Robot Arm Speed Zoning With Adaptive Collision Sensitivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robot systems require safety fences to separate operators and robots, increasing costs and limiting safety when robots operate in the same workspace as humans, which hampers productivity.
Innovation Solution
A robot system that adjusts collision detection sensitivity between high-speed and low-speed operation regions, allowing higher speeds in high-speed regions while maintaining safety by setting regions closer to operators as low-speed areas with heightened collision detection sensitivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the robot operates at high speed in the same workspace as the operator, then productivity is improved, but safety risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The workspace is divided into high-speed operation regions and low-speed operation regions based on proximity to the operator. The robot operates at high speed in distant regions and automatically reduces speed when entering regions closer to the operator, thereby maintaining productivity while ensuring local safety near the human worker.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot's operation speed is made dynamic rather than fixed. The control section automatically adjusts the speed according to the robot's location relative to the operator's workspace, enabling high-speed operation when safe and low-speed operation when near the operator, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and safety.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If safety fence is provided to separate robot and operator workspaces, then operator safety is secured, but introduction cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical safety fence system with a software-based speed control system. Instead of using physical barriers to ensure safety, the system uses sensors and control algorithms to dynamically adjust robot speed based on proximity to the operator, eliminating the need for expensive safety fences while maintaining safety.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If collision detection sensitivity is increased to detect operator contact, then safety is improved, but false detection rate increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different collision detection sensitivities are applied to different regions of the workspace. High sensitivity is used in low-speed regions near the operator where safety is critical, while lower sensitivity is used in high-speed regions where false detections would disrupt productivity. This localized approach balances safety and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The collision detection sensitivity is dynamically adjusted based on the robot's operation speed and location. When operating at high speed, lower sensitivity prevents false detections, while when operating at low speed near the operator, higher sensitivity ensures accurate collision detection, thus resolving the contradiction between safety and reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A controller (3) is configured to operate a robot arm (10, 12) at a speed that is equal to or lower than a first maximum speed in a high-speed operation region (20H), and operate the robot arm (10, 12) at a speed that is equal to or lower than a second maximum speed lower than the first maximum speed in a low-speed operation region (20L), and change a collision detection sensitivity between the high-speed operation region (20H) and the low-speed operation region (20L) so that the collision detection sensitivity in the high-speed operation region (20H) becomes lower than the collision detection sensitivity in the low-speed operation region (20L).