Robot motion controller and robot system

Abstract

The utility model discloses a robot motion controller and a robot system.The robot motion controller comprises a main control unit and a field programmable logic gate array which are electrically connected, and the main control unit is used for controlling operation of the field programmable logic gate array; the field programmable logic gate array comprises an input and output interface and a safety detection circuit, the input and output interface is used for receiving an external safety signal, and the safety detection circuit is used for processing safety logic in the operation process of the robot according to the safety signal and sending a processing result to the main control unit. According to the design, the size of the robot motion controller can be simplified, and the function of the robot motion controller is ensured.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of robots, in particular to a robot motion controller and a robot system. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of science and technology, robots have been widely applied in various industries, and the motion of the robot is controlled by a robot motion controller. However, the robot motion controller currently has defects such as large size and high power consumption, especially for small kilogram robots, the robot motion controller is too large relative to the robot body. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the robot motion controller. CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present application provides a robot motion controller and a robot system, which can simplify the size of the robot motion controller and ensure the function of the robot motion controller.

[0004] The first aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a robot motion controller, comprising a main control unit and a field programmable logic gate array connected electrically, the main control unit is used for controlling the operation of the field programmable logic gate array; the field programmable logic gate array comprises an input and output interface and a safety detection circuit, the input and output interface is used for receiving an external safety signal, and the safety detection circuit is used for processing safety logic in the running process of the robot according to the safety signal and sending the processing result to the main control unit.

[0005] The second aspect of the embodiment of the present application provides a robot system, comprising the robot motion controller in any of the above embodiments.

[0006] The beneficial effect is that the present application uses the main control unit and the field programmable logic gate array to cooperate with each other to control the robot, which can reduce the size of the robot motion controller and realize more powerful functions. In particular, the safety detection circuit is arranged in the field programmable logic gate array, which is specially used for processing safety logic matters in the running process of the robot, avoiding the confusion of the logic of processing safety matters and the logic of other non-safety matters, reducing the error rate and ensuring the safe operation of the robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0008] Figure 1is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of a robot motion controller of the present application;

[0009] Figure 2 is Figure 1 is a specific structural schematic diagram of a power supply circuit in the robot motion controller;

[0010] Figure 3 is Figure 1 is a specific connection structural schematic diagram of a master control unit and a field programmable logic gate array in the robot motion controller;

[0011] Figure 4 is Figure 1 is an SPI connection diagram between the master control unit and the field programmable logic gate array in the robot motion controller;

[0012] Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of another embodiment of a robot motion controller of the present application;

[0013] Figure 6 is a flow schematic diagram of the robot motion controller in operation in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0015] It should be noted that the terms "first" and "second" in the present application are only used for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with "first" and "second" can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality of" is at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device including a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include steps or units not listed, or can optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product or device.

[0016] Referring to Figure 1 , Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of a robot motion controller of the present application, which includes a master control unit 110 and a field programmable logic gate array 120 connected electrically.

[0017] The main control unit 110 is the core unit in the robot motion controller 100, and is the central processor in the robot motion controller 100, which is used to manage various units in the robot motion controller 100, and also includes controlling the operation of the field programmable logic gate array 120.

[0018] The field programmable logic gate array 120, also known as FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), is a product further developed on the basis of programmable devices such as PAL (Programmable Array Logic) and GAL (General Array Logic). It is a semi-custom circuit in the field of application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), which solves the shortcomings of custom circuits and overcomes the limitation of the number of gate circuits of the original programmable devices. In the embodiment, the field programmable logic gate array 120 includes an input-output interface 121 and a safety detection circuit 122, the input-output interface 121 is used to receive external safety signals, and the safety detection circuit 122 is used to process safety logic in the robot operation process according to the safety signals, and return the processing result to the main control unit 110.

[0019] Specifically, the input-output interface 121, also known as the IO interface, is used to receive external signals and output signals required to be output by the field programmable logic gate array 120. In the embodiment, the input-output interface 121 is mainly used to receive signals related to safety during the operation of the robot. In an application scenario, when the state of the input-output interface 121 changes, that is, an external signal is received.

[0020] At the same time, the safety detection circuit 122 is specially responsible for processing logic matters related to safety in the robot operation process, which is specifically processed according to the safety signals received by the input-output interface 121, and finally sends the processing result to the main control unit 110, and the main control unit 110 controls the robot motion according to the processing result.

[0021] For example, a camera is usually installed on the robot to detect the environment around the robot by using the camera, so that the robot can avoid obstacles in time when it encounters obstacles. After the camera captures an image, the image data is transmitted to the field programmable logic gate array 120 through the input-output interface 121, and then the safety detection circuit 122 in the field programmable logic gate array 120 analyzes and processes the image data to obtain the recognition result and the corresponding logic action result, for example, the recognition result is that there is an obstacle in front of the robot, and the corresponding logic action result is to control the robot to avoid the obstacle, and finally the main control unit 110 sends the recognition result and the corresponding logic action result to the main control unit 110, and finally the main control unit 110 controls the robot motion to avoid the obstacle according to the result.

[0022] From the above, it can be seen that the application utilizes the cooperation of the master control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120 to control the robot, which can reduce the size of the robot motion controller 100 and achieve more powerful functions. In particular, the safety detection circuit 122 is arranged in the field programmable logic gate array 120, which is specially used to handle safety logic matters in the robot running process, so as to avoid the confusion of the logic for handling safety matters with the logic for other non-safety matters, reduce the error rate, and ensure the safe operation of the robot.

[0023] In an embodiment, the master control unit 110 is an ARM processor. In an embodiment, the ARM processor is a ZYNQ chip of xilinx (Xilinx) company. The ZYNQ chip is the first scalable processing platform in the industry launched by Xilinx, which aims to provide the required processing and computing performance level for high-end embedded applications such as video surveillance, driver assistance for cars, and factory automation. The chip is powerful and can ensure its performance while reducing the size of the robot motion controller 100. Of course, in other embodiments, the master control unit 110 can also be other processors, such as a DSP processor.

[0024] Continuing to refer to Figure 1 In an embodiment, the robot motion controller 100 further includes a power supply circuit 130 electrically connected with the master control unit 110, which is used to supply power to the robot motion controller 100 and provide power for the robot motion controller 100.

[0025] In an embodiment, in combination Figure 2 In order to meet the needs of internal circuits, the power supply circuit 130 is used to convert the input voltage into a plurality of different output voltages, so as to supply power to different internal circuits. For example, in Figure 2 the embodiment, the power supply circuit 130 finally converts the external 24V power supply into 3.3V, 2.5V, 1.5V, 1.8V, etc. The power supply circuit 130 can also include a filtering unit, an overcurrent protection unit, a voltage stabilizing unit, etc. The application does not limit the specific structure of the power supply circuit 130.

[0026] Continuing to refer to Figure 1 The robot motion controller 100 further includes a clock circuit 140, a memory circuit 150, and an Ethernet transceiver 160.

[0027] The clock circuit 140 is electrically connected with the master control unit 110, which is used to provide a clock signal for the master control unit 110. In an embodiment, the clock circuit 140 inputs a clock of 33.33Mhz to the master control unit 110, while the passive crystal oscillator is used inside the master control unit 110, and the internal frequency multiplier generates a clock of 677MHz for the robot motion controller 100.

[0028] The memory circuit 150 is electrically connected to the main control unit 110 and is used to store data. Figure 3 In one embodiment, the memory circuit 150 includes a NAND Flash ( Figure 3 151 in the code) and DDR3 chips ( Figure 3 It is labeled with number 152 in the figure) etc.

[0029] NAND Flash is used to store the operating system, enabling it to boot from NAND Flash. A suitable NAND Flash device is the MT29F4G08ABADAWP, which has 4GB of memory, an 8-bit data bus width, and uses the GPMC asynchronous 8-bit multiplexed data / address bus to access the device. The main control unit 110 accesses the NAND Flash through the SMC interface.

[0030] At the same time, the main control unit 110 accesses the DDR3 chip through the DDR3 IF interface. In one embodiment, the DDR3 chip model is MT41J256M16.HA, packaged in an FBGA-96 package with dimensions of 9mm x 14mm. The number of DDR3 chips can be two, and the two DDR3 chips are divided into two groups and connected in parallel to the DDR3 IF interface.

[0031] The Ethernet transceiver 160 is electrically connected to the main control unit 110 and is used to realize communication between the main control unit 110 and the outside world. Figure 3 The main control unit 110 can be electrically connected to the Ethernet transceiver 160 through the MII interface. The Ethernet transceiver 160 can be Realtek's RTL8201F. The RTL8201F is a single-chip single-channel 10 / 100Mbps Ethernet transceiver that supports MII and RMII protocols, is compatible with the 10 / 100BASE-T IEEE 802.3 protocol, has a QFN-32 package, and is powered by a 3.3V power supply.

[0032] In one embodiment, the FSMC interface cannot be used between the main control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120. Therefore, the SPI interface is designed to communicate between the two. The main control unit 110 acts as the SPI master station and the field programmable logic gate array 120 acts as the SPI slave station. The standard SPI master-slave communication protocol is adopted, and the SCLK clock rate is 10MHz. The signals between the main control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120 also include the RESET signal and the CONFIG signal. These signals will not be described in detail here. The specific SPI connection between the main control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120 is as follows: Figure 4 As shown, specificallyFigure 4 As shown, in the SPI connection between the master control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120, the transmission link A (DOUT-DI) actually represents three signal transmission channels, respectively: a transmission channel for the master control unit 110 as the SPI master station to send a chip select signal to the field programmable logic gate array 120 as the SPI slave station to select the SPI slave station, a transmission channel for the master control unit 110 as the SPI master station to send data to the field programmable logic gate array 120 as the SPI slave station, and a transmission channel for the field programmable logic gate array 120 as the SPI slave station to send data to the master control unit 110 as the SPI master station, the transmission link B (CLK-CCLK) is used for transmitting a clock signal, the transmission link C (IN1-INITN) is used for outputting a signal to the master control unit 110 when the field programmable logic gate array 120 is powered on for initialization, to indicate that the field programmable logic gate array 120 is ready and can be configured with a program, and the transmission link D (IN2-DONE) is used for the field programmable logic gate array 120 to output a signal to the master control unit 110 indicating that the field programmable logic gate array 120 has been configured.

[0033] Continuing to refer to Figure 3 , the master control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120 are provided with a parallel first link 1101 and a second link 1102.

[0034] After the master control unit 110 sends program data to the field programmable logic gate array 120 through the first link 1101, the field programmable logic gate array 120 runs according to the program data; during the running of the field programmable logic gate array 120, the master control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120 interact through the second link 1102.

[0035] Specifically, before running, the master control unit 110 sends program data through the first link 1101, and then the field programmable logic gate array 120 receives the program data and normally runs according to the program data, and then interacts with the master control unit 110 through the second link 1102. The specific interaction process can be that the field programmable logic gate array 120 receives an instruction sent by the master control unit 110 through the second link 1102, and after processing according to the instruction, returns the corresponding result to the master control unit 110 through the second link 1102, and the safety logic result processed by the field programmable logic gate array 120 is also sent to the master control unit 110 through the second link 1102.

[0036] Continuing to refer to Figure 3The third link 1103 is further connected between the master control unit 110 and the field programmable logic gate array 120, and the master control unit 110 resets the field programmable logic gate array 120 through the third link 1103.

[0037] The first link 1101 is formed between the MIO interface of the master control unit 110 and the Config CCLK, DI interface of the field programmable logic gate array 120. The MIO interface is a multifunctional IO interface of the master control unit 110. The Config CCLK, DI interface of the field programmable logic gate array 120 is an input interface of the field programmable logic gate array 120, and is used for receiving program data. The second link 1102 is formed between the SPI&CS interface of the master control unit 110 and the SPI0 interface of the field programmable logic gate array 120. The third link 1103 is formed between the IO interface of the master control unit 110 and the Reset interface of the field programmable logic gate array 120.

[0038] Continuing to refer to Figure 3 In addition to the above interfaces, the master control unit 110 further includes the following interfaces:

[0039] The I2C interface is used for connecting with a temperature sensor, and is used for acquiring data of the temperature sensor.

[0040] The SDIO0 interface is an interface for accessing an external SD card, and the system burn file is stored in the SD card. The system burn file is acquired through the SDIO0 interface to update the system.

[0041] The SDIO1 interface is used for accessing an external solid-state flash card chip, and is equivalent to an externally expanded hard disk.

[0042] The MIO interface is a multifunctional IO interface, and can be used for controlling the state of an LED lamp and detecting whether a 24V power supply is powered off.

[0043] The UART1 interface is a serial interface, and is used for realizing a Modbus slave station interface.

[0044] The UART3 interface is a serial interface, and is used for realizing an external serial interface.

[0045] Referring to Figure 5 In an embodiment, the master control unit 110 includes an application layer, a platform layer and an operating system layer.

[0046] The application layer is a layer of robot control software, and is used for loading and running control software.

[0047] The platform layer abstracts and encapsulates the operating system OS to ensure that the application layer can run on different hardware platforms. The platform layer defines a set of basic platform-related interface functions, and the external uniformly calls the interface functions to interact with the operating system OS, implement relevant platform drivers, and ensure normal use of relevant hardware.

[0048] The operating system layer is used to run an operating system. In an embodiment, the operating system in the robot motion controller 100 is a Linux operating system. In this embodiment, the operating system layer specifically adopts a Linux+RTAI configuration, which can add patches in real time to ensure the real-time performance of data transmission and improve the real-time performance of the operating system. Of course, in other embodiments, the operating system layer can also specifically adopt a Windows+RTX configuration or a VxWorks configuration.

[0049] Continuing to refer to Figure 5 From the corresponding calling relationship, the application layer includes a basic class library, a class library management, and a control interaction unit.

[0050] The basic class library is used to store running algorithms and communication protocols. The basic class library can include an algorithm class library, a mechanical unit class library, and a communication class library. These class libraries respectively implement different functions. The algorithm class library implements kinematics and dynamics related algorithms of the robot. The self-learning algorithm mentioned below is also implemented in the algorithm class library. The mechanical unit class library implements different mechanical unit controls according to different control objects, including robots, conveyors, positioners, and the like. The communication class library implements communication with servo drivers and IO interfaces to ensure that the robot motion controller 100 can implement EtherCAT and Modbus functions.

[0051] The class library management is the main control logic core of the main control unit 110. The class library management is used to call the running algorithms and the communication protocols in the basic class library to complete related functions. The class library management includes basic data type library management, operator library management, function library management, instruction library management, peripheral management, mechanical unit management, and communication management, and is the basic control of the entire control software.

[0052] The control interaction unit is used to perform motion flow control and interact with users. The control interaction unit includes a task executor, system state monitoring, and HMI user interaction.

[0053] In an embodiment, the robot motion controller 100 also runs a self-learning algorithm to improve the intelligence and autonomy of the robot. The self-learning algorithm is unique in that it uses information from previous experiments to obtain control inputs that produce desired output trajectories to improve control quality. Unlike traditional control methods, the self-learning algorithm can handle highly uncertain dynamic systems in a very simple way, with less prior knowledge and computational load, and is highly adaptable and easy to implement. More importantly, it does not rely on an accurate mathematical model of the dynamic system, and is an algorithm that iteratively generates optimized input signals to make the system output as close as possible to the ideal value.

[0054] Referring to Figure 6 In an embodiment, the specific process of controlling the motion of the robot according to the self-learning algorithm by the master control unit 110 includes:

[0055] S101: Obtain a planned motion trajectory of the robot.

[0056] The planned motion trajectory is the ideal motion trajectory of the robot, and the ultimate goal of the self-learning algorithm is to make the actual motion trajectory of the robot very close to the planned motion trajectory.

[0057] The process of step S101 can specifically include: after the starting teaching point, the ending teaching point, and a plurality of intermediate teaching points between the starting teaching point and the ending teaching point are confirmed by the operator, speed planning is performed to obtain the planned motion trajectory of the robot.

[0058] S102: Take the planned motion trajectory as a target motion trajectory.

[0059] S103: Control the motion of the robot according to the target motion trajectory.

[0060] Specifically, the target motion trajectory is taken as a target to control the robot to move along the target motion trajectory. However, due to the flexibility of the reducer and other reasons, the actual motion trajectory of the robot usually has a trajectory error with the target motion trajectory, that is, the actual motion trajectory of the robot deviates from the ideal motion trajectory.

[0061] S104: Determine the actual motion trajectory of the robot during the motion process.

[0062] After the motion of the robot ends, the trajectory of the robot during the motion process is determined.

[0063] In an embodiment, step S104 includes:

[0064] S1041: Obtain the shaft position of each joint axis of the robot during the motion process and the end acceleration of the robot.

[0065] The end acceleration of the robot is specifically the acceleration of the end of the robot, for example, the acceleration of the tool center point (TCP point) of the robot.

[0066] The end acceleration of the robot is specifically the acceleration of the end of the robot, for example, the acceleration of the tool center point (TCP point) of the robot.

[0067] Alternatively, the axis positions of the joints of the robot and the end speed of the robot can also be continuously acquired during the movement of the robot.

[0068] In this embodiment, in order to accurately acquire the end acceleration of the robot, an acceleration sensor can be installed at the end of the robot to collect the end acceleration of the robot.

[0069] S1042: Determine the actual movement trajectory of the robot according to the axis positions and the end acceleration.

[0070] The actual movement trajectory of the robot can be accurately determined by fusing the acquired axis positions and end acceleration.

[0071] S105: Determine the trajectory error of the actual movement trajectory relative to the planned movement trajectory.

[0072] Specifically, the trajectory error of the actual movement trajectory relative to the planned movement trajectory represents the deviation degree of the actual movement trajectory from the planned movement trajectory.

[0073] S106: Determine whether the trajectory error is within a preset error range.

[0074] If the determination result is that the trajectory error is not within the preset error range, step S107 is performed, and if the determination result is that the trajectory error is within the preset error range, step S109 is performed.

[0075] Specifically, if the trajectory error is within the preset error range, it indicates that the actual movement trajectory of the robot is very close to the ideal movement trajectory of the robot, i.e., the planned movement trajectory, and thus it is not necessary to compensate the trajectory of the robot, and the robot is directly controlled to move according to the latest target movement trajectory in the subsequent process.

[0076] However, if the trajectory error is not within the preset error range, it indicates that the deviation of the actual movement trajectory of the robot from the ideal movement trajectory of the robot (i.e., the planned movement trajectory) is still large, and thus it is necessary to compensate the movement trajectory of the robot.

[0077] S107: Compensate the target movement trajectory according to the trajectory error to obtain a compensated movement trajectory.

[0078] Wherein if P0 represents the planned motion trajectory, PL represents the actual motion trajectory, then the trajectory error e = PL - P0 of the actual motion trajectory relative to the planned motion trajectory, when compensating the target motion trajectory Q, the value of Q-e is calculated, and then the target motion trajectory is updated as Q-e.

[0079] Wherein the interpolation points corresponding to each interpolation period of the target motion trajectory can be compensated according to the trajectory error, so as to realize the compensation of the target trajectory and obtain the compensated motion trajectory. That is, the first interpolation point, the second interpolation point, and so on are compensated respectively, and then the compensated interpolation points are used to determine the compensated motion trajectory.

[0080] S108: updating the target motion trajectory with the compensated motion trajectory.

[0081] After step S108 is executed, return to step S103.

[0082] After the compensated motion trajectory is obtained, the target motion trajectory is replaced with the compensated motion trajectory, and then return to step S103 to control the robot motion according to the new target motion trajectory.

[0083] S109: end the trajectory compensation process, and subsequently control the robot motion according to the target motion trajectory.

[0084] After the trajectory compensation process is ended, the robot motion is subsequently controlled according to the target motion trajectory, which can make the actual motion trajectory of the robot approach the ideal motion trajectory of the robot (i.e., the planned motion trajectory).

[0085] As can be seen from the above, the self-learning algorithm is used to compensate the target motion trajectory of the robot, so that the actual motion trajectory of the robot approaches the ideal motion trajectory (i.e., the planned motion trajectory), which does not need to rely on an accurate mathematical model, only needs less prior knowledge and calculation amount, has strong applicability, and is easy to implement.

[0086] In addition, the present application also includes a robot system, which comprises a robot and a robot motion controller for controlling the robot, and the robot motion controller has the same structure as the robot motion controller 100 in any of the above embodiments, and specific details can be referred to the above related content, which will not be repeated here.

[0087] The above is only an embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the patent scope of the present application, and any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation using the content of the specification and drawings, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A robot motion controller, characterized by, The robot motion controller comprises a master control unit and a field programmable logic gate array connected electrically, the master control unit is used for controlling the operation of the field programmable logic gate array; The field programmable logic gate array comprises an input-output interface and a safety detection circuit, the input-output interface is used for receiving an external safety signal, and the safety detection circuit is used for processing safety logic in the operation of the robot according to the safety signal and sending a processing result to the master control unit.

2. The robotic motion controller of claim 1, wherein, The master control unit is an ARM processor.

3. The robotic motion controller of claim 2, wherein, The ARM processor is a ZYNQ chip.

4. The robotic motion controller of claim 1, wherein, The robot motion controller further comprises a power supply circuit connected electrically with the master control unit, used for supplying power to the robot motion controller, and the power supply circuit is used for converting an input voltage into a plurality of different output voltages.

5. The robotic motion controller of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: a clock circuit connected electrically with the master control unit, used for providing a clock signal for the master control unit; and / or a memory circuit connected electrically with the master control unit, used for storing data; and / or an Ethernet transceiver connected electrically with the master control unit, used for realizing the communication between the master control unit and the outside world.

6. The robotic motion controller of claim 1, wherein, The master control unit and the field programmable logic gate array are provided with a first link, a second link and a third link in parallel, the first link, the second link and the third link are connected electrically with the master control unit and the field programmable logic gate array; After the master control unit sends program data to the field programmable logic gate array through the first link, the field programmable logic gate array operates according to the program data; During the operation of the field programmable logic gate array, the master control unit and the field programmable logic gate array interact through the second link; The master control unit resets the field programmable logic gate array through the third link.

7. The robotic motion controller of claim 1, wherein, The master control unit comprises an application layer, a platform layer and an operating system layer; The application layer is responsible for controlling the operation of software, the platform layer abstracts and encapsulates the operating system, and the operating system layer is used for running the operating system.

8. The robotic motion controller of claim 7, wherein, The application layer comprises a basic class library, a class library management and a control interaction unit; The basic class library is used for storing running algorithms and communication protocols; The class library management is used for calling the running algorithms and the communication protocols in the basic class library; The control interaction unit is used for motion flow control and interaction with the user.

9. A robot system, characterized by The robot motion controller comprises a robot and a robot motion controller for controlling the robot and as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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