Robot conveyor belt tracking method, robot and readable storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides a robot conveyor belt tracking method, a robot and a readable storage medium, and relates to the technical field of robot control, and the method comprises the steps: determining a target tracking position of the robot when a workpiece is located in a starting region; the target tracking position is the real-time position of the workpiece in a robot coordinate system; the robot starts tracking motion based on the target tracking position and corrects the end point of the tracking trajectory according to the real-time offset of the conveyor belt, so that the robot and the workpiece synchronously arrive at the same position; and when it is determined that the tracking effect in the tracking motion process does not meet the preset requirement, correcting the target tracking position according to the conveyor belt speed. According to the invention, the robot continuously corrects the tracking trajectory during the tracking motion to ensure that the workpiece can be accurately tracked, and if the tracking effect does not meet the preset requirement, the target tracking position can be corrected according to the speed of the conveyor belt. The self-adaptive adjusting mechanism improves the tracking accuracy and ensures that the robot effectively operates the moving workpiece on the conveying belt.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of robot control technology, and in particular to a robot conveyor belt tracking method, a robot and a readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In the field of industrial automation, conveyor belt tracking systems are widely used to improve the efficiency of workpiece processing, especially in scenarios such as handling, palletizing and welding. Circular conveyor belt tracking technology is particularly important on assembly lines where the equipment layout requires a circular conveyor path. This technology can not only meet the tracking needs of non-linear conveyance, but also flexibly adapt to various complex application scenarios.

[0003] At present, six-axis articulated robots can perform various tasks in automated production lines, such as automatic assembly, painting, handling, welding, and post-processing. This type of robot has a conveyor belt following function, can obtain the position information of the workpiece through a visual system or sensor, follow the workpiece moving on the conveyor belt, and complete operating actions in a synchronous state, such as dynamic grasping and dynamic gluing, etc. It can accurately follow the operator's instructions to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of the production process.

[0004] However, in the disc conveyor tracking system, there are many factors that will cause low tracking accuracy during the tracking process of robots such as six-axis articulated robots. For example, the time delay of the detection sensor reading the effective signal of the sensor and the long acceleration time when the robot starts will cause insufficient tracking accuracy, making the robot unable to effectively process the workpiece. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a robot conveyor belt tracking method, a robot and a readable storage medium to improve the robot's tracking accuracy of workpieces on the conveyor belt and achieve the purpose of effective operation and processing. In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a robot conveyor belt tracking method, the method comprising: when a workpiece is located in a starting area, determining a target tracking position of the robot; wherein the target tracking position is a real-time position of the workpiece in a robot coordinate system; the robot starts tracking movement based on the target tracking position, and corrects an end point of the tracking trajectory according to a real-time offset of the conveyor belt, so that the robot and the workpiece arrive at the same position synchronously; when it is determined that the tracking effect during the tracking movement does not meet preset requirements, correcting the target tracking position according to the conveyor belt speed.

[0007] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a robot, at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores a computer program executable by the at least one processor, and the computer program is executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the robot conveyor tracking method as described in the first aspect.

[0008] In a third aspect, the present invention provides a readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, is used to implement the robot conveyor belt tracking method as described in the first aspect.

[0009] The robot conveyor belt tracking method, robot and readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present invention include: when the workpiece is located in the starting area, the robot will determine the target tracking position, which is the real-time position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system, laying the foundation for subsequent accurate tracking. The robot starts tracking motion based on the target tracking position, and corrects the end point of the tracking trajectory according to the real-time offset of the conveyor belt to ensure that the robot can accurately track the workpiece. During the tracking motion, the robot will continuously evaluate the tracking effect. If the tracking effect does not meet the preset requirements, the robot will correct the target tracking position according to the conveyor belt speed. This adaptive adjustment mechanism can cope with the deviations that may occur during the tracking process and further improve the accuracy of tracking. The precise control process of the present invention realizes the efficient and accurate tracking of the moving workpiece on the conveyor belt by the robot, thereby ensuring that the robot can effectively operate the workpiece.

