the analysis section 9 into two parts and assign roles to each part in this way, but in order to realize these by the - analysis section, time sharing regarding the FIFO buffers 14 and 14' is necessary. Processing may also be performed. However, when a robot management command is read from the second FIFO buffer 14' and it is a command to report the internal variables or status of the robot, the corresponding information is sent to the execution unit 10. The data is sent back to the central computer 5 via the transmission interface 13 without any interruption. This processing is performed only by the auxiliary analysis section (or time-sharing processing corresponding thereto), and the robot management command in the first FIFO buffer 14 is executed by the analysis section 9.
If the command is read out, it is transferred to the execution unit 10 even if it is a report command regarding internal variables or states of the robot.

(c. Effect) In the robot numerical control device 1 described above, attention is paid to the characteristics of the commands handled (that is, whether it takes time to process the commands or whether they can be executed immediately), and the reception of commands is carried out in a systematic manner. By defining rules (I) and (I+) for these instructions, these instructions can be processed in a multiplex manner, improving processing efficiency and eliminating the need for special signal lines.

(F-2, Second Embodiment) [Figs. 4 to 7] Figs. 4 to 7 show a second embodiment IA of a numerical control device for a robot according to the present invention. The robot control unit 2A in the second embodiment IA is different from the robot control unit 2 in the first embodiment in that a safety measure is taken in case a robot operation command is sent to the second FIFO buffer by mistake. Therefore, the different parts will be mainly explained, and the explanation of the same parts will be omitted by giving the same reference numerals as those given to the similar parts in the first embodiment.

(a, configuration) [Figure 4] Robot operation commands related to rule (1) and robot management commands related to the first half of rule (!I) are received through the receiving interface 1.
2, are stored in the first FIFO buffer 14 in the order of arrival, are analyzed by the main analysis unit 15 on a first-come-first-served basis, and are executed by the execution unit 10. 12' through the second
Similar to the robot control unit 2 described above, the auxiliary analysis unit 16A stores instructions in the FIFO buffer 14' in the order of arrival and analyzes them on a first-come, first-served basis, but the auxiliary analysis unit 16A follows the rules (1), The difference is that it includes exceptional processing when a violation of item II) occurs.

Such rule violations can occur due to programmer's mistakes during programming in the central computer 5, and in response to such situations, the analysis section 9 performs the following processes (a) and (b) as the main analysis. The process (c) and (d) are performed by the auxiliary analysis unit 16A.

(a) The instruction read from the first FIFO buffer 14 is transferred to the execution unit 10 and executed.

(b) Stop reading instructions from the first FIFO buffer 14 until the execution of the instructions read from the first FIFO buffer 14 is completed.

(C) If the command is a command issued from the second FIFO buffer 14' or a robot management command, the command is transferred to the execution unit 10 and executed. However, if the robot management command is simply a command to report the internal state or point variables, the state is directly sent back to the central computer via the transmission interface 13.

(d) When the command read from the second FIFO buffer 14' is a robot operation command, the same information is additionally written to the first FIFO buffer 14.

(b. Operation) [Fig. 5] The above-described processing in the robot control section 2A is performed, for example, as shown in Fig. 5.

FIG. 5(A) shows a case where the flow of instructions does not violate rules (I) and (!■). That is, 0 bot operation command C
After A1 and CA3 are stored in the first FIFO buffer 14 in the order of arrival, they are analyzed in the main analysis unit 15 and sent to the execution unit 10.
Also, the robot management command CM2 is transferred to the second F
After being stored in the IFO buffer 14', the auxiliary analysis section 16A
The data is analyzed and transferred to the execution unit 10.

