WO2021193905A1

WO2021193905A1 - Robot system control method

Info

Publication number: WO2021193905A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/012810
Authority: WO
Inventors: 一志成相; 明紀谷
Original assignee: 川崎重工業株式会社
Priority date: 2020-03-27
Filing date: 2021-03-26
Publication date: 2021-09-30
Also published as: JP2021154444A; JP7490412B2

Abstract

A robot system control method is a method for controlling a robot system 100 comprising: a robot (1) provided with a motor (M) that operates a robot (1), and an operation sensor (OS) that senses the operation state of the robot (1) and outputs operation data Of that corresponds to the sensed operation state; and a robot controller (2) including a first robot controller (3) provided outside of a cloud computing system (5), and a second robot controller (4) configured inside the cloud computing system (5). This control method includes a feedback control step in which the operation of the robot (1) is subjected to feedback control by the robot controller (2) so that the second robot controller (4) acquires the operation data Of from the operation sensor OS and the first robot controller (3) supplies a motor current I controlled by the first robot controller (3) to the motor M.

Description

Robot system control method

Cross-reference to related applications

This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-0575886 filed with the Japan Patent Office on March 27, 2020, and constitutes a part of this application by referring to the whole. To quote.

This disclosure relates to a control method for a robot system.

It is known to incorporate cloud computing into robot systems. For example, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, in a movable robot system, a remote computing device that drives a robot or changes the posture of the robot communicates with a cloud computing service and uses a layout map or the like.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-197411

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, a controller for controlling the operation of the robot is required as in the conventional technology, and in addition, a remote computing device for communicating with the cloud computing system is required, so that the robot system is complicated. ..

This disclosure is made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a robot system capable of simplifying itself and customer control equipment by using a cloud computing system and a control method thereof. The purpose is to do.

In order to achieve the above object, the control method of the robot system according to a certain form (aspect) of the present disclosure is to detect a motor for operating the robot and an operation state of the robot, and operate according to the detected operation state. A robot controller including an operation sensor for outputting data, a first robot controller provided outside the cloud computing system, and a second robot controller configured inside the cloud computing system. A method for controlling a robot system including the above, wherein the second robot controller acquires the motion data from the motion sensor, and the first robot controller transfers a motor current controlled by the first robot controller to the motor. A feedback control step is included in which the operation of the robot is feedback-controlled by the robot controller so as to be supplied.

According to this configuration, a part of the robot controller that feedback-controls the robot operation is configured in the cloud computing system, so that the robot system can be simplified. Also, for the same reason, it becomes possible to build customer control equipment in a cloud computing system. As a result, by constructing the customer control equipment in the cloud computing system, the hardware of the equipment at the customer can be omitted or simplified.

Effect of disclosure

The present disclosure has the effect of being able to provide a robot system capable of simplifying itself and customer control equipment and a control method thereof by using a cloud computing system.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the background of the idea of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an example of a robot system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the control system of the robot system of FIG. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a feedback control unit of the robot realized by the control circuit of the robot controller of FIG. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of the teaching function of the robot realized by the control circuit of the robot system of FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a teaching operation of the teaching function of the robot of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the same or corresponding elements will be designated by the same reference numerals throughout the drawings, and duplicate description thereof will be omitted. Since the following figures are for explaining the present disclosure, elements unrelated to the present disclosure may be omitted. Further, the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments.

(History of the invention)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the background of the idea of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the transition of robot equipment including robots, robot controllers and customer control equipment in chronological order from left to right from the past to the future. In FIG. 1, the robot equipment surrounded by the broken line shows the current robot equipment.

Here, examples of customer control equipment include a welding current control panel in a welding robot, a nut runner control panel in a screw tightening robot, and a control panel for robot peripheral equipment. Examples of the control panel for the robot peripheral equipment include a paint control panel, a vehicle type detection control panel, a fire alarm control panel, a conveyor control panel, and an in-booth air conditioning control panel in a painting robot.

With reference to Fig. 1, the robot equipment has been downsized from the past to the present. At present, the robot controller and the customer control equipment are being converted to PCs (personal computers) toward the near future.

