JPH04135186A - Reference-position determining method and apparatus for industrial travel robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effect positioning of the robot on a slider with high efficiency by effecting reference-positioning of a travel robot in the travel direction thereof with a reference-position determing-gauge means set at a positioning point located at a prescribed position on a travel base being kept to abut on a second positioning surface of the travel robot. CONSTITUTION:A reference surface 14 parallel to the prescribed direction of a travel robot 30 is provided on a robot-loading surface 12a of a slider 12, whereby this reference surface 14 is set as a first robot-positioning surface abutting on a first specified surface 34 formed at a base portion 32 of the travel robot 30. Further, a second prescribed surface perpendicular to the first prescribed surface of the base portion 32 of the travel robot 30 abutting on the reference surface 14 of the slider 12 is provided on the base portion of the travel robot and is set as a second robot-positioning surface. Subsequently, a gauge means 50 for reference positioning, which is set as a positioning point located at a prescribed position on a travel base 10 is caused to abut on the second positioning surface of the travel robot on the slider to effect reference positioning of the travel robot.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention performs reference positioning of an industrial traveling robot that moves along a traveling base extending in a fixed direction with respect to a work object at a robot work site. METHODS AND APPARATUS.

[Prior art]

An industrial traveling robot is, for example, a plate-shaped sliding body that is slidable on a traveling base shaped like a traveling path provided along an automobile assembly line via a traveling guide such as a rolling bearing or a linear guide. The reference position is adjusted and set at a predetermined mounting position on the slider in a predetermined traveling direction. Then, the XS set on the running base
When one axis of the Y orthogonal coordinate is aligned with the traveling direction, and the traveling robot is at a fixed position on the coordinates, it moves to various positions along the traveling base using that fixed position as a reference position, and moves toward the work target. A method is adopted in which the robot is taught a program to perform a predetermined robot task.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned industrial mobile robot, the robot, which travels between various positions on the travel base while mounted on a sliding body, becomes unable to perform its work due to a malfunction in the robot body, and other similar robots In some cases, it may be necessary to replace the robot with a new one. When such a failure occurs, when a new substitute traveling robot is loaded onto the sliding body, it must be positioned and loaded in exactly the same posture and direction as the position where the old traveling robot was loaded at the time of the failure. When a new traveling robot is operated by using the previous work program as is, the working position along the traveling base will be slightly shifted, making it difficult for the robot to accurately perform the specified work on the workpiece. becomes difficult.

In order to solve this problem, conventionally, two reference abutment surfaces were formed perpendicular to the edges of the loading surface of the sliding robot, and the robot was sometimes mounted on these two reference abutment surfaces. By bringing two perpendicular abutment surfaces formed on the base at the bottom of the mobile robot into contact with each other, the robot can maintain reproducibility of its posture and orientation even when it is replaced with a different mobile robot. However, according to such a conventional positioning method, the two abutment surfaces on the robot base side must be brought into contact with the two orthogonal reference abutment surfaces of the sliding body, respectively. Positioning and mounting, in which the moving robot is operated while loading the sliding body on the mounting surface, is extremely laborious and cumbersome work, resulting in a long time. In addition, two or more sliding bodies may be installed on a traveling base and a traveling robot may be loaded on each sliding body, but in such cases, the relative positional relationship between the sliding bodies may be It is quite difficult to establish this based on the reference abutment surface of the sliding body, so it is difficult to establish a work program in which traveling robots mounted on multiple sliding bodies work together on one work object. The disadvantage was that it would be difficult to create.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems that have been difficult to overcome with the conventional reference positioning method for a traveling robot as described above.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for determining the reference position of an industrial mobile robot, which allows a worker to easily perform reference positioning of the mobile robot at a robot work site.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a traveling robot mounted on a sliding body by providing an installation point of a reference positioning gauge means at a fixed position on a traveling base in advance and using the standard positioning gauge means installed at this gauge installation point during positioning. The reference positioning gauge is brought into contact with a fixed surface formed in the same direction, and the gauge scale is read so that the reference position of the traveling robot on the sliding body can always be set to a constant scale value.

