TWI729168B - Method for setting work area of robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is to disclose a method for setting the work area of robot, building a plurality of boundary planes with three points that are not collinear, cutting the boundary planes each other to form division planes, selecting division planes including the center of the three points as area boundaries, discarding useless division planes, deleting spare division planes adjacent to connection lines, selecting boundary edges of deleted spare division planes to connect planar planes, extending area boundaries with the spare division of planes planar planes including area boundaries, and setting the work area automatically.

Description

Setting method of robot working area

The present invention relates to a robot, in particular to a human-machine cooperation type industrial robot, a method for setting the robot working area according to the degree of danger of the operator in the robot working environment.

The robot has the characteristics of flexible movement, precise positioning and continuous operation. Although it is the best weapon for automatic manufacturing and assembly on the product production line, there are still operating conditions that require human-machine cooperation. In human-machine collaboration, setting the robot's working area to protect the safety of workers has become an important issue for human-machine collaboration.

In order to ensure the safety of workers in the working environment of robots, for example, US Patent US20160167231 uses optical sensors or vision devices to set up a safe operation interface in the work area. Once the worker is detected to exceed the safe operation interface, the robot will automatically Reduce the moving speed to avoid injury caused by the robot touching the operator. However, the installation of optical sensors or vision devices on robots requires not only installation space, but also specific detection software, which results in high installation costs and lower product competitiveness. Therefore, another prior art robot directly uses the input interface to set the interface coordinates of the working area in the coordinate system of the robot, to set different working areas of the robot, and to actively limit the moving speed of the robot into each working area to simplify the work area. Set the job.

However, using the input interface to mark the coordinates of each interface of the working area one by one, not only the setting is too complicated, and the setting of the working area cannot be completed quickly, but also the actual relationship between the interface marked by the coordinates and the working areas of the robot cannot be visually recognized, which is easy to set errors. , The robot is often also located in the human-robot collaboration area, or needs to work across the human-robot collaboration work area, causing the robot to move and harm the operator. Therefore, there are still problems that need to be solved urgently in the method of setting the working area of the robot.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method for setting the working area of a robot. In the area interface of the working area, three non-collinear points are used to build a complex boundary plane, the boundary planes are cut from each other to form a division plane, and the division containing the center of the three points is selected. The surface is used as the area interface to quickly set the working area.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for setting the working area of a robot. For an unclosed working area, use the connecting line of the area interface to remove the adjacent spare segmentation planes, and then review the boundary plane connection of the deleted spare segmentation planes. Spare split surface, select the boundary edge plane to connect the spare split surface containing the area interface as the extended area interface to automatically set the closed working area.

In order to achieve the purpose of the foregoing invention, the method for setting the working area of the robot of the present invention uses three non-collinear points to build a boundary plane in the working environment of the robot and the tool end of the robot, and uses the center of the three-point outer circle as The three points are located at the center, and the boundary planes are cut from each other to form a plurality of division planes on each boundary plane. The division plane with the center of the circle is selected as the area interface, and the area interfaces are connected to set the working area.

The working environment of the present invention is to straighten the tool end of the robot to obtain the most A sphere with a large radius of activity. Or the known parameters of the maximum activity radius of the robot's end effector provided by the manufacturer, plus the selected tool length, calculate the radius of the maximum activity range of the robot.

In the method for setting the working area of the robot of the present invention, the side that meets between the area interfaces is set as the connecting side, and the side that is not in contact with the area interface is set as the boundary edge. And when connecting each area interface and checking that a closed working area is not formed, further corrections are performed to remove the useless segmentation surface, divide the remaining segmentation surface into the area interface and the spare segmentation surface, and select and delete the connecting edge of the adjacent area interface Spare segmentation plane, review the alternate segmentation plane connected by the boundary edge plane of the deleted alternate segmentation plane, select the boundary edge plane to connect the alternate segmentation plane containing the area interface as the area interface, and expand the area interface and connect the area interface to set the working area .

According to the distribution of the three points of the built-up boundary plane, the present invention removes useless dividing planes on the periphery of the top and bottom boundary planes. And when the interface of each area is connected to form a working area, the existence of the boundary edge of the inspection is used to detect the closed state of the working area of the polyhedron.

