Operation planning device and operation planning method

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an operation planning device that generates an operation plan for a multi-joint manipulator, wherein, in an environment in which the multi-joint manipulator is operated, a range of parameters in which the multi-joint manipulator can safely operate is selected, and teaching of an operation plan is performed within the range of the parameters obtained by the selection.

Description

Motion planning device and motion planning method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for generating motion plans for an articulated manipulator.

[0002] An articulated manipulator can be used to automatically transport an object to a desired location. Articulated manipulators used as industrial robots are taught by manually operating the articulated manipulator, and then operate automatically according to the motion plan obtained by teaching (for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] What is robot teaching? Explaining the importance and key points of efficiency, https: / / www.fa.omron.co.jp / product / special / library / robotics / teaching / . Overview of path planning and motion planning technology in robotics, https: / / myenigma.hatenablog.com / entry / 2017 / 07 / 23 / 095511.

[0004] By using an articulated manipulator, it is possible to transport equipment such as utility poles outdoors. However, there is a problem that existing equipment such as existing utility poles and cables that cannot be removed outdoors can become obstacles. Depending on the object being transported using an articulated manipulator, there is a possibility that the existing equipment may be damaged. For this reason, it has traditionally been difficult to use an articulated manipulator to transport equipment outdoors.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to enable the use of an articulated manipulator outdoors.

[0006] The motion planning device of the present disclosure executes the motion planning method of the present disclosure, which selects a parameter range within which an object can be safely transported in a given operating environment, and generates a motion plan for transporting the object within the selected parameter range.

[0007] In the present disclosure, a motion plan for transporting an object can be generated within a range of parameters that allow the object to be transported safely. Therefore, by applying the motion plan of the present disclosure to a motion plan for an articulated manipulator, it is possible to use the articulated manipulator outdoors.

[0008] The motion planning device of the present disclosure may select an appropriate motion classification from a plurality of motion classifications defined based on the motion and operating environment of the articulated manipulator, and may modify the motion plan defined in correspondence with the selected motion classification to a motion plan with parameters that allow the articulated manipulator to operate safely.

[0009] The motion planning device disclosed herein may place the articulated manipulator and the operating environment of the articulated manipulator in a virtual space, and operate the articulated manipulator in the virtual space, thereby selecting a range of parameters within which the articulated manipulator can operate safely.

[0010] The above disclosures can be combined as much as possible.

[0011] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to use an articulated manipulator outdoors.

[0012] Fig. 1 shows an example of a system configuration of the present disclosure. Fig. 2 shows an example of a motion planning method. Fig. 3 shows an example of information stored in a motion classification database. Fig. 4 is a diagram explaining a utility pole installation position. Fig. 5 is a diagram explaining a utility pole gripping position. Fig. 5 shows an example of information stored in a motion planning database. Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation for selecting a parameter range in which a multi-joint manipulator can safely operate. Fig. 7 shows an example of a simulation.

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown below. These implementation examples are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Note that components with the same reference numerals in this specification and drawings indicate the same components.

[0014] 1 shows an example of a system configuration according to the present disclosure. The system of this embodiment includes an articulated manipulator 20, a motion planning device 10, and a display device 30. The articulated manipulator 20 is any means capable of transporting a utility pole 23, which is an object to be transported, to a desired position, and is, for example, a robot arm having multiple arms 21 connected by joints 22. The motion planning device 10 is a device that controls the articulated manipulator 20, and executes the motion planning method according to the present disclosure during teaching.

[0015] The motion planning device 10 includes a processor 11, an operation unit 12, and a memory 13. The operation unit 12 manually operates the articulated manipulator 20 during teaching, and automatically operates the articulated manipulator 20 according to the motion plan after teaching. The processor 11 acquires the time progression of information on the operation of the articulated manipulator 20 by the operation unit 12 as a motion plan for the articulated manipulator 20.

[0016] An example of a motion planning method is shown in Fig. 2. In the motion planning method of this embodiment, the motion planning device 10 acquires environmental information (S101), causes the articulated manipulator 20 to perform a motion according to the environmental information (S102), and acquires the motion result of the articulated manipulator 20 (S103).

[0017] If a problem occurs with the operation of the articulated manipulator 20 during teaching (No in S103), the parameters of the operation unit 12 are corrected (S104), and steps S102 and S103 are repeated again. Then, when there is no problem with the operation result of the articulated manipulator 20 (Yes in S103), the operation finally executed in step S102 is stored in the memory 13 as a correct operation (S105). In this way, a correct operation database 33 is created.

[0018] The environmental information is information including the operating environment of the articulated manipulator 20. The environmental information includes information about obstacles that may hinder the operation of the articulated manipulator 20. For example, when the articulated manipulator 20 transports a utility pole 23 on a road, examples of the environmental information include the positions and sizes of objects that may become obstacles, such as an existing cable to be fixed to the utility pole 23, an existing utility pole to be replaced with the utility pole 23, and trees. The environmental information may also include information about the articulated manipulator 20, such as the model number of the articulated manipulator 20, the structure of the arm 21 and the joints 22, and parameters of the joints 22.

[0019] The motion planning device 10 of this embodiment executes a safe angle calculation procedure S110 before performing a teaching operation (S102). In the safe angle calculation procedure S110, a corresponding motion is selected from a plurality of motion classifications based on the desired motion of the articulated manipulator 20 and environmental information (S111), the closest safe path is selected from a plurality of safe paths defined in association with the selected motion classification (S112), and a safe angle range is calculated by adding a correction value to the angle transition of the selected safe path (S113).

[0020] (Movement Classification Procedure S111) In the movement classification procedure S111, the movement planning device 10 selects a corresponding movement from the movement classification of the articulated manipulator 20. For example, the movement planning device 10 includes a movement classification database 32, and the processor 11 selects a corresponding movement from the movement classification database 32. FIG. 3 shows an example of the movement classification database 32. The movement classification in this embodiment is determined based on the movement and movement environment of the articulated manipulator 20. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the movement of the articulated manipulator 20 is a utility pole gripping position, and the movement environment is a utility pole installation position. In this case, the movement classification can be exemplified by eight movement classifications C1 to C8 determined by combinations of the utility pole installation position and the utility pole gripping position.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 4, the utility pole installation position is information that represents the relative positions of the existing cable 81 and the existing utility pole 82 with respect to the vehicle 24 carrying the articulated manipulator 20. By considering which of the existing cable 81 and the existing utility pole 82 is closer to the articulated manipulator 20, it is possible to more accurately determine whether the utility pole 23 can be transported safely. For example, the following can be given: (i) The distance from the vehicle 24 to the existing utility pole 82 is closer than the distance from the vehicle 24 to the existing cable 81 (C1 to C4); (ii) The distance from the vehicle 24 to the existing utility pole 82 is farther than the distance from the vehicle 24 to the existing cable 81 (C5 to C8).

[0022] The utility pole gripping position is information that indicates the transport direction of the utility pole 23 relative to the vehicle 24. The utility pole gripping position can be determined in any manner, but for example, as shown in Figure 5, it can be determined in four directions: area A, area B, area C, and area D, with the boundaries being the X axis determined by the orientation of the vehicle 24 and the Y axis determined by the longitudinal direction of the utility pole 23 gripped by the articulated manipulator 20 mounted on the vehicle 24.

[0023] (Safe angle selection procedure S112) In the safe angle selection procedure S112, the motion planning device 10 selects a motion plan defined in association with the motion classifications C1 to C8 selected in the motion classification procedure S111. For example, the memory 13 stores a motion plan DB indicating the time transition of the joints 22#1 to 22#3 for each motion classification C1 to C8, as shown in FIG. 6. The memory 13 stores multiple motion plan DBs for each motion classification, each with a different path for the utility pole 23. Then, the processor 11 selects and reads out a motion plan DB corresponding to the environmental information from among the multiple motion plan DBs.

[0024] At this time, the processor 11 may display the paths of the utility pole 23 defined in the multiple motion planning DBs on the display device 30. In this case, the motion planning device 10 may select the path of the utility pole 23 specified by the user. This allows the user to visually select the safest path (angle transition) from among the paths of the utility pole 23 defined in the multiple motion planning DBs.

[0025] (Safe angle range calculation step S113) In the safe angle range calculation step S113, the operation unit 12 calculates a safe angle range in which the joint 22 will not collide with an obstacle by changing the angle range in which the joint 22 can change in the movement plan read out in the movement classification step S112 to the joint 22. In this way, a safe angle range is calculated by adding a correction value according to the environmental information to the movement plan according to the movement classification.

[0026] For example, the processor 11 calculates that when the joints 22#1 to 22#3 shown in Fig. 1 are changed, the position and angle of the utility pole 23 will change as shown in Fig. 7 for utility poles 23-1, 23-2, 23-3, and 23-4. The processor 11 then determines that the angles of the joints 22#1 to 22#3 for utility poles 23-1 to 23-3 will not allow the utility pole 23 to reach a height at which it will come into contact with the existing cable 81, but that the angles of the joints 22#1 to 22#3 for utility pole 23-4 will allow the utility pole 23 to reach a height at which it will come into contact with the existing cable 81. In this case, the processor 11 determines that the angle range of the joints 22#1 to 22#3 for utility poles 23-1 to 23-3 is the safe angle range.

[0027] Here, the processor 11 may change the value of the joint 22 by multiplying the minimum and maximum angles of the joint 22 by a predetermined value (such as 1.2). In this way, by changing the joint 22 by a value greater than the parameter of the joint 22 obtained from the environmental information, it is possible to prevent the articulated manipulator 20 from moving due to mechanical errors or natural phenomena such as wind, which could cause the utility pole 23 to come into contact with the existing cable 81 and the existing utility pole 82.

[0028] In this embodiment, the angles of the joints 22#1 to 22#3 are changed, but the joint 22 whose angle is changed may be any one of the joints 22. Furthermore, the processor 11 may display the range of angles that the joints 22 can change and the position and angle of the utility pole 23 at that time on the display device 30. This allows the user of the motion planning device 10 to visually check dangerous joint angles and motions when the articulated manipulator 20 operates under environmental information.

[0029] The operation unit 12 causes the articulated manipulator 20 to perform an action according to the action plan read out in the action classification procedure S112 within the safe angle range obtained in the safe angle range calculation procedure S113 (S102), and obtains the action result of the articulated manipulator 20 (S103).

[0030] If a problem occurs due to the operation of the articulated manipulator 20 (No in S103), the parameters of the operation unit 12 are corrected (S104), and steps S102 and S103 are repeated again. In step S104, the correction is made within the safe angle range obtained in the safe angle range calculation step S113. This makes it possible to obtain a motion plan that does not collide with an obstacle as a correct motion. The operation in step S102 that is determined to be a correct motion is stored in the correct motion database 33.

[0031] An example of a simulation image is shown in Fig. 8. As shown in Fig. 8, the motion planning device 10 imports the obstacles, that is, the existing cable 81 and the existing utility pole 82, and the articulated manipulator 20, into a virtual space (S101), and plans a motion that will ensure safe movement by operating the articulated manipulator 20 (S102). The simulation conditions this time are conditions that correspond to motion classification C2 in Fig. 3.

[0032] As described above, in this embodiment, in order to calculate the safe angle range in the motion plan of the articulated manipulator 20, the environmental information set in step S101 is reproduced on-site, and the articulated manipulator 20 is automatically operated in accordance with the motion plan of the correct motion, thereby making it possible to prevent contact with obstacles and prevent accidents.

[0033] Furthermore, in the present disclosure, a safe angle range is obtained in the motion plan of the articulated manipulator 20. Therefore, by operating the articulated manipulator 20 within the angle range determined in the motion plan of the correct motion, it is possible to prevent contact with an obstacle and prevent accidents even when the manipulator is operated manually.

[0034] Thus, according to the present disclosure, it is possible to prevent contact with obstacles and prevent accidents when operating the articulated manipulator 20, whether automatically or manually. While the above-described embodiment determines the correct action for only one piece of environmental information, the present disclosure is not limited to this. It is possible to determine the correct action for each possible operating environment in the field, and operate the articulated manipulator 20 using the correct action that corresponds to the operating environment in the field.

[0035] Furthermore, in this embodiment, in the safe angle range calculation step S113, the articulated manipulator 20 is changed by a value larger than the parameter of the articulated manipulator 20, and the correct operation that reflects the result can be used as the operation plan. Therefore, even if an unexpected deviation from the correct operation occurs due to a machine error, a natural phenomenon such as wind, or an accident, an accident can be prevented.

[0036] Furthermore, in this embodiment, dangerous operations of the articulated manipulator 20 in the operating environment given by the environmental information can be visually confirmed, and therefore dangerous operations of the articulated manipulator 20 can be prevented.

[0037] In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the motion plan is a motion plan for the articulated manipulator 20, but the motion plan disclosed herein is not limited to the articulated manipulator 20 and can be applied to any device that transports an object according to a motion plan.

[0038] Therefore, by executing the safe angle calculation procedure S110, the motion planning device 10 of the present disclosure selects a parameter range in which an object can be safely transported in a given motion environment, and generates a motion plan for transporting the object within the parameter range obtained by the selection. Therefore, the motion planning device 10 of the present disclosure can generate a motion plan that avoids obstacles defined in the environmental information, thereby enabling the use of the articulated manipulator 20 outdoors.

[0039] Other Embodiments The motion planning apparatus 10 executes the motion planning method of the present disclosure. The motion planning apparatus 10 can also be realized by a computer and a program, and the program can be recorded on a recording medium or provided via a network.

[0040] 10: Motion planning device 11: Processor 12: Operation unit 13: Memory 20: Articulated manipulator 21: Arm 22: Joint 23: Object 30: Display device 31: Motion planning database 32: Motion classification database 33: Correct motion database

Claims

1. A motion planning device that selects a range of parameters in which an object can be safely transported in a given operating environment, and generates a motion plan for transporting the object within the parameter range obtained by said selection.

2. The motion planning device according to claim 1, wherein the motion plan is a motion plan for a multi-joint manipulator, and an appropriate one is selected from a plurality of motion classifications defined based on the motion and operating environment of the multi-joint manipulator, and the motion plan defined in correspondence with the selected motion classification is modified to a motion plan with parameters that allow the multi-joint manipulator to operate safely.

3. The motion planning device according to claim 2, further comprising: placing the articulated manipulator and an operating environment of the articulated manipulator in a virtual space; and operating the articulated manipulator in the virtual space to select a parameter range within which the articulated manipulator can operate safely.

4. A motion planning method executed by a motion planning device, comprising: selecting a range of parameters within which an object can be safely transported in a given motion environment; and generating a motion plan for transporting the object within the parameter range obtained by said selection.

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