JPH03270888A - Control device for industrial robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide convenience in operational management of a robot system by erasing the initially registered contents when a read part commences registration in the condition that the memory part has no empty area, and transferring the registered contents of each memory area having a No. to another memory area having No. one smaller than the previous. CONSTITUTION:When operation is commenced in the condition that all area of a memory 6 are unoccupied, the contents of the signal being entered or emitted at the current time are at regular intervals registered one after another from the first No. memory area. If operation continues even after data are registered in all memory areas, the memory control part 8 is thereafter operated each time prior to actuation of the read part 7, to erase the registered contents of the first no. memory area and transfer the registered contents of the other No. memory areas to respective memory areas having one smaller No. This permits knowing the past operating situations within a certain range of time backward from the present and eventual variation of the situation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

"Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a control device for an industrial robot that controls the robot body by transmitting and receiving signals to and from the robot body or its peripheral devices, and in particular stores the contents of the signals for a certain period of time. The present invention relates to a control device for an industrial robot that can facilitate operational management of a lohoton stem. "Conventional Technology" Conventionally, industrial robots have been used as automatic machines that perform tasks such as painting and welding in place of humans, and can flexibly handle a variety of tasks by changing their programs. Such industrial robots consist of a robot body that moves and works attached tools, and a control device that controls the robot body. The control device of this industrial robot not only sends and receives signals with the robot body, but also sends and receives signals with peripheral devices (for example, workpiece conveyance devices) in the system to which the industrial robot is applied. and control the peripheral devices along with the robot body, and the robot according to the commands of the peripheral devices. Normally, it is possible to control the main body of the target, but conventionally it has not been possible to store and retain the contents of the signal. "Problems to be Solved by the Invention" According to the conventional industrial robot control device described above, what was the content between the control device and the robot body or peripheral devices in the past operation of the system to which the industrial robot was applied? This was inconvenient in terms of system operation and management, as it was not possible to confirm whether a signal had been sent or received. That is, for example, when a trouble occurs and the system becomes inoperable, if the operating state before the trouble occurs can be confirmed, it is often possible to find a clue to the cause of the trouble. However, since this confirmation cannot be made with the above-mentioned apparatus, there is a problem in that when a trouble occurs, it takes time to investigate the cause, and restarting the system is delayed, resulting in greater damage. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a control device for an industrial robot that can store and retain the contents of input/output signals for a certain period of time, thereby facilitating operational management of the robot system. The purpose is to "Means for Solving the Problems" The industrial robot control device of the present invention is an industrial robot control device that controls the robot body by transmitting and receiving signals with the robot body or its peripheral devices. , a storage unit having a plurality of numbered memory areas, and a memory area having the lowest number among the memory areas by periodically reading the contents of the signals input or output during the operation of the robot body. When the reading unit registers in the key data area and the reading unit starts the registration when there is no free memory area in the storage unit, it erases the registered contents of the memory area of the first number, and erases the registered contents of the memory area of each number. The device is characterized in that it includes a memory control unit that transfers the registered contents of each memory area to a memory area with a number one lower. "Operation" When the system to which the control device for an industrial robot of the present invention is applied is operated and the robot body is operated, the reading section reads out the contents of the human output signal in the control device and reads out the contents of the human output signal in the control device and reads out the contents of the human output signal in the storage section. Periodically performs the operation of registering in the free memory area of . In other words, if operation starts with all memory areas of the storage section being empty (that is, no data has been registered), data will be input or output in sequence from the memory area with the first number at that point. For example, if driving is started with up to the 10th signal registered, the contents of the 11th signal are sequentially registered. If the operation continues even after data has been registered in all memory areas, the memory control unit operates every time before the reading unit operates and erases the registered contents of the memory area with the first number. The registered contents of the memory area of each number are transferred to the memory area of the next lower number. As a result, after this state is reached, when the readout section operates, only the memory area with the last number is kept empty each time, and the contents of the read signal are registered in the memory area with the last number each time. The oldest previously registered data is cleaned up, and the remaining data is incremented by one in the memory area and newly registered. Therefore, according to the control device of the present invention, the content of the human output signal for each interval in which the reading section operates is stored and held for a certain period of time depending on the interval and the number of memory areas. "Example" An example of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an industrial robot system to which a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, what is indicated by the reference numeral 1 is the robot body. The robot main body 1 operates based on a program by inputting a control signal from a control device 2 to be described later, and performs work by moving a tool attached to a movable part. The style of this robot body l is not limited, and various types such as joint coordinate type, orthogonal coordinate type, or those having various numbers of axes can be used. Further, the reference numeral 3 in FIG. 1 may be a peripheral device of the robot, such as a workpiece transfer device or a host computer for managing the operation of the entire system. What is indicated by reference numeral 2 in FIG. 1 is a control device. The control device 2 sends and receives signals to and from the robot body 1, and also sends and receives signals to and from the peripheral device 3, and controls the peripheral device 3 together with the robot body.
The robot main body is controlled in accordance with commands from the peripheral device 3, and the input/output and processing of signals for this purpose are performed by the main processing section 5. This control device 2 periodically reads the contents of signals from a storage section 6 having a plurality of numbered memory areas and a main processing section 5 that are input or output during the operation of the robot body 1. The reading unit 7 registers in the free memory area with the lowest number among the memory areas, and the reading unit 7 registers in the memory area with the first number when starting the registration when there is no free memory area in the storage unit 6. and a memory control unit 8 that erases the registered contents of the memory area and transfers the registered contents of the memory area of each number to the memory area of the next lower number. It has a reference function that allows the content of the signal to be referenced. Here, the storage unit 6 has a storage table 11 as shown in FIG. 3, and each memory area D, -Dn of this storage table 11 or the plurality of memory areas is the memory area D. or the first numbered memory area, memory area D, 1 is the last numbered memory area. Further, the reading unit 7 determines the memory area of the number in which the above-mentioned data should be registered based on the value of the counter, which is a variable on the software in the control device 2, and also sets the timer provided in the control device 2. The periodic operation is performed based on time. In the case of this embodiment, this set time is 20m5ec.
It is said that Further, the operation surface of the control device 2 is provided with a display section 9 and a key power section 10, and a mode in which the reference function can be executed by operating the key power section 10 (hereinafter, this mode will be referred to as function XX). ) is selected, the contents of the memory areas can be displayed on the display section 9 for each memory area by operating the key manual section 10. That is, the memory control section 8 also has a function of reading out the contents of a memory area of a predetermined number based on the value of the counter and displaying it on the display section in response to the operation of the key manual section 1°. Also, not shown in the figure, there is a key switch [[
S] and set the value of the counter to “MAX” (i.e. n
”) and a key switch [E] to increase the value of the counter by “1”.

