Virtual Wall Display Control for Robot Status Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual fence display systems for robots struggle to clearly convey the status of a robot to a worker, especially when the worker moves closer, due to varying transmittance based on position and direction, making it difficult to grasp the robot's state, particularly during direct teaching or when checking settings without smart glasses.
Innovation Solution
A control apparatus and head-mounted display system that adjusts the display form of a virtual wall based on the distance and velocity of a robot's movable unit, providing a clearer and more effective visual representation of the robot's status to the worker, regardless of their proximity and movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the transmittance of the virtual fence is lowered to improve worker safety awareness, then the worker can better perceive the virtual boundary, but the worker's ability to observe the robot's actual state deteriorates when moving closer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the virtual fence display characteristics changeable based on real-time conditions. The display control unit dynamically adjusts transmission factors, brightness, or display forms of the virtual fence according to the worker's position, direction, and the robot's operational state, allowing the system to adapt between safety emphasis and robot state visibility as needed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the display characteristics of different portions of the virtual fence. Specifically, the virtual fence is divided into multiple rectangular parallelepipeds with different transmission factors based on their spatial relationship to the worker, allowing certain areas to be more transparent while others are more opaque, thus