That is, according to the present invention, in the reference positioning method for an industrial traveling robot that is placed on a sliding body that travels in a fixed direction and travels along a running base that extends in a fixed direction, the robot of the sliding body a reference plane parallel to the fixed running direction is provided on the mounting surface and set as a first positioning plane that comes into contact with a first fixed plane provided at the base of the traveling robot;
A second constant plane that is perpendicular to the first constant plane of the base of the traveling robot that comes into contact with the reference plane of the sliding body is provided on the robot base and is set as a second positioning plane; With respect to the traveling robot placed on the moving body, a gauge means for determining the reference position set at a positioning point provided at a predetermined position of the traveling base is used to determine the second position of the traveling robot on the sliding body. The present invention provides a reference positioning method for an industrial mobile robot in which the reference position of the mobile robot in the traveling direction is determined by bringing the robot into contact with a surface.

Further, according to the present invention, in the reference positioning device for an industrial traveling robot that is placed on a sliding body that travels along a traveling base extending in a fixed direction and travels in a fixed direction, the base of the traveling robot is The first
, a positioning gauge for determining a reference position at which the second constant surface comes into contact when the first constant surface on the second constant surface comes into contact with a reference surface provided on the sliding body; The present invention provides a reference positioning device for an industrial traveling robot, which is constituted by a means for positioning the positioning gauge means and a mounting portion for the positioning gauge means provided at a fixed position in the constant traveling direction of the traveling base. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the implementation state when setting a reference position using the reference positioning device for an industrial mobile robot according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a reference positioning gauge used for reference positioning. The perspective view shown in FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the calibration state of the reference positioning gauge.

In FIG. 1, a travel base 10 is provided as a robot travel path extending in a fixed direction with respect to a work area A, and usually extends over several meters to several tens of meters. On this traveling base 10 is a slider (sliding body) 1
2 is attached via suitable known sliding guide means such as rolling bearings and linear guides. This slider 12 is usually formed as a plate-shaped body, and has an upper surface as a loading surface 12a for the traveling robot 30. Therefore, screw holes (not shown) are provided at a predetermined pitch for locking mounting bolts inserted through bolt and screw insertion holes provided in the base 32 of the traveling robot 30.

Further, among the four circumferential edges of the loading surface 12a of the slider 12, the edges on the side facing the work target area A of the two edges parallel to the illustrated Y direction corresponding to the traveling direction, that is, the edge 12
A reference plane 14.b is formed as a plane parallel to the Y direction.
14 is formed. This reference abutment surface 14.14 is
When the traveling robot 30 is loaded on the slider 12, the abutment surfaces 34, 34 formed on the base 32 of the traveling robot 30 are brought into contact, and the robot is moved in the X direction (perpendicular to the Y direction) on the loading surface 12a. direction), and the forward-facing position of the traveling robot 30 relative to the work area A is inevitably restricted. This reference abutment surface 14.14 is
It may be formed as a side surface of a convex portion integrally formed on the edge of the slider 12, or a block member formed in the shape of a gauge block may be separately attached. What should be noted here is that the abutting surface 34.3 of one edge of the base 32 of the traveling robot 30 is only relative to the reference surface 14.14 in one direction.
Even when the weight of the traveling robot 300 is large, the task of bringing the two robots into contact with each other can be accomplished relatively easily since there is no need to worry about the contact operation on the other side.

Further, the positioning gauge 50 is accurately attached to a predetermined selected position on the upper surface of the traveling base 10 as viewed in the traveling direction (Y direction) using a positioning pin (not shown). That is, an insertion hole for the positioning bin is formed in advance at a predetermined position on the traveling base 10. At this time, it is desirable to form, for example, two bottle holes arranged in the Y direction so that the positioning gauge 50 can be immovably fixed. As shown in FIG. 2, the positioning gauge 50 includes a gauge 60 with a scale, such as a dial indicator, fixedly mounted on a gauge support 52 made of two plate members assembled in an L shape and reinforced with ribs 54 using appropriate fixing fittings 56. The bottom of the gauge support 52 has two pin holes 5 with the same pitch as the positioning pin insertion hole formed in the travel base 10.
8 is the formation. Therefore, by aligning these pin holes 58 with the positioning pin insertion holes of the travel base 10 and inserting the positioning pins, the positioning gauge 50 can be easily set on the travel base 10.

