Offline Robot Teaching Apparatus with Spatial Range Indicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional offline teaching processes for robot systems performing workpiece tracking motions lack the ability to explicitly indicate a safe spatial range for robot operation, making it difficult to optimize efficiency, safety, and reliability.
Innovation Solution
An offline teaching apparatus that generates and displays models of a carrier route, workpiece, and robot, along with indicators defining a safe operational range, allowing simulation of workpiece and robot movements to ensure safe operation and optimize teaching information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional offline teaching process is used to simulate robot operation, then teaching information can be obtained without actual robot and conveyor, but the safe spatial range for robot operation cannot be confirmed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the robot system including robot model, conveyor model, and workpiece model that replicates the physical system's geometry and motion characteristics. This virtual model allows offline teaching and simulation without risking damage to actual equipment while maintaining accurate spatial relationship representation for safety verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial range indicator as an intermediary element that visually represents the safe operational boundaries in the virtual environment. This indicator acts as a mediator between the robot model and the virtual workspace, enabling operators to verify safety margins before deploying programs to actual hardware.
2Ease of operation
If robot model is manipulated to simulate robot operation on display screen, then teaching information can be obtained, but it is difficult to optimize the teaching information through simulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the robot system including robot model, conveyor model, and workpiece model that replicates the physical system's geometry and motion characteristics. This virtual model allows offline teaching and simulation without risking damage to actual equipment while maintaining accurate spatial relationship representation for safety verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial range indicator as an intermediary element that visually represents the safe operational boundaries in the virtual environment. This indicator acts as a mediator between the robot model and the virtual workspace, enabling operators to verify safety margins before deploying programs to actual hardware.
3Loss of time
If conventional offline teaching is employed, then robot operation can be taught without actual machines, but the acceptable spatial range cannot be explicitly indicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs visual indicators that change appearance (such as color or transparency) to represent different spatial zones. The spatial range indicator can be displayed with distinct visual characteristics to clearly demarcate safe operational areas, making spatial information immediately apparent to operators during offline teaching.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a visual representation dimension to the offline teaching interface by displaying spatial range indicators overlaid on the virtual model. This additional visual layer provides spatial boundary information that complements the traditional 3D model visualization, enabling operators to perceive safe zones without adding physical complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An offline teaching apparatus (10) for generating, in an offline mode, a robot operation relating to tracking and working relative to a workpiece traveling along a carrier route. The apparatus includes a model-image generating section (12) for generating images of a carrier-route model (CM), a workpiece model (WM) and a robot model (RM); an indicator generating section (14) for generating a base-point indicator (BI), and upstream-end and downstream-end indicators (UI,DI) defining a spatial range (S) for performing the robot operation; a display section for displaying, on a screen (22), the images of the carrier-route model, the workpiece model and the robot model, together with the base-point indicator, the upstream-end indicator and the downstream-end indicator; a carrying-operation simulating section (18) for causing the workpiece model to simulate a workpiece traveling motion along the carrier-route model; and a robot-operation simulating section (20) for causing the robot model to simulate the robot operation, during a period from an instant the workpiece model passes by the upstream-end indicator until an instant the workpiece model arrives at the downstream-end indicator.