JPH07311618A - Robot program diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the robot program diagnostic device which sends and receives signals to and from an external equipment and diagnoses the trouble of a robot program from the time required for the operation of a robot. CONSTITUTION:This device consists of a program judgement part 1 which judges the movement time of the robot and input/output instructions to and from the external equipment, an external equipment program judgement part 2 which judges the input/output parts of the external equipment, a movement time calculation part 3 which calculates the movement time of the robot, a delay time calculation part 4 which calculates the signal delay time of the external equipment, and a program diagnostic part 7 which compares the movement time with the delay time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for diagnosing a robot program for controlling a robot,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a robot program diagnostic device for diagnosing a robot program that transmits and receives signals to and from an external device for each movement route or passage point of a robot to instruct and control the operation of the robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Industrial robots are currently used in many factories, and a plurality of robots cooperate with each other or operate independently.

One of the controls of this industrial robot is an external device connected to the control device of the robot, for example, to judge the production situation, and in the case of high-mix low-volume production, the product to be processed placed in front of the robot. Information is exchanged with a computer or programmable controller (hereinafter abbreviated as PC) that stores and instruct types of robots, work procedures, etc., and instructs robot operation based on the information. There is something to do.

FIG. 12 is a drawing for explaining such a robot system. The operation of the robot 25 is controlled by the robot controller 20, and the robot controller 20 and the PC 21, which is an external device, exchange information. Handing over. This robot 25 uses a program in the robot controller 20 to
As shown in FIG. 13, when performing work while moving from point P1 through P2, P3 to P4 or P5,
After passing through P3, an instruction to move to P4 or P5 is judged by a signal from the PC 21 and moves.

Specifically, it is controlled by a program as shown in FIG. 14, and the first line "MOVE P2".
Then, the movement from P1 to P2 is performed, and in the second line “MOVE P3”, the movement from P2 to P3 is performed in the same manner, and the third line “P3” is displayed while the robot is moving from P2 to P3. When “OUT1 = ON”, a signal is output from the output terminal, the output signal is transmitted to the PC 21 and processed, and the fourth line “IF IN1 = ON THEN
In "MOVE P4 ELSE MOVE P5", it is determined whether or not there is a signal input from the PC 21, and the process moves from P3 to P4 or P5. Also, PC
In FIG. 21, there is a sequence program as shown in FIG. 15, and when a signal from the robot controller 20 is received, the contact OUT1 is turned on and the signal is output from IN1 to the robot controller 20.

Therefore, in such a robot system, while the robot is moving from P2 to P3, the transfer of the signal with the external device (here, the PC 21) must be completed.

[0007]

However, in the case of such a robot system, if the time required for the movement from P2 to P3 is short, the signal with the external device including the processing time in the external device during that time is transmitted. If it takes longer than the time required to move from P2 to P3 due to a long delivery time and a delay time, a signal from an external device cannot be obtained by the time the robot moves to P3. There is a problem that it is not possible to make such a judgment.
When such a defective operation occurs, even if the robot program is inspected, there is no bug in the robot program itself. Therefore, conventionally, it was very difficult to detect the cause of the defective operation.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a robot program diagnosing device for diagnosing a robot program by passing signals to and from an external device and judging the time required for the robot to operate.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is directed to a robot that moves through a plurality of points to perform work, and moves from a specific point to a next point among the plurality of points. A robot program diagnostic device for a robot control device, which controls the robot by transmitting and receiving signals to and from an external device connected to the control device of the robot, wherein a signal from the robot program in the robot control device to the external device is Output command and input command part, robot program judging means for judging between the points to which the robot moves while the input / output command is executed, and movement of the robot for each point among the plurality of points. Between the movement information storage means that stores the time and the point determined by the robot program determination means A robot movement time calculation means for calculating the movement time of the moving robot from the movement time storage means, a portion for receiving an input signal from the robot control device from a program in the external device, and a signal to the robot control device. Is stored in the processing time storage means, the processing time storage means that stores the processing time for each processing in the processing of the program of the external equipment, Based on the processing time for each processing, the external device processing time calculation means for calculating the processing time from the input to the output of the external device determined by the external device program determination means, and the robot movement time calculation part Robot movement time between the points and output from the input of the external device calculated by the external device processing time calculation means , And time comparing means for comparing processing time and in a robot program analysis apparatus characterized by having a.

