Robot Workpiece Positioning via Virtual Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods struggle to efficiently automate the grouping of working areas on a workpiece and determine the relative positional relationship between a robot and the workpiece, making it difficult to plan robot operations for effective processing.
Innovation Solution
A control assistance system that virtually simulates various positional relationships between a workpiece and a robot, identifies working areas processed under each relationship, and determines the optimal relative positional relationship through simulation and optimization, allowing for efficient robot operation planning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If manual methods are used to group working areas and determine positional relationships, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but automation extent and productivity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy of the workpiece with working area information and simulates robot operations in this virtual environment. By copying the physical workspace into a virtual model, the system can automatically determine positional relationships without complex manual programming, thereby increasing automation while managing complexity through software simulation rather than physical complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter representation from physical spatial relationships to standardized coordinate system transformations. By defining positional relationships through parameterized coordinate systems and transformation matrices, the system automates the determination process while keeping the underlying mathematical framework manageable and systematic
2Productivity
If simulation-based determination is used, then productivity and automation are improved, but computing resources and time for processing increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary simulation and determination of positional relationships before actual robot execution. By pre-calculating optimal positional relationships and working area groupings in the virtual model, the system prepares operation plans in advance, reducing real-time processing requirements and enabling faster actual execution despite the initial simulation time investment
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the workpiece into distinct working areas and groups them by positional relationships. This segmentation allows the simulation to process discrete regions independently rather than treating the entire workpiece as one complex entity, reducing overall computation time while maintaining comprehensive coverage of all working areas
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex workpieces with scattered working areas are processed, then versatility is improved, but difficulty of detecting and measuring and planning increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a universal coordinate system framework that can represent any workpiece geometry and working area configuration. By using standardized coordinate systems and transformation matrices that work for any spatial arrangement, the system achieves versatility in handling diverse workpiece types while maintaining consistent processing methods, thereby reducing the difficulty of detection and planning across different workpiece complexities
Data Source
AI summary
A control assistance system includes circuitry configured to: virtually execute, for each of a plurality of candidate positional relationships that are candidates for the relative positional relationship between the workpiece in which a plurality of working areas is set and the robot, a predetermined process in at least one of the working areas by an end effector of the robot placed in the candidate positional relationship, by a simulation based on a workpiece model indicating the plurality of working areas and a robot model indicating the robot; identify, for each of the plurality of candidate positional relationships, a set of one or more of the working areas having processed under the candidate positional relationship in the simulation, as a working area set; and determine the relative positional relationship from the plurality of candidate positional relationships based on the working area set of each of the plurality of candidate positional relationships.