KR20220162287A - Automatic Calibration System Of Robot Driven - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a robot driving automatic calibration system, which, before undesirable results are produced due to the operation of a robot, can detect errors occurring during an operation process of the robot to automatically calibrate the errors. The robot driving automatic calibration system comprises: a robot unit which includes a plurality of motor modules and an arm module having at least one position reference mark, and is connected to a computing unit to control driving of the motor modules in accordance with signals transmitted from the computing unit; a position reference adjustment unit which includes an alignment mark module having an adjustment pattern and an alignment mark formed thereon, and allows the arm module of the robot unit to be inserted into the position reference adjustment unit from the outside; a camera unit which has at least one camera and is installed above the position reference adjustment unit to capture the position reference adjustment unit and create an alignment mark image of the alignment mark module; and the computing unit which includes a reference mark image, is connected to the camera unit to compare the alignment mark image created by the camera unit with the reference mark image and calculate a difference value of a first axis and a difference value of a second axis, substitutes the alignment mark image with the reference mark image when the difference values exceed a reference value, applies a first calibration value corresponding to the difference value of the first axis and a second calibration value corresponding to the difference value of the second axis to the motor modules of the robot unit, and locates the position reference mark of the arm module and the alignment mark of the reference mark image on a virtual line.

Description

Robot Driven Automatic Calibration System {Automatic Calibration System Of Robot Driven}

The present invention is a technology for correcting an error generated while a robot is repeatedly driven.

In industrial fields, robots are widely used for the purpose of improving the working environment and productivity. Robots are in the limelight because they can quickly and accurately handle simple repetitive tasks or tasks that are difficult and dangerous for humans to perform directly. Currently, the use of robots is showing an increasing trend.

In line with the trend of increasing use of robots, development of technology for maintaining robots is actively progressing so that robots can always perform tasks quickly and accurately. Here, the robot maintenance technology is a technology of repetitively driving the robot and correcting an error generated by accumulating minute twists and turns.

Such a technology is applied to a technology for maintaining a robot, enabling the robot to perform work accurately and quickly and to achieve the purpose of installation.

Currently, most of the methods for controlling the drive error of the robot cannot quantitatively grasp the drive error of the robot, so it is necessary to determine whether there is an error in the drive shaft of the robot through the work result.

This method allows the operator to determine the driving error of the robot indirectly through the robot's work result without intuitively determining it.

Therefore, after the robot produces a bad result, there is a problem that the operator has to solve the problem. Moreover, these problems are causing a problem of lowering work efficiency and productivity.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0087996 (published date: 2017.08.01)

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to prevent the problem of lowering work efficiency and productivity as a worker solves the problem after the robot produces a bad result.

The technical problem of the present invention is not limited to the problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

The robot driving automatic correction system of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem includes a plurality of motor modules and an arm module on which at least one position reference mark is formed, and is connected to an arithmetic unit to drive the motor module according to a signal transmitted from the arithmetic unit. It includes the controlled robot unit, an adjustment pattern, and an alignment mark module formed with an alignment mark, and a position reference adjustment unit capable of entering the arm module of the robot unit from the outside and at least one camera are installed, and are installed on top of the position reference adjustment unit to position and a camera unit for taking pictures of the reference adjustment unit and generating an alignment mark image for the alignment mark module. In addition, the alignment mark image generated by the camera unit including the fiducial mark image and connected to the camera unit is compared with the fiducial mark image to calculate the difference value between the first axis and the second axis, and if the difference value exceeds the reference value, alignment is performed. After replacing the mark image with the reference mark image, the first correction value corresponding to the difference value of the first axis and the second correction value corresponding to the difference value of the second axis are applied to the motor module of the robot unit to position the reference mark of the arm module. and an arithmetic unit for locating the alignment mark of the fiducial mark image on a virtual line. Here, the alignment mark module includes a first alignment mark module and a second alignment mark module spaced apart from the first alignment mark module in one direction and formed identically to the first alignment mark module. In addition, the camera unit includes a frame module, a first camera module installed in the frame module, and a second camera module, and captures the first alignment mark module to generate a first alignment mark image, and captures the second alignment mark module to create a second alignment mark image. An alignment mark image can be created. The calculation unit may calculate a difference value of the alignment mark image with respect to a first axis and a difference value with respect to a second axis or a rotation value with respect to the first axis or the second axis in the reference mark image. In addition, the camera unit may further include a distance sensor module that measures a distance to the arm module by receiving reflected light after irradiating light to the arm module of the robot unit.