10: Robot

11: Pedestal

12: Working environment

13, 13a: hexahedral working area

14, 16: split surface

14a, 16a: spare split surface

15, 15a: octahedral working area

17: Link edges

18, 18a, 18b, 18c: boundary edge

[1] to [8]: Area interface

A to H: boundary plane

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the working environment of the robot of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the boundary plane established by the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a three-dimensional view of the working area set in the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of cross cutting between boundary planes according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the working area formed by the area interface of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a three-dimensional view of the setting working area of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of cross cutting between boundary planes according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the working area formed by the area interface of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of removing useless dividing planes according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a spare split surface with adjacent connecting edges of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of deleting the alternate split planes adjacent to the connected edges in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a spare split plane connected by planes without boundary lines selected according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention selecting a spare split plane connected by the boundary line plane.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of another alternate split plane connected by planes of selected boundary lines according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of an extended area interface according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart of a method for setting a working area of a robot according to the present invention.

With regard to the technical means adopted by the present invention in order to achieve the above-mentioned objects and their effects, preferred embodiments are described below in conjunction with the drawings.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 at the same time. FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of the working environment of the robot of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the boundary plane of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the robot 10 has a multi-axis type, the fixed end is a base 11, and the other end is a movable tool end (Tool Center Point, TCP for short). The robot 10 of the present invention uses the base 11 as the origin 0 to form the robot coordinate system W, which controls the TCP of the mobile tool end. Each position of the TCP of the tool end can be recorded by the rotation angle of each toggle of the multi-axis robot 10. The position coordinates are obtained in the robot coordinate system W. When the robot 10 is controlled to straighten the TCP of the tool end, the distance between the coordinates of the TCP of the tool end and the origin 0 can obtain the radius R of the sphere of the maximum range of motion of the robot 10, thereby defining the working environment 12 of the robot 10. In practice, the known parameters of the maximum movement radius of the end effector of the robot 10 provided by the manufacturer, plus the selected tool length, can be used to calculate the radius R of the maximum movement range of the robot 10.

In FIG. 2, after defining the working environment 12 of the robot 10, the present invention uses the construction boundary plane M to divide the working environment 12 into different working areas. First, pull the tool end TCP of the robot 10 to any three points P1, P2, P3 that are not collinear on the area interface of the required work area, and record the coordinates of the three points. Using coordinate data of three non-collinear points, the boundary plane M is automatically formed, and the boundary plane M can divide the working environment 12 of the robot 10 into two regions. In addition, the outer circle T is obtained using the three points P1, P2, and P3, and the center N of the outer circle T is obtained, and the center N is used as the position center of the three points P1, P2, P3.

Please refer to FIGS. 3 to 5 at the same time. FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional view of the working area set in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of cross cutting between boundary planes according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is the first embodiment of the present invention. Example of a three-dimensional view of the working area. In FIG. 3, in this embodiment, a hexahedral working area 13 is set in the working environment 12 for illustration, but the present invention includes but is not limited to a hexahedral working area. When setting the hexahedral working area 13 in the present invention, the aforementioned three non-collinear points are used to construct the boundary plane and find the center of the circle. The vertical area interfaces [1] to [4] and the horizontal top of the working area 13 are respectively used. The regional interface [5], and the horizontal bottom regional interface [6], build the center of the boundary planes A to F and the regional interface [1] to [6] (refer to the circle in the figure).

In Fig. 4, since the boundary planes A to F cross and cut each other, a plurality of dividing planes 14 are formed on the boundary planes A to F. For example, the boundary plane A established for the vertical area interface [1] of the working area 13 is bounded The planes B, D, E, and F are intersected and divided into a plurality of dividing planes 14 (shown in the gray part in the figure). The three non-collinear points may be divided on different dividing planes 14, or the three points of the construction area interface are too concentrated on the same dividing plane 14, and the three non-collinear points form the center of the outer circle, which is the center of the three points , To ensure that the center of the circle is located at a regional interface [1], so as to quickly select the dividing surface 14 containing the center of the circle as the regional interface [1]. The same lies in the boundary planes B, C, D, E, F, and the dividing plane 14 containing the center is selected as the regional interfaces [2] to [6] (shown in the white part in the figure). In Fig. 5, the area interfaces [1] to [6] are preliminarily formed into a working area 13 for detection, and then a closed hexahedral working area 13 can be formed to complete the setting.

