JPH08185212A - Robot controller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a robot controller capable of cooperating with a plurality of robots without providing a controller for each robot [Configuration] The plurality of robots for controlling the plurality of robots Number of robot control programs 32
And a multi-task operation system 51 for simultaneously executing the plurality of robot control programs,
Robot controller 10 characterized by having
0.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot controller for controlling a plurality of robots.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many scenes where robots are used as factory production equipment have been seen. One of the ways in which this robot is used is to install a plurality of robots in one process (stage) and perform work at one time.

Conventionally, in such a case, a plurality of robots are controlled by their respective robot controllers and operate according to the instructions of the respective robot controllers.

When operating a plurality of robots in one process, since a plurality of robots are arranged in a fixed space, it is necessary to operate the plurality of robots without interfering with each other. When another robot interferes with its own operation area and invades each robot controller, the operation of the invading robot or its own robot is stopped to prevent the interference.

In the case of a conventional robot controller, as shown in FIG. 4, robot controllers 11, 12, and 13 are provided for a plurality of robots 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Each robot controller is provided with input / output terminals 21, 22, 2 for creating a robot control program, inputting commands, or monitoring operation status.
3 is attached. As shown in FIG. 5, the inside of the controller has hardware 3 for each robot controller.
At 0, a robot language program 31 and a robot control program (in the figure, simply described as a control program. The same applies hereinafter) 32 are operating. The robot controllers are connected to each other by an I / O line 40 for transmitting / receiving an interlock signal.

[0006] In such a robot controller, in order to prevent interference between robots, an interworking is performed when the robots come to a position where they interfere with each other so that the robots do not interfere with each other during motion teaching of each robot in advance. A robot control program for sending a lock signal to another robot is created for each robot controller, and the I / O line 40 connecting between the robot controllers transmits and receives mutual interlock signals to allow a plurality of robots to operate. I am trying to cooperate.

[0007]

However, in the conventional robot controller, since the plurality of robots have different robot controllers, the operation of each robot is controlled by the robot controller. Therefore, even if a plurality of robots seem to operate in cooperation with each other, each robot is operated by its own robot controller. Therefore, in order to synchronize the robots, there is a problem that after monitoring all the robots, it is necessary to individually teach the operation of each robot and create a robot control program.

Further, network wiring must be performed between a plurality of robot controllers for transmitting and receiving the interlock signal, and the robot control program of the robot, especially the interlock, is taken into consideration in consideration of the signal delay time between the network wirings. There is also a problem in that it is very difficult to determine the timing of signal transmission.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a robot controller capable of cooperating with a plurality of robots without providing a controller for each robot.

[0010]

The present invention for achieving the above object provides a plurality of robot control programs for controlling a plurality of robots, and a plurality of robot control programs. And a multitasking operation system for executing at the same time.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the robot controller has signal transmission means for transmitting and receiving signals between the plurality of robot control programs.

[0012]

According to the present invention configured as described above, by using a multi-task operating system as a robot controller, a robot control program for controlling a plurality of robots can be simultaneously operated on one robot controller. , A plurality of robots are controlled by one robot controller.

Further, in the present invention, by having the signal transmitting means, the signals between the plurality of robot control programs can be transferred inside the controller.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that members having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the robot controller of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the robot controller 100 has a multi-task operating system 51 for controlling a plurality of programs in the hardware 50 at the same time, and the multi-task operating system 51 controls the robot by the number of a plurality of robots. The program 32 (control programs 1, 2, 3) is operating at the same time. Each robot control program 32 exchanges signals with another multi-task operating system by means of a socket 55 (sockets 1, 2 and 3) which is a signal transmission means, between the other robot control programs.

FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the configuration of the entire robot system when this robot controller is applied.
As shown in the figure, a plurality of robots 1, 2, and 3 are connected to one robot controller 100 by a line for transmitting a control signal, and operate in cooperation with each other. The robot controller 100 is provided with an input device such as a keyboard and a touch panel, and an input / output terminal 57 including an output device such as a monitor display and a printer (not shown).

The operation of this robot controller is shown in FIG.
As shown in the flow chart shown in FIG. 1, first, by the command provided by the multitasking operating system 51, each robot control program (control programs 1, 2, and 3, but only the control programs 1 and 2 in the figure are shown). The same is true when there are more control programs.) A socket 55 for transmitting and receiving signals between 32 is created (S10, S20), and a name for identifying this is given to each socket (S11). , S21) In the case of illustration,
Socket 1, socket 2, ... Then, as shown in FIG. 1, each socket 55 is connected to the multi-task operating system 51 (S12, S2).
2), signals are exchanged via the control program 2 in the control program 1 and the socket 55 created in the control program 2 and the control program 1, respectively, and the reading and writing are mutually performed (S13, S23).

In this robot controller, the robot control program of each robot operates independently and simultaneously by the multitasking operating system, and the control of each robot is assigned as one task. The control of each robot can thereby be simultaneously viewed by the output device of one input / output terminal, for example, in a multi-window environment, and the transfer of interlock signals between each robot can be performed between sockets and between tasks. Executed by the communication of. Then, the dimensions of the robot hands, the relative position of each robot, etc. are input in advance through the setting menu, etc., and after the operation teaching of each robot, the paths and speeds of all the operating robots are calculated to check the interference between the robots. Done.

On the monitor display, the operation of each robot is dynamically displayed so that the step of the robot control program currently being executed comes on the same line of the window showing the operation of each robot.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the robot controller, a multi-task operating system was used to execute a robot control program for controlling multiple robots at the same time. Therefore, when operating multiple robots in cooperation, control of multiple robots on one terminal This makes it possible to easily create an operation program.

Further, since the signal transmission means is provided in the controller, wiring for transmitting / receiving the interlock signal is not required, so that it is not necessary to consider the signal delay for this wiring, and the transmission of the interlock signal is eliminated. The time can be set easily. Further, since the wiring for the interlock signal itself is eliminated, it is possible to save the equipment labor and restrain the signal transmission.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to check the interference between robots without an option such as 3D CAD, and it becomes possible to easily monitor the synchronization state of a plurality of robots.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a robot controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a robot system in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the robot controller in the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional robot system.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a conventional robot controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 32 ... Robot control program, 50 ... Hardware, 51 ... Multitask operating system, 55 ... Socket, 100 ... Robot controller.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location G06F 9/46 340 Z G05B 19/18 R (72) Inventor Mitsuhiko Uchida Takaracho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa No. 2 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of robot control programs for controlling a plurality of robots, the number of which is the same as that of the plurality of robots, and a multitask operation system for simultaneously executing the plurality of robot control programs. A characteristic robot controller. 2. The robot controller according to claim 1, further comprising signal transmitting means for transmitting and receiving a signal between the plurality of robot control programs in the robot controller.