Industrial Robot Safety Regions for Adaptive Motion Planning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current industrial robot safety systems require manual updates and significant time to adapt to changes in safety configurations, leading to downtime and reduced productivity due to the lack of awareness of safety configurations by the robot controller.
Innovation Solution
A method where a monitoring system defines geometric regions associated with safety conditions and communicates these to the robot control system, allowing the robot to autonomously determine movements and adapt to safety configurations without manual programming, thereby reducing the need for manual updates and interventions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an external monitoring system intervenes to stop an industrial robot when safety configuration is violated, then safety is ensured, but the robot must be restarted which affects process quality and cycle times negatively
Solution Approach 1:
The robot controller proactively receives and processes safety configuration data from the monitoring system before executing robot movements. The controller uses this information to plan trajectories that inherently comply with safety constraints, preventing safety violations before they occur rather than reacting after violations happen.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system continuously provides safety configuration data to the robot controller, which adjusts its movement planning in real-time based on this feedback. This closed-loop information flow enables the robot to adapt its trajectory dynamically to maintain safety compliance without stopping.
2Reliability
If the robot controller is not aware of safety configuration, then the monitoring system can independently supervise safety, but manual updates are required which take significant time and reduce productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the safety configuration management function into the robot controller by establishing direct communication between the monitoring system and the robot controller. This integration allows the controller to autonomously receive and apply safety configuration updates without requiring manual programmer intervention, combining independent safety supervision with automated adaptation.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot controller serves itself by automatically receiving safety configuration data from the monitoring system and using this information to generate compliant trajectories. This self-service capability eliminates the need for external manual updates and allows the system to adapt to safety configuration changes autonomously.
3Reliability
If the robot programmer manually creates a robot program that does not violate safety configuration, then safety can be maintained, but this takes significant time and is difficult to verify
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of programming safety-compliant trajectories with an automated information processing system. The robot controller automatically receives safety configuration data and computes compliant trajectories using algorithms, substituting the manual programmer's cognitive and time-intensive work with automated computational processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the trajectory parameters of the robot based on received safety configuration data. Instead of manually programming fixed safe trajectories, the controller automatically adjusts movement parameters such as position, speed, and path based on real-time safety constraints, enabling adaptive safety compliance.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of handling safety of an industrial robot in a workspace, the method including providing a geometric region by a monitoring system, where the geometric region is defined in relation to the industrial robot and/or in relation to the workspace, and where the geometric region is associated with at least one condition for being fulfilled by the industrial robot; communicating the geometric region from the monitoring system to a robot control system of the industrial robot; determining a movement of the industrial robot by the robot control system based on the geometric region and the at least one condition; executing the movement by the industrial robot; and monitoring, by the monitoring system, the execution of the movement with respect to the geometric region and the at least one condition.