Please refer to FIGS. 6 to 11 at the same time. FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional view of the setting working area in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of cross cutting between boundary planes in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is the second embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the working area formed by the area interface of the embodiment, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention with the useless dividing surface removed, FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the spare dividing surface with adjacent connecting edges of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is In the second embodiment of the present invention, a schematic diagram of a spare split surface adjacent to the connecting edge is deleted. The basic structure of the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the difference is only in the more complex polyhedral work area. To simplify the description of the same components, the same part numbers of the first embodiment are used, which will be described first. In FIG. 6, the second embodiment of the present invention sets an octahedral working area 15 in the working environment 12. When setting the octahedral working area 15, the present invention uses the aforementioned three non-collinear points to construct the boundary plane and obtain the center of the circle. The vertical area interfaces [1] to [6] and the horizontal top of the working area 15 are respectively used. The regional interface [7], and the horizontal bottom regional interface [8], build the center of the boundary planes A to H and the regional interfaces [1] to [8].

In Fig. 7, since the boundary planes A to H are cross-cut, a plurality of dividing planes 16 are formed on the boundary planes A to H. For example, the boundary plane A established for the vertical area interface [1] of the working area 15 is bounded The planes B, D, F, G, and H are cross-cut into a plurality of dividing planes 16. The octahedral work area 15 is more intensively cross-cut. The three points that are not collinear may be cut on different dividing planes 16, or the three points of the build area interface are too concentrated on the same dividing plane 16, instead of being collinear. The three points form the center of the outer circle, which is the center of the three points, which can ensure that the center of the circle is located at a regional interface [1], so as to quickly select the dividing surface 16 containing the center of the circle as the regional interface [1]. Similarly, in the boundary planes B, C, D, E, F, G, and H, the dividing plane 16 with the center of the circle is selected as the regional interface [2] to [8]. In Fig. 8, the area interfaces [1] to [8] are preliminarily formed into a detection working area 15a for detection. For the more complex working area 15a, the detection has not yet formed a closed working area 15, and the processing settings need to be further modified.

During the correction process, in FIG. 9, according to the distribution of the three points of the built boundary plane A to H, the useless segmentation planes 16 on the upper and lower periphery of the boundary planes G and H are first removed to reduce the processed data. Then divide the remaining segmentation plane 16 into regional interfaces [1] to [8] and a spare segmentation plane 16a, and take the segmentation planes A3, B3, C2, D2, E2, F2, G11, and H11 where the center of the circle is located as the regional interface [1] To [8], the remaining dividing surfaces 16 are spare dividing surfaces 16a. Then, according to the preliminary formation of the working area 15a, the edges of each area interface [1] to [8] and other area interfaces are set as connecting edges 17 (see the bold solid line in Figure 9), and the area interfaces [1] ] To [8] The edges that have not yet interfaced with other areas are set as boundary edges 18, and the boundary edges 18 that can be checked exist, and the detection work area 15a does not form a closed work area. In Fig. 10, because the area interfaces 1 to 5 of the working area 15a are connected in pairs on the connecting side, the other spare partitioning surfaces 16a connected to the connecting side 17 can be determined as useless partitioning surfaces 16a. Select to delete adjacent The spare dividing planes A2, B2, B4, C1, C3, D1, D3, E1, G12, and H12 of the connecting side 17 form a state in which the spare dividing planes adjacent to the connecting side 17 are deleted in FIG. 11.

Next, in FIG. 11, review and delete the boundary edges 18 of the alternate dividing planes A2, B2, B4, C1, C3, D1, D3, E1, G12, and H12 adjacent to the connecting edge 17. Each of the aforementioned deleted spare dividing planes has a connecting side 17 and three boundary edges 18a, 18b, 18c (refer to the dotted side in FIG. 11). For the deleted backup dividing plane A2, three boundary edges 18a, 18b, 18c examines the two remaining division planes connected by the plane. If one of them is one of the area interfaces A3, B3, C2, D2, E2, F2, G11, and H11, select the area interface, otherwise delete it.

