Robot system

Abstract

To suppress search omission in an electronic manual for a robot system, and to improve the user-friendliness of the robot system.SOLUTION: A teaching pendant 40 that is an operation terminal for a robot system 10 stores an electronic manual for the robot system 10, and displays the electronic manual on a display 41 in response to the user's viewing operation. The source code of the electronic manual contains: to-be-displayed text data that is displayed on the display 41 by the viewing operation; and not-to-be-displayed text data which is not to be displayed on the display 41 by the viewing operation, and which includes related phrases associated with a keyword contained in the to-be-displayed text data. When the user executes a search operation on a phrase for the electronic manual, both pieces of text data are extracted from the source code to create searching data, and the phrase designated by the user is searched from the searching data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a robot system. [[ID=七]]

Background Art

[0002] Some robot systems include a control device for controlling an industrial robot and an operation terminal such as a teaching pendant used when setting an operation sequence of the industrial robot. In this type of robot system, a technique has been proposed to display an electronic manual in which various handling explanation information such as the configuration, operation method, and maintenance method of the robot system is digitized on a display screen of the operation terminal or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By enabling the viewing of the electronic manual on the operation terminal, the convenience of the robot system has been improved.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In recent years, the high functionality and multi-functionality of the above-described robot system have been realized, and the amount of handling explanation information of the robot system also tends to increase. Therefore, it is assumed that the labor required for the user to search for information suitable for the purpose while scrolling through the pages of the electronic manual will also increase. Therefore, the inventor of the present application devised a configuration for searching for a word specified by the user from an electronic manual in order to further improve the convenience of the robot system.

[0005] Here, various components that make up the robot system are referred to by specialized terminology, and this terminology is not always widely standardized. For example, the aforementioned operating terminal may be called a teaching pendant, a T-pen, or an operating panel. If we consider an electronic manual that explains the system using one of several related terms, it is possible that when a user specifies another of the related terms as a search candidate (search keyword) and performs a search operation, that candidate may not be found in the search results. In other words, even if the electronic manual contains information that matches the user's purpose, this information may be missed in the search results, resulting in a problem (search failure). This problem can also occur when the electronic manual contains related content (sentences) that are related to the term, rather than the term itself. Thus, there is still room for improvement in the configuration of the robot system in order to further enhance the usability of the robot system.

[0006] This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to suppress search errors in electronic manuals for robot systems and to improve the usability of robot systems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The following describes the means to solve the above problems.

[0008] The first method: An operating terminal equipped with a display unit capable of displaying an electronic manual, which is instructional information for the robot system, based on the user's browsing operation. The source code for the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language. The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed, consisting of words that are displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and non-display text data, consisting of related words that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but are associated with specific words included in the text data to be displayed. When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, the system searches for the term specified by the user during the search operation from search data, which is extracted from the source code of the electronic manual, including the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed, and displays the search results on the display unit.

[0009] The source code for the electronic manual described in this method is written in a markup language and contains both text data that is displayed when viewed and text data that is not displayed when viewed. When a user performs a search operation for a term, the term specified by the user is searched for in search data, which is obtained by extracting the text data that is displayed and the text data that is not displayed from the source code. Various components that make up the robot system are referred to by specialized terms such as technical terms (corresponding to specific terms in the text data that is displayed), and these terms are not necessarily widely standardized. In this method, the text data that is not displayed is text data consisting of related terms associated with the specific term. Even if the user specifies a related term rather than a specific term as a search candidate, the related term will be included in the search data, preventing the term from being missed in the search. In other words, even if the electronic manual contains information that matches the user's purpose, it is possible to prevent that information from being missed in the search. For these reasons, this can contribute to further improving the convenience of the robot system.

[0010] Furthermore, since text data that is not intended for display is not shown when viewing the electronic manual, even if related terms are embedded in the source code, it is possible to avoid making the electronic manual difficult to read when viewing it.

[0011] The second method involves providing an operating terminal equipped with a display unit capable of displaying an electronic manual, which contains instructional information for the robot system, based on the user's browsing operations. The source code for the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language. The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed, consisting of words that are displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and non-display text data, consisting of related words that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but are associated with specific words included in the text data to be displayed. The aforementioned operating terminal is A search data creation unit extracts the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed from the source code of the electronic manual and creates search data, When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, the search unit searches the search data for the term specified by the user during the search operation. The notification unit displays the search results from the search unit on the display unit, thereby informing the user of the search results. It has.

[0012] The search system described in the second method can be expected to have the same effect as the first method. That is, it can prevent information that matches the user's purpose from being missed in searches, even if it is contained in the electronic manual, and contribute to further improvement in the usability of the robot system. In addition, since search data is created from the electronic manual as needed, there is no need to separately prepare search data in the ROM of the operating terminal, etc. Keeping the amount of data down in this way is desirable for coexistence with other functions of the operating terminal (for example, the robot operation setting function). If the electronic manual is revised in accordance with the robot system update, the inspection data created from the electronic manual will also reflect the revision results. This is desirable for performing appropriate searches that correspond to the versions of the robot system and the electronic manual. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] A block diagram showing an overview of the robot system in the first embodiment. [Figure 2] A schematic diagram showing the screen for viewing the electronic manual. [Figure 3] A schematic diagram showing the search screen. [Figure 4] A flowchart showing the search process executed by the CPU of the teaching pendant. [Figure 5] (a) A schematic diagram illustrating the electronic manual being viewed, (b) A schematic diagram illustrating the source code of the electronic manual. [Figure 6] A schematic diagram illustrating various tags. [Figure 7] A schematic diagram showing special tags. [Figure 8] A schematic diagram illustrating keywords and related terms. [Figure 9] A schematic diagram illustrating search data. [Figure 10] A schematic diagram illustrating the search results. [Figure 11] A schematic diagram illustrating the search data in the second embodiment. [Figure 12]Schematic diagram showing special tags in the third embodiment. [Figure 13] (a) Schematic diagram exemplifying an electronic manual being viewed in the fourth embodiment, (b) Schematic diagram exemplifying the source code of an electronic manual.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] <First Embodiment> Hereinafter, the first embodiment embodied in a robot system used in a machine assembly factory or the like will be described with reference to the drawings. First, referring to FIG. 1, the outline of the robot system will be described.

