Robot Interference Determination Using Adaptive Midpoint Refinement
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current interference determination methods for multiple robots are either imprecise when using long prescribed spacings, leading to potential interference oversight, or excessively time-consuming when using short spacings for precise determination.
Innovation Solution
An interference determination device and method that acquires and computes poses and structural information for robots, determining the possibility of interference by analyzing overlap between added-margin regions of circumscribed shapes, and iteratively refining the computation until a predetermined distance condition is met, thereby efficiently identifying potential inter-robot interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a long prescribed spacing is used for interference determination, then the determination time is short, but the precision of determination becomes coarse and interference might be overlooked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the interference determination process into two distinct stages: a first determination using a long prescribed spacing to quickly identify potential interference areas, and a second determination using a short prescribed spacing to precisely confirm interference only within those identified areas. This segmentation allows the system to combine the speed of coarse determination with the accuracy of fine determination, resolving the contradiction between determination time and precision.
2Measurement precision
If a short prescribed spacing is used for interference determination, then the precision of determination is good, but the determination time becomes long
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the determination process into two phases with different spacing requirements. The first phase uses long spacing for rapid screening, and the second phase uses short spacing for detailed verification only where needed. This eliminates the need to apply short spacing throughout the entire determination process, thereby reducing total determination time while maintaining high precision where it matters.
Solution Approach 2:
The first determination with long spacing serves as a preliminary action that identifies potential interference areas before the second determination is performed. This preliminary screening eliminates the need to perform time-consuming precise determination across the entire workspace, as the second determination is only executed in the limited regions identified as potentially problematic by the first determination.
Data Source
AI summary
An acquisition section 42 acquires a pose at a clock time ti and a pose at a clock time tj for each of plural robots, and acquires structural information. Based on structural information a computation section 44 computes positions of the prescribed part for each of the robots at the clock times ti, tj and at a midway clock times tc. A possibility determination section determines a possibility of interference, based on any overlap between added-margin regions resulting from addition of a prescribed margin to a circumscribing shape containing positions of the prescribed part at the clock times ti, tj, and tc for each of the robots. In cases in which there is a possibility of interference, an end determination section 48 sets tc so as to be a new ti or a new tj, and causes processing of the computation section 44 and the possibility determination section 46 to be executed repeatedly until a spacing between the prescribed parts satisfies an end condition. When determined that the end condition has been satisfied, an interference determination section 50 determines whether or not there is interference between the prescribed parts between the robots at any of the positions at ti, tc, and tj.