JPH03250306A - Robot controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evade a contact caused between robots in a teaching state by preventing the actions of a designated robot when it is judged that this designated robot is identical to a robot shared by another working robot. CONSTITUTION:A 1st memory 14 stores a shared robot which shares an interference area to plural robots 1 - 4. Then the designation means 11 and 12 are added to designate the robots to be actuated together with a robot control means 10 which controls the designated robots, a 2nd memory 16 which stores the working robots, and an action control means 13 which outputs an action inhibiting signal to prevent the action of a newly designated robot when it is judged that the newly designated robot is identical with the shared robot already stored and then outputs an action grant signal when the designated robot is not identical with the shared robot. In such a constitution, a contact accident caused between robots can be prevented when the teaching operations are applied to plural robots at one time.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention prevents the operation of a robot whose operation may interfere with a robot that is already in operation when teaching multiple robots at the same time. The present invention relates to a robot control device that prevents collision accidents between robots.

(Conventional technology) With the advancement of automation technology throughout the year, various production factories, etc.
Robots are used for a wide variety of purposes.

Conventionally, a large number of tasks may be automated using a plurality of robots, and for example, the robots may be arranged as shown in FIG.

The figure shows a system in which four robots, the 10th bot 1, the 20th bot 2, the 30th bot 3, and the 40th bot 4, are placed close together to automate a plurality of tasks. The operation of each robot is controlled by a control device (not shown).

In such a system, each robot is placed close to each other depending on one work operation, so that each robot is within its operating range (indicated by a dashed line) as shown in the figure. , interference regions (indicated by diagonal lines) in which the operating ranges overlap may be formed.

In this interference area, there is a risk that robots sharing this interference area may come into contact with each other during operation, causing damage to each robot. When these robots are operated automatically, there is a method to control each robot so that they do not interfere with each other based on the preset movements of each robot+, and this prevents accidents such as contact between robots. There was a control device to control the prevention.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, shooting robots require a so-called teaching operation in which work movements are taught in advance, and conventionally, while performing this teaching,
There was nothing to prevent robots from interfering with each other.

This is because the robot's movement is set by teaching, so as in the past, the movement area that interferes with the movement is determined based on the preset movement, and if a robot has already entered this movement area, other robots may In the method of preventing robot motion, when teaching is to set the robot's motion, that is, when teaching without a motion area set, the motion of each robot is controlled so that the robots do not interfere with each other. Because I couldn't.

Therefore, during teaching, the operator visually inspects the robots to prevent interference between the robots. However, in order to improve work efficiency, when multiple operators perform teaching work at the same time, each operator must Since the operator cannot predict the behavior of the robot being taught, there is a risk that multiple robots may enter the same interference area and come into contact with each other, resulting in damage.

Also, if the operator makes a mistake or misunderstands the operation of the teach pendant for teaching,
There was also a risk that the robots would malfunction and that the robots would come into contact with each other in the same interference area and be damaged.

The present invention has been made to solve these conventional problems, and when teaching multiple robots at the same time, the operation of the robot may interfere with the operation of a robot that is already in operation. The present invention aims to provide a robot control device that prevents robots from colliding with each other during teaching.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a shared robot that shares an interference area for each of a plurality of robots arranged so that interference areas with overlapping motion ranges are formed. a first storage means for storing robots; a designation means for designating a robot to be operated from among the plurality of robots; and a robot control means for controlling the robot designated by the designation means;
A second storage means for storing robots designated by the designation means and already in operation, and whether the robot is a designated robot newly designated by the designation means or a shared robot among the robots already stored in the second storage means. If it is determined that the specified robot is a shared robot, an operation disallowance signal is output to the robot control means to prevent the operation of the specified robot. In this case, the robot controller is characterized by comprising operation control means for outputting an operation permission signal for permitting the operation of the designated robot to the robot control means and for storing the designated robot in the second storage means.

(Function) The present invention configured as described above functions as follows.

When an operator teaches one of the robots, the operator specifies the mouth hot to be activated by the specifying means.

Then, the operation control means determines based on the first storage means whether or not the designated robot thus designated is a robot already stored in the second storage means, that is, a shared robot of the robots that are already in operation. Make a judgment.