[0015] The robot system 10 shown in this embodiment is composed of a robot 20 and a teaching pendant 40 which is an operation terminal for the robot 20. The robot 20 includes a robot main body 21 which is a horizontal articulated (specifically, a 4-axis) industrial robot, and a motion controller 22 (hereinafter, also referred to as the controller 22) for controlling the robot main body 21.

[0016] The robot main body 21 has an arm attached to a base, a hand (tool) provided at the tip of the arm, and a servo amplifier for driving the arm and the hand. The arm is formed by connecting a plurality of movable parts, and a motor for driving these movable parts for each joint part and an encoder for detecting the rotation angle of each motor are arranged. The servo amplifier is provided with a drive circuit for driving the motors for each joint based on drive commands from the controller 22 and rotation angles detected by the encoders.

[0017] The teaching pendant 40 is connected to the controller 22 via a communication cable. The teaching pendant 40 is a portable operating terminal having a touch panel display 41, and is equipped with a CPU 42 as a control unit, and ROM 45 and RAM 46 as memory units. Various applications, such as setting support applications, are installed on the teaching pendant 40, and the CPU 42 executes these applications based on user operations.

[0018] If the user is using a setup support application, a setup support screen is displayed on the display 41, and the CPU 42 sets the operation sequence of the robot 20 based on the user's operation. The set operation sequence is sent to the controller 22. The controller 22 is equipped with a program bank that stores various operation programs for the robot. The control unit of the controller 22 reads the operation program corresponding to the operation sequence received from the teaching pendant 40 from the program bank, determines a drive command based on the read operation program, and transmits the determined drive command to the servo amplifier.

[0019] Furthermore, the teaching pendant 40 has a manual viewing application installed as one of the above applications for viewing instruction information for the robot system 10. When this viewing application is in use, a viewing screen for the electronic manual is displayed on the display 41 (see Figure 2). Specifically, the RAM 46 is provided with an electronic manual storage area 48 that stores the electronic manual 60, which is an electronic version of the above instruction information, and the electronic manual 60 is stored in this storage area 48 when the teaching pendant 40 is manufactured.

[0020] The electronic manual 60 is revised to the latest version, for example, in conjunction with an update to the robot system 10, and then uploaded to the cloud server CS. The teaching pendant 40 can connect to the cloud server CS via the internet, and the revised electronic manual 60 is downloaded from the cloud server CS to the teaching pendant 40 based on user update operations, etc. This updates (overwrites) the electronic manual 60 stored in the electronic manual storage area 48 to the latest version. The method for updating the electronic manual 60 in the teaching pendant 40 is optional, and it may be configured to update using media (storage medium) such as a CD-ROM.

[0021] In this embodiment, the source code for the electronic manual 60 is written in a markup language (specifically, HTML format). The teaching pendant 40 has a browser installed, and when a user attempts to view the electronic manual 60, the specified page is displayed on the display 41 by the browser. On the viewing screen where the electronic manual 60 is displayed, the currently displayed page can be changed by sliding a finger touching the display 41 up or down.

[0022] The electronic manual 60 consists of multiple files, including a table of contents, initial setup guide, operation sequence setting guide, maintenance guide, and Q&A, resulting in a massive amount of information (number of characters, number of pages). In this embodiment, taking these circumstances into consideration, one of its features is the support for searching for desired terms in the electronic manual 60 when the user searches for such terms. Specifically, it has a function that uses a search program stored in the search program storage area 47 of the ROM 45 to search for the terms the user needs in the electronic manual 60 and notifies the user of the search results. This function will be explained below with reference to Figure 3.

[0023] On the browsing screen, pressing and holding any part of the display 41 will display a list of selectable operation items (operation menu). These operation items include "search for words," and when the user selects "search for words," the screen switches from the browsing screen to the search screen.

[0024] As shown in Figure 3(a), on the search screen, the display area of ​​the display 41 is divided into two parts: a manual display area for continuing to display (browse) the electronic manual 60, and a search information display area where a search box SB for specifying the search term and an execution button BI for executing the search for the specified term are displayed. After switching to the search screen, the search for the term is started based on the user entering the search term into the search box SB and tapping the execution button BI.

[0025] After the search is complete, the user is notified of the search results, as shown in Figure 3(b). Specifically, the number of matches for the entered term (specified term) is displayed in the search area, and the location (address) of the term is displayed in the manual display area. This location display includes displaying the name of the file containing the matching term in the electronic manual 60, displaying the page containing the term, and highlighting the search results of the terms on the displayed page.

[0026] Next, the search process performed by CPU42 will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 4. The search process is performed as part of a periodic process while the manual viewing application described above is running, or more specifically, while the search screen is displayed.

[0027] In the search process, first, step S11 determines whether or not search results are currently being displayed. If search results are not being displayed, step S11 is rejected and the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, it is determined whether or not a search execution operation (start operation) has been performed, i.e., whether or not the execution button BI has been tapped. If the result in step S12 is rejected, the search process is terminated. If an execution operation has been performed, step S12 is rejected and the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, the process of creating search data is executed. Specifically, text data etc. is extracted from the source code of the electronic manual 60 stored in the electronic manual storage area 48 of RAM 46, and the extracted data is converted into JavaScript® format data. Then, the converted data, i.e., the search data, is stored in RAM 46. Details about the search data will be described later.

[0028] After creating the search data, a search process is performed to search for the user-specified phrase from the search data (step S14). In this search process, the number of phrases that match the specified phrase (number of hits) and the location of those phrases are identified, and this information is stored in the CPU 42's buffer. In the following step S15, a search result display process is performed to inform the user of the results of the search process in step S14. In the search result display process, the number of hits for the specified phrase and their locations are displayed on the display 41 to inform the user (see Figure 3(b)).

[0029] Returning to the explanation of step S11, if the search results are being displayed, a positive determination is made in step S11 and the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, it is determined whether any of the highlighted items have been selected by the user, specifically, tapped. If a positive determination is made in step S16, the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, the system switches from the search screen to the browsing screen. This results in the electronic manual 60 being displayed across the entire display 41. At this time, the page is brought to a starting position so that the word tapped by the user is located at the top of the display 41. After that, the process proceeds to step S18, where the search data stored in RAM 46 is erased and the search process ends. At this time, information related to the search results is also erased, and the display of the search results ends.

[0030] Returning to the explanation of step S16, if a negative result is obtained in step S16, the process proceeds to step S19. In step S19, it is determined whether or not the user has performed a search termination operation. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the termination button displayed in the search area has been tapped. If no search termination operation has been performed, the search process is terminated. If a search termination operation has been performed, the system switches from the search screen to the browsing screen in step S20. This returns the system to a state where the electronic manual 60 is displayed across the entire display 41, or more specifically, to the state before switching to the search screen. After that, the process proceeds to step S18, where the search data stored in RAM 46 is erased and the search process is terminated. At this time, the search result information stored in the buffer is also erased.

[0031] Here, various components that make up the robot system are referred to by specialized terms, such as technical terms, and these terms are not necessarily widely standardized. If an electronic manual being viewed uses one of several related terms to explain the system, then when a user specifies another of the related terms as a search candidate and performs a search operation, that candidate may not be found in the search results. In other words, even if the electronic manual contains information that matches the user's purpose, this information may be missed in the search (search omission). This is undesirable in terms of improving the usability of the robot system. On the other hand, simply listing these multiple terms together can suppress search omissions, but it makes the electronic manual difficult to read. In other words, it hinders the improvement of usability. In this embodiment, one of the features is that measures have been taken to suppress search omissions and improve usability, taking these circumstances into consideration. Below, the electronic manual 60 will be explained in more detail with reference to Figures 5 and 6, and then the above measures will be explained.

[0032] The source code of the electronic manual 60 shown in this embodiment is written in HTML format, and the document structure (headings, body text, etc.) when viewed is defined by tags (see Figure 5). Tags that define the document structure (hereinafter referred to as structural tags) include, for example, a header tag T1 that indicates a heading (header) in the document and a paragraph tag T2 that indicates the body text (paragraph) in the document (see Figure 6).

[0033] The header tag T1 is the opening tag. <h> and closing tag< / h> It consists of these, and when viewing the electronic manual 60, the text data enclosed by these start and end tags is displayed as a heading in larger font than the main text. Also, the paragraph tag T2 is a start tag. and closing tagIt is composed of these elements, and when viewing the electronic manual 60, the text data enclosed by these start and end tags is displayed as the main text in small font. In other words, when viewing and displaying the electronic manual 60, the CPU 42 (browser) of the teaching pendant 40 identifies the text data stored in each structural tag as the display target and determines the font size, etc., from the type of structural tag.

[0034] The source code of the electronic manual 60 shown in this embodiment includes a special tag T3 in addition to the structural tags described above. This special tag T3 is similar to the structural tags in that it can store text data. However, the CPU 42 (browser) of the teaching pendant 40 is configured to exclude a portion of the text data stored in this special tag T3 from display when viewing it, i.e., it is not displayed.

[0035] Here, we will provide a supplementary explanation of the special tag T3 with reference to Figure 7. The special tag T3 is a start tag.<Synonyms=“ ”> It consists of an opening tag and an closing tag. The keyword mentioned above is placed between the opening tag and the closing tag, and a related phrase (related term) is placed between the set of double quotes in the opening tag. In this embodiment, the related phrase is either a synonym, equivalent, or abbreviation of the keyword.

[0036] The number of related terms placed within the opening tag is arbitrary, and each related term is enclosed in double quotes. Related terms enclosed in double quotes can be listed side by side, separated by commas. For example, if you set "XXX" as the keyword and "AAA" and "BBB" as related terms, the source code would look like this:<Synonyms=“AAA”,“BBB”> It becomes XXX (see Figure 7).

[0037] For keywords sandwiched between the start tag and the end tag that constitute the special tag T3, they will be displayed when viewing the electronic manual 60, while related phrases placed within the start tag will not be displayed when viewing the electronic manual 60. In this embodiment, the keyword corresponds to "display target text data", and the related phrase corresponds to "non-display target text data".

[0038] Here, referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, the relationship between the keyword and the related phrase will be exemplified. As described above, in the robot system 10 shown in this embodiment, the robot 20 is a 4-axis horizontal articulated robot, and the electronic manual 60 of the robot system 10 uses "4-axis robot" as the phrase indicating the robot 20 (see FIG. 5). For this robot 20, in addition to "4-axis robot", it may also be called "horizontal articulated robot" or "scalar robot". That is, the robot 20 can be referred to as "4-axis robot", "horizontal articulated robot", and "scalar robot".

[0039] If those three designations are displayed in parallel on the viewing screen, there is concern that it will cause inconvenience such as making it difficult to read the electronic manual 60 during viewing. In this regard, in this embodiment, by applying the following source code to the paragraph containing the keyword, such concerns are dispelled. That is, while making "4-axis robot" the display target text data, in order to make "horizontal articulated robot" and "scalar robot" the non-display target text data, the source code is written as <Synonyms=“horizontal articulated robot”,“scalar robot”>4-axis robot. As a result, although "horizontal articulated robot", "scalar robot", and "4-axis robot" are all listed in the source code, only "4-axis robot" is displayed during viewing.

[0040] Furthermore, to give examples of other keywords, the text data to be displayed, "Hand," is associated with the non-display text data "End Effector" by the special tag T3 mentioned above, and the text data to be displayed, "Teaching Pendant," is associated with the non-display text data "T-Pen," "Control Panel," and "Terminal" by the special tag T3.

[0041] Here, we will provide a supplementary explanation regarding the creation of search data (step S13) in the search process shown in Figure 4. When creating search data, structural tags are identified from the electronic manual data, and the text data (text data to be displayed) contained within those structural tags is extracted. In other words, the structural tags function as indicators for extraction.

[0042] For some of these structural tags, i.e., structural tags whose stored display target text data contains the above keywords, related terms are listed alongside them using the special tag T3 described above. In such cases, as shown in Figure 9, the display target text data and non-display target text data stored in the special tag T3 are extracted along with the special tag T3, while maintaining their relative positions. As a result, not only the display target text data but also the non-display target text data, which are related terms, are extracted along with the special tag, and these text data are converted into JavaScript® format. In other words, the search data includes not only the display target text data but also the non-display target text data, and furthermore, the special tag T3 makes it possible to identify which terms are keywords and which terms are related terms. With this configuration, related terms that are not displayed during browsing can also be included in the search target.

[0043] Next, referring to Figure 10, we will explain how search results are reported when a user specifies related terms instead of keywords as search terms.

[0044] If the term specified by the user matches a related term, the number of hits for the related term will be provided as a search result. In addition, keywords associated with the specified term will be provided. Specifically, if the term specified by the user is included in the special tag T3 (more specifically, the start tag) that makes up the search data, the term enclosed between the start and end tags of special tag T3 will be identified, and that term will be provided as a term associated with the specified term. The location of that term will also be provided.

[0045] In the example shown in Figure 10, the user specifies "SCARA robot" as the search term. The search results show the number of hits for "SCARA robot" (i.e., the number of times the keyword associated with "SCARA robot" appears), and also show "4-axis robot," which is another keyword associated with "SCARA robot." To emphasize this keyword, "4-axis robot" is highlighted, and its location is indicated.

[0046] According to the first embodiment described in detail above, the following excellent effects can be expected.

[0047] Even if a user specifies related terms as search suggestions rather than the keywords displayed during browsing, those related terms will be included in the search data, preventing them from being missed in searches. In other words, even if the electronic manual 60 contains information that matches the user's purpose, this prevents that information from being missed in searches. For these reasons, this can contribute to further improving the usability of the robot system 10.

[0048] Furthermore, since it is possible to suppress search omissions without having to repeatedly specify multiple names as candidates in sequence, the burden on the user during searches can be significantly reduced.

[0049] Furthermore, since related terms are excluded from display when viewing the electronic manual 60, even if related terms are embedded in the source code, it is possible to avoid making the electronic manual 60 difficult to read when viewing it.

[0050] Furthermore, since search data is created from the electronic manual 60 as needed, there is no need to separately prepare search data in the ROM of the teaching pendant 40 or elsewhere. Keeping the amount of data small in this way is desirable for coexistence with other functions of the teaching pendant 40 (for example, the operation sequence setting function). If the electronic manual 60 is revised in accordance with an update of the robot system 10, the inspection data created from the electronic manual 60 will also reflect the revision results. This is desirable for performing proper searches that correspond to the versions of the robot system 10 and the electronic manual 60.

[0051] If the search data can distinguish between text data to be displayed and text data not to be displayed, it becomes possible to determine whether a search result belongs to the text data to be displayed or not. This is desirable for realizing a configuration that appropriately informs the user of the search results.

[0052] When reporting search results, if a term displayed during browsing is found in the search, the location of that term in the electronic manual 60 is indicated to the user. If a term not displayed during browsing is found in the search, the location of a term associated with that term in the electronic manual 60 is indicated to the user. This dramatically improves the convenience of the search function.

[0053] <Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment described above, when creating search data, the system is configured to extract keywords (text data to be displayed) and related terms (text data not to be displayed) stored in special tags T3 from the source code of the electronic manual 60, along with the special tags T3, and to use the extracted special tags T3 as a means of identifying keywords and related terms. In this embodiment, the configuration for extraction when creating search data differs from that of the first embodiment. The configuration for extraction will be explained below with reference to Figure 11, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0054] In this embodiment, when creating search data, if keywords and related phrases stored in special tag T3 are extracted from the source code of the electronic manual 60, special tag T3 itself is excluded from the extraction. In other words, when extracting from the structural tag that stores special tag T3, keywords and related phrases are extracted, but special tag T3 itself is not extracted.

[0055] When creating search data from extracted data, the relative positions of keywords and related terms are maintained. In other words, in the search data, related terms are placed before keywords and keywords are placed after them, so that the related terms and keywords are arranged in that order.

[0056] When creating search data, information indicating the correspondence between text data to be displayed (keywords) and text data not to be displayed (related terms) is stored in RAM46 as a separate file. The CPU42 of the teaching pendant40 can refer to this correspondence information to retrospectively determine the correspondence between keywords and related terms.

[0057] When searching for a term, if the term specified by the user is a related term, the system refers to the correspondence information above to identify the keyword to which the related term is associated. Then, when providing the location information as described above, the system searches for the identified keyword again and highlights that keyword.

[0058] When searching for terms in the electronic manual 60, it is assumed that the user will likely specify a term by guessing which terms are used in the electronic manual 60. When searching for terms using search data, the time required depends on the size of the search data. Therefore, as shown in this embodiment, by creating correspondence information separately from the search data and referencing this correspondence information as needed, it is possible to reduce the amount of data in the search data while ensuring the function of informing the user of the correspondence between keywords and related terms. Thus, the search time when searching for terms used in the electronic manual 60 can be shortened, contributing to improved responsiveness.

[0059] It should be noted that creating the correspondence information shown in this embodiment is optional, and it is also possible to configure the system without creating such correspondence information. In this case, the search program should be modified as follows: that is, if a related term is found in the search, the system should be configured to use that related term as a guide to determine which keywords to highlight, or if a related term is found in the search, the system should be configured to highlight the terms that follow that related term within a predetermined range.

[0060] <Third Embodiment> HTML has a comment tag as one of the existing tags in addition to the various structural tags mentioned above (for example, the header tag T1 and the paragraph tag T2). This comment tag is an opening tag. <comment> and closing tag< / comment> It consists of a start tag and an end tag, and the text data stored between these start and end tags is specified to be excluded from display by the browser when viewed. In this embodiment, this comment tag is used as a special tag.

[0061] Specifically, as shown in Figure 12, <comment> and< / comment>Related terms are stored between the comment tag and the keyword, and the comment tag is placed before or after the keyword to which the related terms relate, specifically immediately before the keyword. When the search processing in CPU42 creates search data from the source code of the electronic manual data, the related terms stored in the comment tag are extracted along with the keyword. Incidentally, it is also possible to place this comment tag immediately after the keyword.

[0062] Comment tags are sometimes used by the source code creator to leave notes or other information to facilitate understanding for themselves and others. In such a common use case, extracting text data from comment tags in a unique way tends to increase the amount of data for searching. Therefore, in this embodiment, the comment tags to be extracted are separated by their placement. Specifically, the text extraction is limited to comment tags stored in structural tags such as header tags T1 and paragraph tags T2.

[0063] Furthermore, to reduce the increase in the amount of data used for searching, it is possible to create separate tags for comments and related keyword embedding, and to target the latter for text extraction.

[0064] <Fourth Embodiment> The search box SB shown in the first embodiment allows input of not only single words but also sentences (texts). However, when a sentence is entered, even if only a part of it is different, it will be judged as a mismatch, so the probability of finding a match is lower compared to when a single word is entered. For this reason, when performing a search, it is assumed that a single word summarizing the sentence to be searched will be specified as the search target. One of the features of this embodiment is that it takes this matter into consideration. The above features will be explained below, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 13, in the electronic manual 60 shown in this embodiment, the following describes the complement method in the operation control of the robot 20. That is, it is described that "when specifying the complement method with an operation control command, when [P] is specified, a PTP operation is performed." In the source code of the electronic manual 60, "operation complement" is described in association with this sentence. Specifically, the source code <Synonyms=“operation complement”>When specifying the complement method with an operation control command, when [P] is specified, a PTP operation is performed. is described. As a result, in the source code, although the related phrase "operation complement" and the key sentence "When specifying the complement method with an operation control command, when [P] is specified, a PTP operation is performed." are listed together, only the key sentence is displayed during browsing. When creating search data, the key sentence and related phrases related to it are extracted.

[0066] [[ID= 3]] By describing in the source code the summary of the key sentence into words as a related phrase in this way, even when the user specifies a word for searching, it is possible to preferably suppress the key sentence related to the word from being missed in the search.

[0067] <Other Embodiments> Note that it is not limited to the description content of each of the above-described embodiments, and for example, it may be implemented as follows. Incidentally, each of the following configurations may be individually applied to each of the above-described embodiments, or some or all of them may be combined and applied to each of the above-described embodiments. Also, it is possible to arbitrarily combine all or part of the various configurations shown in the above-described embodiments. In this case, it is preferable that the technical significance (the effect exhibited) of each configuration to be combined is ensured.

[0068] • In each of the above embodiments, examples were given of a configuration in which a search program is pre-installed (for example, during manufacturing) on ​​the teaching pendant 40, which is the "operating terminal," but the invention is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which a robot operation setting program and a program for viewing / searching the electronic manual 60 can be installed on a tablet or personal computer owned by the user and used as the "operating terminal" is not excluded.

[0069] Alternatively, the system may be configured to download the electronic manual 60 from a server or the like to the teaching pendant 40 based on user actions (e.g., initial setup, manual update, browsing, etc.).

[0070] In each of the above embodiments, the teaching pendant 40 is configured to extract text data from the source code of the electronic manual 60 to create searchable data, and then search for a term specified by the user from this searchable data. However, the creation of the searchable data and the search for the term are not limited to the teaching pendant 40. For example, when a user performs a search for a term, it is also possible to configure the system to create the searchable data and search for the term over the internet (for example, on a cloud server) based on that search operation, and then display the search results on the teaching pendant 40.

[0071] In the embodiments described above, the system is configured to create search data in response to the operation of the execution button BI (search operation). However, it is also possible to set the timing of search data creation to occur before the search operation. For example, the system may be configured to create search data in response to user operations that are expected to be performed before the search operation, specifically, operations such as viewing the electronic manual 60 or switching to the search screen display.

[0072] In the embodiments described above, the keyword and related terms are placed within the same paragraph. However, the placement of related terms may be modified as follows: Specifically, related terms for the keyword may be placed immediately before or after the paragraph containing the keyword.

[0073] Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, related terms for the keyword were placed immediately before the keyword, but related terms for the keyword may also be placed immediately after the keyword.

[0074] In each of the above embodiments, if a term specified by the user matches a related term, the system is configured to inform the user of the keyword associated with that related term (specified term). The specific manner of this instruction is arbitrary. For example, the results screen may be configured to display the keyword and the related term (specified term) side by side.

[0075] The creation of search data as shown in each of the above embodiments may be divided into two stages. That is, in the first stage, only the text data to be displayed is extracted to create primary search data, and if the specified phrase is not found in the primary search data, in the second stage, both the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed are extracted to create secondary search data.

[0076] • The above embodiments illustrate configurations in which words are embedded as related terms in the source code, but the invention is not limited to these configurations. It is also possible to embed sentences as related terms in the source code.

[0077] In each of the above embodiments, the system is configured to highlight the search result or related terms. However, it is also possible to change this to a configuration that highlights the entire paragraph containing the search result or related terms.

[0078] • In the above embodiments, the source code of the electronic manual 60 is in HTML format, but this is not limited to this. For example, the source code of the electronic manual 60 may be in XML format.

[0079] In each of the above embodiments, the robot system 10 is configured to have a search function for terms in the electronic manual 60 which contains the instruction information for the robot system 10. However, a similar search function for the electronic manual 60 may be applied to other industrial equipment (for example, processing equipment such as NC milling machines). It may also be applied to other mechanical systems such as air conditioning systems, hot water supply systems, and area monitoring systems.

[0080] <Regarding the group of inventions extracted from the above embodiments> The following describes the features of the group of inventions extracted from the above embodiments, showing their effects and other aspects as necessary. For ease of understanding, corresponding configurations in the above embodiments will be indicated in parentheses as appropriate, but the invention is not limited to these specific configurations.

[0081] Feature 1. The system is equipped with an operating terminal (e.g., teaching pendant 40) that has a display unit (display 41) capable of displaying an electronic manual (electronic manual 60), which is instructional information for the robot system (robot system 10), based on the user's browsing operations. The source code for the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language (e.g., HTML). The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed, consisting of words that are displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and text data not to be displayed, consisting of related words (e.g., "horizontal articulated robot" or "SCARA robot") that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but are associated with specific words (e.g., "4-axis robot") included in the text data to be displayed. A robot system that, when a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, searches for the term specified by the user during the search operation from search data extracted from the source code of the electronic manual, which includes the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed, and displays the search results on the display unit.

[0082] The source code for the electronic manual described in this feature is written in a markup language and contains both text data that is displayed when viewed and text data that is not displayed when viewed. When a user performs a search operation for a term, the term specified by the user is searched from search data, which is obtained by extracting the text data that is displayed and the text data that is not displayed from the source code. Various components that make up the robot system are referred to by specialized terms such as technical terms (corresponding to specific terms in the text data that is displayed), and these terms are not necessarily widely standardized. Here, the text data that is not displayed as described in this feature consists of text data consisting of related terms associated with the specific term mentioned above. Even if the user specifies a related term rather than a specific term as a search candidate, the related term will be included in the search data, preventing the term from being missed in the search. In other words, even if the electronic manual contains information that matches the user's purpose, it is possible to prevent that information from being missed in the search. For these reasons, this can contribute to further improving the usability of the robot system.

[0083] Furthermore, since text data that is not intended to be displayed is not shown when viewing the electronic manual, even if related terms are embedded (pre-programmed) into the source code, it is possible to avoid making the electronic manual difficult to read when viewing it.

[0084] Feature 2. The system is equipped with an operating terminal (e.g., teaching pendant 40) that has a display unit (display 41) capable of displaying an electronic manual (electronic manual 60), which is instructional information for the robot system (robot system 10), based on the user's browsing operations. The source code for the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language (e.g., HTML). The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed, consisting of words that are displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and text data not to be displayed, consisting of related words (e.g., "horizontal articulated robot" or "SCARA robot") that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but are associated with specific words (e.g., "4-axis robot") included in the text data to be displayed. The aforementioned operating terminal is A search data creation unit (a function that performs data extraction and conversion processing on the CPU 42) extracts the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed from the source code of the electronic manual and creates search data, When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, a search unit (a function that executes the search process on the CPU 42) searches the search data for the term specified by the user during the search operation, The notification unit (a function that executes the search result display process on the CPU 42) notifies the user of the search results by displaying the search results on the display unit. A robotic system that has the following features.

[0085] The search system described in this feature can be expected to have the same effects as those described in Feature 1. In other words, it can prevent information that matches the user's purpose from being missed in searches, even if it is contained in the electronic manual, and contribute to improving the usability of the robot system.

[0086] Furthermore, since searchable data is generated from the electronic manual as needed, there is no need to separately prepare searchable data in the ROM of the operating terminal. Keeping the amount of data down in this way is desirable for coexistence with other functions of the operating terminal (for example, the robot motion setting function). When the electronic manual is revised in accordance with an update to the robot system, the inspection data created from the electronic manual will also reflect the revision results. This is desirable for performing appropriate searches that correspond to the versions of the robot system and the electronic manual.

[0087] Feature 3. The source code of the electronic manual includes tags (for example, header tag T1, paragraph tag T2, special tag T3) that store the words and phrases that make up the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed. The aforementioned tags include a first tag (e.g., a header tag T1 and a paragraph tag T2) that defines the document structure of the electronic manual when it is displayed on the display unit based on the browsing operation, and a second tag (e.g., a special tag T3) that specifies that stored words should not be displayed when the electronic manual is displayed on the display unit based on the browsing operation. The aforementioned related phrase is stored in the second tag. The robot system described in Feature 1 or Feature 2, wherein the search data is data created by extracting each word stored in the first tag and the second tag from the source code of the electronic manual.

[0088] The source code contains a first tag that defines the document structure and a second tag that restricts the display of words and phrases. By extracting the words and phrases stored in these first and second tags from the source code, it is possible to create complete and accurate search data.

[0089] Feature 4. The robot system according to Feature 1 or Feature 2, wherein the search data is formed in such a way that it can distinguish between the non-displayable text data extracted from the source code and the displayable text data extracted from the source code.

[0090] As shown in this feature, if the search data can distinguish between text data to be displayed and text data not to be displayed, it becomes possible to determine whether a search result belongs to the text data to be displayed or not. This is desirable for realizing a configuration that appropriately informs the user of the search results.

[0091] Feature 5. The source code of the electronic manual includes tags (for example, header tag T1, paragraph tag T2, special tag T3) that store the words and phrases that make up the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed. The aforementioned tags include a first tag (e.g., a header tag T1 and a paragraph tag T2) that defines the document structure of the electronic manual when it is displayed on the display unit based on the browsing operation, and a second tag (e.g., a special tag T3) that specifies that stored words should not be displayed when the electronic manual is displayed on the display unit based on the browsing operation. The second tag stores the related phrase, and the second tag is configured to be stored in the first tag together with the related phrase stored in the second tag. The robot system according to Feature 1 or Feature 2, wherein the search data is data created by extracting each word stored in the first tag and the second tag and each word stored in the second tag from the source code of the electronic manual.

[0092] As shown in this feature, by storing the second tag in the first tag and extracting the second tag for each phrase stored in the first tag to create search data, the second tag can be used as an indicator to distinguish between text data to be displayed and text data not to be displayed in the search data. This allows for the appropriate realization of the technical concept shown in Feature 4.

[0093] Feature 6. A robot system according to any one of Features 1 to 5, wherein, as a notification method when the search results are displayed on the display unit to notify the user of the search results, there is a first notification method in which, when any of the specific terms specified by the user in the search, the location of the specified term in the electronic manual is shown to the user, and a second notification method in which, when any of the related terms specified by the user in the search, the location of the term in the electronic manual to which the specified term is associated is shown to the user.

[0094] When reporting search results, if a term displayed during browsing is found in the search, the location of that term in the electronic manual can be shown to the user. If a term not displayed during browsing is found in the search, the location of a term associated with that term in the electronic manual can be shown to the user. This dramatically improves the convenience of the search function.

[0095] Feature 7. The related terms that constitute the non-displayable text data are placed in the source code of the electronic manual immediately before or immediately after the specific term to which the related terms are associated, alongside the specific term. The aforementioned search data is formed in such a way as to maintain the contextual relationship between the specific phrase and the related phrase. The robot system according to feature 6, wherein the second notification mode provides the user with information on the specific terms among the related terms that are adjacent to or from the terms specified by the user in the search.

[0096] In the configuration described in this feature, related terms are placed (parallel) immediately before or after a specific term, and detection data is formed while maintaining the contextual relationship between the specific term and the related terms. As a result, when a related term is found through a search, the corresponding specific term will be located immediately before or after it. This makes it easier to identify the specific term to be taught using the related terms as a guide, and enables simple location teaching by the second notification method.

[0097] For example, the configuration may be such that "when the aforementioned related terms are found in the search, the display of the relevant section of the electronic manual is displayed with the display mode of the specific terms listed among the related terms changed when displaying the search results."

[0098] Feature 8. A search system that searches for a word or phrase specified by the user from an electronic manual (electronic manual 60) for a robot system (robot system 10) displayed on the display unit (display 41) of an operating terminal (teaching pendant 40) based on the user's browsing operation, A search data creation unit (a function in the CPU 42 that performs data extraction and conversion processing) extracts from the source code of the electronic manual written in a markup language the text data to be displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation and the text that is not to be displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation and consists of related terms (e.g., "horizontal articulated robot" or "SCARA robot") associated with specific terms (e.g., "4-axis robot") included in the text data to be displayed, and creates search data. When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, a search unit (a function that executes a search process in the CPU 42) searches the search data for the term specified by the user during the search operation, A notification unit (a function in the CPU 42 that executes the search result display process) that notifies the user of the search results by displaying them on the display unit. A search system equipped with the following features.

[0099] The search system described in this feature can be expected to have the same effects as those described in Feature 1. In other words, it can prevent information that matches the user's purpose from being missed in searches, even if it is contained in the electronic manual, and contribute to improving the usability of the robot system.

[0100] Feature 9. A search program applied to the operating terminal (teaching pendant 40) of a robot system (robot system 10), which searches for a word or phrase specified by the user from the electronic manual (electronic manual 60) for the robot system displayed on the display unit (display 41) of the operating terminal based on the user's browsing operation, On the aforementioned operating terminal, A search data creation process (data extraction and conversion process in CPU42) extracts from the source code of the electronic manual written in a markup language the text data to be displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation and the text that is not to be displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but is associated with specific words or phrases included in the text data to be displayed, and creates search data. When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, a search process (search process in CPU 42) is performed to search the search data for the term specified by the user during the search operation. The search results from the search unit are displayed on the display unit, thereby informing the user of the search results (search result display processing in CPU 42). A search program that executes the command.

[0101] The search system described in this feature can be expected to have the same effects as those described in Feature 1. In other words, it can prevent information that matches the user's purpose from being missed in searches, even if it is contained in the electronic manual, and contribute to improving the usability of the robot system.

[0102] Feature 10. The system includes a terminal (e.g., a teaching pendant 40 or a PC) equipped with a display unit (e.g., a display 41) capable of displaying an electronic manual (e.g., an electronic manual 60) which is instructional information for the industrial equipment system, based on the user's browsing operations. The source code of the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language. The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and non-display text data consisting of related terms (e.g., "horizontal articulated robot" or "SCARA robot") that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation and are associated with specific terms (e.g., "4-axis robot") included in the text data to be displayed. An industrial equipment system that, when a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, searches for the term specified by the user during the search operation from search data obtained by extracting the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed from the source code of the electronic manual, and displays the search results on the display unit.

[0103] The source code for the electronic manual described in this feature is written in a markup language, and this source code contains both text data that is displayed when viewed and text data that is not displayed when viewed. When a user performs a search operation for a term, the term specified by the user is searched from search data, which is obtained by extracting the text data that is displayed and the text data that is not displayed from the source code. Various components that make up industrial equipment systems are referred to by specialized terms such as technical terms (corresponding to specific terms in the text data that is displayed), and these terms are not necessarily widely standardized. Here, the text data that is not displayed as described in this feature consists of text data consisting of related terms associated with the specific term mentioned above. Even if the user specifies a related term rather than a specific term as a search candidate, the related term will be included in the search data, preventing the term from being missed in the search. In other words, even if the electronic manual contains information that matches the user's purpose, it is possible to prevent that information from being missed in the search. For these reasons, it can contribute to further improving the convenience of industrial equipment systems. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0104] 10...Robot system, 20...Robot, 40...Teaching pendant, 41...Display, 42...CPU, 60...Electronic manual, T1...Header tag, T2...Paragraph tag, T3...Special tag.

Claims

1. The system includes an operating terminal equipped with a display unit capable of displaying an electronic manual, which contains instructional information for the robot system, based on user browsing operations. The source code for the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language. The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed, consisting of words that are displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and non-display text data, consisting of related words that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but are associated with specific words included in the text data to be displayed. When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, the system searches for the term specified by the user during the search operation from search data, which is extracted from the source code of the electronic manual, including the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed, and displays the search results on the display unit. A robot system that provides, as a notification method for notifying a user of the search results by displaying the search results on the display unit, a first notification method that, when any of the specific terms specified by the user in the search, informs the user of the location of the specified term in the electronic manual, and a second notification method that, when any of the related terms specified by the user in the search, informs the user of the location of the term in the electronic manual to which the specified term is associated.

2. The system includes an operating terminal equipped with a display unit capable of displaying an electronic manual, which contains instructional information for the robot system, based on user browsing operations. The source code for the aforementioned electronic manual is written in a markup language. The source code of the electronic manual includes text data to be displayed, consisting of words that are displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation, and non-display text data, consisting of related words that are not displayed on the display unit by the viewing operation but are associated with specific words included in the text data to be displayed. The aforementioned operating terminal is A search data creation unit extracts the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed from the source code of the electronic manual and creates search data, When a user performs a search operation on the electronic manual, the search unit searches the search data for the term specified by the user during the search operation. The notification unit displays the search results from the search unit on the display unit, thereby informing the user of the search results. It has, A robot system that provides, as a notification method for notifying a user of the search results by displaying the search results on the display unit, a first notification method that, when any of the specific terms specified by the user in the search, informs the user of the location of the specified term in the electronic manual, and a second notification method that, when any of the related terms specified by the user in the search, informs the user of the location of the term in the electronic manual to which the specified term is associated.

3. The source code of the electronic manual includes tags that store the words and phrases that constitute the text data to be displayed and the text data not to be displayed. The aforementioned tags include a first tag that defines the text structure of the electronic manual when the electronic manual is displayed on the display unit based on the browsing operation, and a second tag that defines that at least a portion of the stored words and phrases should not be displayed when the electronic manual is displayed on the display unit based on the browsing operation. The second tag stores the related phrase, and the second tag is configured to be stored in the first tag together with the related phrase stored in the second tag. The robot system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the search data is data created by extracting each word stored in the first tag and the second tag and the words stored in the second tag from the source code of the electronic manual.

4. The related phrases that constitute the non-displayable text data are placed in the source code of the electronic manual immediately before or immediately after the phrase to which the related phrases are associated, alongside the specific phrases. The aforementioned search data is formed in such a way as to maintain the contextual relationship between the specific phrase and the related phrase. The robot system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the second notification mode, the robot system is instructed to the user on the specific terms among the related terms that are adjacent to the term specified by the user in the search.

Images