JPH0929671A - Robot articulation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a robot articulation easy to be combined and disassembled by providing integrally a control operation part to control a drive action, memory means for articular parameters, communication means between adjacent articular modules, electrically connecting connector and mechanical coupling mechanism in a bendable or expansible articulation. SOLUTION: A bendable or expansible articulation 1 having one or a plurality of degrees of freedom has an articular module composed of both side links 2, 3 sandwiching the articulation therebetween. In the articular module is provided a motor 11 to drive the articulation and a reduction gear mechanism 12 and a control calculation part 22 incorporating a communication means. Also, in the ends of links 2, 3 are provided connectors 31, 32 to interconnect electrically adjacent articular modules an a mechanical coupling mechanism consisting of a coupling pin 41 and coupling pin fixing means 42 to mechanically couple the articular modules with each other. Robot systems are constituted which cope with various working requirements in combination of a plurality of such articular modules.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot joint which facilitates connection and disassembly.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a robot joint for realizing a multi-degree-of-freedom operation is composed of a plurality of links and a joint for connecting the links. Alternatively, since the link is permanently connected along the link, it is not easy to disassemble the plurality of links.

Further, all the joints are all controlled by a centralized control device, and when the joint structure is changed, it is necessary to develop a control program in the control device again. Due to the above restrictions, it has been difficult to develop a robot joint that can freely change the joint structure.

The proposal of a system for modularizing robot joints and dynamically reconstructing the connected state was proposed by Fukuda et al. Under the title of "Research on Dynamically Reconfigurable Robotic Systems", The 8th Annual Meeting of the Robotics Society of Japan. It is described in the proceedings of the lecture.

[0005]

In the conventional modular robot joint, a plurality of joints can be separated and connected to each other. However, since the mechanism is complicated and the weight of each joint is large, a large number of joints such as a robot arm are required. It was difficult to construct a mechanism for deforming the joint in space.

In addition, there has been a problem that it is necessary for the entire control unit to manage structural parameters for each mechanism for a plurality of joints, and the control structure becomes complicated. Further, there is another problem that when a large number of joints are connected, the coordinate transformation matrix calculation for each joint increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a robot joint that solves these problems.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in a robot joint, firstly, a joint and a deceleration mechanism for driving a joint and a joint capable of bending or expanding and contracting with one or more degrees of freedom, and the motor are provided. A motor driver to be driven, a control arithmetic unit for controlling a driving operation, a storage unit for joint parameters, a communication unit between adjacent joint modules, a power supply line and a communication line for electrically connecting the adjacent joint modules, and A mechanical joint including an auxiliary connecting wire, an electrical connecting connector, a coupling pin for coupling adjacent joint modules to each other, a fixing means for the coupling pin, and a mechanical guide mechanism for strengthening the coupling, is integrated into one joint. A robot joint characterized by being installed in a module, and second, in the robot joint described as the first joint, The links that serve as the structure of the joint module are installed on both sides of the joint, and one link has a shape occupying the first half of one side of the cross section after connecting the adjacent joint modules, and the other link has the above-mentioned cross section. A second half opposite to the first half is formed to occupy one side, and a coupling pin is installed at the first and second link tips, and the first link of one joint module adjacent to each other. A robot joint characterized in that the second link of the other joint module is provided with a mechanical guide portion in a position in which the second link is in longest contact, and thirdly, in the robot joint described as the first joint, A link that serves as a structure of a joint module is installed on both sides of the joint, and one of the electrical connection connectors and the machine among the elements that form the first robot joint is provided on one of the links. All but one of the coupling mechanisms and joints are installed, and only one of the electrical connection connectors and one of the mechanical coupling mechanisms of the elements that make up the first robot joint are installed on the other link. In a robot joint characterized by the following, and fourthly, in the robot joint described as the first, second, or third joint, it corresponds to the current joint displacement as a control calculation unit for controlling the driving operation of the motor. A robot joint characterized by having a means for calculating a coordinate transformation matrix between adjacent joints, and fifth, a combination of robot joints corresponding to any of the joints described as the first to fourth, and A robot joint characterized by combining a plurality of the robot joints having the same shape and size,
And, as a sixth, a combination of robot joints corresponding to any of the joints described as the first to the fourth,
And, a robot joint characterized in that the plurality of robot joints having different sizes are combined with each other through a coupling conversion module.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a bendable or telescopic joint 1 having one or a plurality of degrees of freedom forms a joint module by connecting links 2 and 3 on both sides of the joint. Inside the joint module, a motor 11 and a deceleration mechanism 12 for driving the joint, a motor driver 21 for driving the motor 11 and a control operation unit 22 for controlling the driving operation are integrally provided.

