Visual debugging of robotic tasks

Abstract

A robotic system includes a robot, sensors which measure status information including a position and orientation of the robot and an object within the workspace, and a controller. The controller, which visually debugs an operation of the robot, includes a simulator module, action planning module, and graphical user interface (GUI). The simulator module receives the status information and generates visual markers, in response to marker commands, as graphical depictions of the object and robot. An action planning module selects a next action of the robot. The marker generator module generates and outputs the marker commands to the simulator module in response to the selected next action. The GUI receives and displays the visual markers, selected future action, and input commands. Via the action planning module, the position and / or orientation of the visual markers are modified in real time to change the operation of the robot.

Description

technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to visual debugging of robot tasks. Background technique

[0002] Robots are electromechanical devices that can manipulate objects using a series of linkages, actuators, and end effectors. The links of a robot are usually interconnected via joints, each of which can be or is interdependently driven by one or more joint actuators. Each joint represents an independent control variable or degree of freedom. An end effector is a specific device used to perform a commanded sequence of work tasks, such as gripping a work tool or stacking one part on top of another.

[0003] Costly retraining of the robot is often required for a given sequence of work tasks. This is the case even if the surface of the gripped object does not change during the subsequent work sequence. Similarly, changes in the positioning or orientation of objects in the robot work environment due to errors and / or slack operating conditions can require costly...

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