JPH10260710A - Controller for robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable anybody to easily use a robot and to optimize debugging operation by relating and recording operation information on the robot and the name of a macroinstruction on which the operation is based. SOLUTION: Various physical quantities representing the operation state of the robot are detected by various sensors including a force sensor and a position and force detection part 11 which processes signals from those sensors. The position and force detection part 11 converts time-series information on the tip position of an arm, information on a force, etc., to a reference coordinate system and outputs them. A control part 12 calculates and outputs a control value commanding the operation of an object 10 of control which is a motor provided for each articulation part of the robot. An operation state and display part 16 relates and records two pieces of information on various physical quantities representing the operation state of the controlled object 10 and the name of the macroinstruction on which the operation is based and outputs those pieces of information on a screen or hard copy in real time or at need.

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 a robot, and more particularly to an improved technology for a control device that allows a robot operation to be specified by words that are easy for an operator to understand. Robots greatly contribute to labor saving and automation in factories,
Although it is indispensable for uniformity of production products and cost reduction, in order to use the robot freely, it was necessary to make full use of a kind of programming language called a robot language, which was not always easy to use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art From such a background, the applicant of the present application has previously described a "robot operation program creating method and a robot teaching method" in which anyone can easily use a robot.
(See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-137232). In short, this proposed technology divides the operation of the robot into small element operations, describes each element operation in a robot language and makes them into components (hereinafter, element commands), and combines a series of these element commands as appropriate. A command group (hereinafter referred to as a macro) is created, and a general term that can be easily understood by the operator (for example, “press a key” in the case of a keyboard durability test robot) is added to the name of the command group.
Is provided to the user.

According to this, an operator selects necessary ones from various general terms (macro names) displayed on a menu and combines them to freely designate a desired robot operation (design). Since it is possible, it is not particularly necessary to learn the robot language, and anyone can easily use the robot.

[0004]

However, such a conventional robot controller is useful in that anyone can easily use the robot.
There is a problem that it is difficult to determine whether the specified robot operation is appropriate or not, and that so-called debugging work cannot be optimized.

In general, in a debugging operation, after designating a robot operation, the position coordinates and force of the arm tip are recorded while actually moving the robot, and after that, the recorded data is compared with the specified data of the robot to determine whether or not it is appropriate. However, in the above-described proposed technology, since the recording data was not associated with the specified data of the robot, even if abnormal recording data was found, it was often difficult to specify the specified data from which the abnormal data was found. In this case, he had to rely on intuition and guesswork.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to make it easy for anyone to use the robot and to optimize the debugging work.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot controller for converting a given macro into element commands corresponding to each element operation of the robot and sequentially executing the element commands to execute the robot command. Control means for controlling the operation; detecting means for detecting various physical quantities representing the operating state of the robot; and recording the output of the detecting means as first information, and at the time of outputting the first information, Recording means for recording the name of the macro involved in the operation in association with the first information.

According to this, since the motion information of the robot and the name of the macro from which the motion is performed are recorded in association with each other, for example, when abnormal motion information is found,
You can immediately identify the macro that caused the action. Therefore, it is possible to optimize a debugging operation such as changing a macro or re-executing a teaching, thereby achieving the above object.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the robot control apparatus according to the first aspect, the first information and the second information associated with the first information are collected into one unit. And output means for outputting the information on a screen or a hard copy in a format that can be recognized as information having a certain characteristic. According to this, merely by looking at the screen or the hard copy, the operation information of the robot and the macro on which the operation is based can be specified, and the debugging work can be facilitated.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 16 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a robot control device according to the present invention, and are not particularly limited, and are examples of application to a robot control device used for a durability test of a keyboard. Here, the durability test of the keyboard is to repeatedly touch the key top on the keyboard,
It evaluates the temporal deterioration of the touch sensation, and the number of repetitions is tens of thousands.In addition, many key tops are arranged on one keyboard. Is one of the most important fields.

The overall appearance of the robot is shown in FIG. The illustrated robot 1 is a robot of an orthogonal coordinate type that can perform spatial movement in three directions of X, Y, and Z and rotational operation about the Z axis. The tip of the robot 1 can measure moments around the X, Y, and Z directions and the X, Y, and X axes.
A hand 3 is mounted via an axial force sensor 2, and the object 3 (key top of a keyboard in this embodiment) is operated by the hand 3.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the entire robot including the control system. In this figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a motor to be controlled, that is, a motor provided at each joint of the robot 1, and a state quantity of the control target 10, that is, a rotation angle of each joint of the robot 1 and a force acting on the arm 3. Various physical quantities representing the operation state 1 are detected by various sensors including the force sensor 2 and a position / force detection unit (detection means) 11 which performs arithmetic processing on signals from these sensors, and detects the position / force. The unit 11 converts time-series information and force information of the distal end position of the arm 3 into a reference coordinate system and outputs the converted information.