[0010] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, preferred embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0012] Figure 1 A diagram of an application scenario of the robot conveyor belt tracking method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0013] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a calibration process provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 3 A schematic flow chart of a robot conveyor belt tracking method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 4 An example diagram showing a tracking area in an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0016] Figure 5 This is a structural block diagram of a robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings 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. The components of the embodiments of the present invention generally described and shown in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative work belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] The robot conveyor belt following function means that the robot obtains the position information of the workpiece through the visual system or sensor, follows the workpiece moving on the conveyor belt, and completes the working actions in a synchronous state, such as dynamic grasping, dynamic gluing, etc.

[0019] First see Figure 1 , Figure 1 The application scenario diagram of the robot conveyor belt tracking method provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes: a robot 101, a disc conveyor belt 102, a sensor 103 and an encoder 104. The robot 101 includes a robot body and a robot controller. The sensor 103 and the encoder 104 are both connected to the robot controller.

[0020] When the workpiece 105 passes through the front end of the sensor 103, a signal is triggered. After receiving the signal, the robot controller will pre-record the position of the workpiece when it passes through the front end of the sensor 103, that is, the current encoder value.

[0021] The encoder 104 is fixed to one end of the carousel 102. As the carousel 102 rotates, the encoder 104 also rotates and counts. The count value represents the current position of the carousel 102, and the position of the workpiece 105 on the carousel 102 can be inferred. When the robot 10 tracks the workpiece 105, the robot controller obtains the position information of the encoder 104 in real time through the external interface.

[0022] When the robot 101 performs operation tasks on the workpiece 105, including but not limited to grasping, assembling, painting, carrying and welding, these tasks place high demands on the real-time response capability of the robot 101. In order to ensure accurate tracking, the robot 101 will obtain the position information of the encoder 104 in real time during the tracking process, and adjust the tracking trajectory of the robot 101 in real time based on this information, ensuring that the robot 101 can continuously and accurately track the workpiece 105, achieving efficient and accurate operation.

[0023] Considering that the existing robot conveyor belt tracking method has low tracking accuracy, the robot cannot effectively process the workpiece. Based on this, an embodiment of the present invention provides a robot conveyor belt tracking method, which is described below through an embodiment.

[0024] exist Figure 1 When the robot 101 is used to dynamically follow the workpiece 105, the tracking coordinate system needs to be calibrated first, that is, the tracking coordinate system is calibrated to complete the calibration of the relevant parameters. Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the calibration process provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The description is as follows:

[0025] On the stationary carousel 102, a placement point and three different reference points are selected: A, B and C. These three reference points do not overlap with each other, and the rotation direction of the carousel 102 is set to counterclockwise. It should be understood that the user can choose to set the rotation direction to clockwise according to their actual needs. When performing the calibration operation, it is only necessary to refer to the calibration process in the counterclockwise direction and make adjustments accordingly. Therefore, the calibration process in the clockwise direction will not be repeated here.

[0026] First, the workpiece 105 is placed at the designated placement point. Then, the conveyor belt is started to rotate counterclockwise until the workpiece 105 reaches the reference point A. At this time, the conveyor belt is stopped, and the robot 101 is manipulated to align its tool center point (Tool Central Point, TCP) with the reference point A. After alignment, the robot position P1 and the encoder reading E1 at this time are recorded.

[0027] Next, the conveyor belt is started again to move the workpiece 105 to the reference point B. After reaching the reference point B, the conveyor belt is stopped, and the robot 101 is adjusted to ensure that its TCP coincides with the reference point B. After coincidence, the new position P2 of the robot and the new reading E2 of the encoder are recorded.

[0028] Finally, the conveyor belt continues to rotate to make the workpiece 105 reach the reference point C. After the workpiece 105 reaches and stops, the robot 101 is moved to align its TCP with the reference point C. After the alignment is completed, the final position P3 of the robot and the final reading E3 of the encoder are recorded.

[0029] After obtaining the encoder values ​​and robot position information corresponding to reference point A, reference point B, and reference point C, the encoder ratio can be determined based on this information, as follows:

[0030] First, the tracking coordinate system can be determined according to the robot positions corresponding to the reference points B and C, which is recorded as TrackSysCoord. It is easy to understand that the three points P1, P2 and P3 in the space can determine a circle, thereby obtaining the center point O and radius R. The specific process can refer to the existing technology and will not be described in detail here.

[0031] The center point O is taken as the origin of the tracking coordinate system, and the direction vector from point P1 to the center point O is taken as the X direction of the tracking coordinate system. Then the direction vector from point P2 to the center point O is recorded as V. The Z direction of the tracking coordinate system is calculated by the cross product of X and V. Then the Y direction is calculated by the cross product of the Z direction and the X direction, thereby obtaining the tracking coordinate system (TrackSysCoord).

[0032] Furthermore, the angle between the vector from point P1 to the center point O and the vector from point P2 to the center point O is calculated and recorded as theta. Then the encoder difference between point P1 and point P2 is obtained by the formula Ediff = fabs(E1–E2), where fabs(·) represents the absolute value. Finally, the encoder ratio p is obtained by the formula p = Ediff / theta.

[0033] After the calibration of the tracking coordinate system and the setting of related parameters are completed, the workpiece 105 on the disc conveyor 102 can be accurately tracked according to the robot conveyor tracking method provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Next, the embodiment of the present invention will be combined with the relevant drawings to explain in detail the robot conveyor belt tracking process provided by the embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that the aforementioned calibration process is based on the conveyor belt rotating in a counterclockwise direction. Therefore, the robot conveyor belt tracking process introduced below is also explained by taking the counterclockwise tracking as an example.

[0035] It should be understood that the user can adjust the robot's parameter settings to specify the conveyor belt's rotation direction as forward or reverse to achieve tracking of the conveyor belt direction. In this way, the conveyor belt direction can be reversed without recalibration, thereby improving the flexibility and efficiency of the operation.

[0036] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 The schematic flow chart of the robot conveyor belt tracking method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the execution subject of the method can be controlled by a robot, mainly includes steps 301 to S303, which are described as follows:

[0037] S301: When the workpiece is located in the start-up area, determining the target tracking position of the robot; wherein the target tracking position is the real-time position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system;

[0038] S302: The robot starts tracking motion based on the target tracking position, and corrects the end point of the tracking trajectory according to the real-time offset of the conveyor belt, so that the robot and the workpiece arrive at the same position synchronously;

[0039] S303: When it is determined that the tracking effect during the tracking movement does not meet the preset requirements, the target tracking position is corrected according to the conveyor belt speed.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present invention, when the workpiece is located in the starting area, the robot will determine the target tracking position, which is the real-time position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system, laying the foundation for subsequent precise tracking. The robot starts tracking motion based on the target tracking position, and corrects the end point of the tracking trajectory according to the real-time offset of the conveyor belt to ensure that the robot can accurately track the workpiece. During the tracking motion, the robot will continue to evaluate the tracking effect. If the tracking effect does not meet the preset requirements, the robot will correct the target tracking position according to the conveyor belt speed. This adaptive adjustment mechanism can cope with possible deviations in the tracking process and further improve the accuracy of tracking. The embodiment of the present invention realizes efficient and accurate tracking of the moving workpiece on the conveyor belt by the robot through a series of precise control steps, thereby ensuring that the robot can effectively operate the workpiece.

[0041] Next, steps 301 to S303 in the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[0042] In step S301, the "starting area" refers to the area extending from the starting position along the moving direction of the conveyor belt within a certain starting distance, and this area is also the working area for performing specific operations on the workpiece. Among them, the embodiment of the present invention calibrates a reference point close to the sensor during the calibration process, that is, the origin position of the conveyor belt base coordinate system, that is, Figure 2 The reference point A shown in the figure is called the "starting position". The "starting distance" refers to a preset distance from the reference point A along the moving direction of the conveyor belt.

[0043] When the workpiece enters this start-up area, the robot will automatically start tracking the workpiece. At the same time, if the next workpiece has exceeded this start-up area while the robot is operating the current workpiece, the next workpiece will not be tracked by the robot. This design ensures that the robot can operate the workpiece efficiently and accurately, while avoiding unnecessary tracking of workpieces that have not entered or exceeded the start-up area.

[0044] In addition to being able to preset the start distance, the embodiment of the present invention also allows the user to pre-set the upper and lower limits of the allowed tracking. To understand this concept more intuitively, please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 An example diagram of a tracking area in an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0045] exist Figure 4 In the figure, the effective working range refers to the area where the robot can effectively track and operate the workpiece. This area refers to the area between the upper limit and the lower limit of allowed tracking, ensuring that the workpiece can be stably tracked by the system after entering this area. In addition, the rotation direction in the figure indicates the working movement direction of the conveyor belt.

[0046] exist Figure 4 In the , the effective working range refers to the area where the robot can effectively track and operate the workpiece. This area is between the upper limit and the lower limit of allowed tracking, ensuring that once the workpiece enters this area, the robot can track it stably. Figure 4 The working movement direction of the conveyor belt, i.e. the direction of rotation, is also indicated.

[0047] The "upper limit of allowed tracking" refers to the area within a certain distance set from the reference point A in the opposite direction of the conveyor belt. This distance can exceed the distance between the reference point A and the sensor. It can ensure that when the workpiece approaches the sensor, the system has enough time and space to adjust to ensure the accuracy and stability of tracking.

[0048] The "lower limit of allowed tracking" is the area within a certain distance set from the reference point A along the moving direction of the conveyor belt. This area is also the working area of ​​the robot. Usually, this distance is larger than the starting distance. This setting is to ensure that the workpiece can still be effectively tracked by the system after leaving the starting area to deal with unexpected situations such as workpiece loss.

[0049] It should be understood that the above-mentioned related parameters are set based on the counterclockwise rotation of the conveyor belt. When the user chooses clockwise rotation, the start distance will be calculated clockwise based on the reference point A, and the lower limit of allowed tracking will be converted to the upper limit of allowed tracking. The other steps remain unchanged and will not be repeated here.

[0050] It should also be clear that before starting the dynamic tracking function of the conveyor belt, the user needs to complete the pre-configuration of relevant parameters, including but not limited to the distance parameters involving the start area, the upper limit of allowed tracking, and the lower limit of allowed tracking.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the robot starts the object tracking program, it will first wait for the workpiece to pass the sensor. Once the workpiece passes the sensor, the robot will store the current encoder value and the position in the robot coordinate system into the buffer, and one encoder value corresponds to one robot position point, which is convenient for the subsequent rapid determination of the current tracking position.

[0052] In order to make the description clearer, in the embodiment of the present invention, the encoder value corresponding to the workpiece passing through the sensor is defined as the "reference encoder value" and represented by Eo; at the same time, the position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system is defined as the "reference position" and represented by P. It should be understood that this definition is only to distinguish the real-time encoder value and the real-time position in the subsequent workpiece movement process, and does not limit their functions in any way.

[0053] In the embodiment of the present invention, when the workpiece passes through the sensor, the reference position P is the starting position of the starting area, that is, Figure 2 The position P1 of the reference point A in the tracking coordinate system is rotated to obtain a position, and the specific method is as follows:

[0054] A rotation matrix is ​​constructed based on the difference between the reference encoder value and the encoder value corresponding to the reference point and the encoder ratio, and the reference position is rotated according to the rotation matrix as the reference position.

[0055] The above implementation can be expressed by the following formula:

[0056] P=Rot(p*(Eo-E1))*P1 (1)

[0057] Among them, Rot is the rotation matrix of the tracking coordinate system's Z axis rotation angle p*(Eo-E1).

[0058] Furthermore, after the workpiece passes the sensor, it will continue to move along the direction of the conveyor belt rotation, and the encoder value is also changing in real time. Therefore, before the workpiece reaches the start area, the robot will read the current encoder value in real time to confirm whether the workpiece has reached the start area.

[0059] As an optional embodiment, after the workpiece passes through the sensor, the robot determines whether the workpiece has reached the starting area by: determining whether the workpiece has reached the starting position of the starting area based on the current encoder value; if it has reached the starting position, continuing to determine whether the workpiece exceeds the starting position based on the current encoder, and if so, determining that the workpiece is located in the starting area.

[0060] It is easy to understand that the starting position (i.e. Figure 2 The encoder value corresponding to the reference point A) and its position in the robot coordinate system have been determined during the calibration process, which are E1 and P1 respectively. Then, similar to the process of determining the reference position P corresponding to the workpiece in the previous article, the real-time position Pc of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system can be obtained according to the following formula (2):

[0061] Pc=Rot(p*(Ec-Eo))*P (2)

[0062] Where Ec is the current encoder value; if Pc is equal to P1, it indicates that the workpiece has just reached the starting position; if Pc exceeds P1, it indicates that the workpiece has reached the starting area.

[0063] When the workpiece moves in the start-up area, the robot can extract the pre-stored reference encoder value Eo and reference position P from the buffer. Then, the robot will calculate the real-time position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system at each moment in the start-up area based on the current encoder value read each time in the start-up area and the reference encoder value Eo using the above formula (1). This real-time position is used as the target tracking position, so that the robot can accurately track the workpiece, that is, execute step S202.

[0064] In step S202, the robot will still read the encoder value in real time during the tracking motion, and perform real-time calculations with the reference encoder value Eo written into the buffer to obtain the offset of the conveyor belt movement, and then correct the end point of the tracking trajectory in real time during the robot motion interpolation cycle.

[0065] In the embodiment of the present invention, step S202 mainly includes the following steps, which are described as follows:

[0066] Step a1: Calculate the conveyor belt offset using the encoder value read in real time during the tracking motion and the reference encoder value obtained in advance;

[0067] Step a2: Correct the end point within the robot's interpolation cycle according to the conveyor belt offset.

[0068] It is understood that in the robot control process, the interpolation cycle refers to the time period during which the robot controller calculates and updates the robot's target position. During each interpolation cycle, the controller adjusts the robot's tracking trajectory as needed.

[0069] In the embodiment of the present invention, as the workpiece moves on the conveyor belt, the encoder continuously updates its reading. The robot monitors the updated encoder value in real time and calculates the movement offset of the workpiece in combination with the reference value Eo recorded in the buffer. In the next motion interpolation cycle of the robot, the robot adjusts the end point of the robot's tracking trajectory according to this offset to ensure that the robot can accurately track the workpiece.

[0070] When the workpiece is tracked by the above implementation, if it is determined that the tracking effect does not meet the preset requirements, step S203 may be executed.

[0071] In step S203, the preset requirement may be, but is not limited to, any of the following: the tracking accuracy cannot reach the preset accuracy; the workpiece cannot be effectively operated during the tracking process.

[0072] In the face of the above situations, the user can pre-set a dynamic compensation time. During the tracking process, the robot will perform trajectory superposition compensation according to the conveyor belt speed in each motion interpolation cycle within the set dynamic compensation time, so that the robot can effectively track the workpiece. Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention corrects the target tracking position according to the conveyor belt speed, and the main process is as follows:

[0073] In view of the above situation, the user can pre-set a dynamic compensation time. During the tracking process, the robot will perform trajectory superposition compensation according to the speed of the conveyor belt for each motion interpolation cycle within the set dynamic compensation time. This enables the robot to effectively track the workpiece. Therefore, the main process of correcting the target tracking position according to the conveyor belt speed in the embodiment of the present invention is as follows:

[0074] Step b1: Get the current conveyor belt speed.

[0075] In the embodiment of the present invention, the product of the difference between the encoder value of the current interpolation cycle and the encoder value of the previous interpolation cycle and the encoder ratio can be determined first, and the ratio between the product and the interpolation cycle duration is used as the conveyor belt speed. The formula (2) of the process is expressed as follows:

[0076] Espeed=(Ecc-Elast)*p / cyctime(3)

[0077] Where Ecc and Elast are the encoder values ​​of the current interpolation cycle and the previous interpolation cycle respectively; p is the encoder ratio; cyctime is the interpolation cycle duration.

[0078] Step b2: determining the dynamic compensation angle according to the current conveyor belt speed;

[0079] In the embodiment of the present invention, the dynamic compensation angle is determined by multiplying the current conveyor belt speed calculated in step b1 by the interpolation cycle duration, and the formula is expressed as angle=Espeed*cyctime.

[0080] Step b3: Compensate the target tracking position according to the dynamic compensation angle.

[0081] In the embodiment of the present invention, similar to the method of determining the target tracking position in the previous text, after obtaining the dynamic compensation angle, the dynamic compensation angle is superimposed on the tracking offset based on formula (2) to modify the trajectory in real time during the interpolation operation, such as formula (4):

[0082] Pc′=Rot((p*(Ec-Eo))+angle)*P (4)

[0083] The above-mentioned adaptive adjustment mechanism can cope with possible deviations in the tracking process and further improve the tracking accuracy.