As shown in FIG. 12, it is a three-dimensional view of a spare split plane connected by planes without boundary lines selected in the second embodiment of the present invention. The boundary edge 18a of the deleted dividing plane A2 is along the boundary plane, and the plane connects the remaining dividing planes G2 and G6. The dividing planes G2 and G6 are spare dividing planes. It is not selected as the regional interface and should be deleted. The boundary edge of dividing plane A2 18b is along the boundary plane, and the plane connects the remaining split planes A1 and A2. The split plane A1 is a spare split plane, and the split plane A2 has been deleted. If it is not selected as a regional interface, it should be deleted. The boundary edge 18c of the split plane A2 is along the boundary plane , The plane connects the remaining split planes H2 and H6, and the split planes H2 and H6 are spare split planes and should be deleted. In the same way, review and delete the boundary edges 18a, 18b, and 18c of the deleted dividing planes B4, C1, D1, D3, E1, G12, and H12 (see Figure 10). The remaining dividing planes connected by the plane do not contain the area interfaces A3, One of B3, C2, D2, E2, F2, G11, and H11 should be deleted if it is not selected as a regional interface.

As shown in FIG. 13, it is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention selecting a spare split plane connected by the boundary line plane. The boundary 18a of the deleted dividing plane B2 planarly connects the remaining dividing planes G10 and G11. Although the dividing plane G10 is a spare dividing plane, it includes the area interface G11, so the spare dividing plane G10 is selected as the area interface. The boundary 18b of the dividing plane B2 plane connects the remaining dividing planes B1 and B2. The dividing plane B1 is a spare dividing plane, and the dividing plane B2 has been deleted. If it is not selected as the area interface, it should be deleted. The boundary 18b of the dividing plane B2 is another The plane connects the remaining split surfaces E2 and E3. Although the split surface E3 is a spare split surface, the split surface E2 is a regional interface, so the spare split surface E3 is selected as the regional interface. The boundary 18c of the dividing surface B2 planarly connects the remaining dividing surfaces H10 and H11. Although the dividing surface H7 is a spare dividing surface, it includes the area interface H11. Therefore, the spare dividing surface H10 is selected as the area interface.

As shown in FIG. 14, it is a three-dimensional view of another alternate split plane connected by planes of selected boundary lines according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The boundary edge 18a of the deleted dividing plane C3 plane connects the remaining dividing planes G7 and G11. Although dividing plane G7 is a spare dividing plane, it includes the area interface G11. Therefore, the spare dividing plane G7 is selected as the area interface, and the boundary edge of the dividing plane C3 The plane 18b connects the remaining split planes C3 and C4. The split plane C4 is a spare split plane, and the split plane C3 has been deleted. If it is not selected as a regional interface, it should be deleted. The boundary edge 18b of the split plane C3 connects the remaining split planes with another plane. F2 and F3, although the dividing plane F3 is a spare dividing plane, but the dividing plane F2 is a regional interface, so the spare dividing plane F3 is selected as the regional interface. The boundary edge 18c of the dividing surface C3 planarly connects the remaining dividing surfaces H7 and H11. Although the dividing surface H7 is a spare dividing surface, it includes the area interface H11. Therefore, the spare dividing surface H7 is selected as the area interface.

As shown in FIG. 15, it is a schematic diagram of an extended area interface according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Use the selected spare split surface E3 to extend the area interface [5] from the original split surface E2 plane to the split surface E2 plus E3, and use the selected spare split surface F3 to extend the area interface [6] from the original split surface F2 plane to the split surface F2 plus F3, use the selected spare split planes G7 and G10 to extend the regional interface [7] from the original split plane G11 plane to the split plane G11 plus G7 plus G10, and also use the selected spare split planes H7 and H10 to extend the regional interface [8 ] The plane extends from the original dividing plane H11 to the dividing plane H11 plus H7 plus H10. Select the area interface [1] to [8] (shown in the white part in the figure) to form a closed octahedral working area 15, and then complete the setting.