The inventors of the present invention have come up with the idea of promoting the transition of robot equipment up to this point and further simplifying the robot equipment.

First of all, from the flow of transition of robot equipment so far, we came up with the idea of integrating the robot controller and customer control equipment into one personal computer. Furthermore, in anticipation of the future 5G and 6G wireless communication systems, we have come up with the idea of cloud-based personal computers integrated into this one (realizing the functions of personal computers by cloud computing systems). Here, the cloud computing system (also referred to as a cloud computing service) provides, for example, services of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. Infrastructure as a Service provides hardware such as servers and storage. PaaS provides a development environment (platform). SaaS provides software.

This eliminates the need for robot controller hardware for robot manufacturers, and simplifies the robot controller. In addition, the robot equipment can be delivered at an early stage because the robot controller does not need to be manufactured. In addition, the robot equipment can be increased according to the load condition of the robot equipment. Furthermore, it becomes easy to fix bugs in the control software in the robot controller and the customer control equipment.

However, the above idea is an ideal concept, and in fact, in embodying this idea, the present inventors, as explained below, partially use a cloud computing system as a robot controller. Left outside. Therefore, in practice, the hardware of the robot controller is reduced, but not all.

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure conceived in this way will be specifically described below.

(Embodiment)
[Robot motion control]
{composition}
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an example of a robot system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the control method of the robot system 100 according to the present embodiment detects the operating state of the robot 1 and the motor M for operating the robot 1, and outputs the operation data Of corresponding to the detected operating state. It is configured inside the robot 1 provided with the motion sensor OS, the first robot controller 3 provided outside the cloud computing system (hereinafter, may be referred to as “cloud”) 5, and the cloud 5. This is a control method of a robot system 100 including a robot controller 2 including a second robot controller 4, wherein the second robot controller 4 acquires operation data Of from the operation sensor OS and the first robot controller 3 is the first robot controller 3. (1) A feedback control step is included in which the operation of the robot 1 is feedback-controlled by the robot controller 2 so that the motor current I controlled by the robot controller is supplied to the motor M.

This will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the control system of the robot system 100 of FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, the robot system 100 includes at least a robot 1 and a robot controller 2. The robot controller 2 includes a first robot controller 3 and a second robot controller 4. The first robot controller 3 is provided outside the cloud 5, and here, it is provided inside the robot 1. The first robot controller 3 may be provided outside the robot 1. The robot controller 2 is composed of a control panel controller 20 here.

The robot system 100 may further include a teach pendant 51, a peripheral device 52, and an external storage device 53.

<Robot 1>
The robot 1 may be driven by a motor. When roughly classified according to the application, the robot 1 includes an industrial robot, a medical robot, a service robot, and the like. Specifically, examples of the robot 1 include an articulated robot, a parallel link type robot, a right angle coordinate type robot, a polar coordinate type robot, a surgical robot, a disaster robot, a care robot, and a cleaning robot.

Here, the robot 1 is an articulated robot and has an upper arm portion 13, a forearm portion 14, a bending portion 15, and a twisting portion 16. Each of these parts 13 to 16 is connected by a plurality of joints in a predetermined order. Servo motor motors (hereinafter, may be referred to as servo motors M) constituting the motor M are arranged in each joint, and each joint is driven by the corresponding servo motor M, whereby the robot 1 works.

Further, the robot 1 is provided with a position detector E as an operation sensor OS for detecting the operation state of the robot 1. The position detector E detects the position of a predetermined portion of the robot 1. The position detector E is composed of an encoder here. The encoder is provided on the spindle of the servomotor M and detects the rotation angle position of the servomotor M. As the position detector E other than the encoder, for example, an acceleration sensor that detects the position of a predetermined portion of the robot 1 is exemplified.

The motion sensor OS may be any sensor that can detect the motion state of the robot 1. Examples of motion sensors other than the position detector E include a force sensor that detects the force applied by the robot 1 to the work object, an imaging sensor that detects the posture of the robot 1, and the like.

3 to 4 show the configurations of the servomotor M, the position detector E, and the first robot controller 3 for one joint on behalf of all the joints.

