KR100784736B1 - Robot control system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

A robot control system and a robot control method are provided to integrally control a plurality of robots through a single controller and support a high speed communication system required for the integrated control. A robot control system includes a plurality of sub controllers(21 to 26), a monitoring unit(40), and a plurality of buffer memories(51,52), and a main controller(30). The sub controllers independently control respective robot units(11 to 16), and reply monitoring commands in replying feedback information. The monitoring unit creates the monitoring commands. The buffer memories store the feedback information output from the sub controllers. The main controller executes communication with the sub controllers in accordance with a CAN based communication system, transmits control commands for controlling the robot units to the sub controllers, executes the monitoring unit with the monitoring unit in accordance with a communication system having a transmission speed lower than that of the CAN based communication system, receives monitoring commands, and transmits the monitoring commands to the sub controllers. The main controller designates a buffer memory to be accessed by the monitoring unit and uploaded, and stores information received from the sub controllers in the buffer memory which is not accessed by the monitoring unit such that storing and reading of the information are executed in parallel.

Description

Robot Control System and Robot Control Method {ROBOT CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD}

1 is a schematic block diagram of a robot control system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a control method based on the robot control system disclosed in FIG. 1.

The present invention relates to a robot control system and a robot control method, and more particularly, to a robot control system and a robot control method capable of collectively controlling and monitoring a plurality of robot units so as to optimally control a robot of a sophisticated system. will be.

In general, the robot control system includes a servo driver, an inverter, a motor, and the like (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a "lower controller") for directly controlling the axis of the robot, and an upper controller for controlling them remotely and their states. It comprises a monitoring device for monitoring.

In the conventional robot control system, it is common to configure a lower controller, an upper controller, and a monitoring device so as to correspond 1: 1 with an axis regardless of the number of axes or robots. The upper controller controls the driving of the shaft through the lower controller, and the monitoring device checks the pulse, speed, torque, and the like so that they can be adjusted to appropriate gains.

Driving a robot in a simple system is sufficient to drive one or two axes, but in a more complex system a large number of robots may be needed, thus increasing the number of drive shafts.

Since the axes influence each other when the robot moves, there is a need to control by considering the influence of other axes. In addition, in a system where robots cooperate with each other, the operation of one robot often affects the operation of another robot, so that proper control is possible only when the operation state of another robot is considered.

However, the conventional robot control system, as described above, the upper / lower controller and the monitoring device is installed so as to correspond to the axis 1: 1, providing a means to control by referring to the operating state of the other axis or another robot. I'm not doing it.

In addition, when the monitoring device refers to the data exchanged during the upper / lower control period, data communication between the devices should be synchronized with each other and have the same communication speed. There is a problem that is constrained. Accordingly, in order to increase the control range of the host controller, there is a need to provide an appropriate monitoring method.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a robot control system and a robot control method employing a monitoring method that can control a plurality of axes with one higher controller and can efficiently support them.

In the robot control system for multi-controlling a plurality of robot units, which are divided into control units, the purpose is to independently control the robot units in response to the robot units, and to respond to the corresponding feedback information when receiving a monitoring command. A plurality of sub-control units; A monitoring unit generating the monitoring command; A plurality of buffer memories for storing the feedback information from the plurality of sub-control units; And a control command for communicating with the plurality of sub-control units and selectively controlling the plurality of robot units according to a controller area network (CAN) -based communication scheme, and transmitting the control commands to the plurality of sub-control units. According to a communication method having a lower transmission rate than the communication method based on an area network) includes a main control unit for communicating with the monitoring unit to receive the monitoring command and transmit to the plurality of sub-control unit, the main control unit Designate a buffer memory to be uploaded and uploaded by the monitoring unit among a plurality of buffer memories, and store and read the state information received from the plurality of sub-controllers in a buffer memory not accessed by the monitoring unit. Robot of the present invention, characterized in that to proceed in parallel Control can be achieved by the system.

delete

Preferably, the main controller processes the uploaded buffer memory as a buffer memory capable of storing the feedback information received from the plurality of sub-control units.

In addition, the object is a robot control method for multi-controlling a plurality of robot units that are divided into control units according to another aspect of the present invention, CAN (Controller) to a plurality of sub-control unit for controlling each of the plurality of robot units Transmitting a predetermined monitoring command in an area network-based communication method; Storing feedback information received from the plurality of sub-control units in one of a plurality of buffer memories in response to the monitoring command; Selecting a buffer memory that can be stored among the plurality of buffer memories and continuously storing the buffer memory when the buffer memory is full; Uploading the feedback information from the full buffer memory to a monitoring device in a communication method having a lower transmission rate than the CAN (Controller Area Network) based communication method; And it can be achieved by the robot control method of the present invention, characterized in that it comprises the step of processing the uploaded buffer memory as the buffer memory capable of storing.

delete

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, in order to help the understanding of the present invention, an object that is individually controlled as a part of the robot as a concept corresponding to and encompassing the axis of the robot will be referred to as a "robot unit". Thus, the robot unit may refer to one axis, suggesting that several robot units may exist in one robot.

In addition, an integrated device that directly controls the axis of the robot, such as a servo driver, an inverter, and a motor, is called a "sub control unit", and an integrated control device that remotely and collectively controls the sub-control unit is called a "main control unit".

1 is a schematic block diagram of a robot control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the robot control system of the present embodiment includes a plurality of robot units 11 to 16, a plurality of sub controllers 21 to 26, a main controller 30, a monitoring unit 40, first and second ones. The buffer memories 51 and 52 are comprised.

The plurality of robot units 11 to 16 are individually controlled in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of sub controllers 21 to 26, and the main controller 30 is CAN (Controller Area) with the plurality of sub controllers 21 to 26. Network-based communication is connected so as to collectively control a number of robot units (11 ~ 16).

Since the main controller 30 may collectively control the plurality of robot units 11 to 16, it may be easier to control the robot units 11 to 16 in consideration of mutually influential parts. Of course it can. In particular, it is possible to control in consideration of the plurality of robot units 11 to 16 based on the monitoring result of the monitoring unit 40 to be described later.

The monitoring unit 40 is connected to the main control unit 30 through the RS-232C cable, performs a communication for monitoring associated with the status information of the robot unit (11 ~ 16). In detail, the monitoring unit 40 may be configured to provide commands and conditions for pulses provided from the sub-control units 21 to 26 to the robot units 11 to 16, speed based on the number of pulses per hour, torque based on the provided current, and the like. It provides a means to monitor feedback information. That is, the apparatus may further include means for receiving a monitoring command from the user and means for providing feedback information to a user interface such as a graphic so that the user may conveniently monitor.

The first and second buffer memories 51 and 52 are provided to the main controller 30 to temporarily store feedback information received from the sub controllers 21 to 26. The feedback information stored in the buffer memories 51 and 52 is immediately transmitted to the monitoring unit 40. The first and second buffer memories 51 and 52 are memories having a predetermined size and are not necessarily physically separated modules.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a control method based on the robot control system disclosed in FIG. 1. With reference to Figure 2, it will be described in detail the control method of the robot control system disclosed in FIG.

First, when a predetermined monitoring command is generated from the monitoring unit 40 and transmitted to the main control unit 30, the main control unit 30 transmits the monitoring command to the sub-control units 21 to 26 through CAN communication (S1).

As is well known, since the CAN communication transmits together information and a control / monitoring command for identifying the specific sub-control units 21 to 26, only the corresponding sub-control units 21 to 26 respond accordingly. Therefore, the monitoring command may be determined in a manner of designating the specific sub-control units 21 to 26 or the specific robot units 11 to 16, and may be directed to all or a group.

After receiving the monitoring command, the sub-control unit 21 to 26 verifies whether it corresponds to a reception target, and then receives all information on the actual state of the robot unit 11 to 16, for example, a position, pulse, speed, torque command and feedback. Data, a pulse error, and the like are stored and transmitted to the main controller 30 as feedback information (S2).

When the main controller 30 starts to receive the feedback information, it selects the available buffer memory (S3). The available buffer memory is an empty buffer memory in which the feedback information is not stored. Although the feedback information has been stored, the buffer memory includes a buffer memory that has been uploaded to the monitoring unit 40 as described below.

In the present embodiment, the number of buffer memories 51 and 52 is described as two, but an appropriate number of buffers is considered in consideration of the size of the buffer memories 51 and 52, the difference in transmission speed between CAN communication and RS-232C, and the like. It will be appreciated that the memory is optionally available.

Now, the main controller 30 stores the received feedback information in the selected buffer memory (S5), and determines whether the selected buffer memory is full (S6).

If the buffer memory is full, the first procedure for storing the feedback information transmitted from the sub-control unit (21 ~ 26) (S3 ~ S6), and the uploading data of the buffer memory already stored to the monitoring unit 40 2 procedures proceed in parallel (S7, S8).

First, a first procedure of continuously storing feedback information transmitted from the sub controllers 21 to 26 will be described.

If the selected buffer memory is full, a new available buffer memory is selected from the plurality of buffer memories (S3). For example, if the main controller 30 first selects and stores the first buffer memory 51 as the available buffer memory, the second buffer memory 52 is next selected as the available buffer memory.

If the reception of the feedback information is not finished (S4), since there is still data to be stored in the buffer memory, the storage of the feedback information is continued in the newly selected buffer memory (S5). If this buffer memory is also full, feedback information will be stored continuously by repeating steps S3 to S6.

On the other hand, if the reception of the feedback information is terminated (S4), since there is no longer a destination to store, only uploading to the already full buffer memory (S7).

Next, a second procedure of uploading the data of the buffer memory already stored to the monitoring unit 40 will be described.

When the selected buffer memory becomes full (S6), the data stored in the buffer memory is uploaded to the monitoring unit (S7).

When uploading is finished, it is determined whether there is more buffer memory to upload. Note that when uploading is finished, there may be one or more buffer memories that can be uploaded.

For example, when uploading to the first buffer memory 51 has ended, the first buffer memory 51 will now be treated as an available buffer memory. While uploading to the first buffer memory 51 through RS-232C proceeding at a transmission rate of 56 Kbps, feedback information is received through CAN communication proceeding at a transmission rate of 1 Mbps to receive the second buffer memory 52. Can be stored to full.

As such, if there is more buffer memory to be uploaded (S8), the main controller 30 uploads data from the buffer memory to the monitoring unit 40 (S7). This is repeated until there is no buffer memory to upload.

As such, in order to integrally control the plurality of robot units 11 to 16 with one main controller 30, a high speed communication method such as CAN is essential. If such a high speed communication method is limited by a communication method for monitoring at a relatively low speed, integrated control by one main controller 30 becomes difficult.

The robot control system of the present invention utilizes a plurality of buffer memories, so that the feedback from the sub-control units 21 to 26 and the uploading to the monitoring unit 40 are made in parallel, thereby enabling effective integrated control.

It is to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are illustrative of the invention, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, the above-described embodiment uses the first and second buffer memories 51 and 52, but an appropriate number of buffer memories can be selected.

In addition, although the process of transmitting feedback information from the main controller 30 to the monitoring unit 40 has been described in the manner in which the main controller 30 uploads, it is also possible to access the buffer memory by the monitoring unit 40. I can understand. In addition, it may be effective that the main controller 30 has a function of instructing the monitoring unit 40 which buffer memory is full and available buffer memory using a flag.

Although some embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be modified without departing from the spirit or spirit of the invention. will be. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

As described above, the present invention enables the integrated control of a plurality of axes or robots with one controller, and provides a monitoring means for supporting a high speed communication method required for such control.

Claims (5)

In the robot control system for multi-controlling a plurality of robot units distinguished by a control unit, A plurality of sub-controllers that independently control the robot unit corresponding to each of the robot units, and respond to corresponding feedback information when receiving a monitoring command; A monitoring unit generating the monitoring command; A plurality of buffer memories for storing the feedback information from the plurality of sub-control units; And Communicating with the plurality of sub-control units according to a controller area network (CAN) -based communication scheme, and transmitting a control command for selectively controlling the plurality of robot units to the plurality of sub-control units, wherein the controller (Controller Area) And a main controller for communicating with the monitoring unit to receive the monitoring command and transmitting the monitoring command to the plurality of sub-controllers according to a communication method having a lower transmission rate than that of a network-based communication method. The main controller designates a buffer memory to be uploaded by the monitoring unit from among the plurality of buffer memories, and stores the state information received from the plurality of sub-controllers in a buffer memory not accessed by the monitoring unit to store the state information. Robot control system, characterized in that the storage and reading of the proceeds in parallel. delete The method of claim 1, And the main controller processes the uploaded buffer memory as a buffer memory capable of storing the feedback information received from the plurality of sub-control units. In the robot control method for multi-controlling a plurality of robot units distinguished by a control unit, Transmitting a monitoring command to a plurality of sub-controllers for controlling each of the plurality of robot units in a controller area network (CAN) based communication method; Storing feedback information received from the plurality of sub-control units in one of a plurality of buffer memories in response to the monitoring command; Selecting a buffer memory that can be stored among the plurality of buffer memories and continuously storing the buffer memory when the buffer memory is full; Uploading the feedback information from the full buffer memory to a monitoring device in a communication method having a lower transmission rate than the controller area network (CAN) based communication method; And And processing the uploaded buffer memory as the storage buffer memory. delete

Images