JPH11143512A - Control device for modular manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a control device for a modular manipulator capable of inputting a connection state of a manipulator by a simple method. In a control device for a modular manipulator composed of a plurality of modules that can be connected and recombined, an input device (2) for inputting a type of modules constituting the manipulator (7) and a connection order of the plurality of modules; A storage device 4 in which shape information is registered in advance, and a kinematic calculation formula of a manipulator is calculated from input information to the input device 2 and shape information registered in the storage device 4, and the kinematic calculation formula is calculated. Means for controlling the position and orientation of the distal end portion of the manipulator based on the control information. According to this means, since only the module type and the connection order need to be input for the module configuration of the manipulator, there is no need to input numerical parameters.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a control device for a modular manipulator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional controller for a modular manipulator is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-85125. This is a control device of a modular manipulator which is constituted by a module which can be connected and recombined and has a hand at a tip, a hand position / posture target value generating section for outputting a target value of the position / posture of the hand, and a position of the hand. A hand position / posture calculation unit for outputting a posture, and a joint target value calculation for outputting a joint target value of each module based on a difference between outputs of the hand position / posture target value generation unit and the hand position / posture calculation unit A joint drive mechanism for driving each joint so as to correspond to the output of the joint target value calculation unit;
A connection state input device that inputs a connection state of a joint of each module, and a hand calculation selection unit that selects and instructs the hand position / posture calculation unit to select a hand position / posture calculation method according to an output from the connection state input device; A joint calculation selecting unit for selecting and instructing the joint target value calculating unit to calculate a target value of each joint of the manipulator from the position / posture data of the hand in accordance with an output from the connection state input device. In this conventional control device, when outputting the joint drive mechanism and its connection state to the control device, the type of the joint, the link length of the connection, and the connection angle are specified.

[0003]

However, in the conventional apparatus, when inputting the connection state of each module, it must be input together with a plurality of parameters such as the link length of the module and the oblique turning angle, which is complicated. There was a problem that input work was required. In this case, parameter input is required for each connection. Therefore, even when a plurality of modules of the same type are used, parameter input is required by the number of connections, and a complicated input operation must be repeated many times. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a control device for a modular manipulator that can input a connection state of a manipulator by a simple method.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a control device for a modular manipulator comprising a plurality of modules which can be connected and recombined. An input device for inputting the module connection order, a storage device for pre-registering the shape information of each module, and a kinematics calculation formula of the manipulator from the input information to the input device and the shape information registered in the storage device. And means for controlling the position and orientation of the distal end of the manipulator based on the kinematics calculation formula. According to the above-described means, only the module type and the connection order need to be input with respect to the module configuration of the manipulator, so there is no need to input numerical parameters.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a combination of modular manipulators in the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram relating to module shape information. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a controller for a modular manipulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, 2 denotes a module connection input device, 3, 3 ′ denotes an input text in a module connection state, 4 denotes a module information storage device, and 5 denotes a kinematics operation. An expression calculation unit, 6 is a manipulator control unit, and 7, 7 'are manipulators. In FIG.
The control device 1 for a modular manipulator includes a module connection input device 2 and a module information storage device 4. The module connection state of the manipulator 7 to be controlled is input to the module connection input device as the input text 3 as the type of module and the connection order. In input text 3, baseA, jointA, li
The name such as nkA indicates the type of module, and the accompanying number indicates the order of connection. This input information is sent to the kinematics calculation formula calculation unit 5. On the other hand, the module information storage device 3 registers the shape information on each module together with the input module name. Kinematics calculator 5
Refers to the module shape information for the input module name, and calculates the kinematic formula of the manipulator from the connection order. The kinematics calculation formula is a calculation formula for calculating the position and orientation of the manipulator end effector unit from the joint angle of the manipulator. The manipulator control unit 6 in the control device controls the position and the posture of the end effector of the manipulator 7 based on the calculated kinematic formula.

Hereinafter, each element of the control device 1 will be described in detail. First, the relationship between the module configuration of the manipulator 7 and the input text 3 will be described. In FIG. 1, the input text 3 represents a module connection state of the manipulator 7. The manipulator 7 is basically composed of baseA, jointB, linkA, join
t (1), linkB, jointA (2), endA
Are connected in this order. Here, jointB, joi
ntA (1) and jointA (2) are joint modules having a rotation drive mechanism, baseA, linkA, link
B is a link module without a joint drive mechanism, end
A is an end effector module. The connection of each module is determined in one way by mechanical fitting. For example, one connection is established for connecting jointB and linkA in the order of “jointB → linkA”. Therefore, the manipulator 7 constituted by these modules can specify the module connection state of the manipulator by indicating the type of module and the order of connection as in the input text 3. FIG. 2 shows a manipulator 7 'in which module connection is separately rearranged and an input text 3' corresponding thereto. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the modular manipulator, the axis configuration of the manipulator can be variously changed by rearranging a common module.

Next, a method of calculating the shape information of the module and the kinematics calculation formula will be described. The module shape information is registered in the module information storage device 4 in advance.
This shape information may be information necessary for calculating the kinematics calculation formula. One method is to register link length and rotation angle information as a homogeneous transformation matrix. The homogeneous transformation matrix is a 4 × 4 matrix, and is composed of a 3 × 3 matrix R representing a posture and a three-dimensional vector p representing a position.

(Equation 1) It expresses. Using this technique, b shown in FIG. 1 or FIG.
The homogeneous transformation matrices of caseB, linkC, jointA and each module are as follows.

(Equation 2) However, as shown in FIG. 3, a coordinate system is set for each of the base and tip connection sites of each module, and a homogeneous transformation matrix from tip coordinates to base coordinates is represented. l,
d, a, and b represent the link length, and θ of jointA represents the rotational displacement of the driving joint. Here, when connecting the modules, each coordinate system is set such that the leading coordinate system of the front module in the connection order matches the base coordinate system of the rear module.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, when the module connection state of the manipulator 7 is input as the text 3, the kinematics calculation formula calculation unit 5 refers to the homogeneous transformation matrix of each module from the module information storage device 4. Then, the kinematics equation of the manipulator is calculated as T = A1 × A2 × A3 × A4 × A5 × A6 × A7 as a product of the homogeneous transformation matrix. Here, An is a homogeneous transformation matrix referred to based on the input text 3. For example, A1 is "1.base
A is a homogeneous transformation matrix of baseA referred to by “A”.
The R element and the p element of the homogeneous transformation matrix T calculated as a result respectively represent the attitude and position of the end effector unit of the manipulator 7. The manipulator control unit 6 controls the position and orientation of the end effector of the manipulator 7 based on the calculated kinematics calculation formula, but the method is not described here because there are various known techniques. In the above description, jointA, jointB,
Although jointC is distinguished as a module type, it may be mechanically the same. in this case,
This joint module has a plurality of connection parts, and is distinguished as a separate module depending on which connection part is used.

[0009]

As described above, according to the present invention, the shape information of each module of the module type manipulator is registered in advance, and only the module type and the connection order are input for the module connection state of the manipulator. , The input of the connection state is simple. Regarding the trouble of registering the shape information of each module in advance, a module-type manipulator has a large number of combinations because modules are combined to form a manipulator, but the types of modules used are not so many. Therefore, the trouble of registering the shape information of the module is significantly less than the trouble of inputting a combination of modules as a joint, and the effect of the present invention is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of rearrangement of a modular manipulator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram regarding module shape information.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Module type manipulator control device according to the embodiment of the present invention 2: Module connection input device 3, 3 ′: Input text of module connection state 4: Module information storage device 5: Kinematics operation formula calculation unit 6: Manipulator control unit 7, 7 ': Manipulator

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A control device for a modular manipulator comprising a plurality of modules which can be connected and recombined, comprising: an input device for inputting a type of a module constituting the manipulator and a connection order of the plurality of modules; and a shape of each module. A storage device in which information is registered in advance, and a kinematics calculation formula of a manipulator is calculated from input information to the input device and shape information registered in the storage device,
Means for controlling the position and orientation of the distal end of the manipulator based on the kinematics calculation formula.