Moreover, the 31st! As shown in I, a U-shaped gauge block 6 is prepared in advance on the vertical surface 52a of the gauge support 52.
2 to establish the distance "1" and set the scale of the gauge 60 to a predetermined value, the initial value of the gauge 60 is always set to a constant value, and then the positioning work of the gauge 60 is performed. be able to.

Now, in FIG. 1, the traveling robot 30 has a base 32 having the abutment surface 34.34 as described above, and the base 32 is further provided with an arrangement perpendicular to the abutment surface 34.34, that is, , a constant plane 36 perpendicular to the traveling Y direction is formed with high precision. A robot body 40 is erected on the top of the base 32.
is configured to be able to rotate about the vertical axis by itself or by a rotating table provided at the top via a rotating mechanism provided inside the body. Furthermore, a robot arm device 42 (schematically shown) is connected to the ground portion of the body 40 via a joint so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis, and a robot wrist (not shown) is connected to the most distal end of the robot arm device 42. The robot has a configuration in which a working end effector is attached to the wrist, and is configured to be able to perform a desired robot work on a workpiece, etc. to be worked on in the work target area A. There is.

The traveling robot 30 having the above-mentioned configuration is mounted on the traveling base 1.
Regarding the positioning method when loading and positioning is performed on the loading surface 12a of the slider 12 sliding along the
This will be explained below with reference to the figures.

First, insert the positioning pin while aligning the precise pin holes 58 and 58 of the gauge 50 (see FIG. 2) with the previously described precise positioning pin insertion hole provided on the top surface of the traveling base 10. Install using. At this time, the indicator 60 of the positioning gauge 50 is connected to the gauge block 62.
(FIG. 3) is used to set the gauge scale to a predetermined value in advance. Next, the traveling robot 30 is loaded onto the loading surface 12a of the slider 12. At this time, the robot base 3
The abutment surface 34 of the slider 12 is brought into contact with the reference surface 14 of the slider 12 to unilaterally position the robot 30 on the loading surface 12a in the X direction.

Next, slide the slider 12 to a position close to the positioning gauge 50, and place the tip of the indicator 60 on the robot 3.
0, and when the indicator 60 shows a predetermined setting scale value, the base 32
is fixed to the loading surface 12a of the slider 12. The robot base 32 and the slider 12 are fixed by engaging a suitable fixing means such as a fixing bolt into a screw hole formed in the stack 12a of the slider 12 through a long hole formed in the base 32. As described above, when the predetermined indicator scale value is obtained, the fixing bolt may be tightened to immovably fix the traveling robot 30 to the slider 12. In other words,
Positioning in the traveling Y direction is performed by first establishing positioning in the X direction, and then moving the slider 12 on the traveling base 10 while visually checking the indicator 600 scale value of the positioning gauge 50 to a predetermined set scale value. When this is reached, the fixing bolt can be tightened simply by operating it.

After the positioning of the traveling robot 30 is completed within the X and Y coordinate planes set within the traveling plane of the traveling base 10 as described above, the traveling robot 30 is replaced by a previously used traveling robot 30 of the same type. Even if the new mobile robot 30 is installed in place of the previous robot, the positioning on the slider 12 is set at the same position and posture as the previous robot, so the work program set for the previous mobile robot 30 can be used as is. can be used to accomplish tasks.

In addition, when the traveling robot is positioned on the slider 12 of the traveling base 10 for the first time, after the positioning setting is completed, the set scale value of the positioning gauge 50 is recorded and stored, and then the x1Y coordinate and the Z coordinate perpendicular to the same coordinate are recorded. (See FIG. 1), a program for performing a predetermined task for the task area A is taught. This program is subsequently transferred to another traveling robot 30 due to a failure etc. during the robot work process.
Even when the indicator 60 is mounted on the slider 12, it can be used repeatedly as long as the positioning setting is performed using the scale values of the indicator 60 recorded and stored as described above. In other words, since the reproducibility of positioning is guaranteed, the work program can be used even if the traveling robot 30 is replaced.

