Manipulator material grabbing control system, method and equipment based on single communication channel
By adopting a single communication channel architecture in the robotic arm material handling system, the sensor is directly connected and signals are collected in real time, which solves the problem of asynchronous status between the sensor and the robotic arm, and achieves more efficient and reliable material handling control.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202610037889.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-01-13
- Publication Date
- 2026-02-13
AI Technical Summary
In existing robotic arm material handling systems, the use of dual communication channels (host computer-PLC, host computer-robotic arm) leads to a lack of synchronization between sensor signals and the robotic arm's status, affecting the real-time performance, stability, and safety of the control system.
A single communication channel architecture is adopted, which directly connects sensor signals to the robot arm. The signals are collected in real time through the robot arm's dedicated communication thread and sent to the central control host computer through a unique TCP channel. A unified command format and response mechanism are defined to ensure timely synchronization of status.
It eliminates the problem of asynchronous communication channels, simplifies the system structure, reduces response latency, improves communication reliability and system stability, and ensures the continuity and controllability of the production process.
Smart Images
Figure CN121515216A_ABST
Abstract
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of industrial automation control, in particular to a manipulator material grabbing control system, method and equipment based on a single communication channel. BACKGROUND
[0002] With the continuous development of automation technology, the application of manipulators in material grabbing and carrying has become an important part of modern production systems, greatly improving production efficiency and automation level, significantly improving overall production efficiency and tact speed; reducing the dependence of enterprises on manpower and reducing labor costs; with high-precision visual positioning algorithms and sensors, the precision and stability of production operations can be significantly improved; having a profound impact on industrial upgrading, intelligent manufacturing and labor structure optimization, and gradually becoming an indispensable key technology equipment in various industries.
[0003] In the existing manipulator material grabbing system, a central control host computer (industrial computer) is usually used as the control core. The system includes multiple sensors, such as sensors installed at the incoming material position, multiple automated processing positions, OK outgoing material position, and NG outgoing material position, for detecting the material arrival state of each position. The signals of these sensors are usually connected to a programmable logic controller (PLC). The central control host computer needs to communicate with the PLC to obtain the state signals of each sensor, and also needs to communicate with the manipulator controller to obtain the motion state of the manipulator and issue control instructions.
[0004] However, this architecture with dual communication channels (host computer-PLC, host computer-manipulator) has inherent defects. The PLC program generally uses a periodic cycle scanning mechanism for execution, and often needs to control other devices on the production line, resulting in complex program logic and increased scanning period. At the same time, the host computer also needs to periodically read the PLC register state, which causes a significant delay in obtaining sensor signals by the host computer. Since the sensor signals and manipulator state come from two asynchronous communication channels, the states of the two will inevitably be out of sync inside the host computer, affecting the real-time performance, stability, and safety of the control system. SUMMARY
[0005] To solve the problem of information out of sync caused by using different communication channels to obtain sensor signals and manipulator states in the prior art, the present application provides a manipulator material grabbing control system, method and equipment based on a single communication channel, aiming to ensure timely and synchronized updating of each state signal and improve system stability.
[0006] The present application is implemented through the following technical solutions:
[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a manipulator material grabbing control system based on a single communication channel, comprising:
[0008] a central control host computer, and a mechanical hand configured with an input / output interface and a controller;
[0009] a plurality of sensors, signal outputs of the plurality of sensors being directly connected to the input / output interface of the mechanical hand, for collecting material state signals at incoming, processing and outgoing positions;
[0010] a dedicated communication thread running in the controller of the mechanical hand, for cyclically scanning the input / output interface to obtain the material state signals and monitoring motion state information of the mechanical hand; the dedicated communication thread generates and sends a corresponding state reporting instruction through a unique TCP communication channel when the material state signals change or the motion state information needs to be reported;
[0011] the central control host computer receives the state reporting instruction sent by the mechanical hand from the same channel through the unique TCP communication channel, and sends a corresponding motion control instruction to the mechanical hand through the TCP communication channel.
[0012] Further, the state reporting instruction and the motion control instruction follow a unified instruction format in the TCP communication channel, the instruction format including an instruction identification field and an instruction type field, wherein the instruction identification field is generated based on a timestamp of the instruction sending time.
[0013] Further, the state reporting instruction is defined as a state class instruction, which is actively sent by the mechanical hand, for reporting changes in the material state signals or the motion state information; the motion control instruction is defined as a motion class instruction, which is actively sent by the central control host computer, for controlling the mechanical hand to perform material handling operations.
[0014] Further, the central control host computer is configured to parse and update the corresponding state flag in the system when the state class instruction is received; at the same time, after sending the motion class instruction, it waits and matches the response instruction returned by the mechanical hand, which has the same instruction identification field.
[0015] Further, the state class instruction includes at least one of the following: incoming position with material signal instruction, processing position completion signal instruction, OK outgoing position with material signal instruction, NG outgoing position with material signal instruction. The motion class instruction includes at least one of the following: mechanical hand taking incoming material motion instruction, mechanical hand loading material to designated processing position instruction, mechanical hand unloading material from designated processing position to designated outgoing position instruction.
[0016] Further, the central control host computer runs an independent task scheduling thread, which decides and triggers the corresponding motion control instruction to be sent to the robot according to the system state updated by the received state reporting instruction.
[0017] Further, after sending the motion type instruction, the central control host computer starts a query process, which is to find the response instruction matching the instruction identification field of the sent motion type instruction in the instruction return queue at a fixed time interval, and set a timeout threshold for the query process according to the task type or target position corresponding to the motion type instruction.
[0018] Further, in the query process, if the system is marked as a pause state, the time experienced during the pause is not counted into the cumulative time for judging whether the timeout threshold is reached.
[0019] In the second aspect, the application provides a robot material grabbing control method based on a single communication channel, which is applied to the above system, and characterized in that the method comprises:
[0020] Through a special communication thread running on the robot controller, the material state signals of a plurality of sensors connected to the input / output interface thereof are cyclically collected, and the motion state information of the robot is monitored;
[0021] When the material state signal changes or the motion state information needs to be reported, the corresponding information is sent to the central control host computer in the form of a state reporting instruction through the unique TCP communication channel;
[0022] The central control host computer receives and analyzes the state reporting instruction, and updates the internal system state;
[0023] The central control host computer sends a motion control instruction to the robot through the unique TCP communication channel based on the updated internal system state; the robot executes the action corresponding to the motion control instruction, and returns the execution result through the same TCP communication channel.
[0024] In the third aspect, the application provides an electronic device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor implements the above-mentioned robot material grabbing control method based on a single communication channel when executing the computer program.
[0025] Compared with the prior art, the application has the following advantages and beneficial effects:
[0026] The application fundamentally eliminates the state asynchronization problem caused by different communication channels and different scanning periods by directly connecting the sensor to the manipulator, collecting signals by the special thread of the manipulator, and sending the state of the manipulator itself to the upper computer through the same TCP channel, so that the signal update is more timely.
[0027] The application eliminates the PLC controller and its related programming and maintenance costs required in the traditional architecture, and simplifies the hardware structure of the system.
[0028] The application collects signals in real time by the special thread of the manipulator and reports them in time, and combines the instant response processing of the upper computer to the received messages, replaces the traditional PLC cycle scanning and the mechanism of periodic polling of the upper computer, and significantly reduces the response delay.
[0029] The application designs a query process including timeout judgment and suspension exemption mechanism, which can effectively deal with abnormal conditions such as network fluctuation and manipulator jam, and guarantee the continuity and controllability of the production process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0030] The drawings described herein are used to provide further understanding of the embodiments of the application, constitute a part of the application, and do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of the application.
[0031] Figure 1 The production line layout schematic diagram provided for the embodiments of the application.
[0032] Figure 2 The instruction receiving processing flowchart provided for the embodiments of the application.
[0033] Figure 3 The motion task scheduling flowchart provided for the embodiments of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the application clearer and more apparent, the application will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and drawings, the illustrative embodiments of the application and the description thereof are only used to explain the application, and do not limit the application.
[0035] Reference Figure 1 The production line layout schematic diagram shown, the embodiments of the application elaborate a manipulator material grabbing control system based on a single communication channel.
[0036] The system mainly consists of three parts: a central control host computer (not shown in the figure, usually an industrial control computer or industrial computer), a manipulator unit (including a manipulator body and its control cabinet), and a sensor array. The sensor array includes photoelectric sensors or position sensors installed at key workstations on the production line, specifically: one sensor is arranged at the incoming material position to detect whether there is material to be grabbed; one sensor is arranged at each of the six automatic processing positions to detect whether the material at each position is in place and whether the processing is complete; one sensor is arranged at the OK outgoing material position and one sensor is arranged at the NG outgoing material position to detect whether the corresponding material position is idle and can receive material.
[0037] The core architecture innovation of the present application lies in the reconstruction of the sensor signal path. Unlike the prior art, which aggregates all sensor signals to a separate programmable logic controller (PLC), in this embodiment, the signal output ends of all sensors are directly connected to the digital input (DI) interface provided by the manipulator control cabinet. This change eliminates the communication delay and signal synchronization problem caused by the PLC in the traditional architecture.
[0038] To realize real-time signal acquisition and communication, a dedicated background communication thread is added inside the manipulator controller (usually a high-performance embedded industrial computer). This thread is independent of the real-time core task of controlling the movement of the manipulator and is responsible for two tasks: one is to cyclically scan all sensors connected to the DI interface at a high frequency to obtain their status in real time, i.e., the material status signal; the other is to monitor the movement status information inside the manipulator body in real time, such as whether the manipulator is currently idle, running, paused, or in a fault state, and the current progress of the task being executed.
[0039] The dedicated communication thread establishes a unique TCP / IP network connection with the central control host computer. In this embodiment, the manipulator controller is configured as a TCP server, and the central control host computer actively connects as a TCP client. This connection constitutes a single communication channel for all data exchange within the system.
[0040] The communication process is as follows:
[0041] When the dedicated thread detects any change in the state of a sensor (for example, the incoming material position sensor changes from "0" to "1", indicating that material has arrived), or the movement state of the manipulator reaches a node that needs to be reported (such as the completion of a movement task sequence), the thread will immediately trigger and generate a corresponding instruction message, which is sent to the central control host computer through the TCP connection described above. The movement control instructions issued by the central control host computer to the manipulator are also sent through this same channel. Therefore, the sensor status, the manipulator's own status, the control instructions, and their responses are all transmitted bidirectionally and synchronously through this single TCP channel.
[0042] The unity of communication protocol is the key to achieve reliable control. This system defines a set of simple and efficient instruction format. All instructions are comma-separated strings, the basic format is: [timestamp], [instruction type], [parameter1], [parameter2],...
[0043] Timestamp: The system time (such as Unix millisecond timestamp) when the instruction is generated, as the globally unique identifier (ID) of the instruction. The protocol stipulates that for instructions that need to be responded to, the responder must use the original instruction ID received to respond, to ensure the pairing and tracing of the instruction.
[0044] Instruction type: An integer, used to distinguish the basic category and purpose of the instruction.
[0045] Parameter: Optional field, provides specific information required for instruction execution, such as station number, state value, etc.
[0046] According to the sender and core function of the instruction, it can be divided into two categories:
[0047] 1. State class instruction (also known as state reporting instruction): sent by the robot to the central control host computer, used to report event-driven state changes. For example:
[0048] 1750225610484,1,1: Indicates that the incoming station has material (Type=1).
[0049] 1750225610484,2,3,1: Indicates that the 3rd processing station has completed processing (Type=2, parameter "3" is the station number, "1" is the completion status).
[0050] 1750225610484,3,1: Indicates that the OK outgoing station can put material (Type=3).
[0051] 1750225610484,4,1: Indicates that the NG outgoing station can put material (Type=4).
[0052] 2. Motion class instruction (also known as motion control instruction): sent by the central control host computer to the robot, used to drive the robot to perform specific material handling operations. For example:
[0053] 1750225610484,5: Indicates that the robot performs the take-in material action (Type=5).
[0054] 1750225610484,6,3: Indicates that the robot uploads the grabbed material to the 3rd processing station (Type=6).
[0055] 1750225610484,7,3,0: instruct the robot to unload material from No.3 processing station to NG material station (Type=7, parameter "0" identifies NG station).
[0056] Referring to Figure 2 the instruction receiving process flowchart shown, the processing logic of the central control host computer after receiving the instruction is clear and efficient:
[0057] 1. Receive instruction: read the instruction string from the TCP channel.
[0058] 2. Instruction analysis: decompose the string, extract timestamp ID, instruction type and parameters.
[0059] 3. Classification processing:
[0060] If it is a state class instruction, update the corresponding state flag bit maintained in the system immediately. This process is immediate and has no delay, ensuring synchronization of the system state with the actual situation on site.
[0061] If it is a return result of a motion class instruction (i.e. the robot's execution confirmation of the previous received motion class instruction), do not immediately perform business processing, but store the instruction in a dedicated instruction return queue. This queue serves as a buffer for temporarily storing instruction responses to be matched.
[0062] The central control host computer also runs an independent task scheduling thread, which is the brain of the entire control logic. This thread continuously monitors all system state flags updated by state class instructions and makes decisions based on pre-set production logic (for example, if "material in material station", "robot idle" and "certain processing station idle", trigger "take material-load material" task).
[0063] The process of the task scheduling thread issuing a motion task embodies the system's guarantee mechanism for task execution reliability, and its flow is shown in detail in Figure 3 :
[0064] 1. Instruction issuance: after decision, send a motion class instruction to the robot (e.g. 1750225610484,5).
[0065] 2. Start monitoring: after sending, immediately start a query process for the instruction. The process records the ID of the instruction (1750225610484) and sets a reasonable timeout threshold for it according to the task type represented by the motion class instruction (e.g. simple take material task set to 3 seconds, complex handling task set to 8 seconds).
[0066] 3. Loop query: periodically query the instruction return queue to find if there is a return result matching the ID 1750225610484 at fixed short time intervals (e.g. 100 milliseconds).
[0067] 4. Result determination:
[0068] If found: take the return result from the queue to analyze, determine the success or failure of the task according to its content, and then end the monitoring process of the instruction.
[0069] If not found: check if the system is in "pause" state (e.g. during maintenance).
[0070] If the system is in pause: the waiting time of this cycle is not counted in the timeout accumulation.
[0071] If the system is not paused: add the waiting time of this cycle to the accumulated waiting time of the instruction.
[0072] 5. Timeout processing: determine if the accumulated waiting time exceeds the set timeout threshold. If not, return to step 3 to continue the loop query; if it has timed out, determine that the task has timed out, trigger the corresponding exception handling program (e.g. alarm, log, attempt to recover, etc.), and end the process.
[0073] This embodiment builds a highly synchronized, fast response, and robust material grabbing control system through a series of collaborative designs such as "sensor direct connection to robot IO", "dedicated thread real-time acquisition and reporting", "single TCP channel unified communication", "instruction level request-response matching", and "intelligent timeout and pause exemption". It not only saves the additional PLC hardware cost, but also solves the problem of state asynchronization caused by multi-channel communication from the root, significantly improving the overall efficiency and reliability of the automated production line.
[0074] Embodiment 2 discloses a robot material grabbing control method based on a single communication channel, which can be applied to the control system as described in embodiment 1. The method comprises the following steps:
[0075] S1: through a dedicated communication thread running on the robot controller, cyclically acquire the material state signals of multiple sensors directly connected to its input / output interface, and synchronously monitor the motion state information of the robot body.
[0076] S2: when detecting that the material state signal changes, or the motion state information meets the preset reporting condition, generate and send a corresponding state reporting instruction to the central control host computer through the unique TCP communication channel between the robot and the central control host computer.
[0077] S3: The central control host computer receives and analyzes the state reporting instruction, and immediately updates the internal maintained system state mapping table according to the content thereof.
[0078] S4: The task scheduling logic in the central control host computer makes a decision based on the updated system state, and issues corresponding motion control instructions to the robot through the unique TCP communication channel.
[0079] S5: The robot executes the action sequence defined by the motion control instructions, and after the action is executed, returns the execution result containing the original instruction ID to the central control host computer through the same TCP communication channel.
[0080] S6: The central control host computer receives the execution result, and completes the closed-loop confirmation of the corresponding motion task by matching the instruction ID.
[0081] Embodiment 3 provides an electronic device for implementing the above control method. The electronic device includes at least one processor (CPU), a memory, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor. When the processor executes the computer program, it implements all steps of the robot material grabbing control method based on a single communication channel as described in Embodiment 2. The specific form of the electronic device can be a central control host computer (industrial computer) that implements control logic, or a robot controller that has higher functional integration and integrates host computer control functions.
[0082] It should be noted that the number of sensors, workstation configuration, specific time parameters (such as 100 milliseconds, 3 seconds, 8 seconds) and instruction example values mentioned in the above embodiments are for the purpose of explaining the principle and are not a limitation of the present application. Those skilled in the art can make corresponding adjustments according to the actual production line scale, cycle requirements and robot performance.
[0083] The above specific embodiments further detail the purpose, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included within the scope of protection of the present application.
Claims
1. A robotic arm material grasping control system based on a single communication channel, characterized in that, include: The central control host computer, and the robotic arm equipped with input / output interfaces and a controller; Multiple sensors, the signal output terminals of which are directly connected to the input / output interface of the robot arm, are used to collect material status signals at the material inlet, processing and removal points; The controller of the robotic arm runs a dedicated communication thread, which is used to cyclically scan the input / output interface to obtain the material status signal of the sensor and monitor the motion status information of the robotic arm. When the material status signal changes or the motion status information needs to be reported, the dedicated communication thread generates and sends the corresponding status reporting command through a unique TCP communication channel. The central control host computer receives the status reporting instructions sent by the robot arm from the same channel through the unique TCP communication channel, and sends corresponding motion control instructions to the robot arm through the TCP communication channel.
2. The robotic arm material grasping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 1, characterized in that, The status reporting command and the motion control command are transmitted in the TCP communication channel following a unified command format. The command format includes a command identifier field and a command type field, wherein the command identifier field is generated based on the timestamp of the command sending time.
3. The robotic arm material grasping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 2, characterized in that, The status reporting instruction is defined as a status-type instruction, which is actively sent by the robot arm to report changes in the material status signal or the motion status information; The motion control commands are defined as motion-type commands, which are actively sent by the central control host computer to control the robotic arm to perform material handling operations.
4. The robotic arm material grasping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 3, characterized in that, The central control host computer is used to parse and update the corresponding status flags inside the system when it receives the status-type instructions; at the same time, after sending the motion-type instructions, it waits for and matches the response instructions returned by the robot with the same instruction identifier field.
5. A robotic arm material gripping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The status-type instructions include at least one of the following: Material arrival signal command, processing completion signal command, OK material removal signal command, NG material removal signal command; The motion commands include at least one of the following: Instructions for the robotic arm to pick up incoming materials, to load materials onto the robotic arm and move them to the designated processing position, and to unload materials from the designated processing position to the designated material removal position.
6. The robotic arm material grasping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central control host computer runs an independent task scheduling thread. The task scheduling thread makes decisions and triggers the issuance of corresponding motion control commands to the robotic arm based on the system status updated by the received status reporting instructions.
7. A robotic arm material gripping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 4 or 6, characterized in that, After sending a motion command, the central control host computer initiates a query process, which involves searching the command return queue at fixed time intervals for a response command that matches the command identifier field of the sent motion command; and setting a timeout threshold for the query process based on the task type or target location corresponding to the motion command.
8. A robotic arm material gripping control system based on a single communication channel according to claim 7, characterized in that, In the query process, if the system is marked as paused, the time spent during the pause is not included in the cumulative time used to determine whether the timeout threshold has been reached.
9. A robotic arm material grasping control method based on a single communication channel, applied to a robotic arm material grasping control system based on a single communication channel as described in any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, include: The robot controller uses a dedicated communication thread to continuously collect material status signals from multiple sensors connected to its input / output interfaces and monitor the robot's motion status information. When the material status signal changes or the motion status information needs to be reported, the corresponding information is sent to the central control host computer in the form of a status reporting command through the unique TCP communication channel. The central control host computer receives and parses the status reporting command, and updates the internal system status; Based on the updated internal system status, the central control computer sends motion control commands to the robotic arm through the unique TCP communication channel. The robotic arm executes the actions corresponding to the motion control commands and returns the execution results through the same TCP communication channel.
10. An electronic device, characterized in that, It includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the robotic arm material grasping control method based on a single communication channel as described in any one of claims 9.