<Type of operation control of robot 1>
The type of motion control of the robot 1 may be either a program control type or an operation type. The program-controlled robot operates according to a target (position target is a force target) output from a predetermined motion control program. The operation-type robot operates according to a target (position target is a force target) output from an operator operated by the operator. Hereinafter, the case where the robot 1 is a program control type robot will be mainly described, and the case where the robot 1 is an operation type robot will be described in a form of supplementing the case.

<Cloud 5>
The definition of cloud 5 is as described above. The cloud 5 may be owned by a third party other than the owner of the robot 1, or may be owned by the owner of the robot 1.

<1st robot controller 3>
Here, the first robot controller 3 includes a D / A converter 42, a servo amplifier 43, and a counter 44. The D / A converter 42 converts a digital signal into an analog signal. The servo amplifier 43 includes a power converter 217 (see FIG. 4), and an external power supply 404 (see FIG. 5) is connected to the power converter 217. The servo amplifier 43 controls the alternating current input from the external power supply 404 according to the current command input from the D / A converter 42, and supplies the controlled motor current I to the servomotor M. The counter 44 converts the pulse signal into position (rotation angle position) data by counting the pulse of the pulse signal output from the encoder constituting the position detector E. The counter 44 may be provided on the robot 1 and the counter 44 may be directly connected to the bus 17 without going through the first robot controller 3.

<Robot side communication unit>
As the robot-side communication unit, the robot 1 has a bus 17 and a communication interface 401 (see FIG. 5, not shown in FIG. 3) connected to the bus 17, and has a D / A converter 42 and a counter. 44 is connected to this bus 17. A current command is input from the second robot controller 4 to the D / A converter 42 via the bus 17 and the communication interface 401, and position data is output from the counter 44 to the second robot controller 4.

It should be noted that necessary signals, data, etc. are exchanged between the upper arm portion 13, the forearm portion 14, the bending portion 15, the twisting portion 16, and the second robot controller 4 of the robot 1 via the bus 17 and the communication interface 401. Will be done.

<2nd robot controller 4>
The second robot controller 4 includes a system bus 21. A CPU 22, a ROM 23, a memory interface 24, a function table 26, and a multiplication / division circuit 27 are connected to the system bus 21. A RAM 25 and an external storage device 53 are connected to the memory interface 24.

A servo interface 34 and an input / output interface 28 are further connected to the system bus 21.

The operation panel operation panel 29 and the I / O bus 30 are connected to the input / output interface 28. An input / output circuit 33 is connected to the I / O bus 30. The input / output circuit 33 includes an input circuit 31 and an output circuit 32.

The operation panel operation panel 29 is connected to the teach pendant 51 via the communication interface 405 on the cloud side, which will be described later. The input / output circuit 33 is connected to the peripheral device 52 via the communication interface 405 on the cloud side, which will be described later.

The processing program is stored in the ROM 23. The CPU 22 reads this processing program from the ROM 23 and executes it, and according to the processing program, using the function table 26, the multiplication / division circuit 27, the RAM 25, and the external storage device 53, the feedback control unit 200 of the robot 1 and the feedback control unit 200 shown in FIG. The teaching function (program generation unit) shown in FIG. 5 is realized, and the cooperation control between the robot 1 and the peripheral device 52 is realized via the input / output circuit 33.

The second robot controller 4 needs to include a processor and a memory as components. The CPU 22 is an example of a processor. Examples of processors other than the CPU include MPU, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), and the like. The ROM 23, the RAM 25, and the external storage device 53 constitute this memory.

<Cloud side communication department>
The second robot controller 4 includes a communication interface 405 (see FIG. 5, not shown in FIG. 3) as a cloud-side communication unit. The servo interface 34 exchanges signals, data, and the like necessary for feedback control of the operation of the robot 1 with the robot-side communication unit via the communication interface 405. The operation panel operation panel 29 exchanges signals, data, and the like necessary for teaching the robot 1 with the teach pendant 51 via the communication interface 405. The input / output circuit 33 exchanges required signals, commands, data, and the like with the peripheral device 52 via the communication interface 405. The cloud-side communication unit communicates with the robot-side communication unit via, for example, a network capable of data communication. Examples of networks capable of data communication include the Internet, telephone lines, LANs, WANs, and dedicated lines.

<Teaching input device 403 and peripheral device 52>
The robot system 100 includes a teaching input device 403 (see FIG. 5). The teach pendant 51 is an example of the teaching input device 403. Examples of the teaching input device 403 include a tablet, an information terminal, and the like, in addition to the teach pendant 51.

Examples of peripheral devices include conveyors, vehicle type detection devices, paint supply devices, fire alarms, booth air conditioning equipment, chip grinding machines, and the like.

<Feedback control unit 200>
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the feedback control unit 200 of the robot realized by the control circuit of the robot controller of FIG.

With reference to FIG. 4, the configuration of the feedback control unit 200 itself is widely known, and will be briefly described. The feedback control unit 200 includes a position control unit 201, a speed control unit 202, a current control unit 203, and a power supply unit 204.

The position control unit 201 generates a deviation of the position data Pf with respect to the position target of a predetermined part of the robot 1 input from the host system 301 by the subtractor 211, and amplifies this deviation with the position amplifier 212 to set a speed target. Generate. The position data Pf is generated based on the output of the position detector E as described above.

The speed control unit 202 generates a deviation of the speed data Vf with respect to the speed target input from the position control unit 201 by the subtractor 213, and amplifies this deviation with the speed amplifier 214 to generate a current target. The velocity data Vf is generated by differentiating the position data Pf generated based on the output of the position detector E by a differentiation unit (not shown).

The current control unit 203 generates a deviation of the current data If with respect to the current target input from the speed control unit 202 by the subtractor 215, and amplifies this deviation with the current amplifier 216 to generate a current command. The current data If is generated by the current sensor CS that detects the motor current I output from the power supply unit 204.

The power supply unit 204 controls the alternating current input from the external power supply 404 (see FIG. 5) by the power converter 217 according to the current command input from the current control unit 203, and the controlled current is controlled by the motor current I. Is supplied to the servomotor M of the robot 1.

The first feature of the present embodiment is that the feedback control unit 200 is divided into a plurality of parts in units of each functional unit 201 to 204, and these divided plurality of parts are the work site of the robot 1 (here, here). The first robot controller 3 provided inside the robot 1) and the second robot controller 4 configured inside the cloud 5 are separately arranged, and the portion including the separately arranged portions is included. 1 The robot controller 3 and the second robot controller 4 cooperate to control the operation of the robot 1 by feedback.

In this case, the second robot controller 4 includes at least one functional unit other than the power supply unit 204 in the functional unit groups 201 to 204, and the first robot controller 3 is the second of the functional unit groups 201 to 204. Includes all functional parts other than the functional parts included in the robot controller 4. That is, in the robot controller 2, the second robot controller 4 acquires the motion data Of (Pf or Vf) from the motion sensor (here, the position detector), and the first robot controller 3 is controlled by the first robot controller 3. The motor current I is supplied to the motor M so that the operation of the robot 1 is feedback-controlled. According to this configuration, the first robot controller 3 supplies the motor current I controlled according to the current command to the motor M, and the cloud 5 does not supply the motor current I to the motor M of the robot 1. Therefore, the cloud 5 can be used appropriately.

Here, the first robot controller 3 includes the current control unit 203 and the power supply unit 204, and the second robot controller 4 includes the position control unit 201 and the speed control unit 202. In this case, the position data Pf and the speed data Vf are transmitted from the robot 1 (here, via the first robot controller 3) to the second robot controller 4 via the robot side communication unit and the cloud side communication unit. Further, the current target is transmitted from the second robot controller 4 to the first robot controller 3 via the cloud side communication unit and the robot side communication unit.

When the first robot controller 3 includes at least one of the position control unit 201 and the speed control unit 202, the first robot controller 3 may include a processor and a memory in the control circuit of FIG. 3, for example. ..

Further, the feedback control unit 200 may perform various feedforward controls, other controls, and the like in addition to the feedback control of the robot 1.

<Upper system 301>
The host system 301 is a motion control program for the robot 1 when the type of motion control for the robot 1 is a program control type. This motion control program is generated by a teaching motion for the robot 1 described later, and is stored in, for example, the RAM 25 of the second robot controller 4 or the external storage device 53.