At the ends of the link 2 and the link 3, electrical connectors 31 and 32 for electrically connecting adjacent joint modules, and connecting pins 41 for mechanically connecting the adjacent joint modules to each other. And a mechanical coupling mechanism comprising a coupling pin fixing means 42 and a mechanical guide 43 for strengthening the coupling.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control arithmetic unit 22 mounted on the joint module. Arithmetic CPU 2
21 and a joint parameter storage unit 222, a communication unit 223 between adjacent joint modules, a power supply line 224, a communication line 225, and an auxiliary connection line 226 that electrically connect the adjacent joint modules. And are connected to the electrical connection connectors 31 and 32, respectively.
Therefore, the arithmetic CPU 221 is shown as a block including an arithmetic circuit, a memory, a clock generation circuit, a peripheral input / output circuit, etc. necessary for executing the control arithmetic operation. May be implemented.
The connection with the motor driver is omitted.

As a storage unit 222 for the joint parameters, a read-only memory or the like is used to mount all parameters relating to the shape and mechanism of the joint module on the joint module, and a read-only memory or jumper wire is used to simply Only the module number may be stored, and the joint parameters may be stored on a host computer provided outside the joint module.

Further, each block and the motor driver 21 constituting the control arithmetic unit 22 shown in FIG. 2 may be mounted on the same circuit board or may be mounted separately on several boards. It is obvious that the present invention can be realized and that the selection can be made according to the requirements of the implementation.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view (a) and a side view (b) showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The basic constituent elements are the same as those in the first embodiment, but in particular, regarding the link 2 and the link 3 installed on both sides of the joint 1, the link 2 is one side of the first half of the cross section after connecting the adjacent joint modules. , And the link 3 occupies one side of the second half opposite to the first half of the cross section. In the example shown in the figure, as an example, the link 2 has an upper half and the link 3 has a lower half. That is, the link 2 of the joint module is coupled so as to cover the link 3 of the adjacent joint module.

Connecting pins 41A, 41B, 41C, 41D and connecting pin fixing means 42A, 42B, 42C, 42D are installed at the tips of the links 2 and 3. Link 2
43A on the lower side and 43B on the upper side of the link 3
Are configured to be mechanical guides that fit together. The joint pins and the mechanical guides allow the joint modules to be firmly joined to the applied force such as bending and twisting in various directions.

Further, in the structure shown in FIG. 3, when the joint 1 is adjusted to have two degrees of freedom capable of being deformed in two directions, motors 11A and 11B for driving the joint 1 and a speed reducer 12A coaxially coupled to the motor are used. 12B can be built inside the link 2 and the link 3, respectively. Usually, a motor and a decelerator that generate a large torque often have a long diameter but a long length. In the configuration shown in the figure, the motors and decelerators of the adjacent joint modules can be arranged one above the other, so that even when a plurality of joint modules are combined, the space between the joints can be set to the length of one motor and decelerator set. It is possible to bring them closer. Since the driving torque is large, the motors can be arranged one above the other even when the reducer is installed near the joint 1 separately from the motor. It is possible to shorten the interval.

The control calculator 22 and the motor driver 21
Can be installed on the link 3. Link 2
And the electrical connection connectors 31 and 32 at the joint of the link 3
Is installed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. The basic components are the same as in the first embodiment,
In particular, links 2 and 3 placed on both sides of joint 1
As for the link 2, among the components constituting the joint module, an electrical connector 31 and a coupling pin 41 and a mechanical guide 43 constituting a mechanical coupling mechanism are installed. The other link 3 includes a motor and a speed reducer 10 for driving a joint, in addition to an electric connector 32 and a connecting pin fixing means 42 and a mechanical guide 43 constituting a mechanical connecting mechanism. The circuit and the control circuit 20 are installed.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 4, since no motor is provided on the link 2 side, there is no need to consider the length of the motor. A functional component such as a hand or a camera can be attached as short as possible from the center of the joint, and a joint module with good operability can be obtained.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the Example of the control arithmetic part mounted in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Example of this invention. In addition to the configuration of the control calculation unit shown in FIG. 2, a means 230 for calculating a coordinate conversion matrix between adjacent joints corresponding to the current joint displacement.
It is characterized by having.

When the CPU equipped in the joint module has a sufficient computing capacity, the C mounted on each joint module is used.
After the joint displacement is measured by the PU, a coordinate transformation matrix is calculated on each joint and transferred to the host computer. Even if a large number of joints are connected, the processing for obtaining the coordinate change matrix from the measured joint displacement requires only the calculation time for one joint module. Although the time required to transfer the coordinate transformation matrix is required as an overhead, it does not matter when a high-speed communication line is applied. For this reason, the load on the CPU for overall control can be significantly reduced, and the overall control operation of a mechanism in which a plurality of joint modules are coupled can be executed at high speed.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The robot joint according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, in which a plurality of joint modules having the same shape and size are combined. With the configuration according to the present invention, the number of joint modules to be connected can be freely increased or decreased according to the operation to be applied. In particular, in an environment where the influence of gravity is minimal, such as in outer space, it is easy to combine a large number of joint modules and apply them to complicated tasks.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a three-dimensional shape as a result of driving the robot joint according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
By coupling a large number of joint modules having the same shape, the outer shape has a small unevenness while taking a three-dimensional shape, and it becomes possible to insert it into a complicated part.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the robot joint according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, a plurality of joint modules having different sizes are combined in series. At this time,
Adjustment modules of different sizes cannot be directly coupled and are combined via a coupling conversion module 4. As a result, when used in an environment affected by gravity, the joint module close to the part where the robot joint is fixed should be large and capable of generating large torque, and the smaller and lighter joint module will be used closer to the tip. can do. Thus, even in an environment affected by gravity, a large number of joint modules can be connected and applied to a complicated operation.

On the other hand, as shown on the right side of FIG. 8, a coupling conversion module is not required at a location where modules of the same size are coupled.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention. The robot joint according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, in which a plurality of joint modules having mutually different sizes are branched in series and in parallel and are combined in large numbers. At this time, the joint modules having different sizes are combined via the joint conversion module, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. Further, since a plurality of joint modules are branched and coupled, the coupling conversion modules 101 and 102 in the central portion are configured to be able to couple the joint modules particularly in various directions. Further, the hand modules 106 and 107 and the foot module 1 are located at the ends of the joints connected in series.
A humanoid robot is constructed by combining 04 and 105.

According to the configuration using the coupling conversion module shown in the figure, a humanoid robot capable of connecting a joint module having a similar shape according to the present invention and changing the directivity direction by two feet and two arms and necks. Can be configured.

In the figure, the configuration has two legs and two arms and necks as an example. However, it is possible to have an arbitrary number of legs, arms and necks by the configuration of the coupling conversion module. it is obvious.

The configuration and operation of each block described above can be easily inferred by those skilled in the art, and further detailed description will be omitted.

[0031]

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a robot joint which has a plurality of degrees of freedom, is mechanically and electrically independent for each joint, and is easy to separate and join. For this reason, it becomes easy to prepare a robot joint having the same mechanism or a robot joint configured for each function, and to rearrange and reconfigure according to a change in work request. That is, it is possible to adapt to a large number of work requests by combining a small number of types of robot joints prepared in advance.

When a joint module fails, it can be easily repaired by separating the failed joint module and replacing it with a normal joint module having the same configuration. In applications such as home use, an easy repair function in case of failure is very important. Also in this case, since the configuration of the joint module is simple, a spare joint module for a failure can be prepared without a large investment. The joint module prepared for a failure can be easily used for other purposes such as the third arm of the humanoid robot while the failure does not occur.

