Drilling apparatus and method, the apparatus comprising: a first robot (10); a first member (30) (e.g. a pressure foot) and a drilling tool (38) both coupled to the first robot (10); a second robot (12); and a second member (52) coupled to the second robot (12); wherein the apparatus is arranged to press the members (30, 52) against opposite sides of a part to be drilled (2, 100) (e.g. an aircraft panel) so as to hold the part (2, 100) and prevent deflection of at least a portion of the part (2, 100); and the first member (30) and the drilling tool (38) are arranged such that the drilling tool (38) may drill into the portion of the part (2, 100) of which deflection is opposed from the side of the part (2, 100) pressed against by the first member (30). The robots (10, 12) may be robotic arms.

The robot includes a first arm having a first hand part provided to a tip end thereof, and at least one joint shaft provided between a pedestal and the first hand part, a first acting part configured to contact a given table-like body on which a plurality of workpieces are able to be placed, while the first acting part is provided to the first hand part, a controller, an imaging unit configured to two-dimensionally image a placement surface of the workpieces in the table-like body in a perpendicular direction to the placement surface, and a recognition part configured to recognize a position of the workpiece by performing a two-dimensional pattern matching based on an image two-dimensionally captured by the imaging unit. The controller vibrates the table-like body by controlling the first arm so that the first acting part acts on the table-like body.

The present disclosure includes calculating coordinates of a midpoint of one of a plurality of first tool teaching points and the subsequent first tool teaching point, and calculating coordinates of a midpoint of one of a plurality of second tool teaching points that corresponds to the one first tool teaching point and the subsequent second tool teaching point, calculating an inter-midpoint distance between the midpoint of the first tool teaching points and the midpoint of the corresponding second tool teaching points, determining whether the inter-midpoint distance is within a given tolerance range, and reporting, when the inter-midpoint distance is out of the given tolerance range, the corresponding first tool teaching points and second tool teaching points as poor.

Techniques relate to aligning one or more robotic arms of a robotic system to one or more alignment positions. For example, resistance for manual movement of a robotic arm can be set based on a direction of movement of a distal end of the robotic arm with respect to one or more alignment positions. The robotic arm can provide a first amount of resistance for manual movement in a direction closer to the one or more alignment positions and to provide a second amount of resistance for manual movement in a direction away from the one or more alignment positions. In some instances, the robotic arm can be automatically moved to the one or more alignment positions when the robotic arm is within a distance to the one or more alignment positions.

A welding system comprises a two manipulators and a controller. A first manipulator has a joint detection device and a first welding device, usually of the laser type while the second manipulator has a second welding device, usually of the arc weld type. The joint detection device is operative to read welding joint characteristics along a welding joint. The controller determines a corrected trajectory based on a predetermined welding trajectory and on the welding joint characteristics read by the joint detection device. This corrected trajectory is transmitted with a first time delay to the first manipulator and with a second time delay to the second manipulator. The second time delay is a function of a distance between the joint detection device and the second welding device. A corresponding method for welding components along a welding joint is also disclosed.

A robot system including a plurality of robots, controllers that respectively control the robots, hands attached to wrist ends of the robots and configured to hold and release a workpiece, and a sensor configured to detect that the workpiece is being held by the hands of the robots. The controllers are interconnected and configured to exchange signals so that the robots operate in coordination in response to an operation command that includes a coordination command, and prohibit operation of each of the robots based on an operation command that lacks a coordination command in a state in which the sensor detects the workpiece being held.

The invention relates to an operating method for a positioning system 1, in particular for the structural assembly of aircraft, wherein the positioning system 1 comprises a plurality of positioners 2a, 2b, 2c, each of which has at least one manipulator M. The manipulators M grasp a component B and manipulate it in a synchronized manner, while it is jointly grasped by the manipulators M.

Drilling apparatus and method, the apparatus comprising: a first robot (10); a first member (30) (e.g. a pressure foot) and a drilling tool (38) both coupled to the first robot (10); a second robot (12); and a second member (52) coupled to the second robot (12); wherein the apparatus is arranged to press the members (30, 52) against opposite sides of a part to be drilled (2, 100) (e.g. an aircraft panel) so as to hold the part (2, 100) and prevent deflection of at least a portion of the part (2, 100); and the first member (30) and the drilling tool (38) are arranged such that the drilling tool (38) may drill into the portion of the part (2, 100) of which deflection is opposed from the side of the part (2, 100) pressed against by the first member (30). The robots (10, 12) may be robotic arms.

Drilling apparatus and method, the apparatus comprising: a first robot (10); a first member (30) (e.g. a pressure foot) and a drilling tool (38) both coupled to the first robot (10); a second robot (12); and a second member (52) coupled to the second robot (12); wherein the apparatus is arranged to press the members (30, 52) against opposite sides of a part to be drilled (2, 100) (e.g. an aircraft panel) so as to hold the part (2, 100) and prevent deflection of at least a portion of the part (2, 100); and the first member (30) and the drilling tool (38) are arranged such that the drilling tool (38) may drill into the portion of the part (2, 100) of which deflection is opposed from the side of the part (2, 100) pressed against by the first member (30). The robots (10, 12) may be robotic arms.

A robot arrangement for interacting with an object is disclosed including a plurality of robots adjacent an object; the plurality of robots configured to interact with the object sequentially such that: a first robot of the plurality of robots is configured to perform a first portion of a first task on the object and then, whilst the first robot is not interacting with the object, a second robot of the plurality of robots is configured to perform a second portion of the first task on the object, and the plurality of robots are configured to simultaneously interact with the object, before or after completion of the first task, so as to collectively perform a second task on the object.