A robot joint module and network control system

Abstract

A robot joint module and networked control system includes an actuator unit, a control unit, and a relay unit. The control unit includes a computing module, a power drive module, a signal acquisition module, an I / O module, a power supply module, a wired communication module, and a wireless communication module. The relay unit includes a communication bridge module and a drive relay module. This invention addresses the problem of restoring system capabilities by reconfiguring the electrical and control networks in the event of communication or drive failures, thereby improving the reliability of the robot system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a robot joint module and a networked control system, belonging to the field of special operation operation robots. Background Art

[0002] Robot joints are the core units for various types of operating robot systems to implement command actions. In traditional designs, robot joints mostly adopt a separate layout (ZL 202111142854.X, ZL 202111215288.0, ZL202311266147.0, 202211050498.3, 202211148158.4

[0003] , 202410082296.X, 202410105956.1, 202410321046.7, etc.), that is, the actuator unit (motor, reducer and structural parts, etc.) and the control unit (control driver, etc.) are relatively independent, and the control module used to realize the servo closed-loop operation of each joint is integrated into an independent controller, and then the sensor data acquisition and control signal transmission are realized through electrical cables. In the above design, the control driver becomes a weak single point in the robot system. When mechanical transmission failure, power device failure or other abnormal working problems occur, the robot does not have the system recovery and reconstruction capabilities. For operating robots used for special operations (such as rescue, security, bomb disposal, medical treatment, space operations, etc.), it will cause mission failure, which may have serious consequences. In addition, the separate layout of the robot joints increases the difficulty of system integration and electrical wiring, and reduces the efficiency of product development. Some manufacturers and researchers have carried out integrated joint design (ZL 201810009929.9, ZL201810738451.3, ZL 202211214507.8, 202311707609.8, 202311823798.5, etc.), which adopts an integrated layout of the actuator unit and the control unit. However, it does not have redundant backup design for drive, communication and other capabilities, and still cannot solve the problem of system task failure caused by a single joint failure.

[0004] Furthermore, networked control systems for robots are often hierarchical, such as a control network consisting of a task controller, a motion controller, and multiple joint modules (controllers); or a control network consisting of an integrated task controller and motion controller, combined with multiple joint modules (controllers). For joint modules responsible for end-user tasks, failure of the upper-level nodes responsible for coordination and control can lead to failure of the entire control network, ultimately causing the robot system's mission to fail. In the research on control systems for joint modules, existing research focuses on servo control algorithms for single joint modules (202311639818.3, 202311870139.7, 202311331970.5, etc.), or on impedance control and state observation for multi-joint networks (ZL201810827127.9, 202410240238.5, etc.). Few studies have examined network recovery and reconstruction. To sum up, at the single-machine level control network represented by the joint module, the existing technology is difficult to solve the problem of reconstruction of the control network. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem solved by the present invention is: to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology, and provide a networked control system for a robot joint module, so as to solve the problem of restoring system capabilities by reconstructing the electrical and control networks when communication and drive failures occur, which is conducive to improving the reliability of the robot system.

[0006] The technical solution of the present invention is:

[0007] A robot joint module includes: an actuating unit, a control unit, and a relay unit; the control unit includes a computing module, a power driving module, a signal acquisition module, an I / O module, a power supply module, a wired communication module, and a wireless communication module; the relay unit includes a communication bridge module and a drive relay module;

[0008] The signal acquisition module is used to collect sensor signals from the actuating unit of the joint module and provide them to the calculation module, which implements the control operation of the joint module and then controls the power drive module to drive the actuating unit of the joint module to work;

[0009] Both the power drive module and the signal acquisition module have redundant channels. The power drive module drives the actuator units of other joint modules through the drive relay module of the relay unit; the signal acquisition module collects sensor signals from the actuator units of other joint modules through the drive relay module of the relay unit.

[0010] The I / O module is connected to the drive relay module of the relay unit to realize status monitoring and control of the drive relay module;

[0011] The wired communication module is connected to the communication bridge module of the relay unit to realize the communication between the joint module and the upper-level motion controller and the communication between other joint modules in a wired manner;

[0012] The wireless communication module cooperates with the wired communication module to realize the communication between the joint module and the upper-level motion controller and the communication between other joint modules in a wireless manner as a backup communication method;

[0013] The power supply module is used to connect to the power supply circuit of the whole machine to supply power to various parts of the joint module.

[0014] Furthermore, the computing module of the control unit is implemented using CPU, MCU, MPU, FPGA or APSoC, which is used not only to implement the control operations of this joint module, but also to provide computing power for servo control to at least one other joint module.

[0015] Furthermore, the actuating unit includes a transmission mechanism module, a motor module and a sensor module;

[0016] The transmission mechanism module includes a coupling and a reducer, which are used to realize the movement execution of the joint module under the drive of the motor module;

[0017] The motor module works under the control of the power drive module of the joint module control unit. At the same time, the motor module also has a redundant input channel, which is connected to the relay unit drive relay module to obtain the drive signal from other joint modules;

[0018] The sensor module is used to obtain the motor's position, speed, current and output torque data.

[0019] Furthermore, the communication bridge module is used to realize the physical bridging of the wired communication transmission medium; the drive relay module is a multi-way switch realized by a combination of relays, which is in a neutral suspended state with no conduction by default; the drive relay module is connected to the I / O module, power drive module and motor module of this joint module, and the drive relay module includes four relay channels.

