MANIPULATOR ROBOT

Abstract

A manipulator robot is provided. The manipulator robot includes a first link. a second link including an end effector at one side thereof, the first link pivotably connected to another side of the second link, a single motor to provide a pivoting force for pivoting the first link and the second link, and a pivoting force transmitting member to transmit a pivoting force of one of the first link and the second link by the single motor to pivot the other.

Claims

1. A manipulator robot comprising: a first link; a second link including an end effector at one side thereof, the first link pivotably connected to another side of the second link; a single motor configured to provide a pivoting force for pivoting the first link and the second link; and a pivoting force transmitting member configured to transmit a pivoting force of one of the first link and the second link by the single motor to pivot the other.

2. The manipulator robot of claim 1, wherein the pivoting force transmitting member includes a belt connecting a second connection portion connecting the second link with one side of the first link and a first connection portion connecting another side of the first link.

3. The manipulator robot of claim 2, wherein the first connection portion and the second connection portion respectively comprise a first pulley and a second pulley.

4. The manipulator robot of claim 2, wherein the single motor is disposed at one of the first connection portion and the second connection portion.

5. The manipulator robot of claim 1, wherein, when the manipulator robot is actuated for a linear movement, lengths of the first link and the second link are set to be the same as each other.

6. The manipulator robot of claim 5, wherein, during the linear movement, a first angle between the first link and a direction of linear movement is controlled to be maintained at of a second angle between an extension line of the first link and the second link.

7. The manipulator robot of claim 1, wherein, when the manipulator robot is actuated for a curvilinear movement, lengths of the first link and the second link are set to be different from each other.

8. The manipulator robot of claim 1, wherein the pivoting force transmitting member corresponds to a gear combination including: a first gear located at a connection portion connecting the second link with one side of the first link and configured to rotate; a second gear located at the other side of the first link and configured to rotate; and a third gear disposed to transmit a rotational force of one of the first gear and the second gear as a rotational force to rotate the other.

9. The manipulator robot of claim 8, wherein the gear combination is composed of an odd number of gears, including the first to third gears.

10. The manipulator robot of claim 9, wherein the single motor is disposed at a center of one of the first to third gears.

11. The manipulator robot of claim 8, wherein, when the manipulator robot is actuated for a linear movement, lengths of the first link and the second link are set to be the same as each other.

12. The manipulator robot of claim 11, wherein, during the linear movement, a first angle between the first link and a direction of linear movement is controlled to be maintained at of a second angle between an extension line of the first link and the second link.

13. The manipulator robot of claim 8, wherein, when the manipulator robot is actuated for a curvilinear movement, lengths of the first link and the second link are set to be different from each other.

14. The manipulator robot of claim 1, wherein the end effector performs a function of a robot arm.

15. A manipulator robot comprising: a first link; a second link including an end effector at one side thereof, the first link pivotably connected to another side of the second link; a single motor configured to provide a pivoting force; a pivoting force transmitting member that transmits the pivoting force; and a controller configured to: control the single motor to pivot at least one of the first link, the second link, or a combination thereof; and control the pivoting force transmitting member to transmit the pivoting force of one of the first link and the second link provided by the single motor to pivot the other.

16. The manipulator robot of claim 15, wherein, when the manipulator robot is actuated for a linear movement, lengths of the first link and the second link are set to be the same as each other, and wherein, during the linear movement, the controller is further configured to: control a first angle between the first link; and control a direction of linear movement to be maintained at of a second angle between an extension line of the first link and the second link.

17. The manipulator robot of claim 15, wherein the pivoting force transmitting member corresponds to a gear combination including: a first gear located at a connection portion connecting the second link with one side of the first link and configured to rotate; a second gear located at the other side of the first link and configured to rotate; and a third gear disposed to transmit a rotational force of one of the first gear and the second gear as a rotational force to rotate the other, wherein, when the manipulator robot is actuated for a linear movement, lengths of the first link and the second link are set to be the same as each other, and wherein, during the linear movement, the controller is further configured to: control a first angle between the first link; and control a direction of linear movement to be maintained at of a second angle between an extension line of the first link and the second link.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] FIG. 1 is a diagram for illustrating an existing 2-degree-of-freedom manipulator robot.

[0037] FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptualizing the 2-degree-of-freedom manipulator robot introduced in FIG. 1.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a diagram for illustrating a structure of a manipulator robot proposed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustrating an operation of realizing a linear movement using the manipulator robot described above in FIG. 3.

[0040] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a manipulator robot from various viewpoints according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 6 is a diagram for illustrating conditions for realizing a linear movement using a manipulator robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams for illustrating a structure of a manipulator robot proposed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating an operation of realizing a linear movement using the manipulator robot described above in FIGS. 7 and 8.

[0044] FIG. 10 is a diagram for illustrating a concept of adjusting the number of gears of a gear combination according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating in detail a structure of the manipulator robot shown in FIG. 7.

[0046] FIG. 12 is a diagram for illustrating conditions for realizing a linear movement using a manipulator robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating various movement trajectories using a manipulator robot according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0048] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating fields in which a manipulator robot may be utilized according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail such that those skilled in the art may easily practice the same. However, the present disclosure may be implemented in several different forms and may not be limited to the embodiments described herein. To clearly illustrate the present disclosure in the drawings, parts unrelated to the description were omitted, and similar reference numerals were assigned to similar components throughout the present document.

[0050] Throughout the present document, when one component includes another component, this means that said one component may further include other components rather than excluding the same, unless otherwise specified.

[0051] FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptualizing the 2-degree-of-freedom manipulator robot introduced in FIG. 1.

[0052] Even when the manipulator robot in FIG. 2 realizes a linear movement as indicated in step S210, driving of two motors M1 and M2 is required. For example, the first motor M1 may drive a first link L1 to pivot clockwise and the second motor M2 may drive a second link L2 to pivot counterclockwise to realize the above-described linear movement (S210).

[0053] However, it may be seen as over-spec in that the two motors are required to realize the above-mentioned linear movement (S210), and it may be complicated to control a driving combination of the first motor M1 and the second motor M2.

[0054] FIG. 3 is a diagram for illustrating a structure of a manipulator robot proposed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] The manipulator robot shown in FIG. 3 includes the second link L2 equipped with an end effector 320 at one side; the first link L1 pivotably connected to the other side B of the second link L2; a single motor M_Single that provides a pivoting force for pivoting the first link L1 and the second link L2; and a pivoting force transmitting member 310 that transmits a pivoting force of one of the first link L1 and the second link L2 to pivot the other of those by the single motor M_Single.

[0056] In the example shown in FIG. 3, the above-described pivoting force transmitting member 310 is formed as a belt 310. However, such pivoting force transmitting member does not need to be limited to the belt 310 illustrated in FIG. 3, and various schemes such as a gear combination (not shown) via connection of gears may be utilized.

[0057] In the example in FIG. 3, the belt 310 may be constructed to connect a second connection portion B for connecting the second link L2 with one side of the first link L1 with a first connection portion A for connecting the other side of the first link L1.

[0058] Such first connection portion A and second connection portion B may be formed in shapes of a first pulley and a second pulley, respectively, but may not necessarily be formed in the pulley shapes as long as they are able to transmit the pivoting forces of the links L1 and L2.

[0059] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, an example in which the single motor M_Single is located at the first connection portion A and transmits the pivoting force to the second connection portion B via the belt 310 is shown. However, the single motor M_Single may be located at the second connection portion B, so that the pivoting force of the second connection portion B is transmitted to the first connection portion A via the belt 310. That is, the single motor M_Single may be disposed at one of the first connection portion A and the second connection portion B based on a field situation and/or an arrangement relationship of the manipulator robot.

[0060] Using the structure described above, the manipulator robot proposed in FIG. 3 may realize a 1-degree-of-freedom movement, for example, a linear movement (S300) as shown in FIG. 3 via a more simplified configuration. This will be described in more detail below.

[0061] FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustrating an operation of realizing a linear movement using the manipulator robot described above in FIG. 3.

[0062] FIG. 4 shows an operation of the manipulator robot shown in FIG. 3 to perform a linear movement (S410). For convenience of description, it is assumed that the first and second connection portions are formed as the first and second pulleys.

[0063] For the linear movement (S410), the second link L2 may be required to pivot counterclockwise (S420) and the first link L1 may be required to pivot clockwise (S430).

[0064] In this situation, to provide a driving force to pivot the second link L2 counterclockwise (S420), the second pulley B may also be required to rotate counterclockwise (S440), which may be achieved by rotating (S450) the first pulley A connected to the second pulley B via the belt 310 counterclockwise using the single motor M_Single.

[0065] The above-described operating mechanism may be summarized as Table 1 below.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Reference coordinate system Ground (global) L1 S420 +2 +2 S430 0 S440 +2 +2 S450 0 + CCW: +, CW: , speed:

[0066] Specifically, [Table 1] above represents a column indicating a direction and a degree of rotation/pivoting of each operation in FIG. 4 based on global coordinates, which is based on the ground, and a column indicating the direction and the degree of rotation/pivoting based on the first link L1.

[0067] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a manipulator robot from various viewpoints according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0068] Specifically, (A) in FIG. 5 shows a structure viewed from the side of the manipulator robot according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, (B) in FIG. 5 shows a structure viewed from a 45-degree angle from the front, (C) in FIG. 5 shows a structure viewed from the front, and (b) in FIG. 5 shows a structure viewed from the rear.

[0069] According to the present embodiment utilizing the belt 310, as shown in (A) and (B) in FIG. 5, the first connection portion A may be composed of a pulley connected to the belt 310 and a cylindrical member for fixing the first link L1, and both may have different radii.

[0070] Radii of the connection portions A and B may be in connection with types of movements realized using the manipulator according to the present embodiment, which will be described in detail.

[0071] FIG. 6 is a diagram for illustrating conditions for realizing a linear movement using a manipulator robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0072] Variables for controlling a movement trajectory of the manipulator robot according to the present embodiment are simply defined as follows. [0073] Length of first link: L1 [0074] Length of second link: L2 [0075] First angle between first link and linear movement direction: 1 [0076] Second angle between extension line of first link and second link: 2 [0077] Ratio between first angle and second angle: R=2/1

[0078] Under such variable definition, it is proposed to first satisfy following conditions to realize the linear movement described above in FIG. 4. [0079] L1=L2 [0080] 2=21

[0081] When the above-mentioned two conditions are satisfied, it may be seen that the linear movement (S410) is realized as shown in FIG. 6.

[0082] Among the two conditions mentioned above, [0083] 2=21

[0084] the above is defined in terms of the angle between the links, but this may also be defined in terms of diameters r1 and r2 of the first connection portion A and the second connection portion B, and a total length T of the belt may be set accordingly.

[0085] FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams for illustrating a structure of a manipulator robot proposed according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0086] The manipulator robot shown in FIG. 7 includes the second link L2 equipped with the end effector 320 at one side; the first link L1 pivotably connected to the other side B of the second link L2; the single motor M_Single that provides the pivoting force for pivoting the first link L1 and the second link L2; and the pivoting force transmitting member 310 that transmits the pivoting force of one of the first link L1 and the second link L2 to pivot the other of those by the single motor M_Single.

[0087] In the example shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a case in which the pivoting force transmitting member 310 described above is composed of a gear combination 310a, 310b, and 310c is illustrated. However, such pivoting force transmitting member does not need to be limited to the gear combination 310a, 310b, and 310c shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and various schemes such as the belt (not shown) capable of transmitting the pivoting force may be utilized.

[0088] In the examples of FIGS. 7 and 8, the gear combination 310a, 310b, and 310c may include the first gear 310a that is located at the connection portion for connecting the second link L2 with one side of the first link L1 and rotates, the second gear 310b that is located at the other side of the first link L1 and rotates, and the third gear 310c that is disposed to transmit the pivoting force of one of the first gear 310a and the second gear 310b as the pivoting force of pivoting the other of those.

[0089] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, an example in which the single motor M_Single is located at a center of the second gear 310b and the pivoting force is transmitted to the first gear 310a via the third gear 310c is shown, but, as shown in FIG. 8, the single motor M_Single may be set to be disposed at a center of one of the first to third gears 310a, 310b, and 310c to provide a pivoting driving force. In other words, the location of the single motor M_Single may vary as shown in FIG. 8 based on the field situation and/or the arrangement relationship of the manipulator robot.

[0090] Using the structure described above, the manipulator robot proposed in FIGS. 7 and 8 may realize the 1-degree-of-freedom movement, for example, the linear movement (S300) as shown in FIG. 7 with a more simplified configuration. This will be described in more detail below.

[0091] FIG. 9 is a diagram for illustrating an operation of realizing a linear movement using the manipulator robot described above in FIGS. 7 and 8.

[0092] FIG. 9 shows an operation for the manipulator robot shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 to perform the linear movement (S410). For the linear movement (S410), the second link L2 may be required to pivot counterclockwise (S420) and the first link L1 may be required to pivot clockwise (S430).

[0093] In this situation, to provide a driving force to pivot the second link L2 counterclockwise (S420), the first gear 310a may also be required to rotate counterclockwise (S440), and it is required to rotate (S450) the second gear 310b counterclockwise to induce the clockwise pivoting (S430) of the first link L1.

[0094] That is, both the first gear 310a and the second gear 310b are required to rotate counterclockwise (S440 and S450), so that the third gear 310c not only transmits a rotating force of the second gear 310b by the single motor M_Single to the first gear 310a, but also induces the counterclockwise rotation (S440 and S450) of both the first gear 310a and the second gear 310b via the clockwise rotation (S460) of itself.

[0095] The above-described operating mechanism may be summarized as Table 2 below.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Reference coordinate system Ground (global) L1 S420 +2 +2 S430 0 S440 +2 +2 S450 0 + CCW: +, CW: , speed:

[0096] Specifically, [Table 2] above represents a column indicating a direction and a degree of rotation/pivoting of each operation in FIG. 9 based on global coordinates, which is based on the ground, and a column indicating the direction and the degree of rotation/pivoting based on the first link L1. In Table 2 above, notation of S460 during the rotational movement in FIG. 9 is omitted. This is because it may be varied depending on a relationship between a radius of the third gear 310c and radii of the first and second gears 310a and 310b.

[0097] The rotation direction of the second gear 310b will be described in more detail based on [Table 2] above. For the linear movement (S410) shown in FIG. 9, as represented in [Table 2] above, the second gear 310b is required to rotate counterclockwise (+w) relative to the first link L1 to be stationary relative to the ground (based on the global coordinates). Therefore, the counterclockwise rotation direction as described above is required.

[0098] That is, both the first gear 310a and the second gear 310b are required to rotate in the same direction, and to realize the same via the gear combination, in another embodiment of the present disclosure, it is proposed that the gear combination includes an odd number of gears.

[0099] FIG. 10 is a diagram for illustrating a concept of adjusting the number of gears of a gear combination according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0100] As described above, to support the linear movement (S300), the first gear 310a disposed at the connection portion of the two links and the second gear 310b disposed at the connection portion with the ground are required to rotate in the same rotation direction. To satisfy such requirement, the gear combination including the three gears is illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, but the present disclosure does not need to be limited thereto. As shown in FIG. 10, with a gear combination with five gears 310a to 310e or other gear combinations with an odd number of gears, the linear movement (S300) may be realized.

[0101] FIG. 10 shows an example in which the gear combination with the five gears 310a to 310e is disposed on a straight line with respect to the first link L1, but the present disclosure does not need to be limited thereto. An arrangement relationship of the third to fifth gears 310c, 310d, and 310e may be realized in various ways considering structural stability and space efficiency as long as the gears perform the above-described role of transmitting the rotational force and changing the rotation direction.

[0102] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating in detail a structure of the manipulator robot shown in FIG. 7.

[0103] The manipulator robot as described above with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 includes the gear combination of the three gears 310a, 310b, and 310c. FIG. 11 shows that the gear combination 310a, 310b, and 310c is disposed on the same plane (a first plane) to transmit the rotational force, and the first link L1 is disposed on a second plane in front of the first plane and the second link L2 is disposed on a third plane in front of the second plane.

[0104] In the structure described above, the first gear 310a may control a relative pivoting movement of the first link L1 and the second link L2, and the second gear 310b may control a relative pivoting movement of a support surface/a manipulator body and the first link L1.

[0105] FIG. 12 is a diagram for illustrating conditions for realizing a linear movement using a manipulator robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0106] Variables for controlling the movement trajectory of the manipulator robot according to the present embodiment are simply defined as follows. [0107] Length of first link: L1 [0108] Length of second link: L2 [0109] First angle between first link and linear movement direction: 1 [0110] Second angle between extension line of first link and second link: 2 [0111] Ratio between first angle and second angle: R=2/1 [0112] Radii of first to third gears: r1, r2, and r3

[0113] Under such variable definition, it is proposed to first satisfy following conditions to realize the linear movement (S300) described above. [0114] L1=L2 [0115] 2=21

[0116] Among the two conditions described above, the second condition may be defined as a ratio of radii as follows. [0117] r1=2*r3

[0118] When the above-mentioned two conditions are satisfied, it may be seen that the linear movement (S410) is realized as shown in FIG. 8.

[0119] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating various movement trajectories using a manipulator robot according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0120] Specifically, the various movement trajectory examples in FIG. 13 assume that the variable definition described above in relation to FIG. 6 is used as it is.

[0121] (A) in FIG. 13 shows a movement trajectory realized with L1=1.0, L2=0.5, and R=2.0, and (B) in FIG. 13 shows a movement trajectory realized with L1=1.0, L2=0.5, and R=3.0.

[0122] (C) in FIG. 13 shows a movement trajectory realized with L1=1.0, L2=0.5, and R=4.0, and (D) in FIG. 13 shows a movement trajectory realized with L1=1.0, L2=1.0, and R=3.0, (E) in FIG. 13 a movement trajectory realized with L1=0.5, L2=1.0, and R=3.0, and (F) in FIG. 13 represents a movement trajectory realized with L1=1.0, L2=0.05, and R=8.0.

[0123] In other words, the manipulator robot according to the present disclosure as described above may realize the various movement trajectories even when the single motor is used. In common, when using the above-mentioned manipulator robot to realize a curvilinear movement, it may be seen that conditions below are satisfied.

L1L2

[0124] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating fields in which a manipulator robot may be utilized according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0125] Specifically, as shown in (A) in FIG. 14, an end effector that performs the pick and place operation may be disposed and optimally used in a factory conveyor belt. A trajectory of such pick and place operation may be set to various trajectories in addition to a straight trajectory as described above with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0126] Additionally, as shown in (B) in FIG. 14, it may also be used for the fusion and cutting operation. As described above, it may also be used in a place where non-linear curve is required in the fusion and cutting operation.

[0127] In an exemplary embodiment, a controller (i.e., one or more processors) may be configured to control the single motor M_Single to pivot at least one of the first link L1, the second link L2, or a combination thereof, and the pivoting force transmitting member 310 to transmit the pivoting force of one of the first link L1 and the second link L2 provided by the single motor M_Single to pivot the other.

[0128] The detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure disclosed as described above is provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement and practice the present disclosure. Although the description has been made with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure may be modified and changed in various ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, a person skilled in the art may use each of the components described in the above-described embodiments in a manner of combining the components with each other.

[0129] Accordingly, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0130] Despite the simplified configuration thereof, the manipulator robot according to the embodiments of the present disclosure as described above may be utilized in a variety of ways in overall application area of the existing 2-degree-of-freedom manipulator robot by replacing the same.