The robot-driven automatic correction system of the present invention detects errors generated in the operation process and automatically corrects the errors before the robot operates and produces bad results. Through this, it is possible to maintain high speed and accuracy of work, which is the original purpose of installing the robot.

1 is a perspective view of a robot-driven automatic correction system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 and 3 are operation diagrams of the robot of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 4 is a view showing a position reference adjusting unit and a camera unit of FIG. 1 .
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a first alignment mark image and a second alignment mark image of a position reference adjusting unit taken by the camera unit of FIG. 1 .
6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a reference mark image is generated by correcting a second alignment mark image captured by a second camera in a calculation unit.
7 is a view showing an end effector of the robot of FIG. 1 .
8 is a diagram showing a state in which the calculation unit corrects the position of the robot.

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

The embodiments of the present invention are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art, and the following examples may be modified in many different forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following It is not limited to the examples. Rather, these embodiments are provided merely so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the spirit of the invention to those skilled in the art. In addition, the thickness or size of each layer in the drawings is exaggerated for convenience and clarity of explanation, and the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in the drawings.

As used herein, the term 'and/or' includes any one and all combinations of one or more of the listed items. In addition, terms used in this specification are used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to drawings schematically showing ideal embodiments of the present invention. However, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 so that the description of the robot-driven automatic calibration system of the present invention can be concise and clear, the robot-driven automatic calibration system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and the present invention The operation of the robot-driven automatic correction system 1 according to the embodiment will be schematically described.

1 is a perspective view of a robot-driven automatic correction system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are operational views of the robot of FIG. 1 .

The robot-driven automatic correction system (1, hereinafter referred to as the automatic correction system) of the present invention detects errors generated in the operation process before the robot operates and produces bad results, corrects the errors, and then moves the object to an accurate position. . Through this, the present invention can maintain the speed and accuracy of the work, which is the original purpose of robot installation, at a high level. As an example, an automatic calibration system may be incorporated into the process of processing semiconductor wafers. Thus, the object can be a wafer, for example.

The description of such an automatic correction system takes a device used in a system for processing a semiconductor wafer as an example so that a person skilled in the art can clearly understand the present invention through this specification. As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), a Buffer (C), a first chamber (D) and a second chamber (E), and a rail portion (A) installed in front of the FOUP to the second chamber ) may be installed in a system for processing semiconductor wafers and transfer the wafers contained in the FOUP to the first chamber (D) and the second chamber (E).

This automatic correction system (1) is installed on the rail (A) and slides the robot unit (10), the position reference adjustment unit 20 located between the FOUP (B) and the Buffer (C), the position reference adjustment unit (20 ) and a camera unit 30 installed spaced apart from the upper side. And a calculation unit 40 connected to the camera unit 30 and the robot unit 10 to calculate data received from the camera unit 30 and apply an output value to the robot unit 10 to control an error in the robot unit. . Here, the robot unit 10 is formed between the plurality of motor modules 110, the first guide pattern 123, the second guide pattern 124, and the first guide pattern 123 and the second guide pattern 124. It may be a robot including the arm module 120 including at least one positional reference mark 122 , that is, an end effector formed of the blade 121 and the positional reference mark 122 . That is, the robot unit 10 may be a Wafer Transfer Robot.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the robot unit 10 may move between the FOUP (B) and the second chamber (E) by sliding the rail unit (A) in the X-axis direction of the coordinate axis. And, as shown in FIG. 3, the lifting module of the robot unit moves in the Z-axis direction of the coordinate axis, and can place the wafer in the first chamber or lift the wafer in the first chamber. Such a robot unit 10 may be operated according to a signal output from the calculation unit 40 .

