Articulated Robot Control Unit Safety Stop Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Articulated robots operating in close proximity to humans lack effective mechanisms to identify and avoid frequent contact or proximity zones that trigger safety stops, leading to inefficient operation and potential hazards.
Innovation Solution
A control unit for articulated robots that accumulates and displays information on occurrence positions of safety stops, using sensors like force sensors or visual sensors, to modify the operation program and avoid regions with high concentration of safety stop occurrences, thereby reducing the frequency of safety stops.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the robot operates in close proximity to humans without a safety fence, then the robot can work together with humans more flexibly, but the frequency of safety stop operations increases due to contact or proximity with humans or objects
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit accumulates occurrence position information from safety stop events and feeds this data back to modify the operation program. This feedback mechanism allows the robot to learn from past safety stop events and adjust its operation to avoid repeating the same hazardous situations, thereby reducing the frequency of safety stops while maintaining flexible human-robot collaboration.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit performs preliminary analysis of accumulated occurrence position information and proactively modifies the operation program to avoid hazardous zones before safety stop events occur. By anticipating potential safety issues based on historical data and adjusting the operation path in advance, the robot prevents safety stops rather than merely reacting to them.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the robot repeatedly operates in zones that trigger safety stops, then the operation program remains unchanged and continues to visit hazardous regions, but the frequency of safety stops increases and operational efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit continuously accumulates occurrence position information and uses this feedback to dynamically adjust the operation program. This ensures the operation program adapts to actual safety concerns rather than remaining static, preventing repeated visits to hazardous zones that trigger safety stops.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit automatically analyzes accumulated safety stop data and self-modifies the operation program to avoid hazardous regions. This self-service capability eliminates the need for external intervention to adjust the operation program, allowing the robot to autonomously improve its operational efficiency by learning from past safety events.
3Reliability
If the control unit accumulates and analyzes occurrence position information from safety stop events, then the robot can identify hazardous zones, but the complexity of the control system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit integrates multiple functions into a single system: it accumulates occurrence position information, analyzes the data to identify hazardous zones, and automatically modifies the operation program. This multi-functional approach avoids the need for separate dedicated systems for each function, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity while maintaining high safety standards.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit performs self-analysis and self-modification of the operation program based on accumulated safety data. This self-service capability reduces the need for external monitoring and intervention systems, thereby limiting the increase in system complexity while enhancing safety through continuous learning and adaptation.
4Productivity
If the operation program is frequently modified to avoid hazardous zones, then the robot can reduce safety stop frequency, but the complexity of program management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit automatically modifies the operation program based on accumulated occurrence position information without requiring external intervention. This automated program management eliminates the need for manual program adjustments and complex program version control, thereby limiting the complexity of program management while improving operational efficiency by reducing safety stops.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit uses feedback from accumulated safety stop data to automatically adjust the operation program. This feedback-driven automatic modification ensures that program changes are made only when necessary based on actual safety concerns, avoiding unnecessary program complexity while effectively reducing safety stop frequency.
Data Source
AI summary
A control unit for an articulated robot has a memory unit which accumulates, when a safety stop function operates by contact or proximity between the articulated robot in operation and at least one of the human and an object, information of occurrence positions in each of which the contact or the proximity occurs or information detected by a sensor which can be used to derive the occurrence positions, the contact and the adjacent are causes of the operation of the safety stop function, and a display device which displays the occurrence positions on a predetermined display based on the information of the occurrence positions or the information detected by the sensor accumulated by the memory unit.