On the other hand, when the operation control type of the robot 1 is an operation type, it is an actuator (not shown) operated by the operator.

<Functions of elements disclosed in this specification>
Here, the functions of the elements disclosed herein include general purpose processors, dedicated processors, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), conventional circuits, and / or general purpose processors configured or programmed to perform the disclosed functions. , A combination thereof, can be performed using a circuit or processing circuit. A processor is considered a processing circuit or circuit because it includes transistors and other circuits. In the present disclosure, "device", "vessel" and "part" are hardware that performs the listed functions or are programmed to perform the listed functions. The hardware may be the hardware disclosed herein, or it may be other known hardware that is programmed or configured to perform the listed functions. When hardware is a processor considered to be a type of circuit, "device", "vessel" and "part" are a combination of hardware and software, and software is used to configure the hardware and / or processor. NS.

{motion}
Next, the control of the robot 1 in the robot system 100 configured as described above will be described.

<When the host system 301 is an operation control program>
In this case, the robot controller 2 (to be exact, the second robot controller 4) has a function of switching the operation mode of the robot 1, and as will be described later, by operating the teaching input device 403, the robot 1 can be contacted. It is possible to switch between a teaching mode in which teaching is performed and an automatic mode (repeat operation mode) in which the robot 1 operates according to an operation control program. Here, first, the operator switches the operation mode of the robot 1 to the automatic mode. Then, the robot 1 operates as follows.

With reference to FIG. 4, the position target of a predetermined part of the robot 1 is sequentially output from the motion control program. Then, the feedback control unit 200 feedback-controls the rotation angle position of the servomotor M of the robot 1 according to this position target, thereby feedback-controlling the operation of the robot 1.

<When the host system 301 is an actuator>
In this case, the position targets of the predetermined parts of the robot 1 are sequentially output from the actuator according to the operation of the actuator by the operator. Then, the feedback control unit 200 feedback-controls the rotation angle position of the servomotor M of the robot 1 according to this position target, thereby feedback-controlling the operation of the robot 1.

<In the case of force control>
The feedback control unit 200 described above is configured to perform position control, but when the feedback control unit 200 performs force control, the position control unit 201 and the speed control unit 202 are control units corresponding to the force control. Replaced by. Since the configuration of the control unit corresponding to this force control is well known, the description thereof will be omitted. The assignment of each control unit to the first robot controller 3 and the second robot controller 4 in the force control and the operation of the feedback control by them are the same as in the case of the position control. Therefore, the description thereof will be omitted.

[Robot teaching]
{composition}
The second feature of the present embodiment is that the teaching to the robot 1 is carried out by the cooperation of the first robot controller 3 and the second robot controller 4.

Hereinafter, this second feature will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an outline of the teaching function of the robot realized by the control circuit of the robot system 100 of FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a teaching operation of the teaching function of the robot of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 5, the robot teaching function (program generation unit) realized by the control circuit of the robot system 100 of FIG. 3 has the above-mentioned robot 1 and the above-mentioned power conversion on the site side where the robot 1 is installed. The device 217, the above-mentioned communication interface 401, and the above-mentioned teaching input device 403 are provided. The power converter 217 is connected to an external power supply 404. The display device 402 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display. The robot 1, the power converter 217, the display device 402, and the teaching input device 403 are connected to the communication interface 401. Here, the power converter 217 is connected to the communication interface 401 via the current control unit 203 as described above.

Further, this teaching function includes the above-mentioned communication interface 405, arithmetic unit 406, and storage device 407 on the cloud side. The arithmetic unit 406 and the storage device 407 are connected to the communication interface 405. As described above, the arithmetic unit 406 is a functional block realized by executing the processing program by the CPU 22 of FIG. 3, and includes the function of the feedback control unit 200 shown in FIG. The storage device 407 includes a RAM 25 and an external storage device 53 in the control circuit of FIG.

The communication interface 401 and the communication interface 405 communicate with each other.

{motion}
Next, the operation of the teaching function configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. When teaching, the operator first operates the teaching input device 403 to switch the operation mode of the robot 1 to the teaching mode.