For example, let P = [PxPyPzPαPβPγ] be the tip position P expressed in the reference coordinate system, and let the tip positions at the 0th sampling time (initial time) and the i-th sampling time be Pp, respectively. _{0 = [Px 0 Py 0 Pz} 0 Pα 0 Pβ 0 Pγ 0
_{] P i = [Px i Py} i Pz i Pα i Pβ i Pγ i
When, the measurement data of the tip position is given by the time series data of the P _i. However, the subscript x is the X axis, y is the Y axis,
z represents the Z axis, α represents the rotation axis around the X axis, β represents the rotation axis around the Y axis, and γ represents the rotation axis around the Z axis (both are reference coordinate systems).

The force information is obtained by, for example, converting an output signal of the force sensor 2 into a digital signal by an amplifier and an A / D converter having a predetermined gain, and converting the digital signal into a coordinate system representation of the force sensor 2. Then, after a predetermined correction determinant for correcting interference between the axes of the force sensor 2 is applied, a predetermined coordinate conversion matrix is applied to the corrected force in order to represent the force in the reference coordinate system. For the coordinate transformation matrix, a unit vector of each coordinate axis of the force sensor coordinate system described in the reference coordinate system expression is used. Here, assuming that the unit vectors of the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis of the force sensor coordinate system are n, o, and a, a coordinate matrix for converting the vector of the force sensor coordinate system into the reference coordinate system.
^o R _s is Is represented by From the above, the force vector F in the reference coordinate system is given by F = ^o R _s・ K _s ＧG _A ＥE _f , which is given by the time series data of _Fi , like the tip position. Here, K _s is a correction determinant, G _A is a gain of an amplifier for amplifying an output signal of the force sensor 2, and E _f is an output signal of the force sensor 2.

The control unit (control means) 12
The control amount for instructing the operation is calculated and output. The control amount is such that the deviation between the operation target given from the operation command unit 13 and the detection information from the position / force detection unit 11 becomes zero. Value. The operation command unit 13 interprets an element command from the macro command conversion unit 14 (the element operation of the robot is described as a component in a robot language and converts it into a component) to generate a required operation target.
Is a macro that converts a macro into an element command.
Numeral 5 is for taking in a series of macro groups specified by the operator.

The operation state detection / display unit (recording means, output means) 16 is a key part of the present embodiment, and records "two pieces of information" from the control unit 12 in association with each other, and records the information. The output is performed on a screen or a hard copy in real time or as needed. Here, one of the two pieces of information (first information) is various physical quantities representing the operation status of the control target 10 detected by the position / force detection unit 11, and the other one (second information). ) Is the first
To be controlled (robot 1) 1 at the time when the information of
0 is the name of the macro involved in the operation control.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a macro. The name of this macro is "press a key" which can be easily understood by the operator. Each macro is further provided with a unique internal code (macro number; "M
1 "). As mentioned above, one macro is a combination of several element commands.
In the illustrated example, the element commands “position control operation”, “force control operation”, and “position control operation” are combined. That is, when this macro (“press a key”) is executed, the robot 1 sequentially performs the position control operation, the force control operation, and the position control operation. Each element command has a unique internal code (command number; R1, R2,
R10).

FIG. 4 shows an example of a record list generated by the operation state detection / display unit 16. This list includes, for each record (row), first information such as position information and force information (in the figure, for example, ○, △△△, □, ◇◇◇), macro number and Operation information (second information) of the robot 1 such as a command number is recorded. Now, when looking at this list, for example, if the value of ◇◇◇ is abnormal, simply confirming the first information in the line, the operation command of the robot 1 when the abnormal value is generated ( Macros and element commands). Therefore, it is possible to optimize a debugging operation such as changing a macro or redoing a teaching, thereby providing a useful technique for complementing the disadvantages of the related art at the beginning, which makes it easy for anyone to use the robot.

FIG. 5 shows another example of the record list generated in the operation state detection / display unit 16. In this example, the list of FIG. 4 is divided into two lists, a list (a) for second information such as a macro number and a command number, and a list (a) for first information such as position information and force information ( b). The two lists are linked (relation) by common data (time in the figure). For example, referring to the record at time “Ti” in FIG. At the same time (“Ti”). The reason for this is that position information or force information may not be detected depending on the operation of the robot 1. In the list of FIG. 4, since records are formed regardless of the presence / absence of information, useless blank spaces are generated. However, if the list is divided into two lists, only necessary records are created, and such a waste (storage capacity is reduced). No waste).