【＋】
and a key switch for decreasing the value of the counter by "1".

[-] and the key switch to release the input operation error state.

[Clear] is provided. At this point, the functions and operation of the control device 2 configured as described above will be explained. For example, when the control device 2 is instructed to select a playback mode, specify a program, or start a playback operation, it always performs operations such as controlling the robot body l based on the specified program, as shown in FIG. The process shown in FIG. 1 is executed every set time of the timer of the reading section 7. That is, the following steps s1 to S7 are executed every 20 m5ec. [Step St] It is determined whether the reproduction mode is selected. If it is selected, the process proceeds to step s2; if it is not selected, the process is terminated. [Step S2] It is determined whether or not the robot body 1 is in operation. If it is in operation, the process proceeds to step S3; if not, the process ends. [Step S3] The reading unit 7 reads the following data from the main processing unit 5, and the process proceeds to step S4. [Step S4] Determine whether the counter value has reached "MAX". If it has, proceed to step S5; if not, proceed to step S6. [Step S5] The memory control unit 8 erases the registered contents of the memory area D, and erases the registered contents of each memory area D. The registered data of ~D are transferred to the memory areas D and -Dn-+ each having a lower number by one, and the process proceeds to step S7. [Step S6] The value of the counter is increased by "1" and the process proceeds to step S7. [Step S7] The reading unit 7 registers the data read out in step S3 in a memory area with a number equal to the counter value, and the process ends. Through the processing in steps 51-37, while the main body 1 is in operation, the input/output signal data etc. in the main processing section 5 are read out, and the data is read out from the memory area D of the storage section 6.
The process of registering data in the memory area with the lowest number, which is a memory area in which no data is registered (empty memory area) in ID, is performed every 20 m5ec. If the operation continues even after the data has been registered in the memory areas D1 to D, then 20m5e
c, the registered contents of memory area D are erased, and the registered contents of other memory areas D, ~D, . . . are transferred to memory areas D, ~D, . The read data is stored in memory area D. is registered every time. Therefore, through the above processing, data such as input/output signals every 20m5ec during the operation of the Rohot main body 1 is
The information is stored and retained until the cumulative operating time thereafter reaches approximately n×20isec. When the control device 2 selects the funkunyong x
Processing as shown in FIG. 5 is performed, and the data stored in the storage table 11 of the storage section 6 is displayed on the display section 9. That is, at this time, the control device 2 first performs the following steps and steps.
8-Execute Sll. [Step S8] The screen on the display section 9 is changed to that in the function XX mode, and the process proceeds to step S9. [Step S9] Set the counter value to "1" and proceed to step SIO. [Step SIO] The memory control unit 8 reads out the data in the memory area whose number is equal to the counter value, and the process proceeds to step Sll. [Step S11] The data read out in step SIO is displayed on the screen of the display unit 9, and the process ends. Through the processing of steps S8 to Sll, data in memory area D is first displayed. Here, the data in the memory area D1 is the oldest data that was read out in step S3 and stored in the memory table 11, that is, the operation time back from the last time when the robot body 1 stopped operating. This data represents the contents of the signal that is input or output from the main processing unit 5 at the time when the integrated value reaches approximately n×20 m5ec. Therefore, the operator can know the operating status of the system at the time. Then, each time the key manual unit 10 is operated, the control device 2
performs the following steps 312 to 828. Note that if there is an error in the operation of the key manual unit 10, a display indicating an input error is displayed on the display unit 9. [Step S12] It is determined whether a display indicating an input error is displayed on the display unit 9. If it is displayed, the process proceeds to step S13, and if not, the process proceeds to step S15. [Step S13] The key switch was operated

Determine whether it is [Clear] and switch the key

If [clear], step S1
Proceed to step 4, otherwise end the process. [Step S14] The display indicating the input error is canceled and the process ends. [Step S15] The key switch was operated

Determine whether it is [S] and switch the key

If [S], the process advances to step S16; otherwise, the process advances to step S17. [Step S16] Set the counter value to "1" and perform steps 310 to S
Process it. [Step S17] It is determined whether it is the key switch [E] that has been operated. If it is the key switch [E], the process proceeds to step S18; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S19. [Step S10] Set the value of the SI8 counter to "MAX" and proceed to step S10.
~Perform Sll processing. [Step S19 The key switch that was operated

It is determined whether the key switch is [+], and if the key switch is [+], the process proceeds to step S20, and if not, the process proceeds to step S23. [Step S20] Determine whether the counter value is smaller than "MAX",
If it is smaller, the process proceeds to step S21; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S22. [Step S21] Increase the value of the counter by "l" and perform the step 5IO-
511 processing is performed. [Step S22] Set the value of the counter to "MAX" and proceed to step 5io-
Perform stt processing. [Step S23] The key switch was operated

Determine whether it is [-] and switch the key

[-], the process advances to step S24; otherwise, the process advances to step S27. [Step S24] Determine whether the value of the counter is greater than "1". If it is, proceed to step S25; otherwise, proceed to step S26. [Step S25] Decrease the value of the counter by "1" and perform the step 5IO-
311 processing is performed. [Step S26] Set the value of the counter to "1" and proceed to step 510-31.
Perform processing 1. [Step S27] The key switch was operated

It is determined whether the key switch is [CLEAR], and if the key switch is [SUI+7], the process ends; if not, the process proceeds to step 328. [Step S28] A display indicating an input error is displayed on the display section 9, and the process ends. Through the processing of steps S12 to S28, when the key switch [S] is operated, the memory area D of the storage unit 6,
data is displayed on the display section 9, and when the key switch [E] is operated, the data is displayed in the memory area DI. data is displayed on the display section 9. and key switch

When [+] is operated, unless the counter value is "MAX", data in a memory area one number larger than the data currently being displayed is displayed. Also, the key switch

When [-] is operated, unless the counter value is "1", the data in the memory area one number smaller than the data currently being displayed is displayed. Note that the key switches [S], [], [+], [-
], [Clear]], a display indicating an input error will be displayed.
It is canceled by operation 73. Therefore, the operator must press the key switches [S] and [E].
By operating [+] and [i, it is possible to easily display the data of the desired memory area among the memory areas D, ~D0, and the cumulative operating time mentioned above can be approximately nX20m5ec. During operation after the point in time, it is possible to know what kind of signals were sent and received in the main processing unit every 20 m5ec. As explained above, according to the control device 2 of this embodiment,
The content of the signal sent and received by the control device 2 during the operation of the robot body 1 is stored and retained for a certain period of time (approximately n x 20 m5ec), so by reading this content, the range of the above-mentioned - certain period of time can be read retroactively from that point. It is possible to know the past operating status of the robot system and its changes, which facilitates operational management of the robot system. For example, if a problem occurs and the system becomes inoperable, you can check the operating state before the problem occurred, so you can easily determine the cause of the problem and quickly restart the system to prevent damage. can be kept to a minimum. "Effects of the Invention" According to the control device of the present invention, the contents of the signals sent and received by the control device during the operation of the robot body are stored and retained for a certain period of time, so by reading this contents, it is possible to trace back from that point. Since it is possible to know the past operating conditions and their changes within the certain period of time, there is an effect that the operational management of the robot system can be facilitated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 are diagrams for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of an industrial robot system, FIG. 2, FIG. 4, and FIG. are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the control device, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a storage table in the storage section. 1...Robot body, 2...Control device, 3
...Peripheral device, 6...Storage unit, 7...Reading unit, 8...Memory control unit, D, ~Dn...Memory area.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A control device for an industrial robot that controls the robot body by sending and receiving signals to and from the robot body or its peripheral devices, comprising: a storage unit having a plurality of numbered memory areas; a reading unit that periodically reads out the contents of the signal input or output during the operation of the robot body and registers it in the lowest numbered free data area in the memory area; and a free memory area in the storage unit. When the reading unit starts the registration in a state where there is no memory area, it erases the registered contents of the memory area of the first number, and moves the registered contents of the memory area of each number to the memory area of the next lower number. 1. A control device for an industrial robot, comprising: a memory control section.