Further, according to the present invention for achieving the above object, in a robot which moves through a plurality of points and performs a work, a movement from a specific point of the plurality of points to a next point is performed by the robot. A robot program diagnosing device for a robot controller that controls by exchanging signals with a plurality of external devices connected to a control device, wherein a signal is output from the robot program in the robot controller to the external device. A command and an input command part, a robot program judging means for judging a distance between points at which the robot moves while the input / output command is executed, and a signal output to the external device detected by the robot program judging means, and Which external device the input route is connected to Connection information storage means for storing connection information to be responded to, movement information storage means for storing the movement time of the robot for each point of the plurality of points, and between the points determined by the robot program determination means A robot movement time calculating means for calculating the movement time of the robot moving from the movement time storage means, a portion for receiving an input signal from the robot control device from a program in the external device, and the robot control device. External device program determining means for determining a portion outputting a signal, processing time storing means for storing the processing time for each process in the program of the external device, and the processing time storing means for storing the processing time. Is the input of the external device judged by the external device program judging means based on the processing time for each processing? From the external device processing time calculation means for calculating the processing time required until output, the robot movement time between the points calculated by the robot movement time calculation part and the input of the external equipment calculated by the external device processing time calculation means A robot program diagnostic device, comprising: a time comparison means for comparing a processing time until output.

[0011]

In the present invention configured as described above, the robot program judging means searches the robot program for a portion relating to input and output and a portion relating to movement of the robot, and executes this input / output instruction. Determine between which points the robot will move in between.

Among the judgment results of the robot program judging means, the information between the moving points of the robot is sent to the robot moving time calculating means, and the robot moving time calculating means refers to the moving time storing means to refer to the points. The movement time of the robot between the two is calculated. On the other hand, among the judgment results of the robot program judging means, the information about the input and output with respect to the external device is sent to the external device program judging means, and the external device program judging means selects the input from the programs in the external device. The time required from the input to the output is determined by searching the portion corresponding to the output command, determining the processing from the input to the output, and referring to the processing time storage means in the external device processing time calculation means. To calculate.

Then, the calculated moving time between the points and the time from the input to the output of the external device are compared by the time comparison means, and it is diagnosed whether or not there is a malfunction in the robot operation.

Further, according to the present invention, when a plurality of external devices are connected to the robot controller, it has a connection information storage means for associating a path for inputting or outputting a signal with the external device. As a result, the robot program determining means determines to which external device the input / output command of the robot controller is directed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the same symbols are attached to those having the same function.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a robot program diagnosis device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The robot program diagnosis device 100 is
A robot program determination unit 1 which is a robot program determination unit, an external device program determination unit 2 which is an external device program determination unit, a movement time calculation unit 3 which is a robot movement time calculation unit, and a delay time calculation which is an external device processing time calculation unit. Part 4, delay information 5 which is a processing time storage means,
It is composed of movement information 6 which is movement information storage means, a program diagnosis section 7 which is time comparison means, and a display terminal (CRT) 10 which displays a diagnosis result. The configuration of the robot system includes a robot controller 20 which is a control device for controlling the robot, and a single PC 21 which transfers information to the robot controller 20.

The function of each unit will be described below.

The robot program judging unit 1 reads the program in the robot controller 20, and from this, information about the movement command of the robot, for example, "MOVE ..." In the case of the program shown in FIG. The output and input instructions of the signal for delivering and receiving, for example, “OUT1 = ON” and “... IN1 = ON ...” Then, the points between which the robot moves while the input / output command is being performed are determined. For example, this can be determined from the move command that precedes the I / O command, and in the case of the program of FIG. 14, “OUT1 =
"MOVE P3" just before "ON" hits this,
This is a move command to move to P3, so P2
It is determined that signals are being input / output while moving from P3 to P3.

The external device program judging section 2 is connected to the PC 21.
Read the program in the robot controller 20
Search for the part that receives the input from and the part that outputs it. At this time, in order to identify which input / output command is between the points determined by the robot program determination unit 1, the robot program determination unit 1 sends information regarding the input / output command. For example, "OUT1"
It is information such as "IN1" and corresponds to the related input / output command also in the external device.

The moving time calculating unit 3 calculates the moving time between points judged by the robot program judging unit 1.
For this, the moving time between the judged points is set as the moving information 6
Calculate with reference to.

The movement information 6 is a hard disk,
As shown in FIG. 2, it is a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, other memory, etc., and the moving time between the points where the robot moves is stored, and the moving time between these points depends on the work content of the robot. It is predetermined.

The signal delay time calculation unit 4 calculates the processing time taken by the external device program determination unit 2 from the input to the output from the robot controller. To this end, the processing time for each processing unit is referred to from the delay information 5, the time for each processing performed from input to output is obtained, and the total is calculated as the delay time.

The delay information 5 is the hard disk,
Magnetic tape, floppy, other memory, etc., processing time required for each processing unit for processing from input to output is stored. For example, as shown in FIG. For those that can be performed, the time required for the processing is also stored, and the processing time in the robot controller 20 regarding this input / output is also stored. Further, when it is connected to a host computer (not shown) or the like and processing is performed by obtaining information from the host computer, the processing time required to transfer signals to and from the host computer is also stored. Note that the output processing time in FIG. 3 is the time required for transmission and reception calculated from the data rate determined by the interface format of the input / output path and the signal amount (data amount) with the robot controller 20.

The program diagnosis section 7 compares the robot movement time between points calculated by the movement time calculation section 3 with the delay time calculated by the signal delay time calculation section 4 to determine whether or not the robot operates normally. That is, it is diagnosed whether or not the signal transfer with the PC 21 is completed within the movement time between the points. Then, the diagnosis result is displayed on the CRT 10.

Next, the operation of this robot program diagnostic device will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

When the diagnostic device 100 is operated after the robot program in the robot controller 20 and the sequence program in the PC 21 are completed, first,
Robot program determination unit 1 is robot controller 2
The program in 0 is read (S1), the program is searched (S2), the robot movement command, and the PC
21 search for signal output and input commands to and from
Judge between points where the robot moves while I / O commands are being issued.

Next, the external device program determination unit 2 sets P
The program in C21 is read (S3), and the signal delay time calculation section 4 calculates the signal delay time (S3).
4). Next, the movement time calculation unit 3 calculates the point-to-point movement time (S5).

Next, the signal delay time and the movement time are compared (S6), and if the signal delay time is longer than the movement time, the defect information is displayed (S7), and the diagnosis ends.

If a defect is displayed on the basis of the result of this diagnosis, appropriate measures are taken against the defect. This can be done, for example, by changing the robot program to correct the movement path or movement speed of the robot, or in some cases, by shortening the processing of external equipment or by reviewing the signal path. Allow time to settle within travel time. After taking countermeasures and after modifying the program, it is advisable to make a diagnosis again with this diagnostic device to confirm that there is no problem.

Second Embodiment Another embodiment of the robot diagnostic device to which the present invention is applied will be described.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a robot program diagnosis apparatus 200 according to another embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that a plurality of external devices are connected to one robot controller. The robot program determination unit 1 which is the robot program determination unit is provided with the connection information 8 which is the connection information storage unit so as to determine the connection with the plurality of external devices so that the diagnosis can be performed when there is.

The functional operation of the robot program diagnostic device according to the second embodiment will be described below. First, FIG.
The robot system shown in
A sealing application gun for performing a sealing application operation on a door panel of an automobile is installed, and a robot controller 20 for controlling a robot is one of external devices for confirming that a work flowing on a line is set at a predetermined position. It receives the signal from the limit switch 30, which is one of the two, and also receives from the PC 21 information about what kind of vehicle model the flowed work is on the door panel, and performs the sealing work to the necessary place for each vehicle model. is there. The opening / closing command for performing the coating operation of the sealing coating gun 22 is the port A (port) of the robot controller 20.
The signal is output from A) and sent to the sealing application gun 22 and is also sent to the X001 port of the PC 21 as a signal of the open / closed state of the sealing application gun 22.
Also, depending on the vehicle type, the signal for changing work is P
The signal is output from the Y001 port of C21 and sent to the port B (port B) of the robot controller 20. Further, a signal from the limit switch 30 for knowing whether the work is set at a predetermined position is transmitted to the port C (p
ortC).

The robot program of the robot controller 20 is, as shown in FIG.
When the work moves on the line and the signal confirming that the work is set by the limit switch 30 enters the port C on the first line (the port C becomes 1), as shown in FIG.
The movement of the robot path shown in to P2 is started. Then, on the second line, the sealing application gun 22 starts from port A.
The signal "1" for instructing the opening of is applied to the sealing application gun 22 and the PC 21 is informed that the sealing application gun is in the open application state. In addition,
Since the execution of the second line shifts to an extremely short time after the movement command of the first line, the application of the sealing agent starts from P1 of the robot path.

Subsequently, when the robot reaches P2, the third
In line 4, a move command to P3 is issued. Then, in line 4, when the signal of port B is "1", port A is "0", that is, the sealing application gun 22 is closed. Output the command to stop the sealing work. After the move command on the third line, the execution on the fourth line shifts to an extremely short time. Therefore, when the signal "0" is output from port A, the sealing is performed during the move from P2 to P3. No agent is applied. Then, when the robot reaches P3, a move command to P4 is issued on the fifth line, and subsequently,
On the sixth line, "0" is output from port A to stop the sealing work. The execution from the fifth line to the sixth line shifts to an extremely short time as described above, and therefore, from P3 to P4.
No sealant is applied during transfer to. As described above, the sealing agent application operation is executed as one cycle.