[0020] Further,

[0021] In relay channel A, the signal acquisition module obtains the unidirectional drive signal from the actuator unit of other joint modules from the drive relay module;

[0022] In relay channel B, the power drive module provides a one-way sensor signal to the drive relay module. This joint module uses relay channels A and B to remotely control the actuators of other joint modules, providing drive capability support.

[0023] In relay channel C, the drive relay module provides the motor with a unidirectional drive signal from other joint modules;

[0024] In relay channel D, the actuator unit provides a unidirectional sensor signal to the drive relay module;

[0025] The actuator obtains remote closed-loop control from the control units of other joint modules through relay channels C and D, that is, obtains driving capability support;

[0026] The I / O module collects the channel opening status of the driving relay module through the input port, and stimulates the relay of the driving relay module through the output port to realize the switching and opening and closing management of the above relay channels.

[0027] Furthermore, the actuating unit, the control unit and the relay unit are designed as an integrated whole and integrated into the same product entity.

[0028] Secondly,

[0029] The present invention also proposes a networked control system for a robot joint module, comprising: a task controller, a motion controller, a power supply bus, a system communication bus, a whole-machine sensor signal relay channel, a drive signal relay channel, and a plurality of the aforementioned joint modules;

[0030] The task controller provides command input to the motion controller, and the motion controller provides command input to each joint module; each joint module is connected to the power supply line of the whole machine through the power supply module, connected to the system communication bus through the communication bridge module, and connected to the sensor signal relay channel and drive signal relay channel of the whole machine through the drive relay module.

[0031] Furthermore, in terms of communication, each joint module adopts wired communication as the first communication mode and wireless communication as the second communication mode; when the communication quality of the first communication mode deteriorates or fails and reaches the preset conversion conditions, the joint module switches to the second communication mode, and the selection of the two communication modes supports mutual conversion.

[0032] Furthermore, each joint module has the same control authority in the networked control system. The upper-level motion controller uses periodic queries or real-time uploads from the joint modules to obtain the status information of each joint module, including the operating status of the power drive module and the channel opening and closing status of the drive relay module.

[0033] The joint module obtains the control signal for the actuator unit to which this module belongs by communicating with the superior motion controller; when the superior motion controller detects a drive failure in a joint module, it makes a drive relay priority decision by querying the latest status information of each joint module, sends a control signal to the joint module with idle redundant drive channel, and starts the drive relay function between the corresponding joint module and the faulty module, thereby realizing mutual assistance in drive capabilities between the joint modules.

[0034] Furthermore, the motion controller makes drive relay priority decisions, including:

[0035] (1) The upper-level motion controller establishes a drive capability data set, including the electrical and communication topology, installation layout, redundant resource margin, and operating status information of each joint module;

[0036] (2) The upper-level motion controller monitors the operating status data of each joint module obtained in step (1), and determines whether a drive abnormality problem occurs in each joint module according to preset conditions; wherein the preset conditions include error information, speed feedback data, and current feedback data in the operating status information returned by each joint module;

[0037] (3) Prioritize the use of backup drive channels that are not occupied by the faulty node for internal drive support of the joint module. When internal drive support of the joint module cannot be achieved, the superior motion controller's decision-making method follows the following basic principles:

[0038] a) To minimize the impact of electrical transmission, the node providing driving support should be installed closest to the faulty node;

[0039] b) To minimize system communication latency, the nodes providing driver support should be located in the same communication subnet as the faulty node, or in a nearby communication subnet that is most conducive to reducing latency. A communication subnet is a local network consisting of several nodes with the same communication rate, divided by a bridge device.

[0040] c) The nodes that provide driving capability support should have idle redundant resources and no abnormal problems reported during operation;

[0041] (4) The motion controller sends control instructions to the faulty node and output node respectively; when the internal drive support of the joint module is used, the faulty node is configured to use the internal backup drive; when the external drive support is used, the faulty node is configured to use the drive relay input, and the output node is configured to drive the relay output;

[0042] The node refers to the joint module, and the output node refers to the node that provides driving capability support.

[0043] Furthermore, when the communication method adopted between the motion controller and the task controller is consistent with the communication method between the motion controller and the joint module, that is, when the joint module has the ability to communicate directly with the superior task controller, the physical superior motion controller in the networked control system is cancelled and changed to a method of dynamically setting a joint module as a logical motion controller.

[0044] Furthermore, there are two ways to determine which joint module will execute the task of the logical motion controller. The first way is that the task controller directly selects and specifies it based on the operating status, resource margin, distance information, and numbering sequence of the joint module.

[0045] The second method is determined by negotiation among the joint modules in the network. The basis for negotiation includes the joint module operating status, resource margin, distance information, and numbering sequence.

[0046] Furthermore, the task controller selects and specifies the logical motion controller, specifically including the following steps:

[0047] (1) The task controller obtains the status information of each joint module and determines the joint module in good operating status;

[0048] (2) determining whether the joint module in good running state is unique; if so, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; if not, searching for the joint module with the largest resource margin among the joint modules in good running state;

[0049] (3) Determine whether the joint module with the largest resource margin is unique. If it is unique, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; if it is not unique, search for the joint module with the optimal Euclidean distance;

[0050] (4) Determine whether the joint module with the best Euclidean distance is unique. If it is unique, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; if it is not unique, search for the joint module with the largest number or the joint module with the smallest number and directly designate it as the logical motion controller.

[0051] Furthermore, the selection of the logical motion controller based on the negotiation among the joint modules specifically includes the following steps:

[0052] (1) Each joint module encodes the operating status, resource margin, physical installation location, and product number information of the joint module, and then S Repeated broadcasting to other joint modules in the network through wired or wireless communication within a certain time period;

[0053] (2) After receiving the above information, other joint modules compare it with the information of this joint module in a predetermined priority order. If the priority is higher than that of this joint module, this joint module will exit the priority selection;

[0054] When T S After the time is up, if no better joint module information is received, the joint module becomes the winning node and W Repeatedly broadcast notification messages to other joint modules in the network multiple times within a certain period of time;

[0055] (3) After receiving the notification message, other joint modules respond with a confirmation message to the winning node;

[0056] If the winning node is in T W If confirmation messages from all other joint modules are not received within the time limit, the task controller and other joint modules will be notified that the selection has failed; otherwise, they will be notified that the selection has succeeded.

[0057] Furthermore, the joint module priority determination specifically includes the following steps:

[0058] (1) Check whether the operating status priority of each joint module in the broadcast information received is better than that of the current node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether the current node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, enter the next judgment logic;

[0059] (2) Query the nodes with the same operation status priority as this node to see whether their resource margin priority is better than this node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether this node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, proceed to the next judgment logic;

[0060] (3) Check whether the Euclidean distance priority of the nodes with the same resource margin priority as this node is better than that of this node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether this node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, enter the next judgment logic;

[0061] (4) Query the nodes with the same Euclidean distance priority as this node to see whether the node number is greater than this node. If so, the node selection is successful; otherwise, exit the selection process.

[0062] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are:

[0063] (1) The present invention achieves mutual assistance in driving capabilities among various joints by adopting a joint module component architecture, electrical topology structure and networked control system with redundant relay capabilities.

[0064] (2) The present invention realizes reliable communication of special operation operation robots in harsh working environments through a combination of multiple communication methods.

[0065] (3) The present invention supports a variety of system control architectures through a motion controller selection method based on task controller specification and multi-node negotiation. It has flexible scalability and supports dynamic reconstruction and recovery of the control network.

[0066] In summary, the present invention is conducive to improving the survivability and task execution capabilities of operating robots used in special operations (such as rescue, security, bomb disposal, medical treatment, space operations, etc.) in complex mission scenarios. The relevant methods and technologies have good application prospects in other types of robots and complex electromechanical systems, and have significant innovation, scalability and socio-economic value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] Figure 1 This is a diagram of the joint module structure of the present invention;

[0068] Figure 2 A network topology diagram of adjacent joints of the present invention;

[0069] Figure 3 This is a flow chart of the drive relay method based on the networked control system of the present invention;

[0070] Figure 4 The present invention adopts a network topology structure of a logical motion controller;

[0071] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method for selecting a logical motion controller based on task controller designation according to the present invention;

[0072] Figure 6 Flowchart of the method for selecting a logical motion controller based on multi-node negotiation according to the present invention;

[0073] Figure 7 This is a flow chart of the node priority determination method of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0074] The specific embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0075] The present invention first proposes a robot joint module, the basic structure of which is as follows: Figure 1 As shown. It includes: an actuating unit, a control unit and a relay unit; the control unit includes a calculation module, a power drive module, a signal acquisition module, an I / O module, a power supply module, a wired communication module and a wireless communication module; the relay unit includes a communication bridge module and a drive relay module;

[0076] The signal acquisition module is used to collect sensor signals from the actuating unit of the joint module and provide them to the calculation module, which implements the control operation of the joint module and then controls the power drive module to drive the actuating unit of the joint module to work;

[0077] Both the power drive module and the signal acquisition module have redundant channels. The power drive module drives the actuator units of other joint modules through the drive relay module of the relay unit; the signal acquisition module collects sensor signals from the actuator units of other joint modules through the drive relay module of the relay unit.

[0078] The I / O module is connected to the drive relay module of the relay unit to realize status monitoring and control of the drive relay module;

[0079] The wired communication module is connected to the communication bridge module of the relay unit to realize the communication between the joint module and the upper-level motion controller and the communication between other joint modules in a wired manner;

[0080] The wireless communication module cooperates with the wired communication module to realize the communication between the joint module and the upper-level motion controller and the communication between other joint modules in a wireless manner as a backup communication method;

[0081] The power supply module is used to connect to the power supply circuit of the whole machine to supply power to various parts of the joint module.

[0082] Preferably, the actuating unit, the control unit and the relay unit are designed as an integrated whole and integrated into the same product entity.

[0083] The computing module of the control unit is implemented using CPU, MCU, MPU, FPGA or APSoC. In addition to being used to implement the control operations of this joint module, it also provides computing power for servo control to at least one other joint module.

[0084] The actuating unit includes a transmission mechanism module, a motor module and a sensor module;

[0085] The transmission mechanism module includes a coupling and a reducer, which are used to realize the movement execution of the joint module under the drive of the motor module;

[0086] The motor module works under the control of the power drive module of the joint module control unit. At the same time, the motor module also has a redundant input channel, which is connected to the relay unit drive relay module to obtain the drive signal from other joint modules;

[0087] The sensor module is used to obtain the motor's position, speed, current and output torque data.

