JPH04300182A - Robot group control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the maintenance by automatically displaying an associated synchronization executing instruction in the other one of control programs stored in robots if the content of the other one of the control program is required to be known during inspection of one of the programs or the like. CONSTITUTION:Memory devices 4a, 4B storing therein control programs are provided respectively in robots 10A, 10B. Execution of an instruction to be executed in synchronization with another robot, such as 4A2, is made to stand by until an associated synchronizing operation instruction in another robot, such as 4B2, is executed, and accordingly, the robots are operated being synchronized with each other. In this case, there are provided synchronization initiating instruction pointers 6A, 6B and counters 8A, 8A for counting read-out initiating instructions in order are provided in the respective programs. Further, there are provided counter display programs 9A, 9B for searching the control program in another robot for a group of instructions subsequent to a specified memory position when a specific instruction is designated, and for displaying thereof.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for synchronously operating a plurality of robot groups as required. In particular, the present invention relates to a control device that facilitates maintenance work such as inspection, debugging, modification, and improvement of a group of instructions given to each robot (hereinafter referred to as a robot control program).

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Various devices have been proposed that allow two or more robots to perform collaborative work by synchronously operating them as necessary. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-295193 discloses a device that can teach robot A, robot B, or both robots A and B using one operating box. When this device performs teaching processing, the control program for robot A mixes instruction parts that allow robot A to operate independently of robot B's movements and instruction parts that require robot A to operate synchronously with robot B. be able to. Therefore, while robot A works collaboratively with robot B, it can perform the required work independently.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, robot A,
If a control program for B, C, etc. contains a mixture of instructions that can run independently and instructions that must be executed in synchronization, when inspecting, debugging, modifying, or improving the program, It is often necessary to refer to the other program that you want to operate synchronously. At this time, in the case of conventional robot group control devices, since it does not have a processing means to grasp the correspondence of command groups that are to be operated synchronously, the operator analyzes the other party's program and then sets the commands that are to be operated synchronously. This was extremely inconvenient. Therefore, in the present invention, when an operator needs to check the contents of a program to be synchronously operated on the other robot while referring to a control program of one robot, the operator searches for the contents of the program and displays it on the display. This paper proposes a robot group control device incorporating a service system that can respond to operator requests.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a robot group control device, a conceptual diagram of which is schematically shown in FIG.
For each robot, storage devices 4A and 4B are provided for storing a robot control program consisting of a group of commands to instruct the robot. , each robot 10A, In a group of robots in which 10B operates synchronously as necessary, for each robot control program, the order of the synchronization start commands read when the program is executed and the data specifying the storage location of the synchronization start commands are paired. Synchronization start command pointers 6A and 6B to be stored, counters 8A and 8B that count the order of the synchronization start commands read out while each robot control program is being referenced, and when a specific command is specified, From the robot control program for the other party's robot, for example, 10B, data ( This is illustrated as a HAD).
A robot group control device has been created which is characterized by being equipped with partner display programs 9A and 9B that search for and display commands (commands after B3).

Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which a program for the robot 10B is searched and displayed while the program for the robot 10A is being inspected, the reverse operation is also possible. In this case, in the above explanation,
Swap subscripts A and B. Further, although FIG. 1 describes two robots, three or more robots may be used.

[0006]

[Operation] According to the robot group control device having the same configuration as above, for each robot control program, the execution order of the synchronization start commands and the location where the synchronization start commands to be executed in that order are stored are indicated. Data is stored in synchronization start instruction pointers 6A and 6B. In Figure 1, robot 10B
This example illustrates an example in which the H-th synchronization start command to be executed among the robot control programs for the robot control program is stored at an address location specified by the HAD.

Furthermore, when an operator refers to a robot control program for inspection or the like, a counter counts the execution order of synchronization start commands in the referenced portion. FIG. 1 illustrates a state in which the operator is referring to the H-th synchronization start command part in the control program for the robot 10A. Here, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, if the operator wants to confirm the operation details of the robot 10B during the H-th synchronous operation, he inputs a predetermined specific command.

Then, the contents of the counter 8A are read out, and the data HAD paired with the count value (H) read out from the synchronization start instruction pointer 6B is read out.
Then, the commands stored after the address position specified by the read data HAD (in FIG. 1, the commands after 4B3 are exemplified as equivalent) are displayed on the display 2A on the robot 10A side. be done. As a result, the operator who is referring to the control program of the robot 10A can easily confirm the contents of the program to be operated synchronously with the other robot 10B.

[0009]

Embodiment Next, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and subsequent figures. As shown in FIG. 2, this robot group is composed of two industrial robots 10A and 10B. Each of the robots 10A and 10B operates independently and performs independent work, and also operates synchronously to perform collaborative work when predetermined conditions are met. In this collaborative work, the hands 11A and 11B of each robot grasp both ends of one workpiece and transport the workpiece together. Each robot is connected to control devices 30A and 30B, and the independent and joint movements are controlled. Each control device 30A, 30B
Since the configurations of are the same, the subscripts A and B will be commonly omitted in the explanation below.

The control device 30 mainly includes a host CPU 31,
It consists of an auxiliary CPU 38 and a storage device 32 that stores robot control programs, etc. The host CPU 31 is connected to an operation panel 35 and a teaching box 36 via an input/output interface 34, and the robot 10A,
A servo CPU 55 is connected to control a servo motor that drives each axis of 10B. host CPU
31 is connected to an auxiliary CPU 38. robot 1
For 0A and 10B, the auxiliary CPU 38 is the interface 4
1, robot control programs can be exchanged. Storage device 32
In addition to the memory specific to the host CPU 31 and the auxiliary CPU 38, the CPU has a shared memory in which the two CPUs share information.

The teaching box 36 is provided with a display 60 and a keyboard 61, as well as switching buttons 62, 63, and 64. The operator presses the button 62A on the teaching box 36A and uses the teaching box 36A to control the robot 10A.
You can teach the content to be activated. Also button 6
Press 3A to start robot 1 on teaching pendant 36A.
0B can be taught, and by pressing button 64A, robot 10A and robot 10B can be taught simultaneously. The content taught in this way is executed synchronously with the actual work.

Similarly, when the operator presses the button 62B on the teaching box 36B, the robot 10
A, when pressing the button 63B, the robot 10B, and when pressing the button 64B, the robots 10A, 10
It is possible to teach B what to perform synchronously. The contents taught in this manner are stored in the storage device 32A for the robot 10A, and in the storage device 32B for the robot 10B. Furthermore, the operator can refer to and modify the contents stored in the storage device 32 by operating the keys on the teaching box 36. At this time, the teaching pendant 36A
2B contents can also be accessed, and vice versa.

FIG. 3 illustrates the contents stored in the storage devices 32A and 32B. Each storage device 32 is roughly divided into an area that stores a robot control program, an area that operates as a counter, an area that functions as a synchronization start command pointer, and an area that stores a program that controls the system. The contents set during the teaching mode are stored in the robot control program area. Here, the robot 10A stores a group of instructions 100 in the storage device 32A.
After being independently controlled by the robot 10B, it executes the processing of the instruction group 101 in synchronization with the robot 10B, and then executes the processing of the instruction group 101 independently.
After executing the process 2, a program is stored that executes the process of the instruction group 103 in synchronization with the robot 10B, further independently executes the process of the instruction group 104, and then executes the process from the instruction group 100 again. An example is shown below.

A group of instructions to be executed synchronously is distinguished from single processing instructions by placing a synchronization start instruction and a synchronization release instruction before and after the instruction. FIG. 4 shows an example of a program, in which SYNC ON corresponds to a synchronization start command. When this command is given, processing as shown in FIG. 5 is executed. Note that FIG. 5 is illustrated so that time progresses from top to bottom.

In FIG. 5, the robot 10A side is SYNC.
This example shows a case where the robot 10B has not yet performed the processing when the ON command is executed. When the SYNC ON command is read on the robot 10A side, a predetermined switch or flag 1 is turned on, and the next command is executed until a predetermined switch or flag 10 on the robot 10B side is turned on. In this case, execution of MOVES W(1) is made to wait. In this state, the synchronization start command SY is issued on the robot 10B side.
When C ON is executed, the switch 10 that is awaited to be turned on on the robot 10A side is turned on. As a result, execution of the command MOVES W(1) following the synchronization start command is started on the robot 10A side. The robot 10B has a command to wait for switch 1 or flag 1 to turn on, but since switch 1 is already turned on, the next command, in this case MOVES W (101), is immediately executed. be done. Therefore, MOVESW(1) and MOVESW(101) are executed at the same timing, and subsequent executions are executed synchronously. Note that if the processing on the robot 10B side is fast, the robot 10A waits for the robot 10A to become capable of synchronous operation due to the opposite effect.

