A robot system and method for conditionally stopping a robot, wherein a maximum stopping time and/or distance are defined by a user or integrator through a user interface as safety limits based on the risk assessment. The method provides the continuous calculation of the time and/or distance, which the robot would need to stop under maximum motor torque and/or brake appliance. The robot is stopped or the speed of the robot is reduced, if the calculated time and/or distance exceeds the maximum limit values set by the user or integrator. The method may also be used to program or generate the trajectories of the robot as not to exceed the speed of the movement under the condition of keeping the set maximum stopping time and/or distance as defined by a use.

An inkjet-type vehicle painting machine capable of keeping temperature elevation of a nozzle head to a certain temperature or less. The painting robot comprises a power supply means for supplying power to drive a piezoelectric substrate of a nozzle head, and a robot arm for moving the nozzle head. The nozzle head is provided in an explosion-proof housing equipped with an explosion-proof construction. A heat dissipation means that dissipates heat generated from the nozzle head within the explosion-proof housing is attached to the nozzle head. A temperature measurement means for measuring the temperature of the heat dissipation means is attached to the heat dissipation means.

A robot system includes a motor provided at a joint, a regenerative resistor that consumes a back electromotive force generated by rotation of the motor as heat, and a controller configured or programmed to predict a life of the regenerative resistor based on a period of time during which the regenerative resistor is consuming heat.

The present disclosure relates to protecting fragile members of robots from damage during fall events. In response to detecting a fall event, a fragile member of a robot can be actuated to a defensive configuration to avoid or reduce damage. An actuatable protective member can be actuated to protect a fragile member to avoid or reduce damage to the fragile member. Actuatable protective members can be dedicated protective members, or can be other members of the robot which serve different functionality outside of a fall event but act as a protective member during a fall event.

A diagnostic apparatus of the invention acquires normal data related to an operating state during normal operation of an industrial machine, stores the normal data, generates a learning model by learning based on the stored normal data, and performs an estimation process for normality or abnormality of an operation of the industrial machine using the learning model. The diagnostic apparatus of the invention further generates verification data including at least one piece of abnormal data based on the stored normal data to verify validity of the learning model on receiving a result of the estimation process using the learning model based on the verification data.

A system and method that automatically resolves conflicts among sensor information in a sensor fusion robot system. Such methods can accommodate converging ambiguous and divergent sensor information in a manner that can allow continued, and relatively accurate, robotic operations. The processes can include handling sensor conflict via sensor prioritization, including, but not limited, prioritization based on the particular stage or segment of the assembly operation when the conflict occurs, overriding sensor data that exceeds a threshold value, and/or prioritization based on evaluations of recent sensor performance, predictions, system configuration, and/or historical information. The processes can include responding to sensor conflicts through comparisons of the accuracy of workpiece location predictions from different sensors during different assembly stages in connection with arriving at a determination of which sensor(s) is providing accurate and reliable predictions.

A robot control system includes a control device for controlling a robot and a portable operating panel connected to the control device. The portable operating panel and at least one other device include contact points connected in series. The control device includes a reception circuit that can detect the opening of at least one of the contact points. The portable operating panel includes a smart device having a sensor. The contact point included in the portable operating panel is opened and closed in conjunction with a physical movement of a switch member attached to an exterior of the smart device. The sensor can detect a physical quantity that changes in conjunction with the physical movement of the switch member. The portable operating panel transmits, to the control device, a detection signal indicating the physical quantity detected by the sensor or information about the physical quantity.

A friction compensation device of the present disclosure includes a drive torque calculation unit that calculates output torque of a transmission mechanism from a motor's position, velocity, and acceleration, the transmission mechanism being connected to a motor via a shaft to transmit the driving force of the motor, and a friction estimate value calculation unit that calculates a friction estimate value that is an estimate value of a friction force on the shaft. The friction estimate value calculation unit includes a friction correction value calculation unit that calculates a friction correction value to correct the friction force on the shaft, in accordance with the output of the drive torque calculation unit.

Provided is a control device controlling a robot having a movable section to which a work section, performing work on a target object, is attached and which moves the work section. The control device includes a control section receiving an output from a distance measurement section measuring a distance between the target object and the work section and controlling the movable section in accordance with a plurality of settings including a first section and a second section and a reception section selectively receiving (a) the first setting in which, when the work section is being moved by the movable section based on an output from the distance measurement section, the control section stops moving the work section when the distance or a rate of a change of the distance falls outside a preset reference range and (b) the second setting in which, when the work section is being moved based on the output from the distance measurement section, the control device continues to move the work section not based on the output from the distance measurement section when the distance or the rate of change falls outside the reference range.

Control systems for industrial machinery (e.g., robots) or other devices such as medical devices utilize a safety processor (SP) designed for integration into safety applications and computational components that are not necessarily safety-rated. The SP monitors performance of the non-safety computational components, including latency checks and verification of identical outputs. One or more sensors send data to the non-safety computational components for sophisticated processing and analysis that the SP cannot not perform, but the results of this processing are sent to the SP, which then generates safety-rated signals to the machinery or device being controlled by the SP. As a result, the system may qualify for a safety rating despite the ability to perform complex operations beyond the scope of safety-rated components.