[0088] The communication bridge module is used to realize the physical bridge of the wired communication transmission medium; the drive relay module is a multi-way switch realized by a combination of relays, which is in a neutral suspended state with no conduction by default; the drive relay module is connected to the I / O module, power drive module and motor module of this joint module, and the drive relay module includes four relay channels.

[0089] In relay channel A, the signal acquisition module obtains the unidirectional drive signal from the actuator unit of other joint modules from the drive relay module;

[0090] In relay channel B, the power drive module provides a one-way sensor signal to the drive relay module. This joint module uses relay channels A and B to remotely control the actuators of other joint modules, providing drive capability support.

[0091] In relay channel C, the drive relay module provides the motor with a unidirectional drive signal from other joint modules;

[0092] In relay channel D, the actuator unit provides a unidirectional sensor signal to the drive relay module;

[0093] The actuator obtains remote closed-loop control from the control units of other joint modules through relay channels C and D, that is, obtains driving capability support;

[0094] The I / O module collects the channel opening status of the driving relay module through the input port, and stimulates the relay of the driving relay module through the output port to realize the switching and opening and closing management of the above relay channels.

[0095] Secondly,

[0096] With respect to the above-mentioned robot joint module, the present invention further proposes a networked control system for the robot joint module, which includes: a task controller, a motion controller, a power supply bus, a system communication bus, a whole-machine sensor signal relay channel, a drive signal relay channel, and a plurality of joint modules;

[0097] The task controller provides command input to the motion controller, and the motion controller provides command input to each joint module; each joint module is connected to the power supply line of the whole machine through the power supply module, connected to the system communication bus through the communication bridge module, and connected to the sensor signal relay channel and drive signal relay channel of the whole machine through the drive relay module.

[0098] In terms of communication, each joint module uses wired communication as the first communication mode and wireless communication as the second communication mode; when the communication quality of the first communication mode deteriorates or fails and reaches the preset conversion conditions, the joint module switches to the second communication mode. The selection of the two communication modes supports mutual conversion.

[0099] Each joint module has the same control authority in the networked control system. The upper-level motion controller uses periodic queries or real-time uploads from the joint modules to obtain the status information of each joint module, including the operating status of the power drive module and the channel opening and closing status of the drive relay module.

[0100] The joint module obtains the control signal for the actuator unit to which this module belongs by communicating with the superior motion controller; when the superior motion controller detects a drive failure in a joint module, it makes a drive relay priority decision by querying the latest status information of each joint module, sends a control signal to the joint module with idle redundant drive channel, and starts the drive relay function between the corresponding joint module and the faulty module, thereby realizing mutual assistance in drive capabilities between the joint modules.

[0101] The motion controller makes drive relay priority decisions, including:

[0102] (1) The upper-level motion controller establishes a drive capability data set, including the electrical and communication topology, installation layout, redundant resource margin, and operating status information of each joint module;

[0103] (2) The upper-level motion controller monitors the operating status data of each joint module obtained in step (1), and determines whether a drive abnormality problem occurs in each joint module according to preset conditions; wherein the preset conditions include error information, speed feedback data, and current feedback data in the operating status information returned by each joint module;

[0104] (3) Prioritize the use of backup drive channels that are not occupied by the faulty node for internal drive support of the joint module. When internal drive support of the joint module cannot be achieved, the superior motion controller's decision-making method follows the following basic principles:

[0105] a) To minimize the impact of electrical transmission, the node providing driving support should be installed closest to the faulty node;

[0106] b) To minimize system communication latency, the nodes providing driver support should be located in the same communication subnet as the faulty node, or in a nearby communication subnet that is most conducive to reducing latency. A communication subnet is a local network consisting of several nodes with the same communication rate, divided by a bridge device.

[0107] c) The nodes that provide driving capability support should have idle redundant resources and no abnormal problems reported during operation;

[0108] (4) The motion controller sends control instructions to the faulty node and output node respectively; when the internal drive support of the joint module is used, the faulty node is configured to use the internal backup drive; when the external drive support is used, the faulty node is configured to use the drive relay input, and the output node is configured to drive the relay output;

[0109] The node refers to the joint module, and the output node refers to the node that provides driving capability support.

[0110] When the communication method adopted between the motion controller and the task controller is consistent with the communication method between the motion controller and the joint module, that is, when the joint module has the ability to communicate directly with the upper-level task controller, the physical upper-level motion controller in the networked control system is cancelled and changed to a method of dynamically setting a joint module as a logical motion controller.

[0111] There are two ways to determine which joint module will execute the task of the logical motion controller. The first way is that the task controller directly selects and specifies it. The selection is based on the operating status, resource margin, distance information, and numbering sequence of the joint module.

[0112] The second method is determined by negotiation among the joint modules in the network. The basis for negotiation includes the joint module operating status, resource margin, distance information, and numbering sequence.

[0113] The task controller selects and specifies the logical motion controller, which includes the following steps:

[0114] (1) The task controller obtains the status information of each joint module and determines the joint module in good operating status;

[0115] (2) determining whether the joint module in good running state is unique; if so, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; if not, searching for the joint module with the largest resource margin among the joint modules in good running state;

[0116] (3) Determine whether the joint module with the largest resource margin is unique. If it is unique, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; if it is not unique, search for the joint module with the optimal Euclidean distance;

[0117] (4) Determine whether the joint module with the best Euclidean distance is unique. If it is unique, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; if it is not unique, search for the joint module with the largest number or the joint module with the smallest number and directly designate it as the logical motion controller.