Figure m5 (B) shows that the robot operation command CA arrives at the first FIF○ buffer 14, followed by the robot management command CM2 related to the first half of rule (II), and the second FIFO
This shows the situation when the robot peripheral command CP3 arrives at the buffer 14'. In this case, the main analysis unit 15 analyzes the robot management command CM2 after waiting for the completion of the robot action command CA, and reports on the state after the robot action command CA is completed. In other words, if the robot peripheral command CP3 is an immediate execution command, there is no violation of rule (II), and it is immediately analyzed by the auxiliary analysis unit 16A and passed to the execution unit 10 as is.

FIG. 5(C) shows an example where rule (1) is violated. Such a situation is caused, for example, by the program master when transferring instructions from the central computer 5.

Robot operation command CA in the first FIFO buffer 14
, is analyzed in the main analysis section 15, but the auxiliary analysis section 1
If 6A finds the robot movement command CA2 in the second FIFO buffer 14', it will directly transfer it to the first FIFO buffer 14'.
The data is transferred to the FIFO buffer 14 of

As a result, the robot movement command CA2 is transmitted to the auxiliary analysis unit 1.
6A to the execution unit 10, and the main analysis unit 15
A deadlock situation in which both the auxiliary analysis section 16A and the auxiliary analysis section 16A are unable to accept the next command is avoided, and the robot operation command CA2 is also executed without being discarded.

In this way, the instruction CA2 that violates the rules is sent to the first FIF
The data is transferred to the O buffer 14, resulting in a situation as shown in FIG. 5(D).

Note that such transfer of instructions may disrupt the temporal order of the instructions. However, this is the execution part 10
It can be easily repaired by semantically checking its consistency. For example, a command to move between points can be determined by ensuring that the continuity of the command is always maintained. The continuity of instructions regarding point-to-point movement is defined by this instruction or a macro instruction, and is a series of operations that have a certain meaning (for example, Pick & PIace operation by P-P operation, etc.)
This is a case where the commands are written as two commands, and in this case, if the temporal relationship between the commands is reversed, it can be easily determined that the planned action will not be performed.

(c, Modification) [Figs. 6 and 7] Fig. 6 shows an example 17 of safety measures when a LAN is used as a communication means.

In the figure, reference numeral 18.18' denotes a protocol controller related to communication rules, which captures packets that are recognized as being addressed to itself from among the packets flowing on the LAN 19, and sends them to the FIFO buffer 14.14'. That is, the packet containing the robot operation command according to rule (1) and the robot management command according to rule (I+) is recognized by the protocol controller 18, and the command included in the data part is extracted and stored in the first FIFO buffer 14. They are memorized sequentially. The main analysis unit 15 then uses the first FIFO
The instructions in the buffer 14 are read out from the beginning, analyzed, and then passed to the execution unit 10. Further, the packet containing the immediate execution command according to the second half of the rule (I+) is recognized by the protocol controller 18', and the command is extracted.
The data are sequentially stored in the second FIFO buffer 14', and then read out and analyzed by the auxiliary analysis unit 16B on a first-come, first-served basis.

The analysis unit 9 performs the above-described processing (a) by the main analysis unit 15,
(b) is performed in the same manner, and the fi filling described below is also performed by the auxiliary analysis section 16B.

(C') When the third command issued from the second FIFO buffer 14' is a robot management command, it is transferred to the execution unit 10 and executed. However, if the robot management command is simply a command to report internal status or point variables, the protocol controller 20 is sent back to the specific unit of the central computer 5 that sent the command. The state value is packetized and placed on the LAN 19 via the LAN 19.

(d') When the command read from the second FIFO buffer 14' is a robot movement command, the same information is packetized via the J protocol controller 20, the protocol controller 18 is designated as the destination, and the LAN 19 is put it on top.

In this example, if a robot movement command is sent to the second FIFO buffer 14' due to a rule violation, the robot movement command is sent back to the LAN 19 by the process (d') of the auxiliary analysis section 16B. is confirmed by the protocol controller 18, and the first
Therefore, a special transfer line from the auxiliary analysis unit 16B to the first FIFO buffer 14 is not required.