FIG. 6 shows an example of a screen display using the list shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. In this example, the name of the macro (“press the key”) and the period of the macro are displayed at the top, and the detection data of the position Pz and the force Fz are displayed in a time-series graph in accordance with this period. I have. Reference numeral 20 denotes a window for displaying position data, and 21 denotes a window for displaying force data. The window 20 for displaying position data further includes element commands (“position control”, “force control”) as detailed operation data. , “Position control”) and its timing symbol (for example, “↓”) are displayed together.

By the way, in the above example, for example, in the durability test of the keyboard, the macros which sequentially press the keys "A", "B" and "C" are all "key presses". Because it is not possible, it is undeniable that the post-debug work is complicated. As a countermeasure for this, as shown in FIG.
It suffices to register a macro with the same name (“press a key”) only for the type of the target key and write a simple memo so that the key can be specified in the comment field of each macro. According to this, as shown in FIG. 8, since the memo is recorded in the comment column of the recording list generated in the operation state detection / display unit 16, even a macro having the same name can be easily identified. It does not complicate debugging work.

Now, considering the operation of depressing the "A" key and then depressing the "B" key as shown in FIG. 9, the screen display is as shown in FIG. The window 30 for displaying position data and the window 31 for displaying force data are divided into two parts, left and right, and the measurement data of the "A" key and the "B" key are displayed respectively. The comment is displayed in addition to the name ("press the key"). Therefore, just by looking at the screen, it is possible to easily determine which key the measurement data is for.

Incidentally, similarly to FIGS. 4 and 5 described above,
The list in FIG. 8 may be divided into two lists as in FIG. Alternatively, in the display example of FIG. 10, all the element commands (“position movement”, “force control”, and “position movement”) are displayed, but if the viewability of the screen is considered, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the element command may be completely hidden.

Alternatively, only the element commands of a specific macro may be displayed. Figure 13
As shown in (1), a column for a detailed display flag may be provided in the macro list, and if "1" is set here, the element command may be displayed. FIG. 14 shows an example of the display. The element command is displayed only on the measurement data of the specific macro (here, the macro "pressing the key" for the "B" key) in which the flag is set.

In the above example, all macro names and element commands are displayed as character strings. Of course, character strings are the best in terms of legibility, but displaying a large number of character strings can make it harder to see the screen. Therefore, identification may be made by the type or color of the line instead of the character string. FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 are examples. For example, in FIG. 15, the element command “position control” is identified by a broken line, and the element command “force control” is identified by a continuous line of triangles. Alternatively, in FIG. 16, the macro “press a key” is identified by a broken line.
Discrimination based on these line types and colors is particularly effective when the screen size is small.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the motion information of the robot and the name of the macro on which the motion is based are recorded in association with each other, for example, when abnormal motion information is found Can immediately identify the macro that caused the action. Therefore, it is possible to optimize a debugging operation such as changing a macro or redoing teaching.
The above object can be achieved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation information of the robot and the macro on which the operation is based can be specified only by looking at the screen or the hard copy, thereby facilitating the debugging operation. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a robot according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the entire robot including a control system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a list diagram of macro names and element commands according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a record list diagram of one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a recording list diagram of the embodiment (the list in FIG. 4 is divided into two).

FIG. 6 is a screen display diagram of one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a macro name list diagram to which a comment column according to one embodiment is added.

FIG. 8 is a record list diagram including a comment column according to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a key pressed state according to one embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a screen display diagram (corresponding to FIG. 9) of one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a list diagram including a comment section according to one embodiment (FIG. 8);
Is divided into two).

FIG. 12 is a screen display diagram (in which an element command is not displayed) according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a macro name list diagram (with a detailed display flag added) according to one embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a screen display diagram (corresponding to FIG. 13) of one embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a screen display diagram of an embodiment (element commands identified by line types or colors).

FIG. 16 is a screen display diagram (in which a macro is identified by a line type or color) according to an embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Control target (robot) 11: Position / force detection unit (detection unit) 12: Control unit (control unit) 16: Operation state detection / display unit (recording unit, output unit)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A control means for converting a given macro into an element command corresponding to each element operation of a robot and sequentially executing the element command to control the operation of the robot, and representing an operation state of the robot. Detecting means for detecting various physical quantities; and recording the output of the detecting means as first information, and at the time of outputting the first information, renaming the name of the macro involved in the operation of the robot to the first information. A control device for a robot, comprising: recording means for recording in association with information. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first information and the second information associated with the first information are output on a screen or a hard copy in a format that can be recognized as one piece of information. The control device for a robot according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit.