JPH10161719A - System constructing simulation device for industrial robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily execute correct positioning by inputting the shape parameter of a constitution element corresponding to a designated and specified simple graphic and mutual position relating data with another constitution element in accordance with an instruction. SOLUTION: A three-dimensional graphic data storage part 2 stores three- dimensional graphic data together with respective kinds of simple graphic data with the types of the system constitution elements by constitution element kind as one group. A system constitution element input means 1 reads three- dimensional graphic data of the constitution element corresponding to the specified simple grapahaic which is designated from the listed simple graphics from the three-dimensional graphic data storage part 2 and inputs the shape parameter concerning the constitution element and mutual position relating data with mutually related another constitution element in accordance with the instruction. Then, previously fixed joint reference point ones within the respective constitution element graphics are made to coincide by three-dimensional graphic data, the shape parameter and mutual position relating data so as to be connected, arranged and displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a simulation device for drawing a combination and arrangement of devices necessary for constructing an industrial robot system on a display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A robot system is drawn on a display using a general-purpose simulator or off-line software having a simulation function to examine a system configuration. In this case, conventionally,
Tool-side manipulators that make up the robot system,
Drawings of processing elements such as sliders and welding torches, and components such as work positioners are prepared in advance, and they are called up appropriately and instructed on the screen, including mutual positional relationships, to try to become a comprehensive system. It will be a mistake. In addition, each of the called components is displayed such that the origin of the element coincides with the basic origin on the screen, and then moved to an appropriate position to determine the combination.

[0003]

In the conventional apparatus as described above, it is necessary to move each of the called components so as to have a required mutual positional relationship.
This work is relatively simple when the figure being drawn is a two-dimensional figure, but when it is a three-dimensional figure, not only extremely frequent operations are required, but also accurate positioning may not be possible. .

When the figure is a three-dimensional figure, it may be difficult to confirm the origin of each element depending on the setting of the viewpoint serving as a reference for displaying the figure, and it is necessary to move the viewpoint to a position where the origin can be confirmed. Become. This movement of the viewpoint corresponds to rotating the drawn figure three-dimensionally, and it takes much time. Also, by visually recognizing the screen, the mutual positions of the components are determined. However, accurately determining the mutual joining positions of the components requires extremely delicate work, and furthermore, each component constituting the robot system is required. It is a prerequisite that the operator is familiar with detailed knowledge of positions and directions that can be joined, restrictions on target elements, and the like.

Further, when the viewpoint is moved to form a figure in which the origin of a specific component can be confirmed, a part which needs to be confirmed by another element adjacent thereto, for example, the origin is confirmed. The viewpoint from which the connected point of the component to be connected to the other component to be connected to this does not necessarily match, in which case the mutual arrangement of both must be roughly determined, There was no hope for a good positioning.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a type of component of a system for constructing a tool-side manipulator, a tool, a work holding mechanism, and equipment attached thereto for solving the problems included in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus. And a three-dimensional graphic data storage unit for storing three-dimensional graphic data for each group together with respective simplified graphic data corresponding to each structural element. Means for reading out the simplified graphic data corresponding to the constituent elements belonging to each group and displaying a list, and a method for reading out the constituent elements corresponding to a specific simplified graphic designated from among the simplified graphic figures in the group displayed in the list Means for reading out the three-dimensional graphic data from the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit; Means for inputting mutual positional relationship data with other components related to each other in accordance with instructions, and the read three-dimensional graphic data, shape parameters and component mutual positional relationship data, and The present invention proposes a system construction simulation apparatus for an industrial robot including a three-dimensional graphic drawing means for combining and arranging predetermined joining reference points by matching them with each other to draw on a display as a comprehensive apparatus.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 to 5 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 6 to 14 apply the present invention to a welding robot. It is a diagram showing a display screen showing the embodiment when the, the tool-side manipulator is installed on the slider, and a welding torch is attached thereto,
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a series of operations and a result when a work positioner is provided. FIG. 15 to FIG. 20 are diagrams showing an embodiment when other selections are made.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a system component selection input means, which is a keyboard for inputting a code of a simplified graphic corresponding to a component displayed on a display and a predetermined parameter, or instructs them on a screen. It is a pointing device such as a mouse, input of manipulator type on tool side, torch type input, presence of stand and stand height input, presence of slider and input of slider type, manipulator direction input on slider, selection of work side mechanism Input, input of parameters for mutual position determination between the tool-side manipulator and the workpiece-side components, and the like. Reference numeral 2 denotes a three-dimensional graphic data storage unit, which includes a required number of predetermined reference origins together with simplified graphic data for displaying the three-dimensional graphic data on parts such as the manipulator, the torch, the slider, and the work positioner when each component is selected. And the joining reference point. Reference numeral 3 denotes a system configuration table, which stores the order in which system components are determined, data on the mutual connection between elements, and the like. Reference numeral 4 denotes general-purpose three-dimensional graphic drawing software for drawing graphic data read from the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit 2 on a display based on the mutual connection relationship stored in the system configuration table 3. 5 issues an input request to the display screen in accordance with the constituent element determination order predetermined in the system configuration table 3, reads out necessary data from the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit 2 in response to an instruction from the input means 1, and displays the data. 6 is a robot system construction program for operating the general-purpose three-dimensional graphic drawing software 4 so as to display and draw the image. Reference numeral 6 denotes a display for displaying a figure drawn by the general-purpose three-dimensional figure drawing software 4 in accordance with the data of the three-dimensional figure data storage unit 2 read by the system building program 5 and the mutual relation set by the system building table 3. Yes, a general-purpose CRT display, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like is used.

Next, the operation of the example of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 to 5 and the display screens of FIGS. 6 to 13.

First, the tool-side manipulator type is designated as the first component to be selected from the system configuration table 3 (FIG. 2 (1)), and the robot system construction program 5 responds accordingly. 2
And reads the simplified graphic data of various types of manipulators to the general-purpose three-dimensional graphic drawing software 4. Based on the data, a manipulator type selection screen is displayed on the display 6 together with the simplified graphic for each manipulator type as shown in FIG. .

The operator selects and designates a tool-side manipulator that matches the purpose from the simplified figures. The robot system construction program 5 sets the type symbol of the selected manipulator type to one of the system parameters.
Remember as one.

Next, a step of selecting a welding torch as a tool to be attached to the manipulator (FIG. 2- (2))
Then, the simplified graphic data of the welding torch is read out from the three-dimensional graphic storage unit 2 and passed to the general-purpose three-dimensional graphic drawing software 4, and the torch type selection request screen is shown in FIG. As shown, it is displayed on the display 6 together with the simplified figure of the torch. The operator selects and instructs a torch type that matches the purpose from these simplified figures, and the robot system construction program 5 stores this as one of the system parameters.

When the torch type has been selected, the system configuration table 3 displays a screen for selecting a manipulator installation method (FIG. 2- (3)), and determines the distinction between floor placement, ceiling hanging, and wall hanging. At this time, if the floor is selected, it is inquired whether or not to provide a stand between the floor and the manipulator (FIG. 2- (4)). When a stand is provided, as shown in FIG. The stand height input request screen is displayed. (FIG. 2- (5)). Thereafter, an inquiry is made as to whether or not the slider for moving the tool-side manipulator is necessary. (Fig. 2- (6))

When a slider is used, a slider type selection screen is displayed next as shown in FIG. 9, and a selection request screen is displayed on the display 6 together with various slider simplified figures prepared in advance in the three-dimensional figure data storage unit 2. Is displayed. When a slider type suitable for the purpose is selected from the simplified figures (FIG. 2- (7)), the code of the slider type is added to the robot construction program 5 as one of the system parameters. Further, the mutual position of the slider and the manipulator (the mounting direction of the manipulator with respect to the slider) is determined (FIG. 2).
(8)).

Next, the process proceeds to the necessity and selection of the work (work) side mechanism (FIG. 3- (9)). If a work-side mechanism is required, it is further specified whether the mechanism is a work positioner or a work handling manipulator (FIG. 3- (1)
0)).

Here, when the work positioner is selected as the work side mechanism, a work positioner type selection screen is further displayed together with simplified figures of various work positioners as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when an appropriate positioner is selected, this is added to the robot system construction program 5 as one of the parameters, and a part position selection screen for determining the mutual arrangement between the tool-side manipulator and the work positioner is entirely displayed. 11 is displayed together with a simplified figure showing the schematic layout of FIG. 11 (FIG. 3- (16)).

