Robot Operation Monitoring With Time-Linked Work Step Review

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing robot systems face difficulties in early and easy detection of unfavorable situations during complex operations, particularly in high-difficulty tasks, where manual intervention is required due to the lack of effective monitoring and analysis of robot performance.

Innovation Solution

A robot system comprising an imaging device, a control module, and a saving/display module that captures and associates image information with time and work content information, allowing operators to identify unfavorable situations by reviewing recorded operations in relation to specific tasks.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If visual information and history information are saved as electronic data for monitoring robot operations, then the ability to analyze causes of failure is improved, but the ease of early detection of unfavorable situations deteriorates due to the complexity of reviewing and correlating large amounts of data

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveability to analyze cause of failureVSAvoidease of early detection of unfavorable situation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the continuous operation data into discrete work steps based on work contents information. Each work step is individually timestamped and can be independently reviewed, allowing operators to quickly identify which specific step contained the unfavorable situation without reviewing the entire operation sequence. This segmentation transforms a monolithic data review task into manageable discrete units.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces work contents information as an intermediary that bridges the gap between raw visual data and operational context. By overlaying work step identifiers and timestamps onto the video footage, the system creates a mediated viewing experience where operators can easily correlate visual events with specific work steps, eliminating the need to manually analyze raw data correlations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If detailed work contents information is recorded and displayed alongside video data, then the precision of identifying unfavorable situations is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need to manage and synchronize multiple data streams

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of identifying unfavorable situationVSAvoidcomplexity of data management system
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple data streams (video information, work contents information, and timestamps) into a single integrated display output. Rather than requiring separate systems for video playback, work step tracking, and timestamp management, the system combines these elements into one synchronized presentation, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining high precision in unfavorable situation identification.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The display device is designed to universally handle multiple types of information simultaneously - visual data, textual work contents, and temporal data - all within a single interface. This multi-functional capability eliminates the need for specialized dedicated displays for each data type, simplifying the overall system architecture while preserving measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentEP2915634B1Robot system, robot monitoring device, and robot monitoring method
Publication Date: 2021.12.08 YASKAWA DENKI KK
  • EP2915634B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2915634B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2915634B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A robot system 1 includes: a robot 100; a camera 200 configured to capture an image of operation of the robot 100; a control module 320 configured to control the robot 100 so as to perform work in accordance with preliminarily stored work contents information to indicate a series of work contents; a saving module 330 configured to save image information captured by the camera 200 during work performance by the robot 100 in association with time information; and a display module 340 configured to display the image information saved by the saving module 330 together with the time information.