Robot Speed Control for Trapping Risk Near Peripheral Objects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robot control systems fail to effectively manage operating speed to prevent trapping between robots and peripheral objects while maintaining efficiency, particularly when approaching objects that could pose a risk to operators.
Innovation Solution
A robot control method that stores shape information about the robot and peripheral objects, calculates distance changes at each operation position, and adjusts operating speed only when the distance is decreasing, ensuring safety without unnecessary speed reductions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot operating speed is decreased whenever the robot approaches a peripheral object, then the safety risk of trapping is reduced, but the operating efficiency deteriorates due to unnecessary speed reductions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the speed control approach based on the specific spatial relationship between the robot and peripheral objects. Instead of uniformly decreasing speed for all peripheral objects, the system selectively decreases speed only for objects located in trapping risk areas (behind the robot's movement direction), while maintaining normal speed for objects in safe areas. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction by applying safety measures only where necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the speed control adaptive and conditional rather than static. The system dynamically determines whether to decrease speed based on real-time calculation of the robot's movement direction, the peripheral object's position, and the calculated trapping risk. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to optimize both safety and efficiency by applying speed reduction only when the conditions indicate actual risk.
2Reliability
If the robot operating speed is decreased when approaching peripheral objects, then the risk of trapping is eliminated, but the teaching operation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing the movement direction of the robot and the positions of peripheral objects before executing the teaching program. The control device uses this pre-prepared information to quickly determine whether speed reduction is necessary during teaching operations, avoiding time-consuming real-time calculations and enabling faster teaching while maintaining trapping prevention.
3Reliability
If the robot operating speed is uniformly decreased for all peripheral objects, then safety is improved, but the device complexity increases due to comprehensive monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the taking out principle by extracting only the essential information needed for trapping risk assessment from the complete set of peripheral object data. Instead of monitoring all aspects of all peripheral objects, the system focuses specifically on the objects' positions relative to the robot's movement direction and calculates trapping risk only for relevant objects. This selective extraction simplifies the control system while maintaining effective trapping prevention.
Data Source
AI summary
A robot control method includes, storing, in a memory, shape information about a robot including a tool attached to a tip and about a peripheral object located on a periphery of the robot. A teaching program also is stored in the memory. The teaching program includes a setting speed when operating the robot. By a processor connected to the memory, a distance between the robot and the peripheral object, based on the shape information, is calculated at each operation position when operating the robot according to the teaching program. By the processor, it is determined whether or not the calculated distance is changing in a decreasing direction. In response to determining that the calculated distance is changing in the decreasing direction, by the processor, the robot is operated at a speed lower than the setting speed in the teaching program.