When a target arrangement relation is selected and designated on the part position selection screen, as shown in FIG.
A detailed layout input request screen for inputting a specific distance between the numerical values is displayed (FIG. 4- (17)).

Here, when a required numerical value is input, it is stored as one of the parameters. Further, there is an inquiry as to whether or not the work side mechanism is necessary. If necessary, the screen returns to the work side mechanism selection input request screen (FIGS. 4- (19) to (20)).

When the setting of a series of constituent elements is completed, the robot system construction program 5 storing the result of the selection setting is used for the tool-side manipulator type, torch type,
Reads necessary detailed graphic data from the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit 2 based on data such as the necessity and height of the stand, the presence and type of the slider for the tool-side manipulator, the mutual positional relationship of each component, and the installation distance. Then, the general robot system is displayed as a three-dimensional figure on the display 6 by the general-purpose three-dimensional figure drawing software 4 (FIG. 4- (20)).

For example, FIG. 13 shows a comprehensive detailed figure when each element highlighted in black is selected on each screen of FIGS. 6 to 12 described above. At the time of drawing this graphic, each component is stored in the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit 2 in a state where reference coordinates and a joining reference for other components are defined in the original graphic data. Each element necessarily defines a component to be joined. For example, the joint reference point of the arm end of the tool-side manipulator corresponds to the joint reference point of the torch, and the bottom surface of the tool-side manipulator is joined to the upper surface of the stand or the upper surface of the slider or the floor surface (reference origin) in advance. Stipulated. FIG. 14 shows an example of the relationship between the mutual joining reference points of these components.
Respectively.

On the other hand, when the work-side component is selected so as to use the manipulator as the work-side mechanism (FIG. 3)
-(10)), a manipulator type selection screen (FIG. 6) is displayed in the same manner as when the tool-side manipulator is selected first. Here, when the work side manipulator is selected, the necessity of the stand and the input of the height,
Screen for selecting the necessity and type of slider (Figure 3-
(11) to (15)), and when an appropriate value is specified for each of these, a component position selection request screen for determining the mutual arrangement relationship with the tool side manipulator that is selected first indicates the type of layout. A simple figure is displayed as shown in FIG. 15 as an example (FIG. 3- (1)
6)).

When the mutual positional relationship between the tool-side manipulator and the work-side manipulator is selected on this screen, a more detailed layout diagram is displayed as shown in FIG. 16 as an example, and a numerical value input request for the mutual distance between the two manipulators is displayed. A screen appears (FIG. 4- (17)).

When all of these are determined, a detailed integrated figure of the entire system is displayed in the same manner as in FIGS. 13 and 14 according to the predetermined mutual relationship of the components and the joining reference point.

FIGS. 17 to 20 show examples of screens displayed according to the selection of the manipulator and the work positioner when a work positioner is selected as a work-side component without using a slider for the tool-side manipulator. . FIG. 17 shows types of mutual arrangement when a stand is used without a slider for the tool-side manipulator and a work positioner is designated for the work side.
Is a detailed dimension input request screen for the result selected in FIG. 17, FIG. 19 is a plan view in which a ceiling-mounted manipulator is selected as a tool-side manipulator and a work positioner is selected in a work side, and FIG. It is an example of a detailed dimension input request screen of each mutual position at the time of selection.

In the above description, the present invention has been described in terms of displaying a comprehensive figure of the entire system after selecting and designating all components constituting the robot system and their interrelationships. Each time a component is selected and dimension setting is performed, it is displayed as an unfinished system together with the parts up to the selected component each time, and the system is integrated every time a component is selected. You may make it complete gradually toward a figure. In this case, the result of the selection up to that point can be confirmed during the selection of the individual components, so that it is easy to find deficiencies and errors in the selection even during the work.

Further, in any of the above cases, in the correction mode, it is possible to change the selection and setting of each component in the correction mode for the result of displaying the completed system integrated graphic in the correction mode. It is desirable to keep it.
(Fig. 5)

For this purpose, the system construction program 5
The operation history can be easily realized by storing the operation history in the database and, if necessary, retracing the operation history.

Further, instead of displaying each time of selection / setting, a general figure is displayed after all components are selected as in the previous example. In accordance with the instruction, a midway display function may be provided so that a combination of the components that have been selected so far is drawn and displayed.

[0029]

As described above, the system construction simulation apparatus for an industrial robot according to the present invention guides the types of components, the installation method, and the positional relationship on a screen according to the order to be selected one after another so that they can be selected in order. Therefore, the work is extremely simple as compared with the case where the worker specifies the constituent elements by his / her own idea.

Each component has a predetermined joining reference point with other components, and the mutual position is automatically joined at the joining point only by selecting the component. Can be accurately joined without moving the figure on the screen every time a selection is made and matching it with the joining part of the component to be joined, so that the operation is simple and accurate. It is something that can be done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an industrial robot system construction simulation apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart (1) for explaining the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart (2) for explaining the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart (3) for explaining the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (4) for explaining the operation of the apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a manipulator type is selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a torch is selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a manipulator mounting stand height input request is made in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a slider is selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a work positioner is selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when a mutual arrangement relationship between a manipulator, a slider, and a work positioner is selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for requesting input of mutual positional dimension parameters between the manipulator, the slider, and the work positioner in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of a display screen finally displayed as a general apparatus when a component is selected as shown in black and white inverted in FIGS. 6 to 12 in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a predetermined joining reference point between components in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when selecting a mutual positional relationship with a tool-side manipulator when the manipulator is also used on the work side in the apparatus of the present invention.

16 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when inputting actual dimensions as parameters for a specific arrangement selected from the mutual positional relationship of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when the tool-side manipulator and the work positioner are arranged differently in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a view showing an example of a screen when inputting actual dimensions as parameters for a specific arrangement selected in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when inputting actual dimensions of a mutual positional relationship as parameters when another manipulator and a work positioner are selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen when inputting actual dimensions of a mutual positional relationship as parameters when a further manipulator and a work positioner are selected in the apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System component selection input means 2 3D graphic data storage unit 3 System configuration table 4 General-purpose 3D graphic drawing software 5 Robot system construction program 6 Display

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A type of component of a system for constructing a tool-side manipulator, a tool, a work holding mechanism, and ancillary equipment thereof is classified into one group for each type of component, and three-dimensional graphic data is stored in each group. A three-dimensional graphic data storage unit that stores together with the respective simplified graphic data corresponding to the constituent elements, and the simplified graphic data corresponding to the constituent elements belonging to each group is read out from the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit and displayed in a list. Means for reading, from the three-dimensional graphic data storage unit, the three-dimensional graphic data of a component corresponding to a specific simplified graphic designated from among the simplified graphics in the group displayed in the list, According to the shape parameters of the specific component and the mutual positional relationship data with other components related to each other. The input means and the read three-dimensional graphic data, the shape parameters and the component mutual positional relationship data and combined and arranged by matching the predetermined joining reference points of the respective component graphics from each other, A system construction simulation device for an industrial robot comprising a three-dimensional figure drawing means for drawing on a display as a comprehensive device. 2. The three-dimensional graphic drawing of each of the constituent elements has a coordinate system, and each graphic data has a reference origin and a joint reference point with another constituent element. 2. The means according to claim 1, wherein the means for combining each of the constituent elements into a three-dimensional figure by matching the reference origin of each of the graphic data of each of the constituent elements with the joint reference point of the other constituent element to be joined. A system construction simulation device for an industrial robot according to the above. 3. The three-dimensional graphic drawing means, as an integrated system of an industrial robot, draws the entire system on a display and then selects and changes each component in a correction mode.
3. The system construction simulation apparatus for an industrial robot according to claim 1, wherein redrawing is performed in accordance with an instruction to change a mutual positional relationship. 4. The drawing means according to claim 1, wherein said three-dimensional graphic drawing means sequentially assembles the specified graphic when each component is selected and when the mutual positional relationship of each component is designated, and proceeds with the drawing. 4. The system construction simulation device for an industrial robot according to any one of claims 3 to 3. 5. The three-dimensional graphic drawing means draws the entire system as an integrated device after all components and the mutual relationship of each component are designated, and designates the mutual positional relationship of the components and components. 4. The system construction simulation apparatus for an industrial robot according to claim 1, wherein when is not completed, a graphic in which only components specified by the instruction are combined is drawn as a temporary graphic.