METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING A ROBOT

Abstract

A method for controlling a robot to perform a task, for which the robot is redundant, includes specifying an adjustment of first and second axes of at least one pair of two movement axes of the robot based on a specified operating mode such that both axes can be adjusted and adjustment of the first axis is prioritized over the second axis if a first operating mode is specified. Adjustment of the second axis is prioritized over the first axis if a second operating mode is specified. Additionally or alternatively, adjustment of at least one selected movement axis is specified based on a specified operating mode such that this axis can be adjusted or is blocked independently of the task if a reduced operating mode is specified, and can be adjusted for the purpose of performing this task if an operating mode differing from this reduced operating mode is specified.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A method for controlling a robot for carrying out a task, wherein the robot is redundant with respect to the task and includes at least two movement axes, the method comprising: specifying an adjustment of a first one of the movement axes and an adjustment of a second one of the movement axes depending on an operating mode specification of the robot such that: both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task, and the adjustment of the first axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis if a first operating mode is specified, and both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task, and the adjustment of the second axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the first axis if a second operating mode is specified.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of: both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task, and the adjustment of the first axis is more greatly prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis, relative to the prioritization in the first operating mode, when a third operating mode is specified; or both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task, and the adjustment of the second axis is more greatly prioritized over the adjustment of the first axis, relative to the prioritization in the second operating mode, when a fourth operating mode is specified.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: specifying an adjustment of at least one third movement axis of the robot depending on the operating mode specification such that at least one of: the third axis is adjustable for carrying out the task, and the adjustment of the third axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the first axis if a first variant of the first operating mode and/or a first variant of the third operating mode is specified; the third axis is adjustable for carrying out the task, and the adjustment of the first axis and second axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the third axis if a second variant of the first operating mode and/or a second variant of the third operating mode is specified; the third axis is adjustable for carrying out the task, and the adjustment of the first axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the third axis, and the adjustment of the third axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis, if a third variant of the first operating mode and/or a third variant of the third operating mode is specified; the third axis is adjustable for carrying out the task, and the adjustment of the third axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis if a first variant of the second operating mode and/or a first variant of the fourth operating mode is specified; the third axis is adjustable for carrying out the task, and the adjustment of the second axis and first axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the third axis if a second variant of the second operating mode and/or a first variant of the fourth operating mode is specified; or the third axis is adjustable for carrying out the task, and the adjustment of the second axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the third axis, and the adjustment of the third axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the first axis, if a third variant of the second operating mode and/or a first variant of the fourth operating mode is specified.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein: the robot comprises at least one of a movable platform or a robot arm; and at least one of the first axis or the second axis is a movement axis of the movable platform or a movement axis of the robot arm.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein: the robot comprises at least one of a movable platform or a robot arm; at least one of the first axis or the second axis is a movement axis of the movable platform or a movement axis of the robot arm; and the third axis is a movement axis of the movable platform or of the robot arm.

18. A method for controlling a robot for carrying out a task, wherein the robot is redundant with respect to the task, the method comprising: specifying an adjustment of at least one selected movement axis of the robot in order to carry out the task and depending on an operating mode specification, such that: the movement axis is adjustable independently of the task or is blocked if a reduced operating mode is specified; and at least one of: the movement axis is adjustable for carrying out the task if an operating mode is specified that is different from the reduced operating mode, wherein either the reduced operating mode or the operating mode that is different from the reduced operating mode is the first or second operating mode according to claim 13, or the adjustment of the movement axis is specified depending on the operating mode specification prior to operation of the robot.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of: the selected axis is blocked in a motorized manner when the reduced operating mode is specified; or the robot comprises at least one of a movable platform or a robot arm, and the selected axis is a movement axis of the movable platform or of the robot arm.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising at least one of: specifying at least one operating mode prior to and/or during operation of the robot, or specifying at least one variant of an operating mode prior to and/or during operation of the robot.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising specifying at least of at least one operating mode or at least one variant of an operating mode based on at least one of: an actuation of a switch; contact with a joint or link of the robot; or a selection in an operational program of the robot.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising specifying at least of at least one operating mode or at least one variant of an operating mode by at least one parameter having a continuous value range.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein the task comprises at least one of manual guidance of the robot or travelling a specified path of a reference fixed to the robot.

24. A system for controlling a robot for carrying out a task, wherein the robot is redundant with respect to the task, the system comprising at least one of: means for specifying an adjustment of a first axis and a second axis of at least two movement axes of the robot, depending on an operating mode specification, such that both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task and the adjustment of the first axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis if a first operating mode is specified, and both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task and the adjustment of the second axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the first axis if a second operating mode is specified; or means for specifying an adjustment of at least one selected movement axis depending on an operating mode specification such that, in order to carry out said task, the movement axis is adjustable independently of the task or is blocked if a reduced operating mode is specified, and is adjustable for carrying out the task if an operating mode is specified that is different from the reduced operating mode, wherein at least one of: the operating mode that is different from the reduced operating mode or the reduced operating mode is the first or second operating mode, or the adjustment of the selected movement axis is specified prior to operation of the robot and depending on the operating mode specification.

