Robot Teach-In Control Using a Virtual 3D Grid
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Solution Overview
Problem
The 'teach-in' process for modern robots is limited by speed and precision when learning positions, poses, and motion sequences of movable robot structures, as existing methods rely on torque regulation and force compensation, which restricts the efficiency and accuracy of position and orientation input.
Innovation Solution
A robot system that uses a virtual 3D grid to control actuators, allowing precise and discrete input of positions and orientations by moving structural elements to adjacent grid points or volumes based on user-defined forces and torques, providing a haptic feedback mechanism that emulates a spring or damping effect, ensuring accurate and repetitive movement inputs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If torque regulation or force regulation is used to enable free movement of the robot structure during teach-in, then the robot structure becomes freely movable in the work space, but the speed and precision of learning positions and poses are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The work space is segmented into a virtual 3D grid with discrete grid points. The robot structure's movement is segmented into transitions between these discrete positions, where the control device guides the structure to specific grid points rather than allowing continuous free movement. This segmentation enables precise positioning at grid points while maintaining ease of operation through the virtual grid framework.
Solution Approach 2:
A virtual 3D grid is introduced as an intermediary between the user's manual input and the robot structure's actual positions. The control device acts as a mediator that processes the user's desired positions and snaps them to the nearest grid points, providing both ease of operation (user can input any position) and precision (robot positions are quantized to grid points).
2Ease of operation
If torque regulation or force regulation is used during teach-in, then the robot structure can be freely moved by a human, but the speed of the teach-in process is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual 3D grid is pre-defined in the work space before the teach-in process begins. Grid points are predetermined at specific locations, and the control device is pre-configured with the grid parameters. During teach-in, the user simply needs to indicate desired positions, and the system automatically snaps to the nearest pre-defined grid points, eliminating the need for slow manual adjustment and significantly increasing teach-in speed.
3Adaptability or versatility
If continuous position input is allowed during teach-in, then the robot can learn any position in the work space, but the precision and repeatability of position input are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual 3D grid provides different levels of precision at different locations in the work space. Grid points are distributed throughout the workspace, and the local grid density can be adjusted to provide higher precision in critical areas while maintaining broader coverage in less critical areas. This allows the system to achieve high precision where needed while maintaining overall versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a robot, a robot control system, and a method for controlling a robot. The robot comprises a movable, multi-membered robot structure (102) that can be driven by means of actuators (101), at least one marked structural element S being defined on the movable robot structure (102), with at least one point PS marked on the structural element S. The robot is designed such that, in an input mode, it learns positions POSPS of the point PS and/or poses of the structural element S in a work space of the robot, the user exerting an input force FEING on the movable robot structure in order to move the structural element S, which is conveyed to the point PS as FEING,PS, and/or to the structural element S as torque MEING,S. A control device (103) of the robot is designed such that, in the input mode, the actuators (101) are controlled on the basis of a pre-defined space-fixed virtual 3D grid that at least partially fills the work space, such that the structural element S is moved with a pre-defined force FGRID (POSPS), according to the current position POSPS of the point PS in the 3D grid, to the adjacent grid point of the 3D grid or in a grid point space defined around the adjacent grid point of the 3D grid, the point PS of the structural element S remaining on said adjacent grid point or in said grid point space in the event of the following holding true: |FEING,PS|<|FGRID(POSPS) and/or, in the input mode, the actuators (101) are controlled on the basis of a pre-defined virtual discrete 3D orientation space O, where the 3D orientation space O=: (αi, βj, γk) where i=1, 2, . . . , I, j=1, 2, . . . J, k=1, 2, . . . , K is defined or can be defined by a pre-defined angle αi, βj, γk, in such a way that the structural element S is moved with a pre-defined torque)(SO ROM according to the current orientation ORS of the structural element, towards the adjacent discrete orientation of the 3D orientation space O=: (αi, βj, γk), S, the structural element remaining in said adjacent discrete orientation of the 3D orientation space O in the event that the following holds true: |MEING,S|<|MO(ORS).