If the operation control means determines that the designated robot is a shared robot of any of the robots that are already in operation, the operation control means outputs an operation disallowance signal to the robot control means to prevent the designated robot from operating. This prevents robots from interfering with each other.

On the other hand, if the operation control means determines that the specified robot is not a shared robot of any of the robots already in operation, the operation control means outputs an operation permission signal to the robot control means;
Allow the designated robot to operate. At the same time, the operation control means stores in the second storage means that the designated robot is in operation, and if there is a newly designated robot, it also determines the possibility of interference with this designated robot.

Therefore, when teaching multiple robots at the same time, even if the operator or arbitrarily specifies the robot to be taught, there is a risk that the robot will share the interference area with the robot that is already in the teaching operation, that is, if they operate at the same time, there is a risk of interference. Since the robots are either activated or blocked, there is no possibility of robots coming into contact with each other during teaching.

In addition, since there is no risk of the robots coming into contact with each other, the operator does not have to pay attention to the movements of the robot being taught or the surrounding situation, as in the past, so the teaching work can be carried out more efficiently. can.

(Example) Below, a robot control device according to the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a robot control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of contents stored in the first memory shown in FIG. be. Further, FIG. 3 shows an operation flowchart of the control device, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment. The robot control device described here is exemplified as one that controls four robots in a conventional system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the robot control device according to the present invention is equipped with a robot control section 10 that comprehensively controls the operations of the four robots.

A 10th bot 1, a 20th bot 2, a 30th bot 3, and a 40th bot 4 arranged as in the conventional case (as shown in FIG. 5) are connected to the robot control unit 10, respectively. The operation of each robot is controlled by a robot control section 10.

The robot control unit 10 also includes a first teach pendant (hereinafter referred to as the first pendant) 11 and a second teach pendant as the specifying means used when teaching these robots. (hereinafter referred to as the second pendant) 12 are connected. These pendants are the same and are equipped with six types of switches that are operated by the operator when performing teaching work, so that two robots can be taught at the same time.

Each pendant 1-11, 12 has a JOG mode in which the robot is operated manually by an operator, and a PB mode in which the memorized operation is automatically performed, as in the conventional general pendant. A mode switch, a manual switch for manually operating the drive motor that drives each movable member of the robot in JOG mode, and a memory switch for memorizing the position of the gap where the movable member is positioned by this switch. The robot is equipped with operation switches and the like, and the operator can teach each robot by operating these switches.

Further, each pendant 11, 12 is provided with a designation switch for the operator to designate the robot to be taught. This designated switch is, for example,
It is composed of a so-called numeric keypad, and is designed to output designation values for specifying each robot to the robot control section 10. For example, when specifying the 10th bot 1, enter "1", when specifying the 20th bot 2, enter "2", and when specifying the 30th bot 3, enter "3".
” specifies the 40th bot 4, “4” is output to the robot control unit 10, respectively.

Then, the robot control unit 1 manually inputs these designated signals.
0 outputs this designation signal to the operation control section 13, which determines whether or not the designated robot can be operated.

This operation control section 13 includes each robot 1.0 operated by the robot control section 10. 2. 3.4, a first memory 14 is connected that stores shared robots that share the interference area.

As shown in FIG.
And for the 20th bot 2, the 10th bot 1 and the 40th bot 4. Furthermore, the 30th bot 1
For the 40th bot, it is the 10th bot 1, and for the 40th bot 4, it is the 20th bot 2. In other words, these robots may interfere with each other if they are operated at the same time when other robots are in operation.

These shared robots are converted into data and stored in the first memory 14 as shown in FIG. 1 to 4 at the left end and -left end of the figure indicate respective robots corresponding to the designated signals. In addition, “
"1" indicates that each robot shown at the top end is a shared robot with respect to each robot shown at the left end, and "0" indicates that it is not a shared robot. In this embodiment, if the robots shown at the top end are the same as the robots shown at the left end, that is, if the robots are the same as the robots that are already in operation, one robot is taught using a different pendant. Since it is not possible to do so, it is a shared robot.

Furthermore, the operation control unit 13 stores such data in the first
A data human-powered device 15 for setting in the memory 14 is connected, and the data human-powered device 15 allows the operator to arbitrarily set shared robots for each robot according to the robot arrangement situation. ing. Note that this data manual device 15 may be built into the pendant 11, 12, or data input to the first memory 14 may be performed by an external control device or the like.