Referring to FIG. 6, the operator then creates an empty motion control program in the storage device 407 using the teaching input device 403 (step S1). Specifically, the operation of the teaching input device 403 is sequentially input to the arithmetic unit 406 via the two

communication interfaces

401 and 405, and the arithmetic unit 406 sends an empty operation control program to the storage device 407 according to the input. create. Here, the "empty operation control program" means an unfinished operation control program in which numerical values such as predetermined control parameters are blank.

Next, the operator inputs an operation command for the robot 1 to the teaching input device 403 (step S2).

Then, the teaching input device 403 inputs this operation command to the arithmetic unit 406 via the two

communication interfaces

401 and 405. The arithmetic unit 406 operates the robot 1 in accordance with this operation command by performing feedback control using the two

communication interfaces

401 and 405 and the power converter 217, similarly to the feedback control unit 200 of FIG. 4 (step S3). ..

Next, when the robot 1 is positioned at a desired position, the operator instructs the position determination by the teaching input device 403 (step S4).

Then, the arithmetic unit 406 stops the robot 1 and registers the interpolation operation of the robot 1 and the like in the storage device 407 with respect to the stop position of the robot 1 (step S5). Specifically, the arithmetic unit 406 calculates the interpolation operation (linear interpolation or arc interpolation) and speed for the determined position of the robot 1, and stores these together with the position, accuracy, and IO (input / output). Write to the empty motion control program stored in 407.

The operator performs steps S1 to 5 for all the operation steps of the robot 1 until they are completed.

Then, when steps S1 to 5 are completed for all the operation steps of the robot 1, the operator uses the teaching input device 403 to use the operation control program completed by the above writing process as a regular operation control program. Register in the storage device 407 (step S6).

Next, the operator sequentially instructs the check operation using the teaching input device 403 (step S7). Then, the arithmetic unit 406 operates the robot 1 according to the regular operation control program each time the check operation instruction is input. As a result, the operator checks whether or not a problem occurs.

When the check operation is completed, the operator instructs the repeat operation using the teaching input device 403 (step S8). Then, the arithmetic unit 406 operates the robot 1 according to the regular motion control program. The repeat operation is the same operation mode as the automatic mode.

While steps S1 to S8 are performed, the arithmetic unit 406 causes the display device 402 to perform the required display for the operator.

With the above, the teaching operation for the robot 1 is completed.

[5G and 6G wireless communication systems]
In the present embodiment, the operation of the robot 1 is feedback-controlled while the data used for feedback control is communicated by the robot-side communication unit and the cloud-side communication unit. Therefore, if the data communication speed is slow, the operation of the robot 1 may not be properly controlled. However, when the wireless communication system becomes 5G and further 6G is realized, the operation of the robot 1 can be appropriately controlled.

[effect]
In the present embodiment, since the second robot controller 4 which is a part of the robot controller 2 is configured in the cloud 5, the hardware of the second robot controller 4 becomes unnecessary for the robot maker, and the robot controller 2 can be simplified. Can be planned. In addition, the robot equipment can be delivered at an early stage because the second robot controller 4 does not need to be manufactured. In addition, the robot equipment can be increased according to the load condition of the robot equipment.

Furthermore, by storing the control software in the customer control equipment in the cloud 5, it becomes easy to correct bugs in the control software in the robot controller 2 and the customer control equipment. The reason is as follows. It is necessary to fix bugs in the control software at the site where the robot equipment is installed. However, if the control software is stored in the cloud, the robot controller at each site and the control software are connected by a network capable of data communication, so the robot manufacturer accesses the cloud from its own company and stores it in the cloud. This is because if a bug is fixed in the control software and the software is updated, the updated control software will be distributed to the installation site of each robot equipment via the cloud as a result. ..

(Other embodiments)
In the above embodiment, the feedback control unit 200 may perform only speed control without performing position control. Specifically, in this case, in FIG. 4, in the feedback control unit 200, the position control unit 201 is omitted, and the speed target is input to the speed control unit 202 from the host system 301. Other configurations are the same as those in the above embodiment. As such an embodiment, an embodiment in which only the speed of a rotating body rotating around the rotation axis is feedback-controlled is exemplified.