When a series of synchronization commands is completed, a flag or switch is turned off by a synchronization release command SYNC OFF, and preparation is made for the next synchronization process. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the storage device 32B also stores a mixture of commands for the robot 10B to operate independently and commands for the robot 10A to operate jointly.

[0017] The counter counts the number of times the synchronization start command is executed after the start of the robot control program, and in the case of the robot control program stored in the storage device 32A, it is first stored at address A1. 1 when the synchronization start command (1) is read, 2 when the synchronization start command at address A2 is read next, repeat command 1
When the synchronization start command (1) is read out again by 05, the count continues, such as 3. The synchronization start instruction pointer stores a pair of the count value read by the counter and the address where the current synchronization start instruction is stored. In this embodiment, by storing the address of the synchronization start instruction to be executed the Kth time at address C+K, the execution order and address are stored as a pair.

This pointer is created by a pointer creation program stored in the system program area. FIG. 6 shows the processing contents of the pointer creation program. In step S2, statements in the robot control program are read in the same order as when executed.
In step S4, it is determined whether this is a synchronization start command,
If the synchronization command has been read out, the value of the counter K is incremented by 1 in step S5 to store a value corresponding to the order of the synchronization start commands read out in the counter K, and further read out in step S6. The address where the synchronization start instruction was stored is stored in a pointer having an address determined by the order.

Note that the above-mentioned counter counts the order of reading through the same processing as S1 to S5. Note that in FIG. 6, when the search for the synchronization start command is executed for all programs, the answer is YES in step S3, and the pointer creation program ends. As a result, the addresses where the synchronization start instructions are stored in the order in which they are executed are stored in the synchronization start instruction pointer of the storage device 32.

In the case of this system, when the operator refers to the robot control program using the teaching pendant 36, the operator can read the contents of the control program on the other side that is executed in synchronization with the program being referred to. A partner display program is prepared to be displayed on the display 60 that the user is viewing. This program is stored in the system program area of the storage device 32. Figure 7 shows the processing content of this program.
This process is started when the operator inputs a predetermined specific command using the key switch 61.

In step S7, the area of the counter in the currently referenced storage device 32 is searched, the current counter contents are read and stored as H. Next step S
At step 8, the address number stored at address C+H of the other party's storage device 32 is read and stored as HAD. Then, in step S9, the program contents stored after the HAD address of the other party's storage device 32 are displayed on the display 60 of the teaching box 36 being operated by the operator. In this case, the program of the robot being operated by the operator is displayed on the left half, and the program of the other party that has been searched is displayed on the right half. Alternatively, the screens may alternately display each program.

In this state, if the operator finds content to be changed, he or she can change the command using the key switch 61. This is realized by an instruction change program, and in this embodiment, not only the instruction being referred to by the user but also the instruction being searched for can be changed.

[0023]

According to the present invention, when each robot control program includes a mixture of independent execution instructions and synchronous execution instructions, and when it is necessary to know the contents of one program to inspect the other, The operator does not need to analyze each other's program, and simply inputs a specific command, and the corresponding synchronized execution command of the other party is automatically displayed on the display, making the operator's work easier. Therefore, maintenance work costs such as checking, debugging, and improving programs can be significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating memory contents in a storage device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a synchronization start command.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of processing executed in response to a synchronization start command.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the processing contents of a synchronization start instruction pointer creation program.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing processing contents of a partner display program.

[Explanation of symbols]

4 Robot control program storage device 6 Synchronization start command pointer 8 Counter 9 Other party display program 10 Robot

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: Each robot is provided with a storage device for a robot control program consisting of a group of commands to be instructed to the robot, and in the robot control program, a pre-execution position of a command to be executed in synchronization with other robots is provided. includes a synchronization start command that waits for the execution of the command to be executed in synchronization with the other robot until the execution of the corresponding synchronized action command of the other robot, so that each robot can perform operations as necessary. In a group of robots that operate synchronously,
For each robot control program, a synchronization start command pointer stores a pair of data specifying the order of the synchronization start commands read when the program is executed and the storage location of the synchronization start commands, and each robot control A counter that counts the order of the synchronization start commands that are read out while referring to the synchronization start command, and a counter that counts the order of the synchronization start commands that are read out, and a counter that counts the order of the synchronization start commands that are read out, and when a specific command is specified, the synchronization of the other party's program is selected from the robot control program for the other robot. A partner display program that searches for and displays a group of instructions stored after a storage position specified by data specifying a storage position stored in a pair with the count value of the counter in a start instruction pointer. A robot group control device comprising: