Robotic Manipulator Path Planning With Queued Abort Segments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic systems face challenges in path planning and execution, particularly in ensuring controlled movement and preventing accidental stops due to faults or external factors, as they rely on pre-defined motion paths that may not adapt dynamically to changing conditions.
Innovation Solution
A robotic system equipped with a programmable logic controller (PLC) that receives and validates planned motion paths, which include abort segments to ensure controlled stops, and can update paths dynamically during execution to prevent accidents by queuing and executing path segments and abort segments based on validation and event triggers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If pre-defined motion paths are used for robotic manipulators, then path planning is simplified and execution is predictable, but the system cannot adapt dynamically to changing conditions or faults
Solution Approach 1:
The motion path is divided into multiple path segments, each with associated abort segments. This segmentation allows the system to process and validate paths in manageable units while maintaining overall path coherence. The PLC can validate and execute segments independently, enabling dynamic adaptation without requiring complete path re-planning.
Solution Approach 2:
Abort segments are pre-defined and queued alongside normal path segments. This preliminary action ensures that safety mechanisms are already in place before execution begins. When faults occur, the system can immediately transition to abort segments without requiring complex real-time decision-making, thus adapting dynamically while maintaining manageable complexity.
2Reliability
If abort segments are queued after each path segment for fault protection, then safety is improved, but the control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Normal path segments and abort segments are merged into a single unified path structure that is processed and validated together by the PLC. This merging allows the control system to handle both safety and motion control through a single validation mechanism, improving reliability while avoiding the need for separate complex safety subsystems.
Solution Approach 2:
The path planning system generates its own safety mechanisms by automatically creating abort segments corresponding to each path segment. This self-service approach allows the system to provide its own fault protection without requiring external safety systems, thereby improving reliability while keeping control complexity manageable through automated generation.
3Reliability
If the system validates each path segment before execution, then execution reliability is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Path validation is performed in advance during the path planning phase, before execution begins. By validating all path segments and their associated abort segments beforehand, the system ensures execution reliability without requiring time-consuming validation during real-time operation. The pre-validated paths can then be executed efficiently with minimal processing delay.
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic manipulator has a robotic controller that includes a programmable logic controller (PLC). The PLC can be configured to receive a planned motion path having a first path segment and an abort segment. The first path segment can be associated with a path to be followed by a joint of the robotic manipulator and is queued before the abort segment associated with the first path segment. The abort segment can be indicative of a path segment that in response to execution results in aborting an operation of the joint of the robotic manipulator. The PLC can be configured to validate the planned motion path based on an analysis of at least the first path segment and the abort segment. Further, upon successful validation of the planned motion path, the PLC can be configured to initiate execution of the first path segment by the joint of the robotic manipulator.