A multi-robot collaborative control system and control method for handling packages

Abstract

The present invention discloses a multi-robot collaborative control system for handling and packing, including: a synchronous belt, a workpiece to be handled, a main handling robot, a slave handling robot, a packing robot, and a vision system. The main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packing robot communicate with each other. The vision system communicates with the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. The vision system is installed on the synchronous belt, and a fixed reference coordinate system and a workpiece recognition unit coordinate system to be handled are established on the synchronous belt. During the operation of the present invention, if the robot trajectory deviates, the robot controller can timely generate a motion control instruction to adjust the operation state of the robot so that it operates according to the planned trajectory, reducing errors.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of robot control, and particularly to a multi-robot collaborative control system. Background Art

[0002] In the process of modern industrial production, industrial robots have been widely used in various industries. With the development of industry, the demand for some electrical products is increasing. At present, in the related industries, the production of electrical appliances still mainly relies on manual handling and packing on the assembly line, with low work efficiency, high labor intensity, and high labor cost, which seriously restricts the development of enterprises.

[0003] Some factories have begun to use industrial robots to replace manual labor. However, the handling and packing of some workpieces require multiple robots to work collaboratively to complete. Therefore, controlling multiple robots to work collaboratively has become a research hotspot in the field of robots, especially playing an increasingly important role in complex assembly, 3C industries, and flexible manufacturing.

[0004] In the process of robots working collaboratively, problems such as the tracking and positioning of objects being carried during work, the size and shape, the collaborative handling of two robots, the accurate packing of the third robot, the position and pose of each robot, the degree of cooperation between each other, and the real-time performance of trajectory planning need to be solved. At present, the collaborative work between robots only uses simple positioning and teaching to complete, and cannot dynamically adjust the relative positions between robots and between robots and the work object, resulting in poor cooperation; some of the handling object positioning is inaccurate, resulting in the inability to achieve real-time control of the robot to accurately carry and pack boxes, and the communication data interaction speed between robots is unstable, with a large delay in time. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, in order to solve the above problems in the prior art, the present invention proposes an application method of a Raman enhancement substrate.

[0006] The present invention solves the above problems through the following technical means:

[0007] A multi-robot collaborative control system for handling and packing, including a synchronous belt and a workpiece to be carried, further including: a main handling robot, a slave handling robot, a packing robot, and a vision system. The main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packing robot communicate with each other. The vision system communicates with the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. The vision system is installed on the synchronous belt, and a fixed reference coordinate system and a workpiece recognition unit coordinate system to be carried are established on the synchronous belt.

[0008] Further, a teaching pendant and a controller are embedded in each of the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packing robot. The teaching pendant is used to plan the movement trajectory of the workpiece to be handled, and the controller is used to receive and send instructions among the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packing robot.

[0009] Further, clamping tools are installed on both the main handling robot and the slave handling robot.

[0010] Further, data interaction between the main handling robot and the slave handling robot is carried out using a CAN bus.

[0011] Further, communication between the vision system and the main handling robot and the slave handling robot is carried out using a TCP / IP network communication protocol.

[0012] Further, the present invention also provides a control method for a multi-robot collaborative control system for handling and packing, including:

[0013] S1. Confirm the relative positions of the robots and the real-time position of the workpiece to be handled; by establishing a robot coordinate system to confirm the relative position information among the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packing robot; establish a fixed reference coordinate system and a coordinate system for the workpiece identification unit to be handled on the synchronous belt to confirm the real-time position information of the workpiece to be handled.

[0014] S2. Obtain the stroboscopic signal of the workpiece to be handled in real time; when the workpiece to be handled reaches the target position on the synchronous belt, the vision system obtains the stroboscopic signal corresponding to the workpiece to be handled.

[0015] S3. Judge whether the workpiece to be handled reaches the specified handling position according to the stroboscopic signal obtained in S2; the main handling robot receives and calculates the stroboscopic signal obtained in S2 to judge whether the workpiece to be handled reaches the specified handling position on the synchronous belt.

[0016] S4. Plan the movement trajectory and send a handling instruction; when it is judged that the workpiece to be handled reaches the specified handling position, the teaching pendant in the main handling robot plans the movement trajectory of the workpiece to be handled; and sends this movement trajectory to the slave handling robot through the controller; and sends a corresponding box handling instruction to the slave handling robot.

[0017] S5. Receive the instruction and start the box handling operation; the slave handling robot cooperates with the main robot to carry out the box handling operation according to the movement trajectory and the box handling instruction in S4.

[0018] S6. Adjust the motion posture in real time and confirm reaching the specified packing position; during the box handling operation in S5, the controller of the slave handling robot adjusts its own motion posture in real time according to the real-time motion trajectory of the master handling robot, and cooperates with the master handling robot to transport the workpiece to be transported to the packing position;

[0019] S7. The packing robot starts the packing operation; when the workpiece to be transported reaches the packing position, the master handling robot sends a real-time position signal to the packing robot, and the controller of the packing robot sends a packing instruction to the packing robot according to the real-time position signal sent by the master handling robot to perform the packing operation.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention at least include:

[0021] Through the settings of the master handling robot, the slave handling robot, the packing robot, and the vision system, and their mutual communication, during the collaborative work of handling and packing, the present invention can solve the problems of task allocation among multiple robots, accurate positioning of workpieces, cooperation degree among robots, and real-time trajectory planning during the handling and assembly process. Description of the Drawings

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0023] Figure 1 is a flowchart of a multi-robot collaborative control method for handling and packing provided by the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 is a structural block diagram of a multi-robot collaborative control system for handling and packing provided by the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0025] In order to make the above objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] Embodiment

[0027] A multi-robot collaborative control system for handling packaged items, including a synchronous belt and workpieces to be handled, further comprising: a main handling robot, a slave handling robot, a packaging robot, and a vision system. The main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packaging robot communicate with each other. The vision system communicates with the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. The vision system is installed on the synchronous belt, and a fixed reference coordinate system and a workpiece recognition unit coordinate system are established on the synchronous belt. It should be noted that relative coordinate systems need to be established among the robots (i.e., the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packaging robot), the synchronous belt, and the workpieces to be handled, and the positions relative to each other can be obtained through calculation. Preferably, in the present invention, a fixed reference coordinate system and a workpiece recognition unit coordinate system are first established on the synchronous belt. After the camera in the vision system takes a photo, it needs to instantaneously output an accurate strobe signal. The main handling robot system uses this signal to capture the encoder data at the moment when the camera takes a photo, so as to obtain the real-time position of the object at the moment of taking a photo. Then, the robot automatically and real-time refreshes and calculates the position of the workpiece to be handled on the synchronous belt relative to the workpiece recognition unit coordinate system to determine whether the workpiece to be handled reaches the specified handling position.

[0028] Preferably, CAN bus is used for data interaction between the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. Preferably, TCP / IP network communication protocol is used for communication between the vision system and the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. Preferably, a teaching pendant and a controller are embedded in each of the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packaging robot. The teaching pendant is used to plan the movement trajectory of the workpiece to be handled, and the controller is used to receive and send instructions among the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the packaging robot. Preferably, clamping tools are installed on both the main handling robot and the slave handling robot.

[0029] It should be noted that the teaching pendant performs trajectory planning on the workpiece to be carried, generates a motion trajectory. When the workpiece is transported to a specified position on the synchronous belt, the main handling robot and the slave handling robot will move to appropriate positions to cooperatively grip (through the gripping tools installed on the main handling robot and the slave handling robot) the workpiece to be carried and carry it according to the planned trajectory. The two handling robots adopt a master-slave cooperative control mode and use the CAN bus for data interaction. During the handling process, the main handling robot transmits the motion trajectory data to the slave handling robot in real time. The slave handling robot calculates the relative trajectory based on the position in the relative coordinate system and follows the main handling robot's movement, thereby ensuring the smoothness during the cooperative handling of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. Preferably, during the handling process, the controllers in the main handling robot and the slave handling robot will read the joint angles of their respective axes in real time, calculate the positions and postures of the end effectors (i.e., the gripping tools mentioned above) of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot through the joint angles, and transmit the data to the packing robot, thereby calculating the relative positions of their respective end tools. After the packing robot reads the positions and postures of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot and determines that they have reached the specified packing position, the packing robot starts to grip the workpiece to be carried for packing. During the packing process, it will adjust the position and posture of the robot in real time according to the situation of the loaded workpiece (i.e., the workpiece to be carried after being handled as mentioned above), ensuring that the relative poses of the respective ends when the main handling robot and the slave handling robot grip the workpiece remain unchanged, so that each robot is in a stable operating state. It should be noted that the issuance and reception of the above control instructions are all issued and received by the corresponding controllers in the corresponding robots.

[0030] Meanwhile, as Figure 1 shown, the present invention also provides a control method for a multi-robot cooperative control system for handling and packing, including:

[0031] S1. Confirm the relative positions of each robot and the real-time position of the workpiece to be carried; by establishing a robot coordinate system to confirm the relative position information between the main handling robot, the slave handling robot and the packing robot; establish a fixed reference coordinate system and a workpiece to be carried identification unit coordinate system on the synchronous belt to confirm the real-time position information of the workpiece to be carried.

[0032] S2. Obtain the stroboscopic signal of the workpiece to be carried in real time; when the workpiece to be carried reaches the target position on the synchronous belt, the vision system obtains the stroboscopic signal of the corresponding workpiece to be carried.

[0033] S3. Based on the stroboscopic signal obtained in S2, determine whether the workpiece to be transported has reached the specified transportation position; the main transportation robot receives and calculates the stroboscopic signal obtained in S2 to determine whether the workpiece to be transported has reached the specified transportation position on the synchronous belt.

[0034] S4. Plan the motion trajectory and issue a transportation instruction; when it is determined that the workpiece to be transported has reached the specified transportation position, the teaching pendant in the main transportation robot plans the motion trajectory of the workpiece to be transported; and sends this motion trajectory to the slave transportation robot through the controller; and sends a corresponding box transportation instruction to the slave transportation robot.

[0035] S5. Receive the instruction and start the box transportation operation; the slave transportation robot cooperates with the main robot to perform the box transportation operation according to the motion trajectory and box transportation instruction in S4.

[0036] S6. Real-time adjust the motion posture and confirm reaching the specified packing position; during the box transportation operation in S5, the controller of the slave transportation robot adjusts its own motion posture in real time according to the real-time motion trajectory of the main transportation robot, and cooperates with the main transportation robot to transport the workpiece to be transported to the packing position.

[0037] S7. The packing robot starts the packing operation; when the workpiece to be transported reaches the packing position, the main transportation robot sends the real-time position signal to the packing robot, and the controller of the packing robot sends a packing instruction to the packing robot according to the real-time position signal sent by the main transportation robot to perform the packing operation.

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention at least include:

[0039] Through the settings of the main transportation robot, the slave transportation robot, the packing robot, and the vision system, and their mutual communication, during the collaborative work of transportation and packing, the present invention can solve the problems of task allocation among multiple robots, accurate positioning of workpieces, cooperation degree among various robots, and real-time nature of trajectory planning in the transportation and assembly process. During the transportation and packing operation, if the robot trajectory deviates, the robot controller can timely generate a motion control instruction to adjust the running state of the robot so that it runs according to the planned trajectory, reducing errors.

[0040] The above embodiments only represent one implementation manner of the present invention, and its description is relatively specific and detailed, but it should not be construed as a limitation to the scope of the present invention patent. It should be noted that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several deformations and improvements can still be made, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention patent should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-robot cooperative control system for handling packages, comprising: Synchronous belt and workpiece to be transported, characterized in that it further includes: a main handling robot, a slave handling robot, a boxing robot, and a vision system. The main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the boxing robot communicate with each other. The vision system communicates with the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. The vision system is installed on the synchronous belt, and a fixed reference coordinate system and a workpiece recognition unit coordinate system are established on the synchronous belt; The main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the boxing robot are all embedded with a teaching pendant and a controller. The teaching pendant is used to plan the movement trajectory of the workpiece to be transported, and the controller is used to receive and send instructions between the main handling robot, the slave handling robot, and the boxing robot; The teaching pendant plans the trajectory of the workpiece to be transported to generate a movement trajectory. When the workpiece is transported to a specified position on the synchronous belt, the main handling robot and the slave handling robot will move to appropriate positions to cooperate in clamping the workpiece to be transported and carry it according to the planned trajectory. The two handling robots adopt a master-slave cooperative control mode. During the handling process, the main handling robot transmits the movement trajectory data to the slave handling robot in real time. The slave handling robot calculates the relative trajectory based on the position of the relative coordinate system and follows the main handling robot to move, thus ensuring the smoothness during the cooperative handling of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot. During the handling process, the controllers in the main handling robot and the slave handling robot will read the joint angles of their respective axes in real time, calculate the positions and postures of the end effectors of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot through the joint angles, and transmit the data to the boxing robot, thereby calculating the relative positions of their respective end tools. After the boxing robot reads the positions and postures of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot and determines that they have reached the specified boxing position, the boxing robot starts to clamp the workpiece to be transported for boxing. During the boxing process, it will adjust the position and posture of the robot in real time according to the situation of the loaded workpiece to ensure that the relative postures of the respective ends of the main handling robot and the slave handling robot when clamping the workpiece remain unchanged, so that each robot is in a stable operating state.

2. The multi-robot collaborative control system for handling packages according to claim 1, wherein Clamping tools are installed on both the main handling robot and the slave handling robot.

3. The multi-robot collaborative control system for handling packages according to claim 1, wherein Data interaction between the main handling robot and the slave handling robot is carried out using the CAN bus.

4. The multi-robot collaborative control system for handling packages according to claim 1, characterized in that The vision system communicates with the main handling robot and the slave handling robot using the TCP / IP network communication protocol.

5. A control method for a multi-robot collaborative control system for handling packed boxes according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, Including: S1. Confirm the relative positions of the robots and the real-time position of the workpiece to be transported; S2. Obtain the stroboscopic signal of the workpiece to be transported in real time; S3. Based on the stroboscopic signal obtained in S2, judge whether the workpiece to be transported has reached the specified handling position; S4. Plan the movement trajectory and issue a handling instruction; S5. Receive the instruction in S4 and start the box handling operation according to the movement trajectory; S6. Adjust the movement posture in real time and confirm reaching the specified boxing position; S7. The boxing robot starts the boxing operation.

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