Robot, joint motion state detection method, motor control device and equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a robot, a joint motion state detection method and a motor control device and equipment. The robot comprises a joint mechanism, a joint motor used for outputting power to drive the joint mechanism to move, a driving circuit used for driving the joint motor to work, a sampling circuit and a main control circuit. The sampling circuit is used for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit and obtaining a first voltage signal based on the current signal. The main control circuit is electrically connected with the driving circuit and the sampling circuit and used for determining the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, detecting the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque and sending a driving signal to the driving circuit based on the motion state of the joint mechanism so that the driving circuit can drive the joint motor to work according to the driving signal. According to the scheme, the output torque of the motor can be determined by utilizing the current signal of the driving circuit, and a torque sensor does not need to be additionally arranged to sense the output torque of the motor, so that the structure of the robot can be effectively simplified, and the equipment construction cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robot technology, and in particular to a robot, a joint motion state detection method, a motor control device and equipment. Background Art

[0002] The motor is the core component of the robot, mainly used to drive the robot's joints to move, so that the robot can move, grasp, etc. In order to reduce damage to the robot's joints and detect the movement status of the robot's joints, it is necessary to accurately calculate the actual output torque of the motor (also known as output torque). At present, the output torque is mainly determined by adding a torque sensor to the robot, but adding a torque sensor will cause the robot's structure to be complex and the cost to increase. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above problems, the present application provides a robot, a robot joint motion state detection method, a motor control device and a machine equipment, which can determine the output torque of the motor without adding a torque sensor to the robot (or machine equipment).

[0004] In one embodiment of the present application, a robot is provided. The robot comprises:

[0005] Joint mechanism;

[0006] A joint motor, used for outputting power to drive the joint mechanism to move;

[0007] A driving circuit, electrically connected to the joint motor, and used to drive the joint motor to work;

[0008] A sampling circuit, used for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit, and obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal;

[0009] The main control circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and the sampling circuit, and is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, detect the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit according to the operating state of the joint mechanism, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to work according to the drive signal.

[0010] In another embodiment of the present application, a method for detecting the motion state of a robot joint is provided, which is applicable to a sampling circuit in a robot. The method comprises:

[0011] Collecting a current signal of a driving circuit in the robot; wherein the driving circuit is connected to the sampling circuit and is used to drive a joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move;

[0012] Based on the current signal, obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal;

[0013] The first voltage signal is input to the main control circuit of the robot, so that the main control circuit determines the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, and detects the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque.

[0014] In another embodiment of the present application, a method for detecting the motion state of a robot joint is provided, which is applicable to a main control circuit in a robot. The method comprises:

[0015] Receiving a first voltage signal output by a sampling circuit in the robot; wherein the first voltage signal is obtained by the sampling circuit based on a current signal of a drive circuit in the robot collected, the drive circuit drives a joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move;

[0016] determining the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal;

[0017] Based on the output torque, the motion state of the joint mechanism is detected.

[0018] In another embodiment of the present application, a motor control device is provided. The device includes:

[0019] Motor;

[0020] A driving circuit, used for driving the motor to work;

[0021] A sampling circuit, used for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit and obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal;

[0022] The main control circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and the sampling circuit, and is used to determine the output torque of the motor according to the first voltage signal, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit based on the output torque, so that the drive circuit drives the motor to work according to the drive signal.

[0023] In another embodiment of the present application, a machine device is provided. The machine device includes: a machine body, and a motor control device provided in the above embodiment of the present application; the motor control device is arranged on the machine body, and is used to drive a controlled component on the machine body to move, and determine the movement state of the controlled component by monitoring the output torque of the motor.

[0024] The technical solution provided by each embodiment of the present application is to determine the output torque of the joint motor (or the motor in the machine device) in the robot according to the first voltage signal obtained by collecting the current signal of the driving circuit, so as to detect the motion state of the joint mechanism (or the controlled component in the machine device) in the robot based on the output torque. It can be seen that the present solution can determine the output torque of the motor by utilizing the current signal of the driving circuit, without the need to specially add the corresponding torque sensor to sense the output torque of the motor, which can effectively simplify the structure of the robot (or the machine device) and reduce the equipment construction cost. In addition, the motion state of the joint mechanism (or the controlled component of the machine device) of the robot is detected based on the output torque, so that the driving circuit can further send a driving signal based on the detected motion state, so that the driving circuit drives the corresponding motor (the joint motor in the robot or the motor in the machine device) to work according to the driving signal, which can realize intelligent control of the motor, and more effective intelligent protection is carried out on the robot (or the machine device) to avoid damage to the robot (or the machine device). For example, if an unfavorable motion state is detected, a corresponding drive signal can be sent to the drive circuit, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to stop working or change the direction or reduce the rotation speed according to the drive signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, a brief introduction will be given below to the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0026] Figure 1a and Figure 1b A schematic diagram of the structure of a motor control device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 2 A second voltage signal output by a sampling subcircuit included in a sampling circuit in the motor control device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 3 A first voltage signal output by an operational amplifier subcircuit included in a sampling circuit in a motor control device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 4a and Figure 4b A schematic diagram of a flow chart of a robot joint motion state detection method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a robot provided in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The motor is the core component of the robot, which is mainly used to drive the robot's joint movement so that the robot can move, grasp, etc. During the movement of the robot's joints, it may sometimes encounter relatively large resistance. When the robot's joints are subject to large resistance, in order to protect the joints from damage, the robot's main control chip needs to sense the size of the resistance on the joints and then adopt corresponding protection strategies. At present, most existing robots will add torque sensors to use the torque sensors to sense the output torque of the motor, and the resistance on the joints can be determined based on the sensed output torque. This method of determining the output torque of the motor by adding a torque sensor is complex in structure and high in cost.

[0032] The embodiment of the present application provides a solution without the need for an additional torque sensor. Specifically, considering that the output torque of the motor is proportional to the input current of the motor (this relationship can be obtained from the motor parameter table), if the input current of the motor is known, the output torque of the motor can be determined. However, the input current on the motor is difficult to measure, while the bus current of the driver chip used to drive the motor (i.e., the power supply current of the driver chip) is relatively easy to measure, and the input current on the motor is related to the bus current of the driver chip. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application can calculate the input current of the motor by analyzing the bus current of the driver chip, and then convert the output torque of the motor according to the input current.

[0033] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present application, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0034] In some processes described in the specification, claims and the above-mentioned figures of the present application, multiple operations appearing in a specific order are included, and these operations may not be executed or executed in parallel in the order in which they appear in this article. The serial numbers of the operations, such as 101, 102, etc., are only used to distinguish different operations, and the serial numbers themselves do not represent any execution order. In addition, these processes may include more or fewer operations, and these operations may be executed in sequence or in parallel. It should be noted that the descriptions of "first", "second", etc. in this article are used to distinguish different modes, devices, modules, etc., do not represent the order of precedence, and do not limit "first" and "second" to different types. In addition, the embodiments described below are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0035] The technical solutions provided by each embodiment of the present application are described in detail below.

[0036] In one embodiment of the present application, a robot is provided, which can be an industrial robot or a commercial robot or a household robot; wherein the commercial robot or the household robot can be, but is not limited to, a cleaning robot, a freight robot, a guide service robot, etc., which is not specifically limited in this embodiment. The structure of the robot can be seen in Figure 5 The schematic diagram of the structure of the robot A is shown. Specifically, as shown in Figure 5 The robot provided in the embodiment of the present application includes a joint mechanism and a motor control device corresponding to the joint mechanism.

[0037] The above-mentioned joint mechanism is a mechanism that can cause relative movement between the various parts of the robot body. Its classification may include but is not limited to translational (mobile) joint mechanism, rotational joint mechanism, etc. For a specific introduction to the joint mechanism, please refer to the existing content and will not be described in detail here.

[0038] The motor control device corresponding to the above joint mechanism can be found in Figure 1a and Figure 1b The schematic diagram of the structure of the motor control device is shown in FIG. Figure 1a and Figure 1b As shown, the motor control device corresponding to the joint mechanism may include: a joint motor, a drive circuit 10, a sampling circuit 20 and a main control circuit 30; wherein,

[0039] A driving circuit 10, electrically connected to the joint motor, and used to drive the joint motor to work;

[0040] a sampling circuit 20, electrically connected to the driving circuit, for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit 10, and obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal;

[0041] The main control circuit 30 is electrically connected to the drive circuit 10 and the sampling circuit 20, and is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, detect the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit according to the motion state of the joint mechanism, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to work according to the drive signal.

[0042] In one example, the driving circuit 10 includes a driving subcircuit and an H-bridge circuit. The driving subcircuit is connected to the main control circuit 30 and the H-bridge circuit to drive the H-bridge circuit to be turned on and off; the H-bridge circuit is electrically connected to the driving subcircuit and the joint motor to drive the joint motor to work.

[0043] In a specific implementation, the number of the above-mentioned driving sub-circuits may be two, and the driving sub-circuit may be a driving chip, such as Figure 1bThe driver chip IC1 and the driver chip IC2 shown in the figure may be, but are not limited to, the IR2104 chip. The above H-bridge circuit includes four switch elements. Specifically, the four switch elements include a first switch element, a second switch element, a third switch element, and a fourth switch element. In this embodiment, the type of the switch element may be, but is not limited to, a field effect transistor (MOS transistor), such as an NMOS transistor (N-channel MOS transistor). Accordingly, the above first switch element, the second switch element, the third switch element, and the fourth switch element may be, respectively, as follows: Figure 1b The NMOS1 tube, NMOS2 tube, NMOS3 tube, and NMOS4 tube shown in the figure. The first end of the first switch element and the first end of the third switch element are connected to one of the two driving sub-circuits, and the first end of the second switch element and the first end of the fourth switch element are connected to the other of the two driving sub-circuits. For example, the first end (G pole, i.e., gate) of the NMOS1 tube is connected to the HO end (high voltage end drive output) of the driver chip IC1, and the first end of the NMOS3 tube is connected to the LO end (low voltage end drive output) of the driver chip IC1. Further, the second end of the first switch element is connected to the third end of the third switch element, and the second end of the second switch element is connected to the third end of the fourth switch element. For example, the second end (S pole, i.e., source) of the NMOS1 tube is connected to the third end (D pole, i.e., drain) of the NMOS3 tube.

[0044] Furthermore, the third end of the first switch element is connected to the third end of the second switch element, and the second end of the third switch element is connected to the second end of the fourth switch element. Figure 1b The first end of the motor M) shown in the figure is connected to the common end of the first switch element and the third switch element, and the second end of the joint motor is connected to the public end of the second switch element and the fourth switch element. The joint motor can be a DC motor, more specifically, it can be but not limited to a DC brushed motor. The drive subcircuit drives a pair of switch elements on the diagonal line of the above four switch elements to conduct, thereby controlling the joint motor to rotate forward or reverse through different current directions. For example, see Figure 1b When the driver chip drives NMOS1 and NMOS4 to turn on and NMOS3 and NMOS2 to turn off, the current will pass through the motor M from the positive pole of the power supply through the NMOS1 tube from left to right, and then pass through the NMOS4 tube back to the negative pole of the power supply. The current in this direction will drive the motor to rotate clockwise (forward); conversely, when the driver chip drives NMOS1 and NMOS4 to turn off and NMOS3 and NMOS2 to turn on, the current will pass through the motor M from right to left, and the current in this direction will drive the motor to rotate counterclockwise (reverse).

[0045] The sampling circuit 20 includes a sampling subcircuit and an operational amplifier subcircuit.

[0046] One end of the sampling subcircuit is connected to the H-bridge circuit, more specifically, to the open ends of the third switch element and the fourth switch element in the H-bridge circuit, and the other end is grounded. The sampling subcircuit is used to collect the current signal of the driving circuit and convert the collected current signal into a corresponding second voltage signal (a positive or negative voltage signal). Figure 2 An example of the second voltage signal is shown. Specifically, the current signal collected by the sampling subcircuit is the bus current of the drive circuit. More specifically, the bus current is the power supply current of the drive subcircuit in the drive circuit 10, and the power supply current can be provided by an external power supply. The sampling subcircuit can be composed of sampling resistors, wherein the number of sampling resistors can be one or more. When the number of sampling resistors is multiple, the multiple sampling resistors can be connected together in series and / or parallel. Figure 1b , the sampling subcircuit is composed of a sampling resistor (ie, resistor R1). Of course, the sampling subcircuit can also be composed of other types of components, such as a current Hall device. This embodiment does not specifically limit the composition of the sampling subcircuit.

[0047] The operational amplifier subcircuit includes an input terminal (negative input terminal, positive input terminal), an output terminal, etc. The positive input terminal of the operational amplifier subcircuit is connected to the common terminal of the sampling subcircuit and the H-bridge circuit (such as the common terminal connected to the sampling resistor R1, NMOS3 tube and NMOS4 tube), and the negative input terminal is connected to the common terminal of the sampling subcircuit and the ground; the output terminal of the operational amplifier subcircuit is connected to the main control circuit 30.

[0048] In addition, in this embodiment, the output voltage of the above-mentioned op amp subcircuit is equal to the input voltage of the op amp subcircuit multiplied by the gain plus half of the maximum voltage value that can be collected by the main control circuit; wherein, the gain of the op amp subcircuit is determined based on the maximum voltage value that can be collected by the main control circuit, the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit, and the maximum current value that can be output by the drive circuit 10 (specifically, the maximum current value that can be output by the drive subcircuit in the drive circuit 10). Specifically, the gain can be equal to half of the maximum voltage value divided by the product of the resistance value and the maximum current value; in other words, the above-mentioned maximum voltage value refers to the maximum voltage value that can be sampled by the AD sampling of the main control circuit. From the above, the relationship between the input voltage and the output voltage of the above-mentioned op amp subcircuit is as shown in the following formula:

[0049] V out =V in *b+d / 2, where b=d / 2 / (c*e).

[0050] In the above formula, V out , represents the output voltage of the op amp subcircuit; V ina represents the input voltage of the op amp subcircuit; b represents the amplification factor of the op amp subcircuit; d represents the maximum voltage value that the main control circuit can sample; c represents the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit; and e represents the maximum current value that the drive circuit (more specifically, the drive chip) can output.

[0051] According to the above formula, the above op amp subcircuit can amplify the corresponding input voltage (such as the positive and negative voltage signals output by the above sampling subcircuit). Therefore, the above op amp subcircuit is used to amplify the second voltage signal output by the sampling subcircuit to obtain the first voltage signal (a positive voltage signal) that can be obtained by the main control circuit. Specifically, the above op amp subcircuit is used to: amplify the second voltage signal according to the amplification factor, and convert the amplified second voltage signal into a first voltage signal; output the first voltage signal to the main control circuit.

[0052] In a specific implementation, the above-mentioned operational amplifier subcircuit may be, but is not limited to, an operational amplifier (abbreviated as an operational amplifier, or amplifier), such as Figure 1b The first voltage signal is a signal of alternating high and low levels, such as Figure 3 A first voltage signal is shown.

[0053] The reason why the second voltage signal output by the sampling sub-circuit needs to be amplified by an operational amplifier sub-circuit is that the voltage amplitude of the second voltage signal output by the sampling sub-circuit is often relatively small, and there is also a negative voltage, which makes it difficult for the main control circuit (such as a single-chip microcomputer) to directly detect (read) it. For this reason, an operational amplifier sub-circuit is required to amplify the second voltage signal and increase the voltage amplitude to a suitable voltage amplitude that can be detected by the main control circuit.

[0054] The main control circuit 30 may be, but is not limited to, a main control chip, such as a single-chip microcomputer. In specific implementation, when the main control circuit is connected to the sampling circuit, it is connected to the output end of the operational amplifier subcircuit in the sampling circuit to obtain the first voltage signal output by the operational amplifier subcircuit. Accordingly, when the main control circuit 30 is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, it is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor based on the first voltage signal output by the operational amplifier subcircuit. Since the first voltage signal (a positive voltage signal) output by the operational amplifier subcircuit is a signal of high level and low level interaction, based on this, when the main control circuit 30 is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, it can be specifically used to: obtain the proportionality coefficient of voltage and torque; sample the first voltage value of the adjacent high level and the second voltage value of the low level in the first voltage signal; calculate the output torque according to the first voltage value, the second voltage value and the proportionality coefficient. The above-mentioned proportionality coefficient is determined according to the torque coefficient of the joint motor, the amplification factor of the operational amplifier subcircuit and the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit. The specific implementation description of the main control circuit determining the output torque of the joint motor based on the first voltage signal will be described in detail in the method embodiment provided in the following text application, and will not be described in detail here. In addition, the main control circuit 30 can also be connected to the drive circuit 10 to send a drive signal to the drive circuit 10, and the on-off time of the switch in the drive circuit can be adjusted through the drive signal.

[0055] The above-mentioned driving signal can be sent to the driving circuit by the main control circuit 30 when it is detected that the joint motor needs to be driven to drive the joint mechanism to move. For example, the robot is an industrial robot with a joint mechanical arm. When it is detected that the joint mechanical arm needs to perform a loading operation, the main control circuit can send a corresponding driving signal to the driving circuit, so that the driving circuit drives the joint motor corresponding to the joint mechanical arm to start working according to the driving signal, thereby driving the joint mechanical arm to move to complete the loading operation. For another example, the robot is a cleaning robot. When it is detected that the cleaning robot needs to walk in a certain space to perform a cleaning task, the main control circuit can send a corresponding driving signal to the driving circuit, so that the driving circuit drives the joint motor corresponding to the foot joint mechanism of the cleaning robot to start working according to the driving signal, thereby driving the foot shutdown mechanism to move to complete the cleaning task.

[0056] In addition to the above, the above-mentioned drive signal can also be sent to the drive circuit based on the motion state of the shutdown mechanism after the main control circuit 30 detects the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque of the joint motor, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to work according to the drive signal, and realizes the intelligent control of the joint motor in real time. For example, if the motion state of the joint mechanism is detected to be normal, the original drive signal can be continued to be sent to the drive circuit, so that the drive circuit continues to drive the joint motor to work with the original working parameters according to the original drive signal; on the contrary, if the motion state of the joint mechanism is detected to be abnormal, a new drive signal can be generated based on the motion state of the joint mechanism and sent to the drive circuit, so that the drive circuit drives the motor to stop working or change the direction or reduce the output speed according to the new drive signal, etc., to achieve the purpose of timely protection of the robot and avoid damage to the robot joint mechanism. Among them, an invalid drive signal (referred to as invalid drive signal) can be sent to the drive circuit or the drive signal can be directly stopped to the drive circuit to control the joint motor to stop working, so as to achieve the purpose of controlling the joint mechanism of the robot to stop moving and avoid damage to the robot joint mechanism. In addition, when the movement state of the joint mechanism is abnormal, the main control circuit can also send a control signal to the alarm device on the robot, so that the alarm device outputs corresponding alarm information according to the control signal. The alarm information can be but is not limited to one or more combinations of voice, light, text, etc.

[0057] The specific implementation description of the main control circuit 30 detecting the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque of the joint motor will be described in detail in the corresponding method embodiment below, and will not be repeated here.

[0058] In a specific implementation, the driving signal may be a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal, specifically, a unidirectional PWM signal, which will be converted into a complementary PWM signal at the joint motor end by a driving circuit.

[0059] The robot provided in this embodiment includes a joint mechanism, a joint motor, a drive circuit, a sampling circuit, and a main control circuit. The joint motor is used to output power to drive the joint mechanism to move. The drive circuit is electrically connected to the joint motor and is used to drive the joint motor to work. The sampling circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and is used to collect the current signal of the drive circuit and obtain the corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal. The main control circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and the sampling circuit and is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal. It can be seen that in this solution, the robot can determine the output torque of the motor using the current of the drive circuit, without the need to specially add a corresponding torque sensor to sense the output torque of the motor, which can effectively reduce the structural complexity and construction cost of the robot. In addition, further, the main control circuit is also used to detect the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque, so as to send a drive signal to the drive circuit according to the motion state of the joint mechanism, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to work according to the drive signal, which realizes the intelligent control of the motor, and can effectively ensure that when an unfavorable motion state is detected, more effective intelligent protection can be taken in time for the robot to avoid damage to the robot, mainly to avoid damage to the joint mechanism of the robot.

[0060] For a detailed description of the functions of the main control circuit, please refer to the relevant content in the method embodiment below.

[0061] It should be noted that the robot provided in the embodiment of the present application may include other components / circuits in addition to the components / circuits described above. The other components / circuits that different types of robots may include may often be different. For specific other components / circuits that the robot may include, please refer to the existing relevant content.

[0062] Figure 4a A schematic diagram of a process flow of a robot joint motion state detection method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. The method is applicable to Figure 1a and Figure 1b The motor control device in the robot is shown, and more specifically, it can be applied to the sampling circuit 20 included in the motor control device. In addition to the sampling circuit 20, the motor control device can also include a main control circuit, a drive circuit, a motor (joint motor), etc. For detailed descriptions of the specific circuits / components included in the motor control device and the specific functions of each circuit / component, please refer to the relevant contents described in other embodiments of the above application. Figure 4a As shown, the robot joint motion state detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

[0063] 101. Collecting a current signal of a driving circuit in a robot; wherein the driving circuit is connected to the sampling circuit and is used to drive a joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move;

[0064] 102. Based on the current signal, obtain a corresponding first voltage signal;

[0065] 103. Input the first voltage signal to the main control circuit of the robot, so that the main control circuit determines the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, and detects the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque.

[0066] In the above 101, the current signal of the driving circuit is collected by the sampling subcircuit included in the sampling circuit. Specifically, the collected current signal is the bus current signal of the driving circuit, and the bus current signal can be specifically the power supply current signal of the driving subcircuit (such as the driving chip) in the driving circuit. In addition, the sampling subcircuit can also be used to convert the sampled current signal into a second voltage signal (a positive and negative voltage signal), and output the second voltage signal to the operational amplifier subcircuit in the sampling circuit. The operational amplifier subcircuit is used to amplify the second voltage signal to obtain a corresponding first voltage signal (a positive voltage signal), and output the first voltage signal to the main control circuit. For the specific implementation description of the sampling circuit and the conversion of the current signal into the corresponding first voltage signal, please refer to the relevant content in the above other embodiments. Therefore, in one implementable scheme, the above 102 "based on the current signal, obtain the corresponding first voltage signal" can specifically include:

[0067] 1021. Obtain a second voltage signal corresponding to the current signal by using a sampling subcircuit;

[0068] 1022. Amplify the second voltage signal according to an amplification factor;

[0069] 1023. Convert the amplified second voltage signal into a first voltage signal.

[0070] In a specific implementation, the first voltage signal is a positive voltage signal, and the second voltage signal is a positive and negative voltage signal. Also, the amplification factor is determined by the maximum voltage value that can be collected by the main control circuit, the maximum current value that can be output by the drive circuit, and the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit.

[0071] For the specific implementation description of the above 103, please refer to the relevant content in other embodiments in the context of this application, and will not be described in detail here.

[0072] In summary, the technical solution provided by this embodiment will collect the current signal of the driving circuit in the robot, the driving circuit drives the joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move; and based on the current signal, a corresponding first voltage signal is obtained, so that the first voltage signal is input into the main control circuit of the robot, and the main control circuit determines the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, and detects the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque. It can be seen that this solution can determine the output torque of the joint motor by using the current signal of the driving circuit, without the need to specially add a corresponding torque sensor to sense the output torque of the joint motor, which can effectively simplify the structure of the robot and reduce the construction cost of the robot.

[0073] It should be noted that: for any incomplete content in each step of this embodiment, please refer to the relevant content in other embodiments of this application.

[0074] Figure 4b A schematic diagram showing a flow chart of a robot joint motion state detection method provided by another embodiment of the present application is shown. The method is applicable to Figure 1a and Figure 1b The motor control device in the robot is shown, and more specifically, it can be applied to the main control circuit 30 included in the motor control device. In addition to the main control circuit 30, the motor control device can also include a drive circuit, a sampling circuit, a motor (joint motor), etc. For detailed descriptions of the specific circuits / components included in the motor control device and the specific functions of each circuit / component, please refer to the relevant contents described in other embodiments of the above application. Figure 4b As shown, the robot joint motion state detection method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

[0075] 201. Receive a first voltage signal output by a sampling circuit in the robot; wherein the first voltage signal is obtained by the sampling circuit based on a current signal of a driving circuit in the robot collected, the driving circuit drives a joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move;

[0076] 202. Determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal;

[0077] 203. Detect the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque.

[0078] For the specific implementation description of the content in the above 201, please refer to the relevant content in other embodiments above.

[0079] In the above 202, the first voltage signal is a positive voltage signal. When determining the output torque, it is determined based on the positive voltage signal. More specifically, the above first voltage signal is a positive voltage signal with alternating high and low levels, such as Figure 3 The first voltage signal is shown. In order to accurately determine the output torque of the joint motor, the output torque of the motor can be determined based on the first voltage signal, combined with the proportional coefficient of voltage and torque, and the voltage values ​​corresponding to the high level and the low level in the first voltage signal. Output torque refers to the torque generated by the joint motor during operation, which is the ability of the joint motor to output torque. Simply put, output torque is the ability of the joint motor to rotate an object. Based on this, in an achievable technical solution, the above 202 "determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal" can specifically include:

[0080] 2021. Obtain the proportionality coefficient between voltage and torque;

[0081] 2022. Sample adjacent high-level first voltage values ​​and low-level second voltage values ​​in the first voltage signal;

[0082] 2023. Calculate the output torque according to the first voltage value, the second voltage value and the proportional coefficient.

[0083] In the above 2011, the proportionality coefficient can be determined based on the torque coefficient of the joint motor and the circuit-related parameters of the sampling circuit. The torque coefficient is the proportionality coefficient of the output torque generated by the joint motor, which usually represents the size of the output torque generated per ampere of current and can be obtained from the motor parameter table. The circuit-related parameters of the sampling circuit may include the resistance of the sampling sub-circuit and the amplification factor of the op amp sub-circuit. The amplification factor of the op amp sub-circuit is determined based on the maximum voltage value that can be sampled by the main control circuit, the resistance of the sampling sub-circuit, and the maximum current value that can be output by the drive circuit. For the specific determination description of the amplification factor of the operational amplifier circuit, please refer to the relevant content in other embodiments above. Therefore, in a specific implementable scheme, the above 2021 "obtaining the proportionality coefficient of voltage and torque" can be implemented by the following steps:

[0084] 20211. Obtain the torque coefficient of the joint motor, the amplification factor of the operational amplifier subcircuit in the sampling circuit, and the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit;

[0085] 20212. Determine the proportional coefficient based on the torque coefficient, the amplification factor and the resistance value.

[0086] In specific implementation, the proportional coefficient can be obtained by dividing the product of the magnification factor and the resistance value by the torque coefficient. That is, the expression of the proportional coefficient can be as follows:

[0087]

[0088] Among them, b represents the amplification factor of the operational amplifier subcircuit, c represents the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit, and a represents the torque coefficient of the motor.

[0089] In the above 2022, the high level and the low level of the first voltage signal can be sampled to obtain the first voltage value of the adjacent high level and the second voltage value of the low level in the voltage signal. During sampling, considering that the first voltage signal has a large fluctuation when an edge jump occurs, in order to avoid the influence of the fluctuation, the sampling timing point should be far away from the jump time point when the edge jump occurs. The edge jump of the above-mentioned first voltage signal occurs because the driving signal (PWM signal) generates a jump. Based on the above content, in a specific implementable scheme, the above 2022 "determines the first voltage value of the adjacent high level and the second voltage value of the low level in the voltage signal" can be implemented by the following steps:

[0090] 20221. Determine a high level sampling timing and a low level sampling timing respectively according to a transition time point of a high level to a low level transition in the first voltage signal;

[0091] 20222. When the high level sampling timing arrives, collect the first voltage value of the high level;

[0092] 20223. When the low-level sampling timing arrives, collect the second voltage value of the low level;

[0093] Among them, the high level sampling timing is a time point between the first jump time point and the second jump time point; the low level sampling timing is a time point between the second jump time point and the third jump time point; the first jump time point is the time point when the low level jumps to the high level, the second jump time point is the time point when the high level jumps to the low level, and the third jump time point is the time point when the low level jumps to the high level again.

[0094] In a specific implementation, the above-mentioned transition time point includes a transition time point corresponding to a positive transition (rising edge) and a transition time point corresponding to a negative transition (falling edge). The process in which the first voltage signal changes from a low level to a high level is called a positive transition or a rising edge, and the process in which the first voltage signal changes from a high level to a low level is called a negative transition or a falling edge.

[0095] When determining the corresponding sampling timing point according to the jump time point, any time point between two adjacent jump time points can be determined as the sampling timing point, as long as the sampling timing point is far away from the jump time point. Preferably, in this embodiment, the middle time point between two adjacent jump time points is determined as the sampling timing point. In this sampling timing point determination method, when the voltage signal is subsequently sampled according to the sampling timing point, what is sampled is: the first voltage value corresponding to the middle moment of the high level period, and the second voltage value corresponding to the middle moment of the low level period. For example, see Figure 3, for the first signal cycle of the first voltage signal, the high level sampling timing may be an intermediate time point t12 between the first jump time point t1 and the second jump time point t2, and the low level sampling timing may be an intermediate time point t23 between the second jump time point t2 and the third jump time point t3; when the high level sampling timing arrives, the collected high level first voltage value is the high voltage value V indicated by the arrow A H1 When the low-level sampling timing arrives, the collected low-level second voltage value is the low voltage value V indicated by the arrow C L1 ; Subsequently, based on the sampled first voltage value (high voltage value V H1 ) and the second voltage value (low voltage value V L1 ), the output torque of the joint motor in the time period t1 to t3 can be calculated. When calculating specifically, the output torque of the joint motor in the time period t1 to t3 can be calculated according to the following formula:

[0096]

[0097] Wherein, T represents the torque of the joint motor, V1 represents the first voltage value, V2 represents the second voltage value, b represents the amplification factor of the op amp subcircuit, c represents the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit, and a represents the torque coefficient of the motor. (b*c) / a represents the proportional coefficient of voltage to torque.

[0098] By analogy, according to the above formula, it can also be based on Figure 3 The first voltage signal shown is used to calculate the output torque corresponding to the joint motor in other time periods except the time period t1 to t3, thereby realizing real-time calculation of the output torque of the joint motor.

[0099] Based on the above content, in a specific implementable solution, the above 2023 “calculating the output torque according to the first voltage value, the second voltage value and the proportional coefficient” can be implemented by the following steps:

[0100] 20231. Calculate an absolute difference between the first voltage value and the second voltage value;

[0101] 20232. Divide the absolute difference by the proportional coefficient to obtain the output torque.

[0102] In the above 203, the motion state of the joint mechanism includes: normal motion, abnormal motion (such as motion obstruction, etc.) In specific implementation, the motion state of the joint mechanism can be determined based on, but not limited to, the magnitude relationship between the output torque and a preset threshold.

[0103] For example, if the output torque is relatively small (such as less than or equal to the first threshold value), it can be determined that the joint mechanism is subjected to relatively large resistance at this time. This is because when the joint mechanism is subjected to relatively large resistance, it means that more energy is used to overcome the resistance, rather than to generate torque. For this reason, the output torque of the joint motor at the joint mechanism is often reduced. In this case, it can be determined that the movement of the joint mechanism is obstructed. If the output torque is relatively large (such as greater than or equal to the second threshold value, the second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value), it can be determined that the power supply line at the joint mechanism is abnormal, and the joint mechanism is in abnormal motion. If the output torque is between the first threshold value and the second threshold value, it can be determined that the joint mechanism is in normal motion.

[0104] Furthermore, the method provided in this embodiment may also include the following steps:

[0105] 204. Send a driving signal to the driving circuit based on the motion state of the joint mechanism, so that the driving circuit drives the joint motor to operate according to the driving signal.

[0106] For a detailed description of the above step 204, please refer to the relevant content in other embodiments above.

[0107] In summary, the technical solution provided by the present embodiment can determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal output by the sampling circuit in the received robot. The above-mentioned first voltage signal is obtained by the sampling circuit based on the current signal of the driving circuit in the robot collected, and the driving circuit drives the joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move. It can be seen that the present solution can determine the output torque of the joint motor by utilizing the current signal of the driving circuit, without the need to specially add a corresponding torque sensor to sense the output torque of the joint motor, which can effectively simplify the structure of the robot and reduce the construction cost of the robot. In addition, further, the present solution can also detect the motion state of the joint mechanism of the robot based on the output torque, thereby sending a drive signal to the drive circuit according to the motion state of the joint mechanism, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to work according to the drive signal, which realizes the intelligent control motor, and can effectively ensure that when an unfavorable motion state is detected, more effective intelligent protection can be taken in time for the robot to avoid damage to the robot joint mechanism.

[0108] In the following, in combination with a specific application scenario, a cleaning robot is taken as an example, wherein the cleaning robot has the above-mentioned Figure 1a and Figure 1bThe motor control device provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown. During the cleaning robot moving in a certain place (such as a certain area in a shopping mall) to perform cleaning work, when it is detected that the output torque of the joint motor at the joint mechanism A of the cleaning robot is relatively small (such as less than or equal to the first threshold), it can be determined that the joint mechanism A of the cleaning robot is subjected to relatively large resistance at this time. This is because when the joint mechanism A is subjected to relatively large resistance, it means that more energy is used to overcome the resistance, rather than to generate torque. For this reason, it is often caused that the output torque of the joint motor at the joint mechanism A is reduced. In this case, in order to protect the joint mechanism of the cleaning robot from damage, the cleaning robot can be controlled to stop moving and / or trigger an alarm, etc., waiting for abnormal processing. Alternatively, when it is detected that the output torque of the joint motor at the joint mechanism A of the cleaning robot is relatively large (such as greater than or equal to the second threshold, the second threshold is greater than the first threshold), it can be determined that an abnormality occurs in the power supply line at the joint mechanism A, etc., in order to protect the joint mechanism of the cleaning robot from damage, the cleaning robot can be controlled to stop moving and / or trigger an alarm, etc.

[0109] For the specific implementation of output torque determination in the above scenario description, please refer to the relevant content provided in other embodiments of the above text application.

[0110] In addition, the present application also provides a motor control device in an embodiment, the structure of the motor control device is as follows: Figure 1a and Figure 1b Specifically, the motor control device includes:

[0111] Motor;

[0112] A driving circuit, used for driving the motor to work;

[0113] A sampling circuit, used for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit and obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal;

[0114] The main control circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and the sampling circuit, and is used to determine the output torque of the motor according to the first voltage signal, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit based on the output torque, so that the drive circuit drives the motor to work according to the drive signal.

[0115] In the above, the motor control device is often installed in the corresponding machine equipment, and the motor is used to drive the corresponding controlled component to move. Based on this, when the main control circuit sends a drive signal to the drive circuit based on the output torque, it can be specifically used to: determine the motion state of the corresponding controlled component based on the output torque, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit according to the motion state of the controlled component. The controlled component can be, but is not limited to, a joint mechanism.

[0116] For detailed descriptions of the motor control device provided in this embodiment and the functional implementation of each circuit in the motor control device, please refer to the relevant contents in other embodiments of the present application, and no further details will be given here.

[0117] The motor control device provided in this embodiment includes a motor, a drive circuit, a sampling circuit, and a main control circuit; the drive circuit is used to drive the motor to work; the sampling circuit is used to sample the current signal of the drive circuit, and obtain the corresponding first voltage signal based on the sampled current signal; the main control circuit is connected to the sampling circuit and the drive circuit, and is used to determine the output torque of the motor according to the first voltage signal. It can be seen that in this solution, the torque of the motor can be determined by using the current signal of the drive circuit, and there is no need to specially add a corresponding torque sensor to sense the torque of the motor, which can effectively reduce the complexity and construction cost of the motor control device. Furthermore, the main control circuit is also used to send a drive signal to the drive circuit based on the output torque, so that the drive circuit drives the motor to work according to the drive signal, which can realize intelligent control of the motor.

[0118] Furthermore, another embodiment of the present application provides a machine device. The machine device includes a machine body and a motor control device provided in other embodiments of the present application; the motor control device is arranged on the machine body, and is used to drive a controlled component on the machine body to move, and determines the motion state of the controlled component by monitoring the output torque of the motor.

[0119] The motor control device includes a main control circuit, a drive circuit, a sampling circuit, a motor, etc. For details of the motor control device, please refer to the relevant content in other embodiments of this application. The main control circuit may include: a memory and a processor; wherein the memory stores one or more computer instructions; the processor is coupled to the memory and is used to execute the one or more computer instructions to implement the above-mentioned application in combination with Figure 4b The steps in the embodiment of the robot joint motion state detection method are provided.

[0120] The above-mentioned memory can be configured to store various other data to support operations on the autonomous moving device. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method for operating on the autonomous moving device. The memory can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk or optical disk.

[0121] The above-mentioned machine equipment can be any equipment that needs to use a motor to drive its joint mechanism to move. For example, the machine equipment can be a robot, specifically, an industrial robot or a commercial robot or a household robot. The commercial robot or the household robot can be, but is not limited to, a cleaning robot, a freight robot, a guided service robot, etc., which is not specifically limited in this embodiment. Accordingly, the above-mentioned controlled component can be a joint mechanism of the machine equipment.

[0122] Another embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is enabled to implement the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments provided by the present application.

[0123] Accordingly, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which includes a computer program stored therein, and when the computer program is executed by a computer, it can implement the various method steps or functions provided in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application.

[0124] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each implementation method can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solution is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, a disk, an optical disk, etc., including a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments.

[0125] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit it. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A robot, characterized in that: include: Joint mechanism; A joint motor, used for outputting power to drive the joint mechanism to move; A driving circuit, electrically connected to the joint motor, and used to drive the joint motor to work; a sampling circuit, electrically connected to the driving circuit, for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit and obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal; The main control circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and the sampling circuit, and is used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, detect the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit based on the motion state of the joint mechanism, so that the drive circuit drives the joint motor to work according to the drive signal.

2. The robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The sampling circuit comprises: a sampling subcircuit and an operational amplifier subcircuit; The sampling subcircuit is used to collect the current signal of the driving circuit and convert the current signal into a corresponding second voltage signal; The operational amplifier sub-circuit is used to amplify the second voltage signal according to the amplification factor, and convert the amplified second voltage signal into a first voltage signal; and output the first voltage signal to the main control circuit.

3. The robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The amplification factor is determined by the maximum voltage value that can be collected by the main control circuit, the maximum current value that can be output by the drive circuit, and the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit; The first voltage signal is a positive voltage signal, and the second voltage signal is a positive and negative voltage signal.

4. The robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The driving circuit comprises: An H-bridge circuit is electrically connected to the joint motor and is used to drive the joint motor to work; A driving subcircuit, electrically connected to the H-bridge circuit, and used to drive the H-bridge circuit to be turned on and off; Wherein, the current signal collected by the sampling circuit is the current signal of the input end of the driving sub-circuit.

5. The robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The first voltage signal is a signal of alternating high level and low level; and, The main control circuit, when used to determine the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, is specifically used to: Get the proportionality coefficient between voltage and torque; sampling adjacent high-level first voltage values ​​and low-level second voltage values ​​in the first voltage signal; The output torque is calculated according to the first voltage value, the second voltage value, and the proportional coefficient.

6. A method for detecting the motion state of a robot joint, characterized in that: Applicable to a sampling circuit in a robot, the method comprising: Collecting a current signal of a driving circuit in the robot; wherein the driving circuit is connected to the sampling circuit and is used to drive a joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move; Based on the current signal, obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal; The first voltage signal is input to the main control circuit of the robot, so that the main control circuit determines the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal, and detects the motion state of the joint mechanism based on the output torque.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that Based on the current signal, obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal includes: Using a sampling subcircuit, obtaining a second voltage signal corresponding to the current signal; amplifying the second voltage signal according to an amplification factor; The amplified second voltage signal is converted into a first voltage signal.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first voltage signal is a positive voltage signal, and the second voltage signal is a positive and negative voltage signal; and The amplification factor is determined by the maximum voltage value that can be collected by the main control circuit, the maximum current value that can be output by the drive circuit, and the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit.

9. A method for detecting the motion state of a robot joint, characterized in that: Applicable to the main control circuit in the robot, the method comprises: Receiving a first voltage signal output by a sampling circuit in the robot; wherein the first voltage signal is obtained by the sampling circuit based on a current signal of a drive circuit in the robot collected, the drive circuit drives a joint motor, and the joint motor outputs power to drive the joint mechanism to move; determining the output torque of the joint motor according to the first voltage signal; Based on the output torque, the motion state of the joint mechanism is detected.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The first voltage signal is a signal of alternating high level and low level; as well as Determining the output torque of the joint motor based on the first voltage signal includes: Get the proportionality coefficient between voltage and torque; sampling adjacent high-level first voltage values ​​and low-level second voltage values ​​in the first voltage signal; The output torque is calculated according to the first voltage value, the second voltage value, and the proportional coefficient.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that Get the proportionality coefficient between voltage and torque, including: Obtaining the torque coefficient of the joint motor, the amplification factor of the operational amplifier subcircuit in the sampling circuit, and the resistance value of the sampling subcircuit; The proportional coefficient is determined according to the torque coefficient, the amplification factor and the resistance value.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that Sampling adjacent high-level first voltage values ​​and low-level second voltage values ​​in the first voltage signal includes: Determine a high level sampling timing and a low level sampling timing respectively according to a transition time point of a high level and a low level transition in the first voltage signal; When the high level sampling timing arrives, collecting the first voltage value of the high level; When the low-level sampling timing arrives, collecting the second voltage value of the low level; Among them, the high level sampling timing is a time point between the first jump time point and the second jump time point; the low level sampling timing is a time point between the second jump time point and the third jump time point; the first jump time point is the time point when the low level jumps to the high level, the second jump time point is the time point when the high level jumps to the low level, and the third jump time point is the time point when the low level jumps to the high level again.

13. A motor control device, characterized in that: include: Motor; A driving circuit, used for driving the motor to work; A sampling circuit, used for collecting a current signal of the driving circuit and obtaining a corresponding first voltage signal based on the current signal; The main control circuit is electrically connected to the drive circuit and the sampling circuit, and is used to determine the output torque of the motor according to the first voltage signal, and send a drive signal to the drive circuit based on the output torque, so that the drive circuit drives the motor to work according to the drive signal.

14. A machine device, characterized in that: include: Body; The motor control device as described in claim 13 is arranged on the machine body, and is used to drive the controlled component on the machine body to move, and determine the movement state of the controlled component by monitoring the output torque of the motor.

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