Further, a second memory 16 is connected to the operation control section 13 . This second memory 16 contains pendants 11.12
A robot that is designated by the designated switch, is determined by the operation control unit 13 to be activated, and is already in a teaching operation is stored.

Then, when the operation control unit 13 manually inputs the designated signal, the robot corresponding to this designated signal, that is, the robot that is about to perform a teaching operation, moves to its second position.
Based on the data in the first memory 14, it is determined whether or not the robot stored in the memory 16 corresponds to a co-G robot of a robot already in a teaching operation.

Furthermore, based on this judgment, the operation control unit 13 determines whether the designated robot is a robot that is already in operation (if it is determined that the robot is a mouthed bot, an inactivation function that prevents the operation of the designated robot is activated). Robot control unit 1
0 and controls to prevent the specified robot from operating regardless of the operation of the pendants 11 and 12.

On the other hand, if the operation control unit 13 determines that the specified robot is not a shared robot, it outputs an operation permission signal to the robot control unit 10 to permit the operation of the specified robot, and controls the operation of the pendants 11 and 12. Control the movement of the specified robot according to the specified robot. In this case, the operation control unit 13 stores the designated robot in the second memory 16, and based on this, determines whether or not the next designated robot can be operated. .

The robot control device of the present invention configured as described above operates based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

The operation control unit 13 waits until the operator designates a new robot to be taught using one of the pendants 11]2 (step 1).

Then, when the operator specifies a robot to be taught using one of the pendants and inputs a specified signal output from the pendant, the operation control unit 13 stores one of the robots in the second memory 16. It is determined whether there is a robot that is already in teaching operation (Step 2).
).

If neither robot is stored in the second memory 16, the operation control unit 13 determines that there is no risk of the robots interfering with each other, proceeds to step 5, and stores any robot in the second memory 16. If the robot is stored, search the data set in the first memory 14,
It is checked whether the designated robot is set as a white robot for each of the robots stored in the second memory 16 (step 3).

As a result, the operation control unit 13 controls whether the specified robot or any robot stored in the second memory 16 is set as a shared robot in the data of the first memory 14. In step 4), it is determined that the robot that is already in operation corresponds to a shared robot, and an operation disallowance signal is output to the robot control unit 10 to prevent the operation of the designated robot, and the pendant 11.12 control to prevent the specified robot from moving regardless of the operation (Step 5)
.

On the other hand, if the designated robot is not set in the data of the first memory 14 as a shared robot of any of the robots stored in the second memory 16, the robot controller 13 , outputs an operation permission signal that permits operation of the specified robot, and controls the operation of the specified robot in accordance with the operation of the pendant operated by the operator. At the same time, the operation control section 1
3 stores this newly designated robot in the second memory 16.
(Step 6).

Here, for example, the first pendant]
A specific example will be explained by taking as an example a case where an attempt is made to teach the tenth hot 1 using the second pendant 12 when the zero bot 2 is in the teaching operation.

First, when the operator designates the 10th bot with the designation switch on the second pendant 12, the operation control unit 13 receives a designation signal, ie, “1”, which designates the 10th bot 1 via the robot control unit 1o. be done.

Then, the operation control unit 13 that receives this designation signal determines whether or not a robot that is already in operation is stored in the second memory 16. Here, since the 20th bot 2 is already being taught by the first pendant 11, the 20th bot 2 is stored in the first memory 16, and the operation control unit 13 is configured to teach the specified 10th bot 2. 1
Whether or not this corresponds to the coexisting robot of the 20th bot 2 is determined based on the data in the first memory 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shared robots of the 20th bot 2 are the 10th bot 1, the 20th hot 2, and the 40th bot 4. This corresponds to the robot a of the 20th bot 2 which is in operation, and it is determined that it can only be operated.

As a result, the operation control section 13 outputs an operation disallowance signal to the robot control section 10.

The robot control unit 10, which has received this operation disallowance signal, performs control to prevent the specified tenth bot 1 from operating, regardless of the operation of the pendant 12.