As shown in FIG. 16, it is a flowchart of the method for setting the working area of the robot of the present invention. The detailed steps of the method for setting the working area of the robot of the present invention are described as follows: in step S1, when the present invention starts to set the working area; step S2, use three non-collinear points to build the boundary plane and the center of the circle; step S3, the boundary planes intersect each other Cut to form a plurality of segmentation planes on each boundary plane; Step S4, select the segmentation plane containing the center of the circle as the area interface; Step S5, check the area interface to form a closed working area? If the area interface forms a closed working area, go to step S10, if the area When the domain interface does not form a closed working area, go to step S6, according to the three-point distribution of the built boundary plane, remove the useless segmentation surface; step S7, select and delete the spare segmentation surface of the connecting edge of the adjacent area interface Step S8, review and delete the alternate split plane connected by the boundary edge plane of the alternate split plane; Step S9, select the boundary edge plane to connect the alternate split plane containing the regional interface as the regional interface, and expand the regional interface; Step S10, connect the regional interface settings Work area; step S11, end the setting of the work area.

Therefore, the method for setting the working area of the robot of the present invention uses three non-collinear points to build a complex boundary plane on the area interface of the working area. The boundary planes are cut from each other to form a dividing plane, and each boundary plane is selected to contain three points. The dividing surface of the center of the circle is used as the area interface to achieve the purpose of quickly setting the working area. For the detection of the unclosed working area, the connection is further corrected, and the adjacent backup dividing surface is removed by the connection line of the area interface, and then reviewing and deleting the backup The alternate split plane connected by the boundary edge plane of the split surface, select the boundary edge plane to connect the alternate split plane containing the area interface as the area interface, as the modified extended area interface, to achieve the purpose of automatically setting the closed working area.

The above are only for the convenience of describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is not limited to these preferred embodiments. Any changes made in accordance with the present invention will not depart from the spirit of the present invention. , All belong to the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

12: Working environment

13: Work area

[1] to [6]: Area interface

A to F: boundary plane

Claims (8)

A method for setting the working area of a robot, the steps include: in the working environment of the robot, using three non-collinear points on a region interface of the working region to construct a corresponding boundary plane, thereby forming a complex boundary plane corresponding to the interface of the plural regions, And find out the center of the complex outer circle formed by the three non-collinear points of each boundary plane on the interface of each area; the boundary planes are cut from each other to form a complex dividing plane on each boundary plane; select the outer circle on the boundary plane containing the boundary The dividing plane at the center of the circle is used as the area interface; the interface connecting each area is set as the working area. According to the method for setting the working area of the robot as described in item 1 of the scope of patent application, the working environment is to straighten the tool end of the robot as a sphere formed by the maximum radius of movement of the robot. For example, the method for setting the working area of the robot described in the scope of patent application 2, wherein the tool end of the robot is pulled to three non-collinear points, and the coordinates of the three non-collinear points are recorded to construct the boundary plane. In the method for setting the working area of the robot described in the first item of the scope of patent application, the center of the outer circle of the three non-collinear points is used as the position center of the three points. As described in the first item of the scope of patent application, the method for setting the working area of the robot, wherein the edges of the interfaces between the areas are set as connecting edges, and the unconnected edges are set as boundary edges. For example, the method for setting the working area of the robot described in item 5 of the scope of patent application, in which when connecting the interface of each area, it is checked that a closed working area is not formed. The further processing steps include: according to the distribution of three points on the boundary plane, starting from the boundary Select the top or bottom boundary plane in the plane; set the dividing surface around the top or bottom boundary plane to be useless to remove, and remove the remaining division The surface is divided into the area interface with the center and the spare split surface without the center; select and delete the spare split surface of the connecting edge of the adjacent area interface; check the spare split surface connected by the boundary edge plane of the deleted spare split surface; select the boundary edge The plane link includes the alternate partition surface of the area interface as a new area interface, and expands the newly added area interface; connects each area interface to set the working area. The method for setting the working area of a robot as described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein when the interfaces of the areas are connected to form a working area, the existence of the boundary edge is checked to detect the closed working area. For example, the method for setting the working area of a robot described in the seventh scope of the patent application, wherein the working area is a polyhedron.

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