High-protection heavy-load industrial robot

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of industrial robots, and particularly relates to a high-protection heavy-load industrial robot which comprises a demonstrator, a robot body and a driver, and the demonstrator comprises a man-machine interaction module, a robot control module and a function safety module; the robot body is a multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical arm and comprises a plurality of mechanical arm units, every two adjacent mechanical arm units are connected through a joint shaft, and each joint shaft is correspondingly provided with a motor as a power source; the drivers are distributed in the mechanical arm units according to needs and are in bidirectional signal connection with the corresponding motors. Functional modules in the control cabinet are split and arranged in the demonstrator and the robot body, so that the whole robot system can reach an extremely high protection level and can be applied to explosion-proof, vacuum and other sensitive environments.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of industrial robots, and in particular relates to a high-protection and large-load industrial robot. Background Art

[0002] Industrial robots are widely used in the field of processing and manufacturing, and the system usually consists of a robot body, a perception module, and a control system. Since the perception module is not applied in all working conditions, it will not be discussed in this application. Traditional robotic arms cannot be directly used in sensitive environments, such as vacuum, explosion-proof and other special environments. An important reason is that the entire robot is subject to the protection level of the body structure and the control system and cannot meet specific requirements. The traditional control system consists of a control cabinet and a teach pendant. The control cabinet houses several electrical components such as the robot control board, driver, filter, brake resistor, etc. Because it needs to communicate with the body, it cannot be too far away from the body. Traditional control cabinets and teach pendants need to be placed outside sensitive environments (explosion-proof, vacuum, etc.), resulting in the entire set of robot products failing to meet the requirements for entering the factory. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a high-protection and large-load industrial robot, which can enable the entire robot system to achieve an extremely high protection level, sufficient for use in sensitive environments such as explosion-proof and vacuum environments.

[0004] The present invention is achieved by providing a high-protection, large-load industrial robot comprising a teaching pendant, a robot body, and a driver;

[0005] The teach pendant includes a human-machine interaction module, a robot control module, and a functional safety module. The human-machine interaction module is used for status monitoring, parameter configuration, and job editing of the industrial robot. The functional safety module is used to process the industrial robot's enable signal and emergency stop signal. The robot control module is used to perform memory management, logical operations, and implement the industrial robot's motion control algorithm after receiving the information flow from the human-machine interaction module and the functional safety module, and then issue motion instructions and configuration parameters and pass them to the driver. The driver then passes the feedback signal to the robot control module, and the robot control module passes the feedback signal to the human-machine interaction module and the functional safety module.

[0006] The robot body is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, which includes several robotic arm units. Adjacent robotic arm units are connected by joint axes, and each joint axis is equipped with a motor as a power source.

[0007] There are several drivers, each of which is a multi-layer PCB structure. Each driver includes at least a control board, a feedback board, and a silicon carbide inverter substrate connected from top to bottom. The control board is provided with a motion control module and an encoder feedback module of the industrial robot. The motion control module is used to realize the motor motion control function, and the encoder feedback module is used to realize encoder feedback; the feedback board is provided with an inverter current acquisition module, a bus voltage acquisition module, a brake control module, and a temperature feedback module. The inverter current acquisition module is used to realize inverter current acquisition, the bus voltage acquisition module is used to realize bus voltage acquisition, the brake control module is used to realize brake control, and the temperature feedback module is used to realize temperature feedback; the silicon carbide inverter substrate is provided with a SIC MOS chip module, which is used to realize mutual inversion of DC and AC; the control board and the feedback board, and the feedback board and the silicon carbide inverter substrate are both bidirectional signal communication connections;

[0008] The drivers are distributed in several robotic arm units as needed to achieve bidirectional signal connection with the motors in the corresponding joint axes.

[0009] Preferably, the robot body is a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, and the robotic arm unit includes a forearm, an upper arm and a base. Two joint axes are provided at one end of the forearm away from the upper arm, between the forearm and the upper arm, and between the upper arm and the base. Each joint axis is powered by one of the motors.

[0010] Further preferably, there are six drivers, and two driver slots are respectively provided on the forearm, the upper arm and the base, and a driver is provided in each driver slot. The two drivers provided in the forearm driver slot are respectively connected to the motor bidirectional signals of the two joint axes at one end of the forearm away from the upper arm; the two drivers provided in the upper arm driver slot are respectively connected to the motor bidirectional signals of the two joint axes between the forearm and the upper arm, and the two drivers provided in the base driver slot are respectively connected to the motor bidirectional signals of the two joint axes between the upper arm and the base.

[0011] Further preferably, the control board and the feedback board of the servo drive are connected by copper columns, the feedback board and the silicon carbide inverter substrate are connected by patch nuts, and the silicon carbide inverter substrate is connected to a heat sink, which is also connected to the bottom surface of the drive slot by patch nuts, and a layer of thermal grease is coated between the heat sink and the bottom surface of the drive slot.

[0012] Further preferably, there are two drivers, a driver slot is respectively provided on the upper arm and in the base, and a driver is provided in each driver slot. The driver in the upper arm is connected to the motors of the two joint axes of the forearm away from one end of the upper arm and the motor of a joint axis between the forearm and the upper arm in a two-way signal manner; the driver in the base is connected to the motors of the remaining three joint axes in a two-way signal manner.

[0013] The driver also includes a busbar and a signal board, the busbar is used to carry high-voltage bus current, and the signal board is used to carry low-voltage signals;

[0014] The control board and the feedback board of the servo drive are connected by copper columns, the feedback board and the silicon carbide inverter substrate are connected by patch nuts, and the silicon carbide inverter substrate is connected to a heat sink, which is also connected to the bottom surface of the driver slot by patch nuts, and a layer of thermal conductive silicone grease is coated between the heat sink and the bottom surface of the driver slot; the busbar is fixed between the feedback board and the silicon carbide inverter substrate by copper columns, and the signal board is arranged on the side, with the lower end connected to the silicon carbide inverter substrate and the upper end connected to the control board.

[0015] Further preferably, an electrical module group is provided in the base, and the electrical module group includes a filtering module, an IO distribution and deployment module, a current distribution module, and an air source opening and closing module, which are respectively used for filtering, IO distribution and deployment, current distribution, and air source opening and closing. A heat dissipation structure is provided on the outer wall of the base, and a plurality of heat dissipation holes are provided on the heat dissipation structure.

[0016] Preferably, a power supply module is provided and connected to the teaching pendant, the robot body and the driver respectively.

[0017] Preferably, the teaching pendant is developed based on the Android platform.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are:

[0019] 1. Most of the existing industrial robot teaching pendants are only integrated with the basic human-computer interaction module, that is, a single teaching pendant can only perform basic operations such as parameter configuration and job editing. Advanced operations such as motion control and safety signal processing still require at least a linkage control box to complete. The teaching pendant in the present invention is additionally integrated with a robot control module and a functional safety module. The robot control module can implement the motion control algorithm and logical operations of the computing robot, as well as perform memory management and simulation, and the functional safety module can realize the processing of safety signals (such as emergency stop signals and enable switch signals). Therefore, after the teaching pendant is powered on, it can complete operations such as editing jobs, uploading jobs, motion planning and even simulation by itself, which provides great convenience for verification operations;

[0020] 2. The teach pendant operating system is developed based on the Android platform, which can realize the functions of platform applications. Process packages (such as spraying and polishing) can be packaged into APPs for installation, which is easy to maintain. Most importantly, it also has the ability to connect to the cloud for remote download (OTA), which can prevent external devices from entering sensitive environments.

[0021] 3. High-density servo drives use emerging aluminum-based silicon carbide as power devices to replace the IGBT devices (insulated gate bipolar transistors) used in traditional servo drives. Conduction loss: SiC devices (such as SiC MOSFET) have low on-resistance under high voltage and lower conduction loss than IGBT (especially at voltage levels above 1200V). Switching loss: SiC's switching loss is 50% to 80% lower than that of IGBT, significantly improving system efficiency. SiC has lower switching and conduction losses than IGBT, significantly reduces heat generation, and can effectively reduce the size of the servo drive machinery and heat sink, providing important protection for transplantation into sensitive environments;

[0022] 4. Existing industrial robots place their drivers in control cabinets, which not only takes up additional space and increases costs, but also reduces protection capabilities. If the drivers were internally located and distributed within the robot arm, conventional solutions would face significant challenges in terms of size and heat dissipation. This invention integrates high-density silicon carbide-based drivers and control logic within the robot, eliminating the need for a control cabinet and addressing heat dissipation issues through heat generation, further improving protection capabilities. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the signal transmission direction of each module of the high-protection and high-load industrial robot provided in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the overall structure of a high-protection, high-load industrial robot provided in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram of the driver in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a structural diagram of the silicon carbide inverter substrate in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the base structure in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the driver in Example 2 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] Example 1

[0031] refer to Figure 1-Figure 5 In this embodiment, a high-protection and large-load industrial robot includes a teaching pendant 100, a robot body 200, and a driver 300;

[0032] The teach pendant 100 includes a human-machine interaction module 101, a robot control module 102, and a functional safety module 103. The human-machine interaction module 101 is used for status monitoring, parameter configuration, and job editing of the industrial robot. The functional safety module 103 is used to process the industrial robot's enable signal and emergency stop signal. The robot control module 102 is used to perform memory management, logical operations, and implementation of the industrial robot's motion control algorithm after receiving the information flow from the human-machine interaction module 101 and the functional safety module 103, and then issue motion instructions and configuration parameters and transmit them to the driver 300. The driver 300 then transmits feedback signals to the robot control module 102, and the robot control module 102 transmits feedback signals to the human-machine interaction module 101 and the functional safety module 103.

[0033] The robot body 200 is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, comprising a plurality of robotic arm units. Adjacent robotic arm units are connected by joint axes, and each joint axis is provided with a corresponding motor as a power source.

[0034] If a traditional driver is placed inside a large-load robotic arm, it will not operate or may even be damaged due to high heat generation. At the same time, due to its large size, it cannot be accommodated in the internal space of the robotic arm. Therefore, the present invention designs a servo driver 300 with low power consumption, low heat generation, and high density. The driver 300 is provided with several multi-layer PCB structures. Each driver 300 includes at least a control board 301, a feedback board 302 and a silicon carbide inverter substrate 303 connected from top to bottom. The control board 301 is provided with a motion control module 3011 and an encoder feedback module 3012 of the industrial robot. The motion control module 3011 is used to realize the motor motion control function, and the encoder feedback module 3012 is used to realize encoder feedback; the feedback board 302 is provided with an inverter current acquisition module 3021, a bus voltage acquisition module 3022, a brake control module 3023 and a temperature feedback module 3024. The inverter current acquisition module 3021 is used to realize inverter current acquisition, the bus voltage acquisition module 3022 is used to realize bus voltage acquisition, the brake control module 3023 is used to realize brake control, and the temperature feedback module 3024 is used to realize temperature feedback; the silicon carbide inverter substrate 303 is provided with a SIC MOS chip module 3031, SIC The MOS chip module 3031 is used to realize the mutual inversion of DC and AC; there are bidirectional signal communication connections between the control board 301 and the feedback board 302, and between the feedback board 302 and the silicon carbide inverter substrate 303;

[0035] The driver 300 is distributed in several robot arm units as needed to achieve bidirectional signal connection with the motors in the corresponding joint axes.

[0036] The entire system operates as follows: After the teach pendant 100 is powered on, it interacts with the human-machine interface module 101, performing processes such as monitoring system status, configuring parameters, and writing jobs. Simultaneously, the functional safety module 103 receives and processes safety signals such as emergency stop signals and enable switch signals in real time. The robot control module 102 aggregates information flows from the human-machine interface module 101 and the functional safety module 103, manages memory, processes logic, and performs jobs. It then simulates and calculates motion parameters before issuing motion commands, transmitting configuration parameters and signals, and transmitting all this information to the driver 300 in the robot body 200. Simultaneously, the robot control module 102 receives feedback from the driver 300, processes it, and then feeds it back to the human-machine interface module 101 and the functional safety module 103.

[0037] The driver 300 controls the motion by controlling the motors in the joint shafts of the robot body 200. The driver 300 mainly comprises three parts: a control board 301, a feedback board 302, and a silicon carbide inverter board 303.

[0038] The control board 301 is the core control board, primarily responsible for motor motion control and encoder feedback, including adjusting and providing feedback on motor parameters such as speed, direction, and acceleration. The feedback board 302 primarily performs functions such as inverter current acquisition, bus voltage acquisition, brake control, and temperature feedback. The silicon carbide inverter board 303 is the servo driver power board, primarily implementing DC / AC inversion. Signal transmission between the three components proceeds as follows: After receiving information from the robot control module 102 in the teach pendant 100, the driver control board 301 executes the planned kinematic parameters and provides real-time encoder feedback. After receiving motion control parameters from the control board 301 and safety signals from the teach pendant 100, the feedback board 302 performs inverter current acquisition, bus voltage acquisition, brake control, and temperature feedback. It then utilizes the SICmos chip module 3031 to perform DC / AC inversion.

[0039] As a specific implementation method of the robot body 200, the robot body 200 is a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, and the robotic arm unit includes a forearm 201, an upper arm 202 and a base 203. Two joint axes are provided at one end of the forearm 201 away from the upper arm 202, between the forearm 201 and the upper arm 202, and between the upper arm 202 and the base 203. Each joint axis is powered by one of the motors.

[0040] Specifically, the joint axes include one axis 205 , two axes 206 , three axes 207 , four axes 208 , five axes 209 and six axes 210 .

[0041] An important step in achieving high protection without a control cabinet is to transplant the servo driver from the control cabinet to the interior of the robot body 200. In this embodiment, six drivers 300 are provided. Two driver slots are provided on the forearm 201, the upper arm 202, and the base 203, respectively. Each driver slot is provided with a driver 300. The two drivers 300 provided in the driver slot of the forearm 201 are respectively connected to the motors of the two joint axes at the end of the forearm 201 away from the upper arm 202 with two-way signal connections; the two drivers 300 provided in the driver slot of the upper arm 202 are respectively connected to the motors of the two joint axes between the forearm 201 and the upper arm 202 with two-way signal connections; and the two drivers 300 provided in the driver slot of the base 203 are respectively connected to the motors of the two joint axes between the upper arm 202 and the base 203 with two-way signal connections.

[0042] As a specific connection method, the control board 301 and the feedback board 302 of the servo driver 300 are connected by copper columns, the feedback board 302 and the silicon carbide inverter substrate 303 are connected by patch nuts, and the silicon carbide inverter substrate 303 is connected to a heat sink 306. In order to increase the thermal conductivity and fit, the heat sink 306 is also connected to the bottom surface of the driver slot by patch nuts, and a layer of thermal grease is coated between the heat sink 306 and the bottom surface of the driver slot to ensure the efficiency of thermal conductivity.

[0043] In order to reasonably arrange the electrical modules and increase heat dissipation, a larger storage space is designed in the base 203 to accommodate the electrical module group. The electrical module group includes a filtering module, an IO allocation and deployment module, a current distribution module, and an air source opening and closing module, which are respectively used for filtering, IO allocation and deployment, current distribution, and air source opening and closing. A heat dissipation structure 204 is provided on the outer wall of the base 203, and a plurality of heat dissipation holes are provided on the heat dissipation structure 204 to increase the heat dissipation capacity.

[0044] In order to reasonably power the robot, a power module 400 is provided and connected to the teaching pendant 100 , the robot body 200 and the driver 300 respectively.

[0045] Preferably, the joint shaft is a fully sealed high-load joint structure in Patent 202211075027.8, which is the mechanical basis for achieving high protection.

[0046] Preferably, the teaching pendant 100 is developed based on the Android platform, which can realize the functions of platform applications. The process packages (such as spraying and polishing) can be packaged into the form of APP and installed for easy maintenance; most importantly, it also has the ability to connect to the cloud for remote download (OTA), which can prevent external devices from entering sensitive environments and facilitate monitoring and maintenance.

[0047] In actual explosion-proof application scenarios, the robot system in this embodiment will be additionally equipped with a positive-pressure explosion-proof air circuit system to adjust the internal and external pressures by blowing. Structurally, there will be two additional air pipes inserted into the base 203 to realize air intake and return. If there is no positive pressure requirement, the air circuit structure will be removed.

[0048] The teach pendant 100 and the robotic arm in this invention have both passed national explosion-proof certification and obtained intrinsically safe explosion-proof certification. This proves that the entire robotic system can be directly used in explosion-proof environments. Because the driver is located inside the robot, the driver itself does not require additional protection performance certification.

[0049] Example 2

[0050] The difference between this embodiment and embodiment 1 is that:

[0051] There are two drivers 300, one driver slot is set on the upper arm 202 and the other in the base 203, and one driver 300 is set in each driver slot. The driver 300 in the upper arm 202 is connected to the motors of the two joint axes of the forearm 201 away from one end of the upper arm 202 and the motor of one joint axis between the forearm 201 and the upper arm 202 in a bidirectional signal manner; the driver 300 in the base 203 is connected to the motors of the remaining three joint axes in a bidirectional signal manner.

[0052] refer to Figure 6 To optimize the structure and circuitry, the driver 300 also includes a busbar 304 and a signal board 305. The busbar 304 carries the high-voltage bus current, while the signal board 305 carries the low-voltage signal. The busbar 304 is secured between the feedback board 302 and the silicon carbide inverter substrate 303 using copper pillars. The signal board 305 is mounted on the side, connected to the silicon carbide inverter substrate 303 at its lower end and to the control board 301 at its upper end. In Example 1, the busbars and signal lines are integrated on the control board 301.

Claims

1. A high-protection, high-load industrial robot, characterized in that: It includes a teaching pendant (100), a robot body (200) and a driver (300); The teaching pendant (100) includes a human-machine interaction module (101), a robot control module (102) and a functional safety module (103). The human-machine interaction module (101) is used for state monitoring, parameter configuration and operation editing of the industrial robot. The functional safety module (103) is used for processing the industrial robot enable signal and emergency stop signal. The robot control module (102) is used for performing memory management, logical operation and implementation of the industrial robot motion control algorithm after receiving the information flow from the human-machine interaction module (101) and the functional safety module (103), and then issuing motion instructions and configuration parameters and transmitting them to the driver (300). The driver (300) then transmits the feedback signal to the robot control module (102). The robot control module (102) transmits the feedback signal to the human-machine interaction module (101) and the functional safety module (103). The robot body (200) is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, comprising a plurality of robotic arm units, adjacent robotic arm units being connected via joint axes, and each joint axis being provided with a corresponding motor as a power source; The driver (300) is provided with a plurality of them. The driver (300) is a multi-layer PCB structure. Each driver (300) comprises at least a control board (301), a feedback board (302) and a silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) connected from top to bottom. The control board (301) is provided with a motion control module (3011) and an encoder feedback module (3012) of an industrial robot. The motion control module (3011) is used to realize the motor motion control function. The encoder feedback module (3012) is used to realize the encoder feedback function. The feedback board (302) is provided with an inverter current acquisition module (3021), a bus voltage acquisition module (3022), a brake control module (3023) and a temperature feedback module (3024); the inverter current acquisition module (3021) is used to realize inverter current acquisition, the bus voltage acquisition module (3022) is used to realize bus voltage acquisition, the brake control module (3023) is used to realize brake control, and the temperature feedback module (3024) is used to realize temperature feedback; the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) is provided with a SIC MOS chip module (3031), and the SIC MOS chip module (3031) is used to realize mutual inversion of direct current and alternating current; the control board (301) and the feedback board (302), as well as the feedback board (302) and the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) are both bidirectional signal communication connections; The driver (300) is distributed and arranged in a plurality of mechanical arm units as required, and realizes a bidirectional signal connection with the motors in the corresponding joint axes.

2. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The robot body (200) is a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm. The robotic arm unit comprises a small arm (201), a large arm (202) and a base (203). Two joint axes are provided at one end of the small arm (201) away from the large arm (202), between the small arm (201) and the large arm (202), and between the large arm (202) and the base (203). Each joint axis uses one of the motors as a power source.

3. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: Six drivers (300) are provided. Two driver slots are respectively provided on the forearm (201), the upper arm (202) and the base (203). One driver (300) is provided in each driver slot. The two drivers (300) provided in the driver slot of the forearm (201) are respectively connected to the motors of the two joint axes at one end of the forearm (201) away from the upper arm (202) via two-way signals. The two drivers (300) provided in the driver slot of the upper arm (202) are respectively connected to the motors of the two joint axes between the forearm (201) and the upper arm (202) via two-way signals. The two drivers (300) provided in the driver slot of the base (203) are respectively connected to the motors of the two joint axes between the upper arm (202) and the base (203) via two-way signals.

4. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The control board (301) and the feedback board (302) of the servo driver (300) are connected via copper columns, the feedback board (302) and the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) are connected via patch nuts, and the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) is connected to a heat sink (306), the heat sink (306) is also connected to the bottom surface of the driver slot via patch nuts, and a thermal grease layer is coated between the heat sink (306) and the bottom surface of the driver slot.

5. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: Two drivers (300) are provided, one driver slot is provided on the upper arm (202) and one driver slot is provided in the base (203), and one driver (300) is provided in each driver slot. The driver (300) in the upper arm (202) is connected to the motors of two joint axes of the lower arm (201) away from one end of the upper arm (202) and the motor of one joint axis between the lower arm (201) and the upper arm (202) via bidirectional signals; the driver (300) in the base (203) is connected to the motors of the remaining three joint axes via bidirectional signals.

6. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The driver (300) further comprises a busbar (304) and a signal board (305), wherein the busbar (304) is used to carry high-voltage bus current, and the signal board (305) is used to carry low-voltage signals; The control board (301) and the feedback board (302) of the servo driver (300) are connected via copper columns, the feedback board (302) and the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) are connected via patch nuts, and the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) is connected to a heat sink (306), the heat sink (306) is also connected to the bottom surface of the driver slot via patch nuts, and a thermal conductive silicone grease layer is coated between the heat sink (306) and the bottom surface of the driver slot; the busbar (304) is fixed between the feedback board (302) and the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) via copper columns, and the signal board (305) is arranged on the side, with the lower end connected to the silicon carbide inverter substrate (303) and the upper end connected to the control board (301).

7. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 3 or 5, characterized in that: An electrical module group is provided in the base (203), and the electrical module group includes a filtering module, an IO allocation and deployment module, a current distribution module, and an air source opening and closing module, which are respectively used for filtering, IO allocation and deployment, current distribution, and air source opening and closing. A heat dissipation structure (204) is provided on the outer wall of the base (203), and a plurality of heat dissipation holes are provided on the heat dissipation structure (204).

8. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A power supply module (400) is provided and is respectively connected to the teaching pendant (100), the robot body (200) and the driver (300).

9. The high-protection, large-load industrial robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The teaching pendant (100) is developed based on the Android platform.

Images