[0084] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the robot is tracking the current workpiece and the next workpiece passes the sensor, the robot will record and store the reference encoder value of the workpiece when it passes the sensor and the reference position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system in the buffer. When the robot completes the tracking task of the current workpiece, it will access the data in the buffer again to track the next workpiece, ensuring that the robot can seamlessly transition from one workpiece to the next, improving the efficiency and continuity of the entire tracking process.

[0085] In the above implementation, after the robot finishes tracking the current workpiece, the reference encoder value and reference position corresponding to the current workpiece that have been written into the buffer can be taken out and discarded to release the occupied storage space.

[0086] In one embodiment of the present invention, if the next workpiece has exceeded the start area during the process of tracking the current workpiece, the robot can extract the reference encoder value and reference position corresponding to the workpiece from the buffer and discard them. This can avoid invalid tracking of the workpiece that has exceeded the operation area, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency of tracking.

[0087] In one embodiment of the present invention, when the robot is tracking the current workpiece, if the workpiece moves beyond the set allowable tracking lower limit, the robot can directly issue an alarm notification to the user without stopping operation, promptly reminding the user of possible situations such as workpiece loss, thereby allowing the user to quickly take appropriate measures to prevent potential production interruptions or losses.

[0088] From the above embodiments, it can be seen that the robot conveyor belt tracking method provided by the embodiment of the present invention has the following advantages: the tracking method provided by the embodiment of the present invention is not only applicable to arc conveyor belts, but can also be widely used in the workpiece processing processes on arc conveyor belts such as spraying, welding, and palletizing in the industrial field. At the same time, the embodiment of the present invention can also realize a reverse tracking method, so that the user does not need to repeat the calibration, and can quickly realize the reverse operation of the conveyor belt, thereby improving the efficiency of the production process. In the robot tracking process, the embodiment of the present invention can effectively avoid a variety of factors that may cause a decrease in tracking accuracy, thereby improving the tracking accuracy while ensuring that the robot can effectively operate the workpiece through a dynamic compensation mechanism.

[0089] In order to execute the corresponding steps in the above-mentioned embodiments and various possible methods, the embodiment of the present invention can also provide a robot conveyor belt tracking device 40, which can be specific hardware on the device or software or firmware installed on the device. The robot conveyor belt tracking device 40 provided in the embodiment of the present invention has the same implementation principle and technical effects as the above-mentioned method embodiment. For the sake of brief description, the parts not mentioned in the device embodiment can refer to the corresponding contents in the above-mentioned method embodiment. Technical personnel in the relevant field can clearly understand that for the convenience and simplicity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the above-mentioned method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0090] Optionally, the robot conveyor belt tracking device 40 can be stored in the form of software or firmware. Figure 5 The memory shown in FIG. 100 or the operating system (OS) of the robot 101 may be fixed therein and may be Figure 5 Meanwhile, the data and program codes required for executing the above modules can be stored in the memory.

[0091] The embodiment of the present invention further provides a robot 101, see Figure 5 , Figure 5 The robot 101 includes a memory 1011, a processor 1012, and a communication interface 1013. The memory 1011, the processor 1012, and the communication interface 1013 are electrically connected to each other directly or indirectly to achieve data transmission or interaction. For example, these components can be electrically connected to each other through one or more communication buses or signal lines.

[0092] Optionally, the bus can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 5 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0093] In the embodiment of the present invention, the processor 1012 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in the memory 1011, and the processor 1012 reads the program instructions in the memory 1011 and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0094] In the embodiment of the present invention, the memory 1011 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (Volatile Memory), such as RAM. The memory may also be any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program executable code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present invention may also be a circuit or any other device that can realize a storage function, for storing instructions and / or data.

[0095] The memory 1011 can be used to store software programs and modules, which can be stored in the memory 1011 in the form of software or firmware or fixed in the operating system (OS) of the robot 101. The processor 1012 executes various functional applications and data processing by executing the software programs and modules stored in the memory 1011. The communication interface 1013 can be used to communicate signaling or data with other node devices.

[0096] Understandably, Figure 5 The structure shown is for illustration only. The robot 101 may also include Figure 5 More or fewer components as shown, or with Figure 5 Different configurations are shown. Figure 5 The components shown may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination thereof.

[0097] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the robot conveyor belt tracking method provided in the above embodiments. For specific implementation, please refer to the method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0098] Based on the above embodiments, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a chip, which is used to read the computer program stored in the memory and to execute the robot conveyor belt tracking method provided in the above embodiments. The specific implementation can be found in the method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0099] A computer program product is also provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The computer program product for performing a robot conveyor belt tracking method provided in an embodiment of the present invention includes a computer-readable storage medium storing program code. The instructions included in the program code can be used to execute the method in the previous method embodiment. For specific implementation, please refer to the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0100] In the embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some communication interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0101] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0102] In addition, each functional unit in the embodiment provided by the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0103] If the function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods of each embodiment of the present invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk, etc. Various media that can store program codes.

[0104] It should be noted that similar numbers and letters represent similar items in the following figures. Therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used to distinguish the description and are not to be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0105] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only specific implementations of the present invention, which are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them. The protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Although the present invention is described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, ordinary technicians in the field should understand that any technician familiar with the technical field can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the above embodiments within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, or can easily think of changes, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein; and these modifications, changes or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention. They should all be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A robot conveyor belt tracking method, characterized in that: The method comprises: When the workpiece is located in the start-up area, determining the target tracking position of the robot; wherein the target tracking position is the real-time position of the workpiece in the robot coordinate system; The robot starts tracking motion based on the target tracking position, and corrects the end point of the tracking trajectory according to the real-time offset of the conveyor belt, so that the robot and the workpiece arrive at the same position synchronously; When it is determined that the tracking effect during the tracking movement does not meet the preset requirements, the target tracking position is corrected according to the conveyor belt speed.

2. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the workpiece is in the start area, determine the robot's target tracking position, including: Determine the encoder ratio during the calibration of the tracking coordinate system; Obtaining a reference encoder value when the workpiece passes through a sensor and a reference position of the workpiece in a robot coordinate system; wherein the reference position is obtained by rotating the start position of the start area in the tracking coordinate system; When the workpiece is located in the starting area, a rotation matrix is ​​constructed based on the difference between the reference encoder value and the current encoder value and the encoder ratio, and the reference position is rotated according to the rotation matrix as the target tracking position.

3. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the workpiece is in the start area, determine the target tracking position of the robot, including: Using a reference point close to the sensor during the calibration process as the starting position; A rotation matrix is ​​constructed based on the difference between the reference encoder value and the encoder value corresponding to the start position and the encoder ratio, and the position after the reference position is rotated according to the rotation matrix is ​​used as the reference position.

4. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the workpiece is in the start area, determine the target tracking position of the robot, including: After the workpiece passes through the sensor, determining whether the workpiece passes through the starting position according to the current encoder value; When the workpiece reaches the starting position, it is determined that the workpiece is located in the starting area.

5. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The robot starts tracking motion based on the target tracking position, and corrects the end point of the tracking trajectory according to the real-time offset of the conveyor belt, so that the robot and the workpiece arrive at the same position synchronously, including: The conveyor belt offset is calculated using the encoder value read in real time during the tracking motion and the reference encoder value obtained in advance; The end point is corrected within an interpolation cycle of the robot according to the conveyor belt offset.

6. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When it is determined that the tracking effect during the tracking movement does not meet the preset requirements, the target tracking position is corrected according to the conveyor belt speed, including: Get the current conveyor belt speed; Determining a dynamic compensation angle according to the current conveyor belt speed; The target tracking position is compensated according to the dynamic compensation angle.

7. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 6, characterized in that: Get the current conveyor belt speed, including: The product of the difference between the encoder value of the current interpolation cycle and the encoder value of the previous interpolation cycle and the encoder ratio is determined, and the ratio between the product and the interpolation cycle duration is used as the current conveyor belt speed.

8. The robot conveyor belt tracking method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: When a next workpiece passes the sensor during the process of tracking the workpiece, a reference encoder value and a reference position corresponding to the next workpiece are written into a buffer; When the next workpiece exceeds the start area, the reference encoder value and reference position corresponding to the next workpiece are taken out from the buffer and discarded.

9. A robot, characterized in that: include: at least one processor; And, a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores a computer program executable by the at least one processor, and the computer program is executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the robot conveyor tracking method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, it is used to implement the robot conveyor belt tracking method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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