Collaborative Robot Path Control for Blocking-Free Test Dispatch
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Solution Overview
Problem
In collaborative robot control systems, the narrow paths can lead to blocking issues where one robot arriving early at a test machine blocks another, causing inaccurate test data due to temperature fluctuations and potential infinite loops when robots are not properly managed.
Innovation Solution
A control system that generates a push-forward command to order blocked robots to leave their paths, determining if other robots are present and if their corresponding test machines have completed tasks, ensuring efficient path management and preventing infinite loops by sorting robots in waiting areas before assigning paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple collaborative robots operate in narrow one-way paths, then robot utilization and productivity are improved, but path blocking occurs when robots arrive at different times, causing system inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic path management where the control system continuously monitors robot positions and dynamically adjusts path assignment. When a robot is detected in a path, the system dynamically prevents other robots from entering that path, creating adaptive real-time control that resolves the contradiction between high utilization and path accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system employs feedback mechanisms by detecting robot positions through sensors and continuously monitoring path occupancy. This feedback loop enables the system to make real-time decisions about path assignment and robot dispatch, ensuring that productivity is maximized while preventing blocking situations.
2Loss of time
If robots are dispatched to test machines without coordination, then response time is reduced, but temperature fluctuations occur when robots wait in paths, causing inaccurate test data
Solution Approach 1:
The control system performs preliminary actions by checking path occupancy and robot positions before dispatching new robots. This advance planning prevents situations where robots would need to wait in paths, thereby maintaining both quick response times and accurate test data by avoiding temperature fluctuations from prolonged waiting.
Solution Approach 2:
The system ensures continuous useful action by optimizing robot dispatch timing and path assignment to minimize idle waiting time. By maintaining continuous operational flow and avoiding unnecessary stops or waits in paths, the system preserves both response time efficiency and test measurement accuracy.
3Ease of operation
If the path width is increased to accommodate multiple robots, then blocking is prevented, but system complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the testing house into multiple distinct one-way paths. This segmentation allows independent control of each path while maintaining narrow dimensions, resolving the contradiction by creating manageable segments that can be controlled individually rather than requiring a single wide path.
Solution Approach 2:
The system resolves the space constraint by transitioning to a multi-dimensional path network rather than relying on increasing the width of a single path. By creating multiple parallel one-way paths, the system achieves the functionality of accommodating multiple robots without increasing the width of individual paths, thus avoiding added complexity in single-path design.
Data Source
AI summary
A collaborative-robot control system is provided in the invention. The collaborative-robot control system includes a plurality of test machines, a plurality of collaborative robots, a first control system and a second control system. The plurality of test machines are configured in a plurality of paths. When the second control system assigns a first collaborative robot of the plurality of collaborative robots in a waiting area to a first test machine in a first path of the plurality of paths and the first collaborative robot is being blocked by a second collaborative robot of the plurality of collaborative robots in the first path, the second control system generates a push-forward command and transmits the push-forward command to the first control system. The first control system sends the push-forward command to the second collaborative robot to order the second collaborative robot to leave the first path first.