A modular, highly customizable robotic control system

Abstract

The application relates to the field of robot control, in particular to a robot control system with modularity and high customization. First, install the control software on the man-machine interaction module, and the robot can be connected with the man-machine interaction module through WIFI or a network cable; select the corresponding control mode through the man-machine interaction module, and send the data and instructions to the robot through the data pipeline; the robot feeds back to the man-machine interaction module through the interface in the hardware abstraction module and the data communication module, and the specific information of the robot can be displayed in real time. The modular design idea is adopted, the data pipeline is formed through the standardized data interface, the robot control system can be quickly built and expanded, and the problems of poor compatibility and poor flexibility of the robot system are solved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robot control, in particular to a robot control system with modularity and high customizability. BACKGROUND

[0002] Robot is a high-tech product formed by the cross and integration of multiple fields such as machinery, automation, computer, artificial intelligence, etc. Its research and development, manufacturing and application are important indicators to measure the level of a country's scientific and technological innovation and high-end manufacturing industry. The robot control system is the brain of the robot, responsible for processing various sensor data of the robot and sending motion control instructions to each execution unit, and is the embodiment of the robot's perception, planning, action and collaboration capabilities. The research and development of the robot control system is an important part of the robot.

[0003] However, due to the complexity of the robot itself, it is difficult to build a control system, and many links of the robot control system are process-based and modular. At present, the control system of foreign robots is designed for their own robots, and the control system of self-owned brand robots is not universal for robots of other brands, resulting in poor equipment maintenance and high maintenance cost, and wasting a lot of resources and funds. Therefore, developing a modular and highly customizable robot control system can greatly reduce the threshold of robot research and development, accelerate the popularization and application of robot technology, and has broad market prospects. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a modular and highly customizable robot control system, which adopts a modular design concept, forms a data pipeline through a standardized data interface, and can realize rapid construction and expansion of the robot control system, solving the problems of weak compatibility and poor flexibility of the robot system.

[0005] The technical scheme adopted by the present application to achieve the above-mentioned purposes is:

[0006] A modular and highly customizable robot control system, different functional modules are constructed, interfaces between different modules are connected through a data transmission pipeline, and the construction of the whole robot control system is completed. The functional module includes:

[0007] A human-computer interaction module for selecting different modules through graphical programming and issuing motion control instructions of the robot to construct a control system for different robots or different modes of the same robot;

[0008] A data communication module for formulating a protocol for communication between different modules to complete communication between the human-computer interaction module and the robot learning module, and between the hardware abstraction module and the real robot arm;

[0009] a robotics computing module, configured to perform robotics computation on the robot model to obtain a robot data packet;

[0010] a trajectory generation module, configured to calculate a trajectory of the robot at each time according to a robot motion control instruction issued by the human-computer interaction module;

[0011] a motion control module, configured to parse position, velocity and torque information of each joint of the robot per unit time according to the trajectory generated by the trajectory generation module and the robot data packet obtained by the robotics computing module;

[0012] a hardware abstraction module, configured to control a hardware interface of a robot driver to accept the parsed result of the motion control module.

[0013] The robot further comprises a perception module, configured to perceive external information and issue the information to the trajectory generation module to complete robot navigation, mapping and obstacle avoidance.

[0014] The robotics computing module comprises:

[0015] a kinematics computing module, configured to complete robot kinematics calculation through a robot model description file to obtain a pose and a joint angle of the robot;

[0016] a dynamics computing module, configured to convert a task to be executed by the robot and an environment in a task range into force and torque of an execution mechanism of the robot, and complete torque mode compensation through gravity compensation and load compensation of the robot.

[0017] The kinematics computing module is divided into forward kinematics and inverse kinematics, wherein:

[0018] the forward kinematics is solved through the robot model description file to obtain a corresponding pose of the robot; and the inverse kinematics is inversely solved through the corresponding pose of the robot to obtain a joint angle.

[0019] The trajectory generation module comprises online generation and offline generation, wherein:

[0020] the offline generation comprises straight line trajectory planning in a Cartesian space, circular arc trajectory planning in the Cartesian space and multi-segment straight line trajectory planning in the Cartesian space; and the online generation comprises joint space point motion planning and Cartesian space point motion planning.

[0021] The hardware abstraction module enables one-way data transmission through shared memory, and completes communication of the robot through reading of a configuration description format YAML file and CANopen, EtherCAT and Modbus protocols in data distribution.

[0022] The human-computer interaction module issues a simulated control instruction, transmits the instruction of the simulation robot to the data distribution, replaces the data distribution mode with a simulation mode, and realizes the corresponding state of the real robot through simulation data.

[0023] The application has the following advantages and benefits:

[0024] 1. The robot control system has the advantages of simple operation, strong applicability, simple installation, high compatibility, and can meet the construction of various robot control systems. The application has the basic control function of the robot, and various devices can control the robot system, and can realize the motion control function between different scenes and different modes to complete the control function of the robot. The highlight of the control system is that a perception module is added, which can accurately complete the perception function of the robot.

[0025] 2. The application has the characteristics of high modularity and high customization. The system adopts a modular design idea, forms a data pipeline through a standardized data interface, and can realize rapid construction and expansion of the robot control system. The robot control system is not limited to any platform, and can control the construction of various robot control systems such as industrial robots, collaborative robots, and automatic navigation vehicles.

[0026] 3. The data communication in the application can be realized through a distributed network to remotely control various robots distributed in remote places, and can meet the data transmission function of the devices in different human-computer interaction modules. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 Structure block diagram of the robot control system;

[0028] Figure 2 Principle diagram of the robot data pipeline;

[0029] Figure 3 Control flow chart of the industrial robot;

[0030] Figure 4 Torque control flow chart of the collaborative robot;

[0031] Figure 5 Control flow chart of the automatic navigation vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and examples.

[0033] A modular and highly customizable robot control system, the control principle block diagram of which is as follows Figure 1As shown, the system is composed of eight modules, including human-computer interaction module, data communication module, kinematics calculation module, dynamics calculation module, trajectory generation module, motion control module, hardware abstraction module and perception module. Figure 2 is completed by issuing instructions to module 1 through the perception module, and connecting each module through data pipes to complete data transmission. Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 are control systems for robots of different types or modes. Figure 1 Different functional modules are used to complete the construction of the entire robot control system through standardized interfaces between different modules and pipes between interfaces. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the robot data pipe principle. Figure 3 is a control flowchart of an industrial robot. Figure 4 is a control flowchart of a collaborative robot force control mode. Figure 5 is a control flowchart of an automatic navigation vehicle.

[0034] In combination with Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 , the specific embodiments of the present patent are as follows: first, install the control software on the human-computer interaction module, and the robot can be connected to the human-computer interaction module through WIFI or network cable; select the corresponding control mode through the human-computer interaction module, and send the data and instructions to the robot through data pipe for data calculation; the robot can feed back to the human-computer interaction module through the data communication module through the interface in the hardware abstraction module, and the specific information of the robot can be displayed in real time. Figure 1 As shown, the actual operation content of the robot operation control system between the modules is composed of the following parts.

[0035] Human-computer interaction module: the function of this module is to complete the graphical programming of the robot, the motion control of the robot, the display of the motion state of the robot 3D model and the feedback of the motion state of the robot 3D model; through graphical programming, different modules can be selected to complete the functions required by different types of robots.

[0036] Data communication module: the function of this module is to complete the communication between different modules, and the protocol for communication between modules is formulated to ensure the flow of data. Each module has a corresponding standardized data interface. Each module is connected through a pipe to complete the construction of the robot control system for different scenes.

[0037] The kinematics calculation module of robotics is divided into forward kinematics and inverse kinematics. The function of the module is to complete the calculation of the kinematics of the robot through the robot model description file. The corresponding attitude of the robot can be obtained through the forward kinematics of the robot. Through the inverse kinematics of the robot, the joint angle can be inversely solved through the corresponding attitude of the robot. The present application can select a unified description format model URDF, a DH parameter model and an exponential product model to complete the description of the equipment.

[0038] The dynamics calculation module of robotics is used to convert the task and its surrounding environment into the force and torque at the actuator. Its functions can complete the corresponding functions such as impedance control, admittance control, Cartesian space drag teaching, joint space drag teaching, etc. of the robot. Through the gravity compensation and load compensation of the robot, the torque mode compensation is completed to ensure the implementation of the force control mode of the robot.

[0039] The trajectory generation module is used to calculate the trajectory of the robot at each time through the instructions issued by the human-computer interaction module, and complete the trajectory planning of the robot. The trajectory generation module mainly includes online generation and offline generation. Offline generation includes straight line trajectory planning in Cartesian space, circular arc trajectory planning in Cartesian space, and multi-segment straight line trajectory planning in Cartesian space. Online generation includes joint space point motion planning and Cartesian space point motion planning.

[0040] The motion control module is mainly used to generate a data packet according to the trajectory generated by the trajectory generation module and the kinematics and dynamics calculation module of robotics, and parse the position, speed and torque information of each joint of the robot per unit time through the data packet. The position control, speed control and torque control in the motion control module can complete the processing between different modes of the robot.

[0041] The hardware abstraction module receives the instructions issued by the motion control module, so that the hardware interface of the robot driver can receive the position, speed and torque information of each joint per unit time of the motion control module. The hardware abstraction module guarantees the one-way transmission of data through shared memory in data distribution, and can complete the communication operation of industrial robots, collaborative robots and manipulators through the reading of the configuration description format YAML file and the CANopen, EtherCAT and Modbus protocols in data distribution. By changing the mode of the data distribution part, the simulation mode can be replaced, so that the corresponding state of the real robot can be known through simulation data without using the real robot.

[0042] The perception module can perceive and collect external information for the robot to make judgments. The information is issued to the trajectory generation module of the robot through the perception module to complete the corresponding functions such as robot navigation, mapping and obstacle avoidance.

[0043] The robot control system of the present application, each module is independent of each other, connected through the pipeline.For the robot control system, different workers, according to the different professional skills, through the use of existing modules, can quickly build a set of robot control system.Also can be through the replacement of module content control method, to build a set of robot control system, in order to realize the secondary development of robot, realized the high customization of robot.

[0044] As Figure 2 , by issuing instructions, each module is connected through the data pipeline, through the instruction issued to module 1, after the processing of module 1, get the processed data, module 1 corresponding to the standardized data interface is sent to module 2;Similarly, from module N-1 to module N is so. The perception data obtained by robot module 3 and the instruction of module 2 are combined and issued to the next module, so that the robot can better perceive external data. Through the flow direction of the data pipeline between the modules and the modular construction of the robot, a set of robot control system can be quickly built.

[0045] The specific principle and implementation method of the data communication module in the present application are as follows:

[0046] The data communication module realizes the separation of protocol and hardware through hardware layer abstraction, and can realize TCP / IP, RS232, CAN and other communication forms. The request information is sent to the communication server through the client 1, the response information is fed back to the client 1 through the communication server, the request instruction is sent to the communication server through the client 2, and the communication server replies to the instruction, which completes the role of data communication communication construction. Through the above process, the client 1 can call the information of the client 2, just like calling local objects, which completes the role of data communication.

[0047] The above is the control situation of the whole system and the interaction relationship between each module in the system. A modular, highly customizable robot control system makes operation simple and convenient. It adopts modular design idea, forms data pipeline through standardized data interface, can realize quick building and expansion of robot control system, solves the problem of weak compatibility and poor flexibility of robot system.

[0048] For different modes between the same kind of robot and different types of robots, the present application gives three examples, such as industrial robot, collaborative robot, automatic navigation vehicle for brief overview of function.

[0049] As Figure 3As shown, the industrial robot, since the industrial robot is oriented to industrial production, needs to have high robustness, high carrying capacity, simple operation and the like. The present application uses the teach pendant part in the industrial robot man-machine interaction module, transmits the robot planning instruction to the trajectory generation module through the data communication module, and can calculate the pose information of the robot at each time through the trajectory generation in the Cartesian space in the trajectory generation module. The kinematics calculation module needs to read the DH parameter model of the industrial robot, and the angle information of each joint is calculated. The angle information of the joints of the robot is transmitted through the position interface in the hardware abstraction module through the position control in the motion control module, and then the hardware configuration description format YAML is imported into the data distribution. Through the Ethercat bus mode, the data is sent to the industrial robot by means of shared memory, and the joint information of the robot is fed back to the teach pendant in the man-machine interaction module through the data communication module in this way, so as to display the real-time state of the robot. In addition, the joint angle of each time can also be obtained through the teach pendant in the man-machine interaction module, through the data communication module, through the joint space offline trajectory generation of the trajectory generation module. Through the position interface in the hardware abstraction module, the data is sent to the industrial robot by means of shared memory through the Ethercat bus mode. Similarly, the industrial robot returns the data to the man-machine interaction module, and the real-time state of the robot is displayed.