In the automatic calibration system 1 of the present invention, before the robot unit 10 transfers the wafer inserted into the FOUP (B) to the first chamber (D) or the second chamber (E), the position reference adjustment unit (20) After being located at , the arm module 120, that is, the end effector, is positioned so as to overlap with the alignment mark module 220 to extract a driving error of the robot unit, and automatically correct the position of the robot unit 10 in response to the extracted error value. let it

The automatic correction system 1 of the present invention as described above is not a method of manually correcting the driving error of the robot unit in the existing robot calibration system, but by identifying the driving error of the arm of the robot unit with a value corresponding to the figured out value. correct the position This feature of the present invention is a major feature that makes a big difference from the conventional robot calibration system.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8, detailed descriptions of the location reference adjusting unit, the camera unit, and the calculating unit of the present invention and the main features of the present invention through the positioning reference adjusting unit, the camera unit, and the calculating unit will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a position reference adjusting unit and a camera unit of FIG. 1 , and FIG. 5 is a view showing a first alignment mark image and a second alignment mark image of the position reference adjusting unit taken by the camera unit of FIG. 1 . 6 is a view showing a state in which a reference mark image is generated by correcting a second alignment mark image captured by a second camera in a calculation unit, and FIG. 7 is a view showing an end effector of the robot of FIG. 1 . And Figure 8 is a diagram showing a state in which the calculation unit corrects the position of the robot.

The position reference adjustment unit 20 has an alignment mark module 220 installed on the upper side of the support module 210 and the support module 220, and becomes a device for setting a reference position in calculating the error of the robot unit. As shown in FIG. 4, the position reference adjusting unit 20 includes a first alignment mark module 221 and a first alignment mark module ( 221) and a second alignment mark module 222 formed identically to the first alignment mark module 221 and spaced apart in one direction.

In such a first alignment mark module 221, a first adjustment pattern 2211 formed with a plurality of circles having the same shape and a '+'-shaped first alignment mark 2212 formed in the center of the first adjustment pattern 2211 can be formed. In the second alignment mark module 222, a second adjustment pattern 2221 having a plurality of identically shaped circles and a '+'-shaped first alignment mark 2212 formed at the center of the second adjustment pattern 2222 are provided. can be formed

The camera unit 30 photographs the position reference adjusting unit 20 and photographs the alignment mark module 220 of the position reference adjustment unit 20 and the arm module introduced into the alignment mark module 220, that is, the end effector. The camera unit 30 may include a frame module 31 installed on the ceiling and a plurality of camera modules 301 and 302 installed in the frame module 31 to take pictures of the lower side. As an example, the camera unit 30 includes a frame module 31 and a first camera module 301 and a second camera module 302 installed in the frame module 31 as shown in FIG. 4 . And, it includes a distance sensor module 303. As shown in FIG. 5 , the camera unit 30 may generate a first alignment mark image 311 by photographing the first alignment mark module 221 through the first camera module 301 . In addition, the second alignment mark image 312 may be generated by photographing the second alignment mark module 222 through the second camera module 302 . In addition, the camera unit 30 may irradiate light to the arm module 120 of the robot unit through the distance sensor module 303 and then receive reflected light to calculate a distance value with the arm module 120 .

In this way, the camera unit 30 transmits the generated first alignment mark image, the second alignment mark image, and the distance value between the arm modules to the calculation unit 40 .

The calculation unit 40 may be a computer that receives data from the camera unit 30, calculates it, and applies a value corresponding to the calculated value to the robot unit 10 as an output. The calculation unit 40 may include a fiducial mark image 400 as shown in FIG. 6 . Also, the calculation unit 40 may store distance values d1 to d3 between the alignment mark 410 and the shape of the adjustment pattern.

After receiving the alignment mark image 310 from the camera unit 30, the calculation unit 40 compares the reference mark image 400 and the alignment mark image 310 to obtain a difference value between the first axis and the second axis. can be calculated In this case, the first axis may be the X axis of the coordinate axis, and the second axis may be the Y axis of the coordinate axis. For example, the calculation unit 40 compares the reference mark image 400 and the alignment mark image 310 to obtain a difference between the first axis dx value and the second axis dy and the rotation value of the first axis or the second axis. The rotation value dθ can be calculated. Such a calculation unit 40 replaces the alignment mark image 310 with the reference mark image 400 when the difference between the alignment mark image 310 and the reference mark image 400 exceeds the reference value. For example, the calculation unit 40 replaces the second alignment mark image 312 with the reference mark image 400, as shown in FIGS. 8(b) and 8(c).

Then, as shown in FIG. is applied to the motor module 110 so that the position reference mark 122 of the arm module 120 and the alignment mark 410 of the reference mark image 400 are located on a virtual line. The first location reference mark 1221 located on the left side of the blade 121 of the arm module 120 and the second location reference mark 1222 located on the right side of the blade 121 are the alignment marks of the fiducial mark image 400 ( 410), the motor module is controlled to be located on the same line, and errors in the robot part are automatically corrected.

In addition, the calculation unit 40 drives the end effector in the second axis direction when the alignment mark 410 does not enter the shooting area of the camera unit due to an error of the robot to form the first guide pattern 123 or the second guide pattern ( 124), and the position reference mark 122 is searched by driving the end effector in the first axis direction. The calculation unit 40 searches for the location reference mark 122 in this way and adjusts the error of the robot unit so that the location reference mark 122 of the arm module 120 is located on the same line as the alignment mark 410 of the reference mark image 400. automatically correct

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. you will be able to understand Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive.

1: Robot Driven Automatic Calibration System
10: robot part
110: motor module 120: arm module
121: blade 122: position reference mark
1221: first position reference mark 1222: second position reference mark
123: first guide pattern 124: second guide pattern
20: position reference adjustment unit
210: support module 220: alignment mark module
221: first alignment mark module
2211: first adjustment pattern 2212: first alignment mark
222: second alignment mark module
2221: second adjustment pattern 2222: second alignment mark
30: camera unit
31: frame module
301: first camera module 302: second camera module
303: distance sensor module 310: alignment mark image
311: first alignment mark image 312: second alignment mark image
40: calculation unit 400: reference mark image
410: alignment mark
A: rail part B: FOUP
C: Buffer D: First chamber
E: second chamber

Claims (3)

a robot unit 10 including a plurality of motor modules 110 and an arm module 120 having at least one position reference mark 122;
a position reference adjusting unit 20 that includes an alignment mark module 220 having an alignment pattern 2210 and an alignment mark 2220 and is accessible to the arm module 120 of the robot unit from the outside;
A camera, including at least one camera module 301 , 302 , installed above the position reference adjusting unit 20 to photograph the position reference adjusting unit 20 and generate an alignment mark image 310 for the alignment mark module 220 . section 30;
The fiducial mark image 400 is connected to the camera unit 30 and the alignment mark image 310 generated by the camera unit 30 is compared with the fiducial mark image 400, and the difference value of the first axis and the second After calculating the difference value of the axis and replacing the alignment mark image 310 with the reference mark image 400 when the difference value exceeds the reference value, the first correction value corresponding to the difference value of the first axis and the difference value of the second axis The second correction value corresponding to is applied to the motor module 110 of the robot unit 10 so that the position reference mark 122 of the arm module 120 and the alignment mark 410 of the reference mark image 400 are virtually A robot drive automatic correction system comprising an arithmetic unit 40 positioned on a line. According to claim 1,
The alignment mark module 220,
It includes a first alignment mark module 221 and a second alignment mark module 222 spaced apart from the first alignment mark module 221 in one direction and formed identically to the first alignment mark module 221,
The camera unit 30,
The first alignment mark image ( 311) and photographing the second alignment mark module 222 to create a second alignment mark image 312,
The calculation unit 40,
In the reference mark image 400, the alignment mark image 310 calculates a difference value about a first axis and a difference value about a second axis or a rotation value about a first axis or a second axis, a robot-driven automatic correction system. . According to claim 2,
The camera unit 30,
After radiating light to the arm module 120 of the robot unit, the robot driving automatic correction system further includes a distance sensor module 303 for receiving reflected light and measuring a distance with the arm module 120.

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