[0118] The selection of the logical motion controller based on the negotiation between the joint modules includes the following steps:

[0119] (1) Each joint module encodes the operating status, resource margin, physical installation location, and product number information of the joint module, and then S Repeated broadcasting to other joint modules in the network through wired or wireless communication within a certain time period;

[0120] (2) After receiving the above information, other joint modules compare it with the information of this joint module in a predetermined priority order. If the priority is higher than that of this joint module, this joint module will exit the priority selection;

[0121] When T S After the time is up, if no better joint module information is received, the joint module becomes the winning node and W Repeatedly broadcast notification messages to other joint modules in the network multiple times within a certain period of time;

[0122] (3) After receiving the notification message, other joint modules respond with a confirmation message to the winning node;

[0123] If the winning node is in T W If confirmation messages from all other joint modules are not received within the time limit, the task controller and other joint modules will be notified that the selection has failed; otherwise, they will be notified that the selection has succeeded.

[0124] The joint module priority determination includes the following steps:

[0125] (1) Check whether the operating status priority of each joint module in the broadcast information received is better than that of the current node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether the current node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, enter the next judgment logic;

[0126] (2) Query the nodes with the same operation status priority as this node to see whether their resource margin priority is better than this node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether this node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, proceed to the next judgment logic;

[0127] (3) Check whether the Euclidean distance priority of the nodes with the same resource margin priority as this node is better than that of this node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether this node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, enter the next judgment logic;

[0128] (4) Query the nodes with the same Euclidean distance priority as this node, and judge them in a single order according to the node number. If a node with a larger number is taken, judge whether the node number is larger than this node. If so, the node selection is successful, otherwise exit the selection process.

[0129] If a node with a smaller number is acceptable, determine whether the node number is smaller than the current node. If so, the current node is successfully selected; otherwise, exit the selection process.

[0130] Example:

[0131] A robot joint module includes: an actuating unit, a control unit and a relay unit; the control unit includes a computing module, a power driving module, a signal acquisition module, an I / O module, a power supply module, a wired communication module and a wireless communication module; the relay unit includes a communication bridge module and a drive relay module.

[0132] In the power drive module of the control unit, in addition to the channel connecting to the actuator unit of this joint module, it also has a redundant channel and is connected to the drive relay module of the relay unit, which is used to provide drive signals to the actuator units belonging to other joint modules in the network.

[0133] The signal acquisition module of the control unit has not only a channel connected to the actuator unit of the joint module, but also a redundant channel, and is connected to the drive relay module of the relay unit for collecting signals from the actuator units of other joint modules in the network.

[0134] In the control unit, the wired communication module is connected to the communication bridge module of the relay unit to enable communication with the upper-level motion controller and networked control of the multi-joint module. Types of wired communication include but are not limited to EtherCAT, CAN, FlexRay, Profibus, RS-422, RS-485, etc.

[0135] In the control unit, the wireless communication module is used to enable communication between control nodes in the network, working in conjunction with wired communication as a backup communication method for the networked control system. Types of wireless communication include but are not limited to NearLink, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.

[0136] In the actuator unit, the transmission mechanism module includes couplings, reducers and other transmission structural parts, which are mainly used for mechanical connection and action execution between joint modules. In the actuator unit, the motor module types include permanent magnet synchronous motors, DC brushless motors, etc.; in addition to being connected to the power drive module of the joint module control unit, it also has redundant input channels, which are connected to the relay unit drive relay module to obtain drive signals from other joint modules in the network. In the actuator unit, the sensor module is used to obtain data such as the position, speed, current and output torque of the motor; or only obtain part of the data to infer other data, for example, calculating speed data through position data.

[0137] In the relay unit, the communication bridge module is used to achieve physical bridging of the wired communication transmission medium. Based on the usage specifications of the corresponding communication type, for application scenarios requiring signal maintenance, the communication bridge module includes a bridge, a repeater, and the like. Therefore, the communication bridge module supports connecting bus communication methods of different types and speeds. For example, network segment 1 uses RS-422 bus communication, and network segment 2 uses CAN bus communication; for another example, network segment 1 uses CAN bus communication at a rate of 500kbit / s, and network segment 2 uses CAN bus communication at a rate of 1Mbit / s.

[0138] In the relay unit, the drive relay module is connected to the I / O module, power drive module, and motor of the joint module to implement mutual drive signal transmission management between control nodes in the network. Specifically, in relay channel A, the signal acquisition module obtains unidirectional drive signals from the actuator units of other joint modules from the drive relay module; in relay channel B, the power drive module provides unidirectional sensor signals to the drive relay module; the joint module implements remote closed-loop control of the actuator units of other joint modules through relay channels A and B, that is, provides drive capability support. In relay channel C, the drive relay module provides unidirectional drive signals to the motor; in relay channel D, the actuator unit provides unidirectional sensor signals to the drive relay module; the actuator unit obtains remote closed-loop control from the control units of other joint modules in the network through relay channels C and D, that is, obtains drive capability support. The I / O module collects the channel opening status of the drive relay module through the input port and stimulates the relay of the drive management module through the output port to implement switching and opening and closing management of the above relay channels. The basic form of a drive relay module is a multi-way switch implemented by a combination of relays. By default, it is in a neutral, floating state (no conduction), while also providing the necessary electrical signal isolation. Drive relay modules controlled by I / O modules should support at least the conduction modes shown in Table 1, where E and F represent external connection relay channels.

[0139] Table 1 Driving relay module conduction mode

[0140]

[0141] Channel 1 and Channel 2 appearing in the table are the attached Figure 1 Two channels of medium power driver module.

[0142] In the present invention, the operation-oriented robot control system is set as a three-level architecture, which is composed of a task controller, a motion controller and a networked control system composed of multiple joint modules from top to bottom; wherein the task controller provides command input to the motion controller, and the motion controller provides command input to each joint module. Generally speaking, a robot has multiple joints. For a multi-joint robot composed of the joint modules, taking two adjacent joints as an example, its electrical topology is as follows: Figure 2 shown.

[0143] Figure 2 The electrical topology of adjacent joint modules is shown. For robots with three or more joints, the networking scheme is similar. Each joint module is connected to the entire robot's power supply circuit via a power supply module, to the system communication bus via a communication bridge module, and to the entire robot's sensor signal relay channel and drive signal relay channel via a drive relay module.

[0144] In completion Figure 2 After the multi-joint modules shown are networked and connected, each joint module and the upper-level motion controller together constitute a networked control system. In terms of communication, in order to ensure real-time performance, each joint module adopts wired communication as the first communication mode and wireless communication as the second communication mode. When the communication quality of the first communication mode deteriorates or fails and the preset conversion conditions are met, the joint module switches to the second communication mode, and the selection of the two communication modes supports mutual conversion. It should be pointed out that when the selected wireless communication method meets the real-time requirements required for system control, wireless communication can also be used as the first communication mode, wired communication can be used as the second communication mode, or a mode of arbitration and selection of the data obtained from the two communications can be adopted.

[0145] In the networked control system, each joint module has the same control authority in the network. The superior motion controller adopts periodic query or real-time upload of the joint module to obtain the status information of each joint module, including the operating status of the power drive module, the channel opening and closing status of the drive relay module, etc. On the one hand, the joint module obtains the control signal for the actuator unit to which this module belongs through communication with the superior motion controller; on the other hand, when the motion controller detects that a joint module has a drive-related fault, the motion controller makes a drive relay priority decision by querying the latest status information of each joint module, and sends a control signal to the joint module with an idle redundant drive channel in the network, and starts the drive relay function of the corresponding joint module and the faulty module, thereby realizing the mutual assistance of drive capabilities between the joint modules. The above-mentioned drive relay method based on the networked control system is as follows. Figure 3 shown.

[0146] exist Figure 3In step ①, the upper-level motion controller establishes a drive capability data set for the above-mentioned networked control system, the main contents of which include but are not limited to the electrical and communication topology, installation layout, redundant resource margin and operating status information of each joint module.

[0147] exist Figure 3 In step ②, the upper-level motion controller monitors the operating status data obtained in step ① and determines whether each joint module has a drive-related abnormality problem based on preset conditions; wherein, the preset conditions include but are not limited to error information, speed feedback data, and current feedback data in the operating status information returned by each joint module.

[0148] exist Figure 3 In step 3, to minimize the scope of the fault's impact, the backup drive channel unoccupied by the faulty node is prioritized for internal node drive support. When this internal node drive support is unavailable, the superior motion controller's optimal decision-making method follows the following basic principles: a) To minimize the impact of electrical transmission, the node providing drive capability support (hereinafter referred to as the output node) should be installed closest to the faulty node; b) To minimize system communication latency, the output node should be located in the same communication subnet (segment) as the faulty node, or in a nearby communication subnet that is most conducive to reducing latency; c) To provide reliable drive capability support, the output node should have idle redundant resources and no other serious abnormalities reported during operation.

[0149] exist Figure 3 In step 4, the motion controller sends control instructions to the faulty node and output node. When using internal node drive support, the faulty node is configured to the internal backup drive mode described in Table 1, and all other nodes are configured to the default mode described in Table 1. When using external drive support from the network, the faulty node is configured to the drive relay input mode described in Table 1, the output node is configured to the drive relay output mode described in Table 1, and all other nodes are configured to the default mode described in Table 1.

[0150] In the networked control system, each joint module has the same control authority within the network, and the system is scheduled and controlled by a superior motion controller. Furthermore, when the communication method used by the task controller, which provides command input to the motion controller, is the same as a communication method used by the networked control system, that is, when the joint module has the ability to communicate directly with the superior task controller, the physical superior motion controller in the networked control system can be eliminated, and replaced with an architecture that dynamically sets a joint module in the network as a logical motion controller. Figure 4 Taking two adjacent joint modules as an example, the network structure using a logical motion controller is explained.

[0151] exist Figure 4 In the networked control system shown, it is necessary to determine which node will perform the task of the logical motion controller. Two methods are provided in the present invention. In the first method, the task controller directly selects and specifies the node. The selection is based on, but not limited to, the operating status of the joint module, computing resource margin, distance information, numbering order, and random selection. The method flow chart is shown in FIG. Figure 5 As shown; in the second method, it is determined by negotiation among the nodes in the network. The basis of negotiation includes but is not limited to the running status, computing resource margin, distance information, numbering sequence and random selection, etc. The method flow chart is shown as follows Figure 6 There are multiple ways to obtain distance information: when the joint module has an inertial device, the coordinate data can be directly obtained to calculate the Euclidean distance between nodes; other measurement methods can also be used, including but not limited to system prior knowledge.