The program of the PC 21 is a sequence program as shown in FIG. 8, which is a contact X001 that opens / closes in response to a signal from the port X001, and a contact R00 for switching the vehicle type.
1 and output Y001, the contact X001 turns on when a signal enters the port X001, and the vehicle type switching contact R
When 001 is on, a signal is output from the port Y001, and when R001 is off, no signal is output.

The limit switch 30 is turned on when the work flowing on the line is set at a predetermined position, and sends a signal to the robot controller 20.

That is, in this robot system, the robot starts to operate in response to a signal from the limit switch 30 indicating that the work has been set, and the sealing agent is applied from the paths P1 to P2, during which the sealing agent is applied. Tell PC21 that the application of
Based on the vehicle type information of No. 1, it is judged whether or not the sealing agent is applied on the paths P2 to P3, and the work for one work is finished.

In the robot system configured as described above, the robot diagnostic device 200 to which the present invention is applied.
As described above, in addition to the components of the first embodiment, a connection information storage unit is provided.

This connection information storage means is the connection information 8 and is a table having information on which external device each port of the robot controller 20 is connected to.
As shown in, port A is PC21 and port B is PC2
1, it can be seen that port C is connected to the limit switch 30.

The operation of the robot program judging section 1 is to read a program in the robot controller, and select a robot movement command, "MOVE ..." in the program shown in FIG. "OUT port ...", "... port B", which is an output command and an input command of a signal for passing information.
... "and so on. The port numbers described in the output instruction and the input instruction, which are the search results, "port A", "port B", and "port" in FIG.
Based on "C", the connection information 8 is referenced to determine which external device each port is connected to. As a result, the loop of the input / output command output from the robot controller 20 until the input from the same external device as the output destination is determined.

Then, the points where the robot moves while each input / output command is being performed are determined. This can be judged from the move instruction before the loop of the input / output instruction, and in the case of the program of FIG. 6, the second line "OU"
"... M" in the first line before "T port A = 1"
"OVE P2" corresponds to this, and this is a move command to move from P1 to P2. As a result, the distance between points to be moved during the input / output command is determined.

As a result of the judgment made by the robot program judgment unit 1, information between the points where the robot moves is transmitted to the movement time calculation unit 3, and the loop of the input / output command and the external device information are judged by the external device program judgment unit 2. Is transmitted to.

The movement time calculation unit 3 obtains the time required for movement between the movement points of the robot from the information about the movement points of the robot transmitted from the robot program determination unit 1 by referring to the movement information 6. The calculated travel time between points is transmitted to the program diagnosis unit 7. The movement information of this embodiment is shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in the external device program judging section 2,
The program in the PC 21 is read, and the PC 2
In step 1, the process performed from the time when the output from the robot controller 20 is received to the time when the output is output to the robot controller 20 is searched. In the case of the second embodiment, the output signal from the robot controller 20 is X0 of the PC 21.
Since it is input to the 01 port and is output from Y001, the processing during that time is determined to be the contacts X001, R001 and Y001 according to the sequence program shown in FIG. The result of this determination is transmitted to the signal delay calculation unit 4.

The signal delay time calculation unit 4 calculates the time from the reception of the signal by the PC 21 to the output thereof by referring to the delay information 5 from the received processing content. The calculated signal delay time is transmitted to the program diagnosis section 7. In addition,
The contents of the delay information 5 are the same as those in FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment.
Is the same as.

The program diagnosing unit 7 includes a moving time calculating unit 3
And the signal delay time from the signal delay time calculation unit 4 is compared to diagnose the robot program.

Next, the operation of the robot program diagnosis apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the diagnostic device 200 is operated after the program in the robot controller 20 and the programs in the plurality of PCs 21 are completed, first, the robot program judging section 1 reads the program in the robot controller 20 (S11), The robot program is searched to find the robot movement command and the signal output and input commands (S12), and the point where the robot moves while the input / output command is being performed is determined, and the connection information is determined. It is further determined which external device the signal is to be delivered to (S13).

Next, the external device program judging section 2 sets P
The program in C21 is read (S14), and the signal delay time calculating unit 4 calculates the signal delay time in the external device that is inputting / outputting between the points judged by the robot program judging unit 1 (S15). In the second embodiment,
The robot controller output processing of 0.1 seconds, the sequence cycle of 0.1 seconds, the output signal processing of the PC 21 of 0.1 seconds, and the robot controller input processing of 0.1 seconds make a total of 0.4 seconds. Then, the moving time calculating unit 3 calculates the moving time between points (S16). In the second embodiment, since the moving points are between the point 1 and the point 2, the moving time between them is 0.2 seconds.

Next, the signal delay time and the moving time are compared (S17), and if the signal delay time is longer than the moving time, failure information is displayed (S18), and the diagnosis ends. In this embodiment, since the signal delay time is longer than the moving time, a defect is displayed.

If a defect is displayed on the basis of the result of this diagnosis, appropriate countermeasures are taken as in the first embodiment. For example, by changing the robot program and modifying the movement path and movement speed of the robot to increase the time taken for the movement of the robot, and in some cases, shortening the processing of external equipment, or changing the signal path. By reviewing
The signal delay time should be settled within the travel time. After taking countermeasures and after modifying the program, it is advisable to make a diagnosis again with this diagnostic device to confirm that there is no problem.

In the second embodiment, the PC 21 and the limit switch 30 are two external devices in the illustrated case, but a plurality of external devices may be connected.

[0053]

As described above, the robot program diagnosing device of the present invention is concerned with the movement time from the robot program to each point of the robot and the transfer of the signal with the external device during the movement time. It was decided to determine the time and compare them to see if the transfer of the signal from the external device is completed by the time the robot reaches the point controlled by the signal. When there is a bug in which the robot does not operate normally in the state where there is no bug in the, the cause can be found. This makes it possible to efficiently take measures for operating the robot normally.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a robot program diagnosis device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing travel time information used in the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing delay information used in the first and second embodiments to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the robot program diagnostic device of the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining a robot program diagnosis device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a robot program in a robot controller according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation path of a robot according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a sequence program in the programmable controller according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing connection information used in a second embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing travel time information used in a second embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the robot program diagnostic device of the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining an example of a robot system.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a motion path of a robot.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a robot program.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Robot program determination unit, 2 ... External device program determination unit, 3 ... Moving time calculation unit, 4 ... Signal delay time calculation unit, 5 ... Delay information, 6 ... Movement information, 7 ... Program diagnosis unit, 8 ... Connection information, 10 ... CRT, 20 ... Robot controller, 21 ... PC, 30 ... Limit switch.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a robot that moves through a plurality of points and performs work, the movement from a specific point of the plurality of points to the next point is performed with an external device connected to a control device of the robot. A robot program diagnosing device for a robot control device that controls by passing signals, wherein a robot program in the robot control device executes a signal output command and an input command part to the external device, and an input / output command Robot program determining means for determining the distance between the points where the robot moves while being moved, movement information storage means for storing the movement time of the robot for each of the plurality of points, and the robot program determining means The moving time of the robot moving between the points determined by A robot movement time calculating means for calculating from a stage, an external device program for determining a part receiving an input signal from the robot controller from a program in the external device, and a part outputting a signal to the robot controller A determination unit, a processing time storage unit that stores the processing time for each process in the process of the program of the external device, and the external unit based on the processing time for each process stored in the processing time storage unit. External device processing time calculating means for calculating a processing time from input to output of the external device judged by the device program judging means, robot movement time between the points calculated by the robot movement time calculation part, and the external device A time comparison means for comparing the processing time from the input to the output of the external device calculated by the processing time calculation means. A robot program diagnostic device characterized by: 2. In a robot that moves through a plurality of points and performs work, a plurality of external devices connected to a controller of the robot for moving from a specific point to a next point among the plurality of points. A robot program diagnosing device of a robot control device which controls by transmitting and receiving a signal to and from the robot program in the robot control device, the output command and the input command part of a signal to the external device, and the input / output command. While the robot program is being executed, a robot program judging means for judging the distance between the points where the robot moves, and a route for outputting and inputting a signal to the external device detected by the robot program judging means are of the plurality of external devices. Connection that stores connection information that correlates to which external device is connected Information storage means, movement information storage means that stores the movement time of the robot for each point of the plurality of points, and movement time of the robot that moves between the points determined by the robot program determination means, A robot movement time calculation means for calculating from the movement time storage means, a portion in the external device for receiving an input signal from the robot control device, and a portion for outputting a signal to the robot control device are determined. External device program determination means, processing time storage means for storing processing time for each processing in the processing of the external device, and based on the processing time for each processing stored in the processing time storage means Calculating the processing time from the input to the output of the external device judged by the external device program judging means The external device processing time calculating means compares the robot moving time between the points calculated by the robot moving time calculating part with the processing time from the input to the output of the external device calculated by the external device processing time calculating means. A robot program diagnosing device, comprising: time comparing means.