Icon-Based Robot Teaching Interface for Visual Program Relationships
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing programming devices using icons for robot control often fail to visually represent the relationships between icons, making it difficult for operators to understand the connections and process programming efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A teaching device that includes a screen display creation unit for generating a program creation screen with a predetermined region for arranging icons and a relationship display creation unit that extracts and visually represents the relationships between icons based on shared data or hardware usage, allowing operators to recognize these connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If icons are displayed individually in the program creation region, then the program creation interface remains simple and clean, but the relationships between icons cannot be visually recognized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new dimension for displaying relationship information by showing alternative figures that represent multiple icons sharing the same alternative. This allows relationship information to be displayed without cluttering the original program creation region, effectively adding a visual layer that conveys connections between icons while maintaining the simplicity of the primary interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The alternative figure acts as an intermediary representation that mediates between the individual icons and their relationships. Instead of directly displaying complex relationship lines or annotations between icons, the patent uses alternative figures as a mediator to indirectly show that multiple icons share common characteristics or data, thus preserving relationship information without increasing interface complexity.
2Productivity
If multiple icons sharing the same alternative are displayed separately, then the program creation flexibility is maintained, but the operator cannot efficiently recognize shared data or hardware usage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the display system provides visual feedback about shared alternatives when icons are arranged in the program creation region. By showing alternative figures that indicate which icons share the same alternative, the system gives immediate feedback to the operator about shared data or hardware usage, enabling efficient recognition without disrupting the program creation flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses visual differentiation through alternative figures to highlight shared characteristics among icons. By displaying distinct alternative figures for different alternatives, the system enables operators to quickly identify which icons share the same data or hardware resources, improving productivity through visual cues rather than requiring detailed inspection of each icon's properties.
Data Source
AI summary
A teaching device for creating a program using icons representing functions that form a control program for an industrial machine, the teaching device being provided with: a screen display generation unit that generates a program creation screen which has a predetermined region for arranging multiple icons to create a control program; and a relationship display generation unit that, on the basis of information related to multiple icons, extracts two or more icons which are related to each other in terms of processing contents from among the multiple icons arranged on the predetermined region, and displays the relationships between the extracted two or more icons so as to be visibly recognized.