In this way, in a system where multiple robots can be taught at the same time, even if the operator arbitrarily specifies the robot to be taught, this robot
If the robot shares an interference area with a robot that is already in teaching operation, and there is a risk of interference if the robot operates at the same time, that robot's operation will be blocked, so there is a risk of a contact accident between the robots during teaching. This will no longer happen.

In addition, since there is no risk of the robots coming into contact with each other during teaching, the operator does not have to pay attention to the movements of the robot being taught or the surrounding circumstances, as in the past, so the teaching work can be carried out more efficiently. be able to.

Furthermore, the robot control device of the present invention is not limited to the system described above, but can also be applied to a system as shown in FIG.

In the figure, respective robots 1, 2, .
A 10th pot control device 20, a 20th pot control device 21, a 30th pot control device 22, and a 40th pot control device 23 are provided, which individually control the pot control devices 3.4, and a first pendant corresponding to these control devices. 24, 2nd pendant 2
5, a system is shown in which a third pendant 26 and a fourth pendant 27 are provided, each robot being taught by its dedicated robot controller and pendant.

In this case, if the teaching mode is set using the corresponding pendant, each robot control device may, for example, switch the JO mode using the aforementioned mode switch.
When the G mode is specified, a request signal requesting the operation of the corresponding robot is output to the operation control section 13.

As a result, the operation control unit 13 can determine which robot is designated by manually inputting this request signal, and similarly to the above embodiment, the operation control unit 13 corresponds to the robot control device to which this request signal was output. The second robot
Based on the first memory 14, it is determined whether the robot stored in the memory 16 corresponds to a shared robot of a robot already in a teaching operation.

Then, based on the judgment, the operation control unit 13 outputs the request signal or Since the operation disallow signal -l is output to the robot control device that has been set, and prevents the robot from operating, even if the operator attempts to teach any robot using each pendant, this robot may have already performed the teaching operation. If a robot is likely to interfere with an inner robot if it operates at the same time, the operation of that robot can be prevented, and the robots will not come into contact with each other during teaching.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the present invention has the following effects.

When the operator teaches any robot, when the operator specifies the robot to be operated by the specifying means, the operation control means specifies that the specified designated robot can be used as the designated robot that is already in operation, which is stored in the second storage means. It is determined whether the robot is a shared robot or not based on the first storage means, and when it is determined that the designated robot is a shared robot, an operation disallowance signal is output to the robot control means, so that teaching is not performed. Sometimes, even if the operator arbitrarily specifies the robot to be taught, the specified robot or the robot that is already in the teaching operation may share an interference area and may interfere with the robot if they operate at the same time. In some cases, the operation of the specified robot is prevented, thereby preventing robots from colliding with each other during teaching.

Furthermore, since there is no risk of the robots coming into contact with each other during teaching, the operator no longer has to pay attention to the movements of the robot being taught or the surrounding conditions, as in the past, and the teaching work can be carried out more efficiently. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a robot control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of the contents stored in the first memory shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional control device for a mouthbot. 1... 10th hot, 2... 20th bottom, 3...
- 30th hot, 4... 40th bottom, 10... robot control unit (robot control means), 11... first teach pendant (specifying means), 12... second teach pendant ( (specifying means), 13... operation control unit (operation control means), 14... first memory (first storage means)
, 16... second memory (second storage means), 20...
10th robot control device (robot control means), 21...
・20th robot control device (robot control means), 22・
...30th robot control device (robot control means), 23
...40th robot control device (robot control means) 24
...1st Teach Pentant (Designation Means), 25...
- Second teach pendant (specifying means), 26... third teach pendant (specifying means), 27... fourth teach pendant (specifying means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] First storage means for storing shared robots that share an interference area for each of a plurality of robots arranged so that interference areas with overlapping motion ranges are formed, and the plurality of robots a specifying means for specifying a robot to be activated, a robot control means for controlling the robot specified by the specifying means, a second storage means for storing a robot specified by the specifying means and already in an operating state; The designated robot newly designated by the means is the second designated robot.
Determining whether or not the robot already stored in the storage means is a shared robot based on the first storage means, and if it is determined that the robot is a shared robot, causing the robot control means to prevent the designated robot from operating. Operation control means that outputs an operation disallowance signal, and outputs an operation permission signal that allows operation of the designated robot to the robot control means when it is determined that the robot is not a shared robot, and stores the designated robot in the second storage means. A robot control device comprising: