Cooperative control system and method for multiple welding robots

Abstract

The invention discloses a multi-welding-robot cooperative control system and method, and the key points of the technical scheme are that the multi-welding-robot cooperative control system comprises a control terminal for control, and a welding seam information collection module and a welding rail information collection unit which are installed on the welding robots; the multiple welding robots are connected with multiple execution modules correspondingly. A global optimal welding path obtaining unit can obtain a global final welding path according to welding seam information responsible for all the welding robots and moving tracks of welding guns on the welding robots, and therefore the cooperative welding work efficiency of the multiple welding robots is effectively improved; and by arranging the welding safety protection unit, it can be ensured that the adjacent welding guns cannot collide at the junction of the welding line ends of the two welding guns during welding, and the safety and reliability of the cooperative control system in the welding work are effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of collaborative control of welding robots, and in particular to a collaborative control system and method for multiple welding robots.

[0002] Input the number of multiple welding robots and the position coordinates and welding area of ​​each welding robot into the collaborative control module;

[0003] Then input the weld information into the collaborative control module;

[0004] An improved random walk algorithm is used to find an approximate optimal path, and the approximate optimal path is used as the initial path;

[0005] Based on the above initial path, the particle swarm algorithm is used to finally obtain the global optimal path. Background Art

[0006] When welding work is directly completed by a single welding robot in an automatic welding production line, it is easier to control the working order and welding path of the welding robot. However, in a production line with a long workpiece and a large number of welds to be welded, only using a single welding robot for welding has low work efficiency and cannot reflect the high efficiency of automated production.

[0007] Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of automated welding processing, more and more welding robots are used to weld simultaneously during the welding process, which can significantly improve the efficiency of welding. However, when planning the welding lines of existing welding robots, the staff usually plans the welding lines of each welding robot based on the actual experience of welding processing, and this method cannot achieve the optimization of the welding path, nor the optimization of the efficiency of the welding linkage of multiple robots. Therefore, it is necessary to invent a collaborative control system that can collaboratively control multiple welding robots to weld simultaneously and achieve the optimization of welding path and efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0008] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides a collaborative control system and method for multiple welding robots, which solves the problem that the existing buffer material layer is easily detached from the inner side of the tweezer tip, resulting in the inability to use the tweezers normally for a long time.

[0009] The above technical objectives of the present invention are achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0010] A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots, comprising multiple welding robots, a control terminal for control, a weld information acquisition module and a weld track information acquisition unit installed on the welding robots, the multiple welding robots are respectively connected to multiple execution modules, and also includes a collaborative control module installed on the control terminal for automatically adjusting and planning welding paths of the multiple welding robots, the multiple weld information acquisition modules, the weld track information acquisition unit and the multiple execution modules are all connected to the collaborative control module:

[0011] The collaborative control module includes a global optimal welding path acquisition unit and a welding safety protection unit.

[0012] Preferably, the welding robot is composed of a robotic arm and a welding device installed on the executing end of the robotic arm, the welding device includes a welding gun, and the weld information acquisition module is a visual measurement sensor installed on the executing end of the robotic arm. The advantage of such a setting is that the visual measurement sensor on the executing end of the robotic arm can automatically and accurately identify the weld position on the workpiece, thereby ensuring that subsequent welding equipment can accurately perform welding processing on the weld.

[0013] Preferably, the welding track information acquisition unit is a position sensor installed on the execution end of the robot arm, and the position sensor can capture the position change of the welding gun of the welding equipment on the execution end of the robot arm. The advantage of such a setting is that the real-time position of the welding gun can be obtained, so as to control the welding position of the welding gun to achieve the movement trajectory of the welding point of the welding gun to be consistent with the preset welding track trajectory, thereby ensuring that the welding work is carried out accurately and reliably, and improving the reliability and quality of welding.

[0014] Preferably, the position sensor includes an electromagnetic transmitter installed around the welding robot, and the position sensor also includes an electromagnetic receiver installed around the welding robot. The electromagnetic transmitter generates an electric field, and the electromagnetic receiver is used to receive electric field information. The advantage of such an arrangement is that when the welding gun moves in the electric field generated by the electromagnetic transmitter, the electric field will change, so that the electromagnetic receiver can accurately obtain the position of the welding gun according to the change of the received electric field information, thereby ensuring effective monitoring and control of the welding trajectory of the welding gun.

[0015] Preferably, the execution module includes a control cabinet connected to the welding robot, and the execution module also includes servo motors installed at the joints of the robotic arm. The advantage of such a setting is that it ensures that the movement trajectory of the welding gun is the same as the preset welding rail trajectory, thereby ensuring the effect and quality of the welding work.

[0016] Preferably, the global optimal welding path acquisition unit is a collaborative control software based on a particle swarm algorithm, and the system control software calculates the global optimal welding path through a particle swarm algorithm. The advantage of this arrangement is that the particle swarm algorithm can be used to calculate the global final welding path based on the weld information that all welding robots are responsible for and the moving trajectory of the welding gun on the welding robot, thereby effectively improving the collaborative welding work efficiency of multiple welding robots.

[0017] Preferably, the welding safety protection unit includes a safety distance detection component, and the safety distance detection component is connected to the position sensor and the execution module. The advantage of such a setting is that it can avoid the danger caused by the welding guns of adjacent welding robots being too close.

[0018] Preferably, the welding safety protection unit also includes temperature sensors fixedly connected to the execution ends of the manipulator arms of the multiple welding robots. The advantage of such a setting is that the temperature changes near the execution ends of the manipulator arms can be checked by the temperature sensors. When the temperature is higher than the set value, a shutdown signal will be sent to the execution module. The execution module controls the relevant welding robots to stop welding so that the staff can conduct timely inspections to eliminate possible hidden dangers. At the same time, when adjacent welding guns are too close, since the welding guns will generate high temperatures during welding, this can also prevent adjacent welding guns from being too close or even colliding, further ensuring the safety of the welding work.

[0019] A collaborative control method for multiple welding robots used in the above scheme comprises the following steps:

[0020] S1: The weld information acquisition module and the welding track information acquisition unit are used to obtain the weld position information of the workpiece and the welding position movement trajectory of the welding robot respectively;

[0021] S2: Input welding area information of multiple welding robots into the collaborative control module in the control terminal;

[0022] S3; the global optimal welding path acquisition unit in the collaborative control module calculates the global optimal welding path according to the acquired welding area information, the welding robot's initial welding position and the weld trajectory information;

[0023] S4: The execution module controls the welding robot to perform welding work according to the obtained global optimal welding path;

[0024] S5; The welding safety protection unit in the collaborative control module starts and stops the welding robot according to the real-time welding position information of the welding robot obtained by the welding position acquisition module to ensure that the relevant welding robots are stopped in time when a collision may occur between the welding work positions of adjacent welding robots.

[0025] In summary, the present invention mainly has the following beneficial effects:

[0026] Through the setting of the collaborative control module, the global optimal welding path acquisition unit can calculate the global final welding path according to the weld information responsible for all welding robots and the movement trajectory of the welding gun on the welding robot, thereby effectively improving the collaborative welding efficiency of multiple welding robots, and the setting of the welding safety protection unit can ensure that adjacent welding guns will not collide at the junction of the weld ends responsible for both during welding, effectively improving the safety and reliability of the collaborative control system in welding work. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 This is a system structure diagram of a collaborative control system for multiple welding robots in the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 It is a control flow chart of a collaborative control method for multiple welding robots in the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] Embodiment 1

[0031] See also Figure 1 , a collaborative control system for multiple welding robots, including multiple welding robots, including a control terminal for control, a weld information acquisition module and a weld track information acquisition unit installed on the welding robots, multiple welding robots are respectively connected to multiple execution modules, and also includes a collaborative control module installed on the control terminal for automatically adjusting and planning welding paths of multiple welding robots, multiple weld information acquisition modules, weld track information acquisition units and multiple execution modules are all connected to the collaborative control module:

[0032] The collaborative control module includes a global optimal welding path acquisition unit and a welding safety protection unit.

[0033] Among them, the welding robot is composed of a robotic arm and a welding device installed on the execution end of the robotic arm. The welding device includes a welding gun. The weld information acquisition module is a visual measurement sensor installed on the execution end of the robotic arm. The advantage of this setting is that the visual measurement sensor on the execution end of the robotic arm can automatically and accurately identify the weld position on the workpiece, thereby ensuring that the subsequent welding equipment can accurately perform welding processing on the weld.