[0152] exist Figure 6 In the method shown, each node encodes the operating status, resource margin, physical installation location, product number and other information of the joint module, and then S Repeated broadcasting is performed to other nodes in the network through wired or wireless communication within a certain time period. After receiving the above information, other nodes compare it with the information of this node in a predetermined priority order. If the priority is higher than that of this node, this node will exit the priority selection; when T S After the time is up, if no better node information is received, the node becomes the winner and W The notification message is broadcasted to other nodes in the network repeatedly within a certain time period. After receiving the notification message, other nodes respond with a confirmation message to the winning node. W If the confirmation message from all other nodes is not received within the specified time, the task controller and other nodes will be notified of the failure of the selection, otherwise the selection will be notified of the success. Figure 6 In step ⑤, the joint module that receives the information adopts the priority judgment method as follows Figure 7 shown.

[0153] Parts of the present invention that are not described in detail belong to common knowledge among those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A robot joint module, characterized in that include: Actuating unit, control unit and relay unit; the control unit includes a calculation module, a power drive module, a signal acquisition module, an I / O module, a power supply module, a wired communication module, and a wireless communication module; the relay unit includes a communication bridge module and a drive relay module; The signal acquisition module is used to collect sensor signals from the actuating unit of the joint module and provide them to the calculation module, which implements the control operation of the joint module and then controls the power drive module to drive the actuating unit of the joint module to work; Both the power drive module and the signal acquisition module have redundant channels. The power drive module drives the actuator units of other joint modules through the drive relay module of the relay unit; the signal acquisition module collects sensor signals from the actuator units of other joint modules through the drive relay module of the relay unit. The I / O module is connected to the drive relay module of the relay unit to realize status monitoring and control of the drive relay module; The wired communication module is connected to the communication bridge module of the relay unit to realize the communication between the joint module and the upper-level motion controller and the communication between other joint modules in a wired manner; The wireless communication module cooperates with the wired communication module to realize the communication between the joint module and the upper-level motion controller and the communication between other joint modules in a wireless manner as a backup communication method; The power supply module is used to connect to the power supply circuit of the whole machine to supply power to various parts of the joint module.

2. A robot joint module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The computing module of the control unit is implemented using CPU, MCU, MPU, FPGA or APSoC. In addition to being used to implement the control operations of this joint module, it also provides computing power for servo control to at least one other joint module.

3. The robot joint module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The actuating unit includes a transmission mechanism module, a motor module and a sensor module; The transmission mechanism module includes a coupling and a reducer, which are used to realize the movement execution of the joint module under the drive of the motor module; The motor module works under the control of the power drive module of the joint module control unit. At the same time, the motor module also has a redundant input channel, which is connected to the relay unit drive relay module to obtain the drive signal from other joint modules; The sensor module is used to obtain the motor's position, speed, current and output torque data.

4. The robot joint module according to claim 1, characterized in that: The communication bridge module is used to realize the physical bridge of the wired communication transmission medium; the drive relay module is a multi-way switch realized by a combination of relays, which is in a neutral suspended state with no conduction by default; the drive relay module is connected to the I / O module, power drive module and motor module of this joint module, and the drive relay module includes four relay channels.

5. The robot joint module according to claim 4, characterized in that: In relay channel A, the signal acquisition module obtains the unidirectional drive signal from the actuator unit of other joint modules from the drive relay module; In relay channel B, the power driver module provides a unidirectional sensor signal to the driver relay module; This joint module realizes remote closed-loop control of the actuator units of other joint modules through relay channels A and B, that is, it provides driving capability support; In relay channel C, the drive relay module provides the motor with a unidirectional drive signal from other joint modules; In relay channel D, the actuator unit provides a unidirectional sensor signal to the drive relay module; The actuator obtains remote closed-loop control from the control units of other joint modules through relay channels C and D, that is, obtains driving capability support; The I / O module collects the channel opening status of the driving relay module through the input port, and stimulates the relay of the driving relay module through the output port to realize the switching and opening and closing management of the above relay channels.

6. A robot joint module according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The actuator unit, control unit and relay unit adopt an integrated design and are integrated into the same product entity.

7. A networked control system for a robot joint module, characterized in that include: A task controller, a motion controller, a power supply bus, a system communication bus, a whole-machine sensor signal relay channel, a drive signal relay channel, and a plurality of joint modules according to any one of claims 1 to 5; The task controller provides command input to the motion controller, and the motion controller provides command input to each joint module; each joint module is connected to the power supply line of the whole machine through the power supply module, connected to the system communication bus through the communication bridge module, and connected to the sensor signal relay channel and drive signal relay channel of the whole machine through the drive relay module.

8. A networked control system for a robot joint module according to claim 7, characterized in that: In terms of communication, each joint module uses wired communication as the first communication mode and wireless communication as the second communication mode; when the communication quality of the first communication mode deteriorates or fails and reaches the preset conversion conditions, the joint module switches to the second communication mode. The selection of the two communication modes supports mutual conversion.

9. The networked control system for a robot joint module according to claim 7, characterized in that: Each joint module has the same control authority in the networked control system. The upper-level motion controller uses periodic queries or real-time uploads from the joint modules to obtain the status information of each joint module, including the operating status of the power drive module and the channel opening and closing status of the drive relay module. The joint module obtains the control signal for the actuator unit of this module by communicating with the upper-level motion controller; When the upper-level motion controller detects a drive failure in a joint module, it queries the latest status information of each joint module, makes a drive relay priority decision, sends a control signal to the joint module with an idle redundant drive channel, and starts the drive relay function between the corresponding joint module and the faulty module, thereby achieving mutual drive capability assistance between the joint modules.

10. A networked control system for a robot joint module according to claim 9, characterized in that: The motion controller makes drive relay priority decisions, including: (1) The upper-level motion controller establishes a drive capability data set, including the electrical and communication topology, installation layout, redundant resource margin, and operating status information of each joint module; (2) The upper-level motion controller monitors the operating status data of each joint module obtained in step (1), and determines whether a drive abnormality problem occurs in each joint module according to preset conditions; wherein the preset conditions include error information, speed feedback data, and current feedback data in the operating status information returned by each joint module; (3) Prioritize the use of backup drive channels that are not occupied by the faulty node for internal drive support of the joint module. When internal drive support of the joint module cannot be achieved, the superior motion controller's decision-making method follows the following basic principles: a) To minimize the impact of electrical transmission, the node providing driving support should be installed closest to the faulty node; b) To minimize system communication latency, the nodes providing driver support should be located in the same communication subnet as the faulty node, or in a nearby communication subnet that is most conducive to reducing latency. A communication subnet is a local network consisting of several nodes with the same communication rate, divided by a bridge device. c) The nodes that provide driving capability support should have idle redundant resources and no abnormal problems reported during operation; (4) The motion controller sends control instructions to the faulty node and output node respectively; when the internal drive support of the joint module is used, the faulty node is configured to use the internal backup drive; when the external drive support is used, the faulty node is configured to use the drive relay input, and the output node is configured to drive the relay output; The node refers to the joint module, and the output node refers to the node that provides driving capability support.

11. The robot joint module network control system according to claim 7, characterized in that: When the communication method adopted between the motion controller and the task controller is consistent with the communication method between the motion controller and the joint module, that is, when the joint module has the ability to communicate directly with the upper-level task controller, the physical upper-level motion controller in the networked control system is cancelled and changed to a method of dynamically setting a joint module as a logical motion controller.

12. A networked control system for a robot joint module according to claim 11, characterized in that: There are two ways to determine which joint module will execute the task of the logical motion controller. The first way is that the task controller directly selects and specifies it. The selection is based on the operating status, resource margin, distance information, and numbering sequence of the joint module. The second method is determined by negotiation among the joint modules in the network. The basis for negotiation includes the joint module operating status, resource margin, distance information, and numbering sequence.

13. A networked control system for a robot joint module according to claim 12, characterized in that: The task controller selects and specifies the logical motion controller, which includes the following steps: (1) The task controller obtains the status information of each joint module and determines the joint module in good operating status; (2) Determine whether the joint module in good operating condition is unique. If it is unique, the joint module is the logical motion controller that is finally selected and designated; If it is not unique, search for the joint module with the largest resource margin among the joint modules that are running well; (3) Determine whether the joint module with the largest resource margin is unique. If it is unique, the joint module is the final selected and designated logical motion controller; If it is not unique, search for the joint module with the best Euclidean distance; (4) determining whether the joint module with the optimal Euclidean distance is unique; if so, the joint module is the logical motion controller that is finally selected and designated; If it is not unique, search for the joint module with the largest number or the joint module with the smallest number and directly specify it as the logical motion controller.

14. The robot joint module network control system according to claim 12, characterized in that: The selection of the logical motion controller based on the negotiation between the joint modules includes the following steps: (1) Each joint module encodes the operating status, resource margin, physical installation location, and product number information of the joint module, and then S Repeated broadcasting to other joint modules in the network through wired or wireless communication within a certain time period; (2) After receiving the above information, other joint modules compare it with the information of this joint module in a predetermined priority order. If the priority is higher than that of this joint module, this joint module will exit the priority selection; When T S After the time is up, if no better joint module information is received, the joint module becomes the winning node and W Repeatedly broadcast notification messages to other joint modules in the network multiple times within a certain period of time; (3) After receiving the notification message, other joint modules respond with a confirmation message to the winning node; If the winning node is in T W If confirmation messages from all other joint modules are not received within the time limit, the task controller and other joint modules will be notified that the selection has failed; otherwise, they will be notified that the selection has succeeded.

15. A networked control system for a robot joint module according to claim 14, characterized in that: The joint module priority determination includes the following steps: (1) Check whether the operating status priority of each joint module in the broadcast information received is better than that of the current node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether the current node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, enter the next judgment logic; (2) Query the nodes with the same operation status priority as this node to see whether their resource margin priority is better than this node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether this node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, proceed to the next judgment logic; (3) Check whether the Euclidean distance priority of the nodes with the same resource margin priority as this node is better than that of this node. If so, exit the competition; otherwise, determine whether this node is the only optimal node. If so, the selection is successful. Otherwise, enter the next judgment logic; (4) Query the nodes with the same Euclidean distance priority as this node to see whether the node number is greater than this node. If so, the node selection is successful; otherwise, exit the selection process.

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