From the above description, many improvements and other embodiments are clear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the above description should be construed as an example only.

(Action and effect according to the embodiment)
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the control method of the robot system 100 is a communication step in which the operation data Of is transmitted from the robot 1 to the second robot controller 4 via the communication systems 01 and 405. And a communication step of transmitting control data (position target, speed target, current target) used for feedback control from the second robot controller 4 to the first robot controller 3 may be included.

According to this configuration, specifically, the operation data Of is transmitted from the robot 1 to the second robot controller 4, and the control data (position target, speed target, current target, current command) used for feedback control is second. It can be transmitted from the robot controller 4 to the first robot controller 2.

Further, the control method of the robot system 100 further includes a step of inputting an operation target (position target, speed target, current target) which is a target value of the operation data Of from the host system 301 to the robot controller 2, and the feedback control includes feedback control. It may be executed based on the operation target and the operation data Of.

According to this configuration, the feedback control is executed based on the operation target and the operation data Of input from the host system 301 to the robot controller 2.

Further, the feedback control step performs the position control step (201), the speed control step (202), the current control step (03), and the power supply step (204) by the first and

second robot controllers

3 and 4, respectively. The second robot controller 4 executes at least one functional process other than the power supply process in the functional process group, and the first robot controller 3 includes a functional process group included as a functional process for executing the feedback control. All functional processes other than the functional process performed by the second robot controller 4 in the functional process group are executed, and in the position control process, the position target and motion sensor OS of a predetermined part of the robot 1 input from the host system 301 are executed. A speed target is generated based on the operation data Of output by the robot, a current target is generated based on the speed target and the operation data Of in the speed control process, and a current command is generated based on at least the current target in the current control process. Is generated, and in the power supply process, the motor current I controlled according to the current command may be supplied to the motor M.

According to this configuration, specifically, the first robot controller 3, the second robot controller, and 4 can cooperate to control the operation of the robot 1 by feedback control by position control. Moreover, since the first robot controller 3 supplies the motor current I controlled according to the current command to the motor M and does not supply the motor current I from the cloud computing system 5 to the motor M of the robot 1, the cloud computing The ing system 5 can be used appropriately.

Further, the first robot controller 3 may include a current sensor CS that detects the motor current I, and in the current control process, a current target may be generated based on the current target and the motor current If detected by the current sensor CS. ..

According to this configuration, the motor current I can be feedback-controlled.

Further, the motion sensor OS is a position sensor that detects the position of a predetermined portion of the robot 1 in the operating state of the robot 1 and outputs the position data Pf corresponding to the position of the detected predetermined portion as the motion data Of, and is a speed sensor. The operation data Of used in the control step may be the velocity data Vf obtained by time-differentiating the position data Pf.

According to this configuration, it is only necessary to provide a position sensor as the motion sensor OS.

Further, the host system 301 may be an operation control program of the robot 1 for outputting an operation target (position target, speed target, current target).

According to this configuration, the robot 1 can be program-controlled.

Further, a program generation step (FIG. 6) of generating an operation control program by using the teaching input device 403 for teaching the operation to the robot 1 may be further included.

According to this configuration, teaching to the robot 1 can be performed using the cloud computing system 5.

Further, the host system 301 may be an actuator for operating the robot 1 that generates an operation target according to the operation of the operator.

According to this configuration, the robot 1 can be operated by an actuator.

Further, the motion sensor OS is a force sensor that detects the acting force of the robot on the work target in the operating state of the robot 1 and outputs force data corresponding to the detected acting force as motion data Of, and is a feedback control step. However, the robot 1 is configured so that the second robot controller 4 acquires the force data from the force sensor and the first robot controller 3 supplies the motor current I controlled by the first robot controller 3 to the motor M. It may be a step of feedback-controlling the operation by the robot controller 2.

According to this configuration, force control can be performed.

The robot system and its control method of the present disclosure are useful as a robot system and its control method capable of simplifying itself and customer control equipment by using a cloud computing system.