[0034] Among them, the welding track information acquisition unit is a position sensor installed on the execution end of the robot arm. The position sensor can capture the position change of the welding gun of the welding equipment on the execution end of the robot arm. The advantage of this setting is that the real-time position of the welding gun can be obtained, so as to control the welding position of the welding gun to achieve the movement trajectory of the welding point of the welding gun to be consistent with the preset welding track trajectory, ensure that the welding work is carried out accurately and reliably, and improve the reliability and quality of welding.

[0035] Embodiment 2

[0036] Among them, the position sensor includes an electromagnetic transmitter installed around the welding robot, and the position sensor also includes an electromagnetic receiver installed around the welding robot. The electromagnetic transmitter generates an electric field, and the electromagnetic receiver is used to receive electric field information. The advantage of such a setting is that when the welding gun moves in the electric field generated by the electromagnetic transmitter, the electric field will change, so that the electromagnetic receiver can accurately obtain the position of the welding gun according to the change of the received electric field information, thereby ensuring effective monitoring and control of the welding trajectory of the welding gun.

[0037] Among them, the execution module includes a control cabinet connected to the welding robot, and the execution module also includes servo motors installed at each joint of the robotic arm. The advantage of this arrangement is that the servo motors at each joint can control each arm of the robotic arm to move according to a specified trajectory, thereby ensuring that the moving trajectory of the welding gun is the same as the preset welding rail trajectory, thereby ensuring the effect and quality of the welding work.

[0038] The global optimal welding path acquisition unit is a collaborative control software based on a particle swarm algorithm. The system control software calculates the global optimal welding path through a particle swarm algorithm. The advantage of this setting is that the particle swarm algorithm can be used to calculate the global final welding path based on the weld information that all welding robots are responsible for and the moving trajectory of the welding gun on the welding robot, thereby effectively improving the collaborative welding work efficiency of multiple welding robots.

[0039] The steps for calculating the global optimal welding path based on the particle swarm algorithm are as follows:

[0040] S1: Input the initial position coordinates of the welding guns on multiple welding robots and the weld trajectory information of the workpiece;

[0041] S2: Input the area information that the welding gun on each welding robot can reach, and then initialize the welding area information of multiple welding guns;

[0042] S3: Upload the initialized welding area information, welding gun initial position and weld trajectory information to the collaborative control software;

[0043] S4: The collaborative control software uses the improved particle swarm algorithm to first calculate the optimal welding path for each robot arm;

[0044] S5: Then calculate the median of welding time of multiple robot arms;

[0045] S6: Calculate the difference between the welding information of each robot arm and the median welding time. If the difference is greater than a preset value, adjust the welding trajectory of the relevant robot arm until the difference between the welding time of all robot arms and the median welding time is less than the preset value. At this time, the set of welding track information of each robot arm is the global optimal welding path.

[0046] S7: Input the global optimal welding path into the control module, and then the control module controls multiple welding robots to perform welding work according to the global optimal welding path.

[0047] Among them, the welding safety protection unit includes a safety distance detection component, which is connected to the position sensor and the execution module. The advantage of this setting is that the real-time position of the welding gun on each welding robot is obtained through the position sensor, and then the position information is transmitted to the safety distance detection component. When the distance between adjacent welding guns is less than the set value, the safety distance detection component sends the shutdown mode to the execution module, and the execution module controls the relevant welding robots to stop welding, thereby avoiding the danger of the welding guns of adjacent welding robots being too close.

[0048] Embodiment 3

[0049] Among them, the welding safety protection unit also includes temperature sensors fixedly connected to the execution ends of the manipulator arms of multiple welding robots. The advantage of such a setting is that the temperature changes near the execution ends of the manipulator arms can be checked by the temperature sensors. When the temperature is higher than the set value, a shutdown signal will be sent to the execution module. The execution module controls the relevant welding robots to stop welding so that the staff can check in time to eliminate possible hidden dangers. At the same time, when the distance between adjacent welding guns is too close, since the welding guns will generate high temperature during welding, this can also prevent the adjacent welding guns from being too close or even colliding, further ensuring the safety of the welding work.

[0050] Among them, the welding safety protection unit also includes light brightness sensors fixedly connected to the execution ends of the mechanical arms of multiple welding robots or the end arms. The advantage of such a setting is that an arc will be generated and bright light will be emitted during the welding process of the welding gun, and the bright light can be detected by the light brightness sensor. When the distance between adjacent welding guns is too close, the brightness value received by the light brightness sensor is greater than the preset value, and a shutdown signal will be sent to the execution module. The execution module controls the relevant welding robots to stop welding, thereby forming a safety protection line together with the temperature sensor and the safety distance detection component to ensure that adjacent welding guns will not collide at the junction of the weld ends they are responsible for during welding, effectively improving the safety and reliability of the welding work.

[0051] See also Figure 2 A collaborative control method for multiple welding robots used in the above scheme comprises the following steps:

[0052] S1: The weld information acquisition module and the welding track information acquisition unit are used to obtain the weld position information of the workpiece and the welding position movement trajectory of the welding robot respectively;

[0053] S2: Input welding area information of multiple welding robots into the collaborative control module in the control terminal;

[0054] S3; the global optimal welding path acquisition unit in the collaborative control module calculates the global optimal welding path according to the acquired welding area information, the welding robot's initial welding position and the weld trajectory information;

[0055] S4: The execution module controls the welding robot to perform welding work according to the obtained global optimal welding path;

[0056] S5; The welding safety protection unit in the collaborative control module starts and stops the welding robot according to the real-time welding position information of the welding robot obtained by the welding position acquisition module to ensure that the relevant welding robots are stopped in time when a collision may occur between the welding work positions of adjacent welding robots.

[0057] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots, comprising multiple welding robots, characterized in that: It includes a control terminal for control, a weld information collection module and a welding track information collection unit installed on the welding robot, a plurality of welding robots are respectively connected to a plurality of execution modules, and also includes a collaborative control module installed on the control terminal for automatically adjusting and planning the welding paths of the plurality of welding robots, and the plurality of weld information collection modules, welding track information collection units and a plurality of execution modules are all connected to the collaborative control module: The collaborative control module includes a global optimal welding path acquisition unit and a welding safety protection unit.

2. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 1, characterized in that: The welding robot is composed of a mechanical arm and a welding device installed on the execution end of the mechanical arm. The welding device includes a welding gun. The weld information acquisition module is a visual measurement sensor installed on the execution end of the mechanical arm.

3. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 2, characterized in that: The welding track information acquisition unit is a position sensor installed on the execution end of the robot arm, and the position sensor can capture the position change of the welding gun of the welding equipment on the execution end of the robot arm.

4. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 3, characterized in that: The position sensor comprises an electromagnetic transmitter installed around the welding robot, and the position sensor further comprises an electromagnetic receiver installed around the welding robot. The electromagnetic transmitter generates an electric field, and the electromagnetic receiver is used to receive electric field information.

5. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 4, characterized in that: The execution module includes a control cabinet connected to the welding robot, and the execution module also includes servo motors installed at various joints of the robot arm.

6. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 5, characterized in that: The global optimal welding path acquisition unit is a collaborative control software based on a particle swarm algorithm, and the system control software calculates the global optimal welding path through the particle swarm algorithm.

7. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 6, characterized in that: The welding safety protection unit comprises a safety distance detection component, and the safety distance detection component is connected with a position sensor and an execution module.

8. A collaborative control system for multiple welding robots according to claim 7, characterized in that: The welding safety protection unit also includes temperature sensors which are respectively fixedly connected to the execution ends of the mechanical arms of the plurality of welding robots.

9. A collaborative control method for multiple welding robots according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1: The weld information acquisition module and the welding track information acquisition unit are used to obtain the weld position information of the workpiece and the welding position movement trajectory of the welding robot respectively; S2: Input welding area information of multiple welding robots into the collaborative control module in the control terminal; S3; the global optimal welding path acquisition unit in the collaborative control module calculates the global optimal welding path according to the acquired welding area information, the welding robot's initial welding position and the weld trajectory information; S4; the execution module controls the welding robot to perform welding work according to the obtained global optimal welding path; S5; The welding safety protection unit in the collaborative control module starts and stops the welding robot according to the real-time welding position information of the welding robot obtained by the welding position acquisition module to ensure that the relevant welding robots are stopped in time when a collision may occur between the welding work positions of adjacent welding robots.

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