Moreover, according to the positioning method using the positioning gauge 50 described above, a plurality of sliders 1 are mounted on the traveling base lo.
2 and a traveling robot 30 is loaded on each robot 30, if you set the positioning using the same positioning gauge 5o for each robot 30, the X, Y
Since the robot position on the coordinate plane has been established, a program can be created by setting the distance between the constant planes 36 of each robot base 32 as accurate distances between the robots. In other words, when two or more traveling robots 30 work together to perform a desired robot task on a workpiece, by creating a program once, it is possible to prevent one robot from being replaced due to a malfunction. In this case, there is no need to re-create the program.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the fixed surface 36 formed on the robot base 32 is used for positioning setting was explained, but the fixed surface 36 that brings the indicator 6o of the positioning gauge 50 into contact with an appropriate fixed part of the body 40 is also used. It goes without saying that it is also possible to form a . In addition, the positioning gauge 50
It goes without saying that the indicator 60 is merely an example, and that a well-known air micrometer, electric micrometer, touch sensor, etc. can be used instead.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, when a traveling robot is used at a robot work site, the traveling robot can be positioned with high accuracy on a sliding body or slider that slides on a traveling base, and moreover, This enables positioning to be performed using a much simpler positioning method than in the past, and it is possible to overcome the difficulty of positioning operations at the site where the robot is used and complete the positioning of the robot efficiently. This in turn makes it possible to improve the work efficiency of industrial mobile robots at work sites.

It also has a significant effect in relieving the mental burden of the worker.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the implementation state when setting a reference position using the reference positioning device for an industrial mobile robot according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a reference positioning gauge used for reference positioning. FIG. 3 is a perspective view and a plan view showing the calibration state of the reference positioning gauge. 0... Traveling base, 12... Sliding body or slider, 2a... Loading surface, 14... Reference surface, 30... Traveling robot, 32... Base, 34... Abutting surface , 36・
...Fixed surface, 0...Positioning gauge, 60...Indicator. Figure Ma and Figure Certain Figure

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A reference positioning method for an industrial traveling robot that is placed on a sliding body that travels along a traveling base that extends in a fixed direction and travels in a fixed direction, wherein the robot of the sliding body A reference surface parallel to the fixed running direction is provided on the mounting surface and is set as a first positioning surface that comes into contact with a first fixed surface provided at the base of the traveling robot, and the reference surface of the sliding body A second constant surface that is perpendicular to the first constant surface of the base of the traveling robot that comes into contact with the robot base is provided on the robot base and is set as a second positioning surface; With respect to the traveling robot, a reference positioning gauge means set at a positioning point provided at a predetermined position of the traveling base is brought into contact with the second positioning surface of the traveling robot on the sliding body to determine the position in the traveling direction. A reference positioning method for an industrial traveling robot, characterized in that the reference positioning of the traveling robot is performed. 2. In a reference positioning device for an industrial traveling robot that is mounted on a sliding body that travels along a traveling base that extends in a fixed direction and travels in a fixed direction, the reference positioning device is a reference positioning device for an industrial traveling robot that is mounted on a sliding body that travels along a running base that extends in a fixed direction. Positioning gauge means for determining a reference position with which the second constant plane comes into contact when the first constant plane in the first and second constant planes comes into contact with a reference plane provided on the sliding body and a mounting portion for the positioning gauge means provided at a fixed position in the constant traveling direction of the traveling base. 3. The positioning gauge means for determining the reference position consists of a dial gauge attached to a support having a positioning hole, and the attachment part of the positioning gauge means provided on the traveling base is attached to the support 3. The reference positioning device for an industrial mobile robot according to claim 2, comprising a positioning hole connected to a positioning hole of the tool with a positioning pin.