According to the present invention, the structure using the mechanical guide and the connecting pins provided at both ends of the connecting portion enables the adjacent modules to be firmly connected by the connecting pin fixing means having a simple structure. Further, since the coupling and fixing are realized only by the coupling pin fixing means, the separation is easy.

In the case where the coordinate conversion matrix calculating means is mounted for each joint module, even if the total number of joint modules to be connected increases, the operation time of the coordinate conversion matrix does not increase and the control operation can be executed efficiently. Can be.

Regarding the joint use of a plurality of joint modules, the joint conversion module can be easily applied to joint the joint modules having different sizes. Therefore, by using a large module on the fixed side, many joint modules can be connected in series in an environment affected by gravity. Further, it is easy to configure a humanoid robot by using a coupling conversion module capable of branching and coupling a plurality of modules.

According to the present invention described above, it is easy to construct a robot system which can easily respond to various work requests by combining a large number of joint modules having a simple shape, and a robot joint which solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. Is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control calculation unit 22 mounted on a joint module.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a three-dimensional shape as a result of driving a robot joint according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Joint 2, 3 link 11 Motor 12 Reducer 21 Motor driver 22 Control calculation part 31, 32 Electrical connection connector 41 Connection pin 42 Connection pin fixing means 43 Mechanical guide part 221 Calculation CPU 222 Joint parameter storage means 223 Communication means 224 Power line 225 Communication line 226 Auxiliary connection line

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. In a robot joint, a joint capable of flexing or expanding and contracting with one or more degrees of freedom, a motor for driving the joint and a deceleration mechanism, a motor driver for driving the motor, and a control operation unit for controlling a driving operation, Joint parameter storage means, communication means between adjacent joint modules, power supply line and communication line electrically connecting adjacent joint modules, auxiliary connection line, and electrical connection connector, adjacent to each other A robot joint, wherein a joint pin for joining joint modules to each other, a fixing means for the joint pins, and a mechanical joint mechanism including a mechanical guide portion for strengthening the joint are integrally installed in one joint module. 2. The robot joint according to claim 1, wherein links serving as a structure of a joint module are installed on both sides of the joint with the joint interposed therebetween, and one of the links has a first cross-section after the adjacent joint module is connected. Of the first half of the cross-section, the other link has a shape occupying the second half half side opposite to the first half of the cross section, and the coupling pin is installed at the tip of the first and second links, A robot joint, wherein a mechanical guide portion is installed at a portion where the first link of one joint module adjacent to each other and the second link of the other joint module are in contact with each other for the longest time. 3. A motor for driving a joint and a deceleration mechanism, a motor driver for driving the motor, a control calculation unit for controlling a driving operation, a storage unit for joint parameters, and a communication unit between adjacent joint modules. One of a power supply line, a communication line and an auxiliary connection line for electrically connecting adjacent joint modules to each other, and an electrical connection connector, a connecting pin for connecting the adjacent joint modules to each other, and a fixing means of the connecting pin and the connection. Link consisting of one of the mechanical coupling mechanism consisting of the mechanical guide part that strengthens the joint, and one of the power supply line and communication line for electrically connecting adjacent joint modules and the auxiliary connection line and the electrical connection connector. And a coupling pin for coupling adjacent joint modules to each other, a fixing means for the coupling pin, and a mechanical guide portion for strengthening the coupling. A link consisting of one of the binding mechanism, one or more degrees of freedom of bending or retractable joint interposed therebetween robot joints characterized by being placed on either side. 4. The robot joint according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein a coordinate conversion matrix between adjacent joints corresponding to a current joint displacement is used as a control calculation unit for controlling a driving operation of a motor. A robot joint characterized by having calculation means. 5. A robot joint comprising a combination of robot joints according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of robot joints having the same shape and size are combined. 6. A combination of robot joints according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of robot joints having different sizes are combined with each other through a coupling conversion module. Robot joints.