Robot capable of adjusting collision-related physical quantity and control method thereof

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a robot capable of adjusting a collision-related physical quantity comprises: a robot main body operated along travel paths, the required precision of each being set differently; and a robot control unit that increases the safety of the robot by adjusting the collision-related physical quantity of the robot main body by changing the intensity of control of the robot main body according to the precision of the travel path.

Description

Robot capable of controlling collision physical quantity and its control method

[0001] The present invention relates to a robot capable of controlling the physical quantity of a collision and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly, to a robot capable of controlling the physical quantity of a collision with a person by controlling the control strength according to a change in the precision required in the movement path of the robot, thereby increasing the operational safety of the robot, and a method for controlling the same.

[0002] In general, a robot is a mechanical device programmed to perform various tasks automatically. In other words, a robot operates according to a program and performs a series of difficult, complex, and dangerous tasks on behalf of humans that humans cannot perform directly.

[0003] For typical robots, a high level of precision is maintained throughout all operating sections to ensure operational reliability. In other words, the robot's operation is controlled with precision that ensures operational reliability throughout all operating sections.

[0004] As described above, when the robot's operating precision is set high, the robot's operation must be tightly controlled to minimize operational errors. This creates difficulties in robot control, reduces operational efficiency, and increases the amount of physical impact experienced by the person in the event of a collision between the robot and the person.

[0005] In particular, when working with humans or collaborating with other robots, high collision forces can lead to safety issues, such as serious fatalities or damage to other robots. Therefore, recent research is being conducted to reduce the collision forces of robots, both structurally and through controllability.

[0006] An embodiment of the present invention provides a robot capable of controlling the collision physical quantity that occurs when a robot and a person collide by controlling the control strength of the robot according to a change in the precision required in the movement path of the robot, thereby increasing the operational safety of the robot, and a control method thereof.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a robot capable of controlling collision physical quantity is provided, including a robot body that operates along a movement path with different required precisions, and a robot control unit that controls a collision physical quantity of the robot body by changing a control strength of the robot body according to the precision of the movement path, thereby increasing the safety of the robot.

[0008] Preferably, the collision physical quantity may include at least one of force, pressure, and energy generated when the robot and the person collide.

[0009] The above robot control unit can also reduce the collision physical quantity by lowering the control strength of the robot body as the precision required in the movement path decreases.

[0010] Preferably, the movement path may include a first movement zone requiring high precision for the operation of the robot body, and a second movement zone requiring lower precision than the first movement zone for the operation of the robot body.

[0011] At this time, the robot body can be operated along the first movement zone and the second movement zone, and the robot control unit can control the robot body with a first control strength in the first movement zone and control the robot body with a second control strength lower than the first control strength in the second movement zone.

[0012] Preferably, the robot control unit can control the collision physical quantity in a manner that controls the time required to reach an error smaller than a steady-state error from a control target value.

[0013] Preferably, the robot control unit can control the collision physical quantity by controlling at least one of a proportional control coefficient, a differential control coefficient, an integral control coefficient, a maximum torque, a spring constant, and a damping ratio.

[0014] Preferably, the robot control unit can adjust a steady-state error from a control target value.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling a robot capable of adjusting a collision physical quantity is provided, including a step of setting the required precision of a robot body according to a zone of a movement path, a step of operating the robot body, a step of detecting in real time the precision of a zone of the movement path in which the robot body operates, a step of determining a precision level of a zone of the movement path in which the robot body operates, a step of reducing an operating error of the robot body by increasing a control strength of the robot body when the precision of the zone of the movement path is determined to be high precision, and a step of reducing a collision physical quantity of the robot body by lowering the control strength of the robot body when the precision of the zone of the movement path is determined to be low precision.

[0016] A robot capable of controlling a collision physical quantity according to an embodiment of the present invention and a control method thereof can adjust the collision physical quantity of the robot body in various ways according to the control strength of the robot body by changing the control strength of the robot body according to the precision of the movement path, and in particular, compared to a conventional method of operating a robot body with a single precision, the collision physical quantity of the robot body can be significantly reduced, thereby increasing the safety of the robot.

[0017] In addition, a robot capable of controlling a collision physical quantity according to an embodiment of the present invention and a control method thereof can detect the precision of a region in which the robot body operates after setting the required precision differently according to the region of the movement path, and if the precision is high, increase the control strength of the robot body to reduce the operating error, or if the precision is low, lower the control strength of the robot body to reduce the collision physical quantity. In particular, in this embodiment, since the collision physical quantity is reduced in regions other than the region with the highest precision among the regions of the movement path, it is possible to significantly improve problems such as human casualties due to collision between robots and humans and damage due to collision between robots, even without changing the structural design of the robot or installing additional safety members.

[0018] Figure 1 is a drawing showing the control level according to the change in precision of the movement path in a robot according to the prior art.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control level according to a change in the precision of a movement path in a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the operating state of the robot illustrated in Figure 2.

[0021] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. However, the present invention is not limited or restricted by these embodiments. The same reference numerals in each drawing represent the same components.