[0050] As shown in the figure, Figure 4 The force control mode of the collaborative robot, the control instruction is issued by the tablet computer in the man-machine interaction module, the Cartesian space online trajectory generation in the trajectory generation module, the exponential product model PoE in the robot model description is read through the robot module, the motion of the robot in the environment is fed back to the robot kinematics through the calculation in the robot dynamics module, so that the robot itself has compliance. Through the torque control mode in the motion control module, the torque information of the robot joint is obtained through the robot module, and the torque interface in the hardware abstraction module is issued. Then the hardware configuration description format YAML is imported into the data distribution. Through the Ethercat bus mode, the data is sent to the mobile platform by means of shared memory. Finally, the force control mode of the collaborative robot is completed.

[0051] As shown in the figure, Figure 5As shown, the automatic navigation vehicle refers to a transport vehicle equipped with an automatic navigation device such as an electromagnetic or optical device, capable of driving along a specified navigation path, having safety protection and various transfer functions. The laser radar in the perception module can perceive the surrounding environment to complete functions such as mapping and obstacle avoidance. Through the tablet computer in the human-computer interaction module, the target position that the automatic navigation vehicle needs to reach is issued. Through the robot kinematics calculation module, the uniform description format model URDF in the robot model description is read, and the speed required by each joint at each time is calculated through the robot kinematics calculation module. Through the speed control mode in the motion control module, the speed information is transmitted through the speed interface in the hardware abstraction module, and then the hardware configuration description format YAML is imported into the data distribution. Through the Ethercat bus mode, the data is sent to the mobile platform by means of shared memory. When the mobile platform encounters an obstacle, the laser radar in the perception module can well avoid the obstacle to complete the mobile platform planning the optimal path to reach the required position.

[0052] It should be emphasized that the embodiments described in the present application are illustrative rather than restrictive, and therefore the present application includes but is not limited to the embodiments described in the specific embodiments. Any other embodiments derived by those skilled in the art according to the technical solutions of the present application also belong to the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A modular, highly customizable robotic control system, characterized in that, Different functional modules are constructed, interfaces between different modules are connected through a data transmission pipeline, and the whole robot control system is built, the functional modules include: A human-computer interaction module is configured to select different modules through graphical programming, issue robot motion control instructions, and build a control system for different robots or different modes of the same robot; A data communication module is configured to formulate a communication protocol between different modules, complete communication between the human-computer interaction module and the robot learning module, and communication between the hardware abstraction module and the real robot arm; A robot learning calculation module is configured to perform robot learning calculation on a robot model to obtain a robot data packet; A trajectory generation module is configured to calculate the trajectory of the robot at each time according to the robot motion control instructions issued by the human-computer interaction module; A motion control module is configured to analyze the position, velocity, and torque information of each joint of the robot per unit time according to the trajectory generated by the trajectory generation module and the robot data packet obtained by the robot learning calculation module; A hardware abstraction module is configured to control the hardware interface of the robot driver to accept the analysis results of the motion control module. The robot learning calculation module includes: A kinematics calculation module is configured to complete robot kinematics calculation through a robot model description file to obtain the pose and joint angle of the robot; A dynamics calculation module is configured to convert the task to be performed by the robot and the environment within the task range into the force and torque of the robot execution mechanism, and complete torque mode compensation through gravity compensation and load compensation of the robot.

2. A modular, highly customizable robotic control system according to claim 1, wherein, A perception module is further included to perceive and collect external information and issue the information to the trajectory generation module to complete robot navigation, mapping, and obstacle avoidance.

3. The modular, highly customizable robotic control system of claim 1, wherein, The kinematics calculation module includes forward kinematics and inverse kinematics, wherein: The forward kinematics is solved through a robot model description file to obtain the corresponding pose of the robot; and the inverse kinematics is solved through the corresponding pose of the robot to obtain the joint angle.

4. The modular, highly customizable robotic control system of claim 1, wherein, The trajectory generation module includes online generation and offline generation, wherein: The offline generation includes straight line trajectory planning in Cartesian space, circular arc trajectory planning in Cartesian space, and multi-segment straight line trajectory planning in Cartesian space; and the online generation includes joint space point motion planning and Cartesian space point motion planning.

5. The modular, highly customizable robotic control system of claim 1, wherein, The hardware abstraction module performs one-way data transmission through shared memory, reads the configuration description format YAML file, and completes robot communication through CANopen, EtherCAT, and Modbus protocols in data distribution.

6. The modular, highly customizable robotic control system of claim 1, wherein, The human-computer interaction module issues simulated control instructions, transmits the instructions of the simulation robot to the data distribution, replaces the data distribution mode with the simulation mode, and realizes the corresponding state of the real robot through simulation data.

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