25. A computer program product for controlling a robot for carrying out a task, wherein the robot is redundant with respect to the task and includes at least two movement axes, the computer program product including a program code stored on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, the program code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to: specify an adjustment of a first one of the movement axes and an adjustment of a second one of the movement axes depending on an operating mode specification of the robot such that: both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task, and the adjustment of the first axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis if a first operating mode is specified, and both axes adjustably cooperate to carry out the task, and the adjustment of the second axis is prioritized over the adjustment of the first axis if a second operating mode is specified.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0061] FIG. 1 illustrates a system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0062] FIG. 2 shows a method for controlling a robot of the system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] FIG. 1 shows a system according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprising a robot 10 having a movable base 11 and a robot arm arranged thereon, as well as a controller 20 for controlling the robot.

[0064] For reasons of simplified representation, in the embodiment the movable base 11 has, by way of example, just one linear movement axis or one translational degree of freedom of movement, and the robot arm has just two linear movement axes or translational degrees of freedom which are offset in parallel therewith, a position of the axes being described by a joint coordinate q.sub.1 of the movable base 11, a joint coordinate q.sub.2 of a carriage 12 of the robot arm relative to the movable base 11, and a joint coordinate q.sub.3 of a gripper 13 of the robot arm relative to the carriage 12.

[0065] This is, as already mentioned, purely by way of example and for the purpose of simplified representation. In modifications that are not shown, in particular the movable platform may be omitted and/or further translational and/or rotational degrees of freedom or movement axes, and/or the robot arm can additionally or alternatively have rotatable and/or (further) translational degrees of freedom or movement axes.

[0066] Likewise for reasons of simplified representation, by way of example a task in the form of a specified horizontal target velocity for the gripper 13, relative to the surroundings, is specified, for example in advance, by means of path planning, or during operation, by means of manual guidance.

[0067] In a step S10 (cf. FIG. 2) of a method for controlling the robot 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a robot controller 20 detects an operating mode specification.

[0068] For this purpose, an operator can specify various operating modes, in advance and/or during operation of the robot, by means of corresponding contact with the joints or actuation of switches on an input device 30, in that said operator adjusts the parameters w.sub.1, w.sub.2, w.sub.3 of a diagonal matrix W=diag{w.sub.1, w.sub.2, w.sub.3}, in a stepless manner, between 0 and 1 (w.sub.1+w.sub.2+w.sub.30).

[0069] In a step S20, the velocities of the three axes are then specified according to

[00001]$\stackrel{.}{q}=\left[\begin{array}{c}{\stackrel{.}{q}}_1\\ {\stackrel{.}{q}}_2\\ {\stackrel{.}{q}}_3\end{array}\right]=W.Math.J^T.Math.{\left(J.Math.\mathrm{WJ}\right)}^{-1}.Math.{\stackrel{.}{x}}_d=\frac{{\stackrel{.}{x}}_d}{w_1+w_2+w_3}.Math.\left[\begin{array}{c}{w}_1\\ w_2\\ w_3\end{array}\right]$

J=[1 1 1] denoting the Jacobian matrix of said task, and the drives of the robot 10 are actuated accordingly.

[0070] By combining said parameters accordingly, the operator can thus specify, inter alia, the following operating modes:

TABLE-US-00001 w.sub.1 w.sub.2 w.sub.3 Operating mode 0.3 0.1 0.6 1st operating mode 1st variant 0.6 0.3 0.1 2nd variant 0.6 0.1 0.3 3rd variant 0.1 0.3 0.6 2nd operating mode 1st variant 0.3 0.6 0.1 2nd variant 0.1 0.6 0.3 3rd variant

[0071] In this case, for example the second and third line also constitute a first and third operating mode, since the adjustment of the first axis is more greatly prioritized over the adjustment of the second axis in the case of (w.sub.1=0.6, w.sub.2=0.3) than in the case of (w.sub.1=0.6, w.sub.2=0.3).

[0072] By combining the parameters accordingly, the operator can for example also specify the following operating modes:

TABLE-US-00002 Selected first/second w.sub.1 w.sub.2 w.sub.3 Operating mode movement axis 1 0 0 reduced operating q.sub.2/q.sub.3 mode 0 0.6 0.4 first operating mode that q.sub.2/q.sub.3 is different from the reduced operating mode 0 0.4 0.6 second operating mode q.sub.2/q.sub.3 that is different from the reduced operating mode

[0073] In this case, for the movement axis q.sub.1 as the selected movement axis, the second and first line also represent a reduced operating mode (w.sub.1=0) or an operating mode (w.sub.1=1) that is different from said reduced operating mode.

[0074] Other specifications of the weightings, from the continuous value range [0, 1], make it possible for the user to accordingly also prioritize the individual axes differently, or to deactivate or block said axes.

[0075] It is clear, from this simple example alone, that very advantageous control of robots is possible thereby. Thus, for example in order to reposition the robot 10 between different operating stations, the user can block both degrees of freedom of the robot arm (w.sub.2=0, w.sub.3=0) and then, vice versa, block the degree of freedom of the platform, there, (w.sub.2=0), and assign the two degrees of freedom of the robot arm different priorities, for example depending on the task, or the like. Said user can block faulty movement axes in a simple manner.

[0076] Although embodiments given by way of example have been explained in the preceding description, it is noted that a plurality of modifications are possible. It should furthermore be noted that the embodiments given by way of example are merely examples which are not intended to restrict the scope of protection, the applications, and the structure, in any way. Instead, the above description provides guidance for a person skilled in the art to implement at least one embodiment given by way of example, it being possible for various amendments to be made, in particular in view of the function and arrangement of the described components, without departing from the scope of protection as emerges from the claims and the combinations of features equivalent thereto.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0077] 10 robot [0078] 11 platform [0079] 12 carriage [0080] 13 gripper [0081] 20 robot controller [0082] 30 input device