1 Robot 2 Robot controller 3 1st robot controller 4 2nd robot controller 5 Cloud 17 Bus 20 Control panel controller 21 System bus 22 CPU
23 ROM
24 memory interface 25 RAM
26 Function table 27 Multiplication / division circuit 28 Input / output interface 29 Operation panel Operation panel 30 I / O bus 31 Input circuit 32 Output circuit 33 Input / output circuit 34 Servo interface 42 D / A converter 43 Servo amplifier 44 Counter 51 Teach pendant 52 Peripheral Device 53 External storage device 100 Robot system 200 Feedback control unit 201 Position control unit 202 Speed control unit 203 Current control unit 204 Power supply unit 217 Power converter 301 Upper system 401 Communication interface 402 Display device 403 Teaching input device 404 External power supply 405 Communication interface 406 Computing device 407 Storage device CS Current sensor E Position detector If Current data M Motor (servo motor)
Of Operation data Pf Position data Vf Velocity data

Claims

The robot including a motor for operating the robot and an operation sensor that detects the operation state of the robot and outputs operation data according to the detected operation state.
A method for controlling a robot system including a first robot controller provided outside the cloud computing system and a robot controller including a second robot controller configured inside the cloud computing system.
The operation of the robot is performed by the second robot controller acquiring the operation data from the operation sensor and supplying the motor current controlled by the first robot controller to the motor. A control method for a robot system, which includes a feedback control process in which feedback is controlled by a robot controller.
A communication step of transmitting the operation data from the robot to the second robot controller via a communication system, and a communication step of transmitting control data used for the feedback control from the second robot controller to the first robot controller. , The method for controlling a robot system according to claim 1.
Further including a step of inputting an operation target, which is a target value of the operation data, from the host system to the robot controller.
The method for controlling a robot system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the feedback control is performed based on the motion target and the motion data.
A functional process group in which the feedback control process includes a position control process, a speed control process, a current control process, and a power supply process as functional processes for performing the feedback control by the first and second robot controllers, respectively. Including
The second robot controller executes at least one functional process other than the power supply process in the functional process group.
The first robot controller executes all functional steps other than the functional steps performed by the second robot controller in the functional process group.
In the position control step, a speed target is generated based on the position target of a predetermined part of the robot input from the higher-level system and the motion data output by the motion sensor.
In the speed control step, a current target is generated based on the speed target and the operation data.
In the current control process, a current command is generated based on at least the current target.
The method for controlling a robot system according to claim 3, wherein in the power supply process, a motor current controlled according to the current command is supplied to the motor.
The first robot controller includes a current sensor that detects the motor current.
The method for controlling a robot system according to claim 4, wherein in the current control step, the current command is generated based on the current target and the motor current detected by the current sensor.
The motion sensor is a position sensor that detects the position of the predetermined portion of the robot in the operating state of the robot and outputs position data corresponding to the detected position of the predetermined portion as the motion data.
The control method for a robot system according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the motion data used in the speed control step is speed data obtained by time-differentiating the position data.
The robot system control method according to claim 3 to 6, wherein the higher-level system is an operation control program for the robot for outputting the operation target.
The control method for a robot system according to claim 7, further comprising a program generation step of generating the motion control program using a teaching input device for teaching the robot motion.
The method for controlling a robot system according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the higher-level system is an operator for operating the robot, which generates the operation target in response to an operation of the operator.
The motion sensor is a force sensor that detects the acting force of the robot on the work object in the operating state of the robot and outputs force data corresponding to the detected acting force as the motion data.
In the feedback control step, the second robot controller acquires the force data from the force sensor, and the first robot controller supplies the motor current controlled by the first robot controller to the motor. The method for controlling a robot system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is a step of feedback-controlling the operation of the robot by the robot controller.
The robot including a motor for operating the robot and an operation sensor that detects the operation state of the robot and outputs operation data according to the detected operation state.
It is equipped with a first robot controller installed outside the cloud computing system.
The first robot controller and the second robot controller configured inside the cloud computing system constitute a robot controller.
The second robot controller acquires the motion data from the motion sensor, and the first robot controller supplies the motor current controlled by the first robot controller to the motor, so that the robot controller controls the robot. A robot system that is configured to provide feedback control over the movement of a robot.