[0023]

[0024] Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a control level according to a change in the precision of a movement path in a robot according to the prior art, and Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control level according to a change in the precision of a movement path in a robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating the operating state of the robot illustrated in Fig. 2.

[0025] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a robot body and a robot control unit.

[0026] The robot body of the present embodiment can operate along a movement path (H, L) with different required precisions. That is, the movement path (H, L) can be divided into a plurality of zones depending on the level of precision required for the robot body.

[0027] Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, in the present embodiment, the movement path (H, L) is described as consisting of a first movement zone (H) and a second movement zone (L) that require two different precisions. At this time, the movement path (H, L) may be provided in the form of a combination of a plurality of first movement zones (H) and a plurality of second movement zones (L). Accordingly, the robot body can sequentially operate along a plurality of first movement zones (H) and a plurality of second movement zones (L).

[0028] For example, the movement path (H, L) may include a first movement zone (H) that requires high precision for the operation of the robot body, and a second movement zone (L) that requires lower precision for the operation of the robot body than the first movement zone (H). However, this is not limited to this, and the movement path (H, L) may also be composed of three or more movement paths that require different precision.

[0029] The robot control unit of the present embodiment can change the control strength of the robot body according to the precision of the movement path (H, L), thereby adjusting the collision physical quantity of the robot body, thereby increasing the safety of the robot. In this case, the collision physical quantity may include at least one of force, pressure, and energy generated when the robot and a person collide.

[0030] The robot control unit can control the control strength of the robot body to be low as the precision required in the movement path (H, L) decreases, and can control the control strength of the robot body to be high as the precision required in the movement path (H, L) increases. In particular, if the robot control unit controls the control strength of the robot body to be low, it can have the effect of reducing the collision physical quantity of the robot body.

[0031] Accordingly, the robot control unit can reduce an operating error based on a control target value of the robot body by controlling the robot body with a first control strength in the first movement area (H), and can reduce the collision physical amount that occurs when the robot body collides with a person or another robot body by controlling the robot body with a second control strength that is lower than the first control strength in the second movement area (L).

[0032] Meanwhile, the robot control unit of the present embodiment can adjust the collision physical quantity by controlling the time required to reach an error smaller than the steady-state error from the control target value. For example, the robot control unit of the present embodiment can adjust the collision physical quantity by controlling at least one of the proportional control coefficient, the differential control coefficient, and the integral control coefficient, or by controlling the maximum torque. Furthermore, the robot control unit of the present embodiment can also adjust the steady-state error from the control target value.

[0033]

[0034] Figures 1 and 2 show in graph form the control level of the robot body according to the change in precision by zone of the movement path (H, L) for the conventional technology and the present embodiment.

[0035] As illustrated in Fig. 1, conventional robots typically maintain a high level of control over the robot body in a high-precision zone (H) regardless of changes in precision across the movement path (H, L) regions. Therefore, conventional robots operate at a high level of control even in zones with low precision requirements along the movement path (H, L).

[0036] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the robot of the present embodiment can change the control level of the robot body according to the change in precision in each zone of the movement path (H, L), and thereby significantly reduce the collision physical quantity in the zone by lowering the control level of the robot body in the low-precision zone (L) among the zones of the movement path (H, L).

[0037]

[0038] Figure 3 schematically illustrates an example of a state in which the robot of the present embodiment operates along a movement path (H, L).

[0039] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the robot control unit of the present embodiment can sequentially perform a first operation process of moving the robot body from position X to position A along a first path (see 1 in FIG. 3), a second operation process of moving the robot body from position A to position B along a second path (see 2 in FIG. 3), a third operation process of moving the robot body from position B to position Y along a third path (see 3 in FIG. 3), a fourth operation process of grabbing a workpiece at position Y (see 4 in FIG. 3), a fifth operation process of moving the robot body from position Y to position B along a fifth path (see 5 in FIG. 3), a sixth operation process of moving the robot body from position B to position A along a sixth path (see 6 in FIG. 3), a seventh operation process of moving the robot body from position A to position X along a seventh path (see 7 in FIG. 3), and an eighth operation process of putting down the workpiece at position X (see 8 in FIG. 3) by the robot body.

[0040] At this time, the first to third work processes (see 1 to 3 in FIG. 3) and the fifth to seventh work processes (see 5 to 7 in FIG. 3) do not require a high-precision control level because they are processes in which the workpiece is simply moved without being gripped or while being gripped. Therefore, the first to third work processes (see 1 to 3 in FIG. 3) and the fifth to seventh work processes (see 5 to 7 in FIG. 3) correspond to the second movement area (L) of the aforementioned movement path (H, L), and the robot control unit can control the operation of the robot body with a relatively low second control strength.

[0041] On the other hand, the fourth and eighth work processes (see 3 and 7 in Fig. 3) require a high level of control precision because they are work processes for grabbing or putting down workpieces. Therefore, the fourth work process (see 4 in Fig. 3) and the eighth work process (see 8 in Fig. 3) correspond to the first movement area (H) of the aforementioned movement path (H, L), and thus the robot control unit can control the operation of the robot body with a relatively high first control strength.

[0042] The robot control unit of the present embodiment can control the operation of the robot body to repeatedly perform the first to eighth operation processes (see 1 to 8 of FIG. 3), and can adjust the control strength as the precision of the robot body changes during the process.

[0043]

[0044] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] A control method of a robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

[0046] As illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, a control method of a robot capable of adjusting a collision physical quantity according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step of setting the precision of a robot body required according to a zone of a movement path (H, L) (see S10), a step of operating the robot body (see S11), a step of detecting in real time the precision of a zone of a movement path (H, L) in which the robot body operates (see S12), a step of determining the precision level of a zone of a movement path (H, L) in which the robot body operates (see S13), a step of increasing the control strength of the robot body to reduce an operation error of the robot body when the precision of the zone of the movement path (H, L) is determined to be high precision (see S14), and a step of lowering the control strength of the robot body to reduce a collision physical quantity of the robot body when the precision of the zone of the movement path (H, L) is determined to be low precision (see S15).

[0047] In the step of setting the precision of the robot body according to the zone of the movement path (H, L) (see S10), the precision of the robot body is set for each of the first movement zone (H) and the second movement zone (L) constituting the movement path (H, L). For example, the first movement zone (H) is set to high precision, and the second movement zone (L) is set to low precision.

[0048] In the step of operating the robot body (see S11), the robot control unit operates the robot body along a movement path (H, L). At this time, the robot body moves along the first movement area (H) and the second movement area (L).

[0049] In the step of detecting the precision of the area where the robot body operates (see S12), the precision preset for the area is detected in real time by detecting which area the robot body is located in among the first movement area (H) and the second movement area (L).

[0050] In the step of determining the level of precision (see S13), the robot control unit determines the level of precision according to the movement area of ​​the robot body. That is, if the robot control unit determines that the robot body is operating in the first movement area (H), it is detected as high precision, and if the robot body is determined to be operating in the second movement area (L), it is detected as low precision.

[0051] In the step of controlling the robot body with high control strength (see S14), since it is determined that the robot body requires high-precision operation in the first movement area (H), the control strength of the robot body is increased to reduce the operation error of the robot body.

[0052] In the step of controlling the robot body with low control strength (see S15), since it is determined that the robot body requires low-precision operation in the second movement area (L), the control strength of the robot body is lowered to reduce the collision physical quantity of the robot body.

[0053] Meanwhile, after determining whether the robot body should stop operating, the robot body is stopped or the robot body is restarted repeatedly from the beginning. (See S16 and S17)

[0054]

[0055] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with specific details such as specific components and limited examples and drawings, but these are provided only to help a more general understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those with ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications and variations based on this description. Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, and all things that are equivalent or equivalent to the claims below as well as the claims are considered to fall within the scope of the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A robot body that operates along a movement path with different required precisions; and A robot control unit that increases the safety of the robot by controlling the collision physical quantity of the robot body by changing the control strength of the robot body according to the precision of the movement path; A robot capable of controlling collision physics including:

2. In paragraph 1, The above collision physical quantity includes at least one of force, pressure, and energy generated when the robot and the person collide. A robot capable of controlling collision physical quantity, characterized in that the robot control unit reduces the collision physical quantity by lowering the control strength of the robot body as the precision required in the movement path decreases.

3. In paragraph 2, The above movement path includes a first movement zone that requires high precision for the operation of the robot body; and a second movement zone that requires lower precision than the first movement zone for the operation of the robot body. The above robot body operates along the first movement area and the second movement area, A robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities, characterized in that the robot control unit controls the robot body with a first control strength in the first movement area and controls the robot body with a second control strength lower than the first control strength in the second movement area.

4. In paragraph 1, The above robot control unit, A robot capable of controlling a collision physical quantity, characterized in that the collision physical quantity is controlled in a manner that controls the time required to reach an error smaller than a steady-state error at a control target value.

5. In paragraph 1, The above robot control unit, A robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities, characterized in that the collision physical quantity is controlled by controlling at least one of a proportional control coefficient, a differential control coefficient, an integral control coefficient, a maximum torque, a spring constant, and a damping ratio.

6. In paragraph 1, The above robot control unit, A robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities, characterized by controlling a steady-state error from a control target value.

7. A step for setting the precision of the robot body required according to the area of ​​the movement path; A step of operating the above robot body; A step of detecting in real time the precision of the area of ​​the movement path in which the robot body operates; A step of determining the level of precision of the area of ​​the movement path in which the robot body operates; A step of increasing the control strength of the robot body to reduce the operating error of the robot body when the precision of the area of ​​the above movement path is judged to be high precision; and A step of lowering the control strength of the robot body to reduce the collision physical amount of the robot body when the precision of the area of ​​the above movement path is judged to be low precision; A control method for a robot capable of controlling collision physical quantities including:

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