WO2019218324A1 - Encoder, driver and controller for robot and robot - Google Patents

Abstract

An encoder (103), a driver (111), and a controller (112) for a robot, and a robot (10), wherein the encoder (103) comprises a processing circuit (1031), a network protocol-based control circuit (1032), and a network interface (1033); an input end of the processing circuit (1031) is for coupling to an external motor, an output end of the processing circuit (1031) is coupled to an input end of the control circuit (1032), and an output end of the control circuit (1032) is coupled to the network interface (1033); the processing circuit (1031) is used to collect a motion signal of the motor and process the motion signal to obtain a processed signal; the control circuit (1032) is used to send the processed signal to the network interface (1033); and the network interface (1033) is used to couple to an external device so as to establish communication with the external device. The encoder (103) is capable of establishing communication by means of the network interface (1033) and simplifying the wiring design of a robot system, and may increase the rate of data transmission.

Description

Encoders, drives, controllers and robots for robots

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to the field of industrial robots, and more particularly to an encoder, a driver, a controller and a robot for a robot.

 【Background technique】

At present, the encoder is often used for the measurement and feedback of the axis position data of the robot to complete the conversion of the motion signal and the electric signal. After the general encoder processes the electrical signal, it communicates with the corresponding control device through the serial bus.

However, as the number of axes of the robot increases, the feedback harness between the encoder and the control device increases, so that the wiring in the entire system is complicated, which brings inconvenience to the system assembly and connection, and also reduces the reliability of the system, and the string The data transfer of the row bus is slow.

 [Summary of the Invention]

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an encoder, a driver, a controller and a robot for a robot, which can establish communication through a network interface, simplify the wiring design of the robot system, and can improve the rate of data transmission.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the first technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide an encoder for a robot, the encoder including a processing circuit, a network protocol-based control circuit, and a network interface; The input end is configured to be coupled to an external motor, the output end of the processing circuit is coupled to the input end of the control circuit, the output end of the control circuit is coupled to the network interface; and the processing circuit is configured to collect a motion signal of the motor, and processing the motion signal to obtain a processing signal, the control circuit is configured to send the processing signal to the network interface, where the network interface is used to be coupled with an external device to The external device establishes communication.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the second technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide a driver for a robot, the driver comprising a driving circuit and a first network interface, the driving circuit being coupled to the first network interface The first network interface is for coupling with an encoder of any of the present invention.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the third technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide a controller for a robot, the controller includes a control circuit and a network interface, and the control circuit is coupled to the network interface, The network interface is for coupling with an encoder of any of the present invention.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a fourth technical solution adopted by the present invention is to provide a robot including a robot body and a control cabinet, the robot body including at least one motor, at least one signal conversion circuit, and the present invention The encoder is coupled to the signal conversion circuit, the signal conversion circuit is coupled to the encoder; the encoder is further coupled to the control cabinet; the signal a conversion circuit for acquiring motion information of the motor and converting the motion information into a motion signal; the encoder is configured to collect and process the motion signal to obtain a processed signal, and pass the processed signal through a network interface thereof Send to the control cabinet.

The beneficial effects of the present invention are: different from the prior art, the encoder for the robot of the present invention comprises a processing circuit, a network protocol based control circuit and a network interface, the processing circuit is used for collecting the motion signal of the motor and processing the motion signal And the processing signal is obtained, the control circuit is used to send the processing signal to the network interface, and the network interface is used to be coupled with the external device to establish communication with the external device, and communicate with the external device through the network interface, which not only simplifies the wiring design of the robot system. And can increase the rate of data transmission.

 [Description of the Drawings]

1 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of a robot of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the encoder of FIG. 1;

3 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the driver of FIG. 1;

4 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the controller of FIG. 1.

【Detailed ways】

The present invention provides an encoder, a driver, a controller, and a robot for a robot. To clarify and clarify the objects, technical solutions, and technical effects of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below, and the specific details described herein should be understood. The implementation of the invention is intended to be illustrative only and not to limit the invention.

The robot of the present embodiment includes a robot body including a motor, at least one signal conversion circuit, and an encoder.

The motor is coupled to the signal conversion circuit, the signal conversion circuit is coupled to the encoder, and the encoder is coupled to the control cabinet. The signal conversion circuit is configured to acquire motion information of the motor, and convert the motion information into a corresponding motion signal; the encoder is configured to collect and process the motion signal to obtain a processing signal, and send the processing signal to the control cabinet through the network interface, and control The cabinet is used to acquire processing signals and control the motion of the motor based on the processing signals.

Specifically, the encoder includes a processing circuit, a network protocol based control circuit, and a network interface. The input end of the processing circuit is coupled to the signal conversion circuit to collect the motion signal of the motor and process the motion signal to obtain a processing signal; the output end of the processing circuit is coupled to the input end of the control circuit, and the output end of the control circuit is connected to the network The network interface is coupled to the control cabinet to send the processing signal to the control cabinet through the network interface.

In order to clearly illustrate the robot of the above embodiment, please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of a robot according to the present invention.

The robot of the present embodiment includes a robot body 10 and a control cabinet 11, wherein the control cabinet 11 is for supplying a power signal to the robot body 10 and controlling the movement of the robot body 10. The robot body 10 performs a corresponding operation in accordance with the received control command.

In the present embodiment, the robot body 10 includes at least one motor 101, at least one signal conversion circuit 102, and an encoder 103. The control cabinet 11 includes a driver 111 and a controller 112. The driver 111 is configured to couple a power line, such as 220V three-phase power, to obtain a power signal, and drive the corresponding motor 101 to move according to an instruction of the controller 112. The driver 111 has a direct line connection (not shown) to the motor 101 to be driven to drive the corresponding motor 101 to move.

The motor 101 is matched with the number of the signal conversion circuit 102 and coupled. The signal conversion circuit 102 is also coupled to the encoder 103. The encoder 103 is also coupled to the control cabinet 11 to establish communication.

Specifically, the signal conversion circuit 102 is configured to acquire motion information of the motor 101 and convert the motion information into a corresponding motion signal; the encoder 103 is configured to collect and process the motion signal to obtain a processed signal, and pass the processed signal through the network. The interface is sent to the control cabinet 11, which is used to acquire the processing signals and control the motion of the motor 101 in accordance with the processing signals. The motion information includes at least one of position information or speed information of the motor. The encoder 103 obtains a corresponding position coordinate signal or speed signal based on the position information or the speed information to acquire and recognize the specific position coordinates or speed of the motor 101 in real time.

In one of the embodiments, the encoder 103 is coupled to the network interface of the driver 111 of the control cabinet 11 through its network interface, and the driver 111 is coupled to the controller 112 to establish communication, thereby causing the controller 112 to acquire the motor 101. The motion information is controlled, and the motion of the motor 101 is controlled based on the motion information.

In another embodiment, in order to avoid the occurrence of a situation in which the motion information acquired by the controller 112 is erroneous due to a firmware failure of the driver 111, the encoder 103 directly communicates with the controller 112 in the control cabinet 11 through its network interface. Coupling is performed to establish communication such that the controller 112 acquires motion information of the motor 101 and controls the motion of the motor 101 based on the motion information.

It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the number of the motors 101 is not specifically limited, and is designed according to actual conditions, for example, one, three, or six, or the like. The number of the signal conversion circuits 102 is not specifically limited, and is designed according to actual conditions, and may be, for example, one, three, or six or the like. It suffices that the number of motors 101 is matched to the number of signal conversion circuits 102.

In one of the embodiments, the number of the motor 101 and the signal conversion circuit 102 are equal, and each of the motors 101 is provided with a signal conversion circuit 102 and coupled to obtain motion information of the motor 101. In another embodiment, a signal conversion circuit 102 is coupled to the plurality of motors 101 to obtain motion information of the motor 101.

In a practical application scenario, the robot is a six-axis robot, and the robot includes six motors 101, and a signal conversion circuit 102 is correspondingly mounted on each motor 101.

In addition, in order to facilitate the acquisition of the motion information of the motor 101, the robot includes at least one code wheel, and the code wheel is disposed on the motor 101. The code wheel is coupled to the signal conversion circuit 102 to cooperate with the signal conversion circuit 102 to acquire motion information of the motor.

In the prior art, in order to obtain the motion information of each motor 101, it is necessary to set a conventional encoder correspondingly on each motor. As the number of motors 101 increases, the feedback harness of the robot body 10 to the control cabinet 11 also increases. The wiring method is complex and affects the performance of the robot. In addition, the traditional encoder communicates through the serial bus. For example, communication through the RS485 transmission line, the wiring harness is thicker, and the data transmission speed is slower.

In the present embodiment, the robot body 10 and the control cabinet 11 are connected through a network, and a plurality of feedback wires can be replaced by one network cable, and the feedback harness does not change as the number of the motor 101 increases, simplifying The wiring of the system increases reliability and the rate of data transmission over the network is higher.

In a practical application scenario, the signal conversion circuit 102 is separately disposed on the motor 101 to obtain a motion signal corresponding to the motor 101, and the encoder 103 supports multi-channel signal feedback, and can collect and process the motion signals of the plurality of motors 101 to obtain corresponding signals. The electrical signal is sent to the control cabinet 11 via the network interface. Specifically, the encoder 103 includes at least one signal acquisition circuit, each signal acquisition circuit is coupled to the signal conversion circuit 102 to collect a motion signal corresponding to the motor 101, and the collected motion signal is processed and sent to a network protocol. Control circuitry for transmitting data over a network interface coupled to the network protocol based control circuitry.

The control circuit based on the network protocol includes an Ethernet slave control chip, and the specific chip model is one of ET1100, ET1200, IPcore, and LAN9252.

Different from the prior art, the encoder of the robot of the embodiment includes a processing circuit, a control circuit based on a network protocol, and a network interface. The processing circuit is configured to collect a motion signal of the motor, and process the motion signal to obtain a processing signal, and the control circuit uses The processing signal is sent to the network interface, and the network interface is used to be coupled with the external device to establish communication with the external device, and communicate with the external device through the network interface, which not only simplifies the wiring design of the robot system, but also improves the data transmission rate. .

In order to clearly explain the encoder of any of the above embodiments, reference is made to FIG. 2, which is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the encoder of FIG. 1.

The encoder 103 of the present embodiment includes a processing circuit 1031, a network protocol based control circuit 1032, and a network interface 1033.

The network protocol-based control circuit 1032 includes an Ethernet slave control chip, and the specific chip model is one of ET1100, ET1200, IPcore, and LAN9252. The processing circuit 1031 needs to support the network protocol corresponding to the control circuit 1032. In one of these embodiments, the processing circuit 1031 and the network protocol based control circuit 1032 may also be integrated.

The input end of the processing circuit 1031 is coupled to the external signal conversion circuit, the output end of the processing circuit 1031 is coupled to the input end of the control circuit 1032, and the output end of the control circuit 1032 is coupled to the network interface 1033.

Specifically, the processing circuit 1031 is configured to acquire a motion signal of the motor through an external signal conversion circuit, and process the motion signal to obtain a processing signal, the control circuit 1032 is configured to send the processing signal to the network interface 1033, and the network interface 1033 is used to communicate with the external device. Coupled to establish communication with external devices.

Further, the processing circuit 1031 calculates a position coordinate or a speed of the motor based on the motion signal, and the processing signal is at least one of a position coordinate signal or a speed signal of the motor. It should be noted here that both the processing signal and the motion signal are electrical signals corresponding to the motion information of the motor, but the types of the electrical signals are different.

In the present embodiment, the processing circuit 1031 supports multi-channel signal feedback, and can collect and process a plurality of motor motion signals to obtain corresponding electrical signals, and send the electrical signals to the external device through the network interface 1033. Specifically, the processing circuit 1031 includes at least one signal acquisition circuit, each signal acquisition circuit is coupled to a signal conversion circuit disposed on the external motor to collect a motion signal of the corresponding motor, and process the collected motion signal and send the signal. A network protocol based control circuit 1032 is provided to transmit data via a network interface 1033 coupled to the network protocol based control circuit 1032.

In another embodiment, the processing circuit 1031 includes a plurality of signal acquisition circuits, each of which is coupled to a signal conversion circuit disposed on the external motor to acquire a motion signal of the corresponding motor. The number of signal acquisition circuits included in the processing circuit 1031 is not specifically limited, and may be designed according to actual conditions, for example, two, three or six. It is necessary to match the number of motors or the number of signal conversion circuits provided on the external motor.

The encoder 103 of the present embodiment transmits data by using Ethernet instead of the serial bus to transmit data, thereby increasing the rate of data transmission. At the same time, the encoder 103 of the present embodiment supports multi-channel signal feedback, and can collect and process motion signals of a plurality of motors, thereby reducing the feedback harness between the robot body and the control cabinet.

Different from the prior art, the encoder of the embodiment includes a processing circuit, a network protocol-based control circuit, and a network interface. The processing circuit is configured to collect a motion signal of the motor, and process the motion signal to obtain a processing signal, and the control circuit is configured to The processing signal is sent to the network interface, and the network interface is used to be coupled with the external device to establish communication with the external device, and communicate with the external device through the network interface, which not only simplifies the wiring design of the robot system, but also increases the data transmission rate.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of an embodiment of the driver of FIG. 1. The driver 111 of the present embodiment is applied to the robot of any of the above embodiments.

In the present embodiment, the driver 111 includes a first network interface 1111, a driving circuit 1112, and a second network interface 1113. The driving circuit 1112 is coupled to the first network interface 1111 and the second network interface 1113, respectively.

In this embodiment, the first network interface 1111 is configured to be coupled to the encoder of any of the above embodiments. In one embodiment, the driver 111 is connected to the encoder of any of the above embodiments through the Ethernet through the first network interface 1111 to perform data communication through the Ethernet, and can receive multiple feedback signals through one network cable. Not only can the feedback harness be reduced, but the transmission rate can be increased.

In addition, the driver 111 is also coupled to the controller of the robot through the second network interface 1113 to establish communication. The second network interface 1113 also supports an Ethernet communication protocol.

That is, the driver 111 of the present embodiment is respectively connected to the encoder and the controller network of the robot through its network interface, thereby not only reducing the feedback harness between the driver 111 and the encoder, but also increasing the rate of transmission. At the same time, the communication mode of the driver 111 and the external device is unified without having to satisfy two different data communication methods.

Different from the prior art, the driver of the robot of the present embodiment includes a first network interface and a driving circuit, and is coupled to the encoder of any of the above embodiments through a network interface, which not only simplifies the wiring design of the robot system, but also improves data. The rate of transmission.

Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the controller of FIG. 1. The controller 112 of the present embodiment is applied to the robot of any of the above embodiments.

In the present embodiment, the controller 112 includes a network interface 1121 and a control circuit 1122. The network interface 1121 is coupled to the control circuit 1122.

In the present embodiment, the controller 112 is coupled to the encoder of any of the above embodiments through the network interface 1121 to establish communication, so that the control circuit 1122 obtains the feedback signal of the encoder through the network interface 1121. The network interface 1121 supports an Ethernet communication protocol.

Compared with the prior art, the controller 112 of the present embodiment is directly coupled to the encoder network through its network interface 1121, and does not need to be coupled to the encoder through the driver, thereby effectively avoiding obtaining incorrect feedback information due to driver failure. The situation has happened. At the same time, the rate of data transmission can be increased.

Different from the prior art, the controller of the robot of the embodiment includes a control circuit network interface, and the controller is coupled to the encoder of any of the above embodiments through a network interface, which not only simplifies the wiring design of the robot system, but also improves data. The rate of transmission. At the same time, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of erroneous feedback information due to a drive failure.

The above is only the embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the patent protection of the present invention. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made by the description of the present invention and the contents of the drawings may be directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields. The same is included in the scope of patent protection of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1. An encoder for a robot, characterized in that the encoder comprises a processing circuit, a network protocol based control circuit and a network interface;

   An input end of the processing circuit is coupled to an external motor, an output end of the processing circuit is coupled to an input end of the control circuit, and an output end of the control circuit is coupled to the network interface;

   The processing circuit is configured to collect a motion signal of the motor, and process the motion signal to obtain a processing signal, where the control circuit is configured to send the processing signal to the network interface, where the network interface is used to External devices are coupled to establish communication with external devices.
2. The encoder of claim 1 wherein said processing circuit includes at least one signal acquisition circuit, each signal acquisition circuit for acquiring a motion signal of a corresponding motor.
3. The encoder according to claim 2, wherein said processing circuit comprises a plurality of signal acquisition circuits, each signal acquisition circuit for collecting a motion signal of a corresponding motor.
4. The encoder of claim 1 wherein said network protocol based control circuitry comprises an Ethernet slave control chip.
5. The encoder according to claim 4, wherein the model of the Ethernet slave control chip is one of ET1100, ET1200, IPcore, and LAN9252.
6. The encoder according to claim 1, wherein the processing signal is at least one of a position coordinate signal of a motor or a speed signal of a motor.
7. A driver for a robot, characterized in that the driver comprises a drive circuit and a first network interface, the drive circuit being coupled to the first network interface, the first network interface being used in accordance with the claims The encoders of any of 1 to 6 are coupled.
8. The driver according to claim 7, wherein the driver further comprises a second network interface, the second network interface is coupled to the driving circuit, and the second network interface is configured to be coupled to the controller .
9. A controller for a robot, characterized in that the controller comprises a control circuit and a network interface, the control circuit is coupled to the network interface, and the network interface is used in accordance with claim 1 6 Any of the encoders described above are coupled.
10. A robot, comprising: a robot body and a control cabinet, the robot body comprising at least one motor, at least one signal conversion circuit, and the encoder according to any one of claims 1 to 6;

    The motor is coupled to the signal conversion circuit, and the signal conversion circuit is coupled to the encoder; the encoder is further coupled to the control cabinet;

    The signal conversion circuit is configured to acquire motion information of the motor, and convert the motion information into a motion signal;

    The encoder is configured to collect and process the motion signal to obtain a processed signal, and send the processed signal to the control cabinet through its network interface.
11. The robot according to claim 10, wherein said control cabinet comprises a controller and said driver, said controller being coupled to said driver, said controller or said driver being coupled to said encoder network .
12. The robot according to claim 10, wherein the robot further comprises at least one code wheel, the code wheel is disposed on the motor, and the code wheel is coupled to the signal conversion circuit to cooperate with The signal conversion circuit acquires motion information of the motor.