Figure 7 is another example 21 with safety measures regarding emergency stop.
The emergency stop command detection unit 22 that detects the emergency stop command CE is installed after the protocol controller 18.
is provided.

Emergency stop command C at the output stage of the protocol controller 18
Detection of E means that a violation of rule (11) has occurred, and in this case, the second emergency stop command CE is issued.
In order to send the data to the FIFO buffer 14', the protocol controller 18' is specified as the destination, and the data is placed on the LAN 19 via the protocol controller 20.

In this way, the emergency stop command detection unit 22 sends commands other than the emergency stop command to the first FIFO buffer 14.

Furthermore, in the above two examples 17.21, the rule (I+)
If a robot management command that violates In some cases, instantaneous information such as the current position of the robot is required, and in other cases, result information such as the robot's position at that time is required after waiting for the end of a certain operation, such as acquiring position information to be used in a robot program. This is because simply transferring the robot management command detected at the output stage of the protocol controller 18 to the second FIFO buffer 14' may cause problems. For this reason, users can individually change the destination of robot management commands using a program, leaving room for functional selection.

(F-3, Third Embodiment) [FIGS. 8 to 10] FIGS. 8 to 10 show a third embodiment IB of a numerical control device for a robot according to the present invention.

(a, Configuration) [Figures 8 and 9 23 is a write/order control unit, and when an instruction from a central computer, etc. (not shown) is input manually, the instruction storage unit 241
(i=1.2.3.4) vacant instruction storage section 2
4. Write to either.

25 is an order storage unit, and as conceptually shown in FIG. 8, "■" to "■" represent the order of reading instructions;
A location storage section 25A1 (i=1.2.3.4) that stores the storage location of the corresponding instruction (that is, whether the instruction is stored in the instruction storage section) and the priority of the instruction. Priority storage unit 25B for storing (i=1.2
．． 3.4), and has a write/order control unit 23
Information regarding the instruction storage location and the priority of the instructions is stored in the corresponding location storage section 25A+ and priority storage section 25B, respectively, and rearrangement is performed according to the priority and the order of arrival of the instructions. .

Instruction storage unit 24. None of these are FIFO format, and can only read or refer to stored instructions.
It has the property of being able to give priority to commands. Here, "reading" refers to the instruction storage unit 24.
When an instruction is retrieved from □, the instruction storage unit 24. The position storage section 25 corresponding to the first order (■) of the order storage section 25 is made vacant so that another instruction can be written.
After erasing the storage location and priority information stored in A1 and the priority storage unit 25B1, the information from the second rank (■) onwards is moved up, whereas “reference” is simply a command storage unit 24□ It only takes out instructions from the instruction storage unit 2.
4+ is not made vacant, and the order of information in the order storage unit 25 is not moved up. Instruction storage unit 24. The reason why FIFO format is not used is that although it is possible to "read" the information located at the beginning of the FIFO buffer, it can only be "referenced" and it is not possible to give priority to the information.
This is because the only thing that can be done is to change the order of information within the buffer.

The write/order control unit 23 performs the following processes (A) to (C).

(A) Write the input instruction into any of the vacant instruction storage units 241.

(B) If the command is a command written in the command storage unit 24 or a robot movement command, the command storage unit 2 in which the command is written
The position information of 4+ is written into the position storage unit 25 A I corresponding to the last rank among the ranks in the order storage unit 25 .

(C) If the command written in the command storage unit 241 is other than a robot movement command, the position information of the command storage unit 241 where the command is written is stored in the command with the same priority as that command. and writes it into the position storage section 25A located at the last rank. At this time, if position information of other instruction storage units has already been written to the position storage unit 25A+, the ranking of these storage positions and priority information is lowered one by one.

In other words, to put it simply, the contents of the above-mentioned processes (B, This can be explained using the concept of a connecting chain shown in the figure.

In Figure 9, instructions are represented by A, B, C, D, and E, and the priority of each instruction is represented by a number following the symbol "0-" (the smaller the number, the higher the priority). Assuming that the instructions located on the left side are read out first, FIG. 9 (A
), from left to right, the instructions (8)j, CB)j
, (C)j, and when instruction (D)-3 is input, the content that the instruction (Dj3 is concatenated after instruction (C) 2) corresponds to process (B). are doing.

In other words, since the robot operation command CA has the lowest priority, it is connected to the end of the chain.

In addition, the content of the first half of process (C) is that if the instructions have the same priority, they are consecutively arranged in the order of arrival, as shown in Figure 9 (
As shown in B), the instructions from the left are (A)-1, (
C) 2 and (E) 2, the command (F
)-2 arrives, it has the same priority as 2 and is located at the end of (C) 2 and (E) 2.
) This corresponds to concatenation after 2.

The second half of the process (C) is a case where an interrupt is performed according to the priority of the instruction, as shown in FIG. 9(C).
As shown in the figure, the commands are (A) 1, (B) 1 from the left.
, (C) 2 When instruction (G)1 arrives, the instruction (6)l is processed (C)
According to the contents of the first half of the command (Bjl), there is already a command (C) after the command (Bjl).
Since 2 is consecutive, command (G) l is command (B)
Cut the connection between j and (C)-2 and insert it between them,
The read order of instruction (C) 2 is shifted by one and instruction (G
) This corresponds to an operation such as positioning it to the right of 1 (see FIG. 9(D)).

Reference numeral 26 denotes a reading/reference section, which reads the "first rank" (■) in the order storage section 25 in response to a request from the analysis section 27.
The instruction located at is “read” or “referenced” and the instruction is transferred to the analysis unit 27. That is, the reading/reference section 2
6 takes out the position information stored in the "first rank" position storage section 25A1 and stores the corresponding command storage section 24.6.
"Reading" and "referencing" the instructions stored in .

Thereafter, the analysis section 27 performs the following processing.

(a) The instructions "read" from the read/reference section 26 are transferred to the execution section 28 and executed.

(b) "Reading" of the instruction from the reading/reference section 26 is stopped until the execution of the instruction "read" from the reading/reference section 26 is completed.

(e) While reading from the read/reference section 26 is stopped, only "reference" is performed, and when the first order command is a robot management command, the command is sent to the command storage section 24. The data is forcibly transferred to the execution unit 28 and executed.

However, if the robot management command is simply a command to report the internal state, etc., the resulting state value is sent back to the specific unit of the central computer that sent the command without being transferred to the execution unit 28.

(b. Operation) [Figure 10] However, the operation of the numerical controller IB of the robot is as follows:
For example, this is carried out as shown in FIG.

In the following explanation, the priority of each instruction is defined as shown in the table below as an example.

The priority for Nakaguchi bot management commands in the table above is 2 or 3-2.
This is because, as mentioned above, the report commands included in the robot management commands include commands for instantaneous robot information and commands for result information after the robot operation is completed. Yes, 2 is given as the priority for the former, and 3 is given as the priority for the latter.

FIG. 10(A) shows the robot management command (0M2) 3 arriving at the write/sequence control unit 23 following the robot operation command CA.

At this time, the instruction storage unit 24. are all “empty” (
(represented by the symbol "φ") and no information exists.

After that, according to process (A), the instruction CA that arrived is
For example, as shown in FIG. 10(B), the instruction storage unit 241
The next instruction (0M2)j is stored in the instruction storage section 242.
If the first
The ranking position storage unit 25A1 stores the position of the command storage unit 241 where the instruction CA is stored, and the first priority storage unit 25B stores priority 3 of the instruction CA. . Further, according to the process (C), the instruction storage unit 25A
2 is an instruction storage unit 2 in which an instruction (0M2) J is stored.
42 positions are stored in the second priority storage unit 25B.
2 stores the priority level 3 of the instruction (0M2).

In this way, since the priority of the robot management command (0M2) 3 has the same value "3" as the priority of the robot operation command CA, the robot management commands (0M2) are processed in that order or in the order of arrival according to the contents of the first half of the process (C).

Next, as shown in FIG. 10(C), the reading/reference section 2
Before 6 reads the first order command, the mouth pot management command (
Assume that CM3) 2 arrives at the write/order control unit 23.

At this time, the instruction (CM3) 2 with a high priority is placed in the first order based on the processing procedure (C), and the orders of other instructions are lowered one by one.

It is now assumed that the read/reference unit 26 reads out the robot motion command CA, analyzes it, and transfers it to the execution unit 28.

While the instruction is being executed, the analysis unit 27 performs the process (b) as described above.
Accordingly, "reading" of the instruction is stopped and only "referencing" is performed. In other words, even if the execution unit 28 is executing an instruction, the instruction storage unit 24. As long as the order storage unit 25 operates independently, subsequent high-priority instructions that arrive will be assigned the
Since the command can be placed in the "rank" (■) position, it can be referenced at any time during the execution of the instruction. Therefore, robot management commands and the like that can be processed only by the analysis section 27 are processed immediately, and no delay occurs.

FIG. 10(D) shows a case where the robot management command (CM4)-2 arrives at the write/sequence control unit 23 in the state shown in FIG. 10(C).
j is stored in the instruction storage unit 244, and in terms of processing in the order storage unit 25, it is placed in the second order according to the procedure of ``with the same priority, the later arriving instruction is placed last''.

Furthermore, when the emergency stop command CE arrives in the state shown in FIG. 10(C), the emergency stop command CE has the highest priority ('i) as shown in FIG. 10(E), so the 1st place”
The analysis unit 27 is positioned as (■) even when an instruction is being executed.
refers to this, analyzes it, and issues an interrupt to the execution unit 28 to execute the emergency stop command CE. As a result, the emergency stop will be performed without delay.

Note that in the above example IB, the instruction storage unit 24. The number of is set to 4, but the higher the number, the more flexible the system becomes.
Furthermore, by assigning higher-order values to instructions, more detailed processing can be developed.

(c. Effect) The numerical control device IB of the robot has a priority level corresponding to the type of command defined for each command, and also has a reading function for the temporary storage unit 24□, as well as a reference and sorting function. We have added a function that allows you to change the
With these, processing equivalent to the rules (1) and (I+) described above can be realized.

(G. Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the first aspect of the present invention is information containing instructions related to robot motion and/or instructions to be processed after the robot motion is completed. a first temporary storage means that stores information in the order in which it was received when the robot receives a command; a second 2 o'clock storage means;
The present invention comprises an analysis means for sequentially reading and analyzing information from the storage means and the second temporary storage means, and an execution means for performing processing related to robot operation control and robot management based on the analysis results by the analysis means. The second
In the above configuration, the instruction read by the analysis means from the first temporary storage means is further transferred to the execution means for execution, and the instruction is not read from the first temporary storage means until the execution of the instruction is completed. If the command read out from the second temporary storage means by the analysis means is a command related to the movement of the robot 1~ or a command to be processed after waiting for the completion of the robot movement, information containing the same command is read out from the second temporary storage means. The third one is characterized in that the instructions are sent to the first temporary storage means, and the third one stores the instructions given a priority in advance. Regarding the order of reading or reference, instructions are arranged from highest priority to higher priority, and instructions with the same priority are arranged in the order of reception, and the ordering is performed after the instructions are read or referenced from the temporary storage means and then analyzed. A numerical control device for a robot comprising an angle q row means and an execution means for performing processing related to robot motion control and robot management based on the analysis result of the analysis means, wherein the analysis means stores data in the temporary storage means. After reading and analyzing the instruction whose rank is the highest among the executed instructions, the command is transferred to the execution means and executed, and the command is moved up to the highest rank until the execution of the command is completed. The analysis means only refers to the next command, and if the command can be processed without waiting for the completion of the robot operation, the analysis means immediately processes it or transfers it to the execution means for execution. It is characterized by

Therefore, according to these, the instructions to be handled are divided into a group of instructions that require time to process and a group of instructions that can be executed immediately, and since the instructions are processed multiplexed, the former instruction is being executed. Since the latter instruction can be processed immediately, efficient processing can be achieved, and if an instruction is placed on the wrong processing path due to a programming error, it can be corrected to be placed on the original processing path. By doing so, it is possible to prevent deadlocks from occurring and improve safety.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of a numerical control device for a robot according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration, and FIG. 2 shows an example of the processing procedure from (A) to (E) is an explanatory diagram conceptually shown sequentially, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example, and FIGS. 4 to 7 show a second embodiment of the numerical control device for the robot of the present invention. Yes, Fig. 4 is a block diagram, and Fig. 5 shows an example of the processing procedure (A) to (D).
6 is a block diagram showing an example of application to a system using LAN, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of safety measures regarding emergency stop commands, and FIG.
Figures 10 to 10 show the third part of the numerical control device for the robot of the present invention.
Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration, Fig. 9 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of the ordering of instructions,
Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing an example of a processing procedure in (A) to (E), Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional robot numerical control device, and Fig. 12 is another conventional example. 13 is a block diagram showing the problem,
FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example in which priorities are given to commands. Explanation of symbols 1... Robot numerical control device, 6... Robot, 8... First temporary storage means, 8'... Second temporary storage means, 9... Analysis means, 10 ...Execution means, 14...
- First temporary storage means, 14'... Second temporary storage means, IA... Numerical control device for robot, 21... Numerical control device for robot, 1B... Numerical control device for robot, 23.25...Ordering means, 241 (i=1.2.3.4)...Temporary storage means, 5 26. 27. ・Analysis means, 28. ・Execution means Applicant Sony stock% formula%

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) When receiving information including instructions related to robot motion and/or instructions to be processed after waiting for the completion of robot motion, a first temporary storage means stores the information in the order in which it is received; When receiving information including instructions that can be processed without waiting for completion, the second temporary storage means stores the information in the order in which it was received, and the second temporary storage means stores the information from the first temporary storage means and the second temporary storage means. A numerical control device for a robot, characterized in that it is equipped with an analysis means for sequentially reading and analyzing, and an execution means for performing processing related to robot motion control and robot management based on the analysis results by the analysis means. (2) The instruction read by the analysis means from the first temporary storage means is transferred to the execution means for execution, and the reading of the instruction from the first temporary storage means is stopped until the execution of the instruction is completed, and the analysis means When the instruction read from the second temporary storage means is an instruction related to robot movement or an instruction to be processed after waiting for the completion of robot movement, information containing the same instruction is stored in the first temporary storage means. A numerical control device for a robot according to claim 1, characterized in that the device is configured to send out data. (3) Temporary storage means for storing instructions given a priority in advance when they are input, and a means for arranging instructions from highest priority to highest priority when reading or referencing instructions, and a temporary storage means for storing instructions given a priority in advance, and a means for arranging commands from highest priority to lowest priority when reading or referencing the commands, an ordering means for arranging the commands in the order in which they are received; an analysis means for reading or referencing the commands from the temporary storage means and then analyzing them; and processing related to robot operation control and robot management based on the analysis results of the analysis means. A numerical control device for a robot comprising an execution means, wherein the analysis means reads out and analyzes the instruction whose order is the highest among the instructions stored in the temporary storage means, and then the execution means executes the instruction. The command is forwarded to the robot and executed, and until the execution of the command is completed, the command only refers to the next command that has been moved up to the highest rank, and the command is a command that can be processed without waiting for the robot operation to complete. A numerical control device for a robot, characterized in that, in some cases, the analysis means immediately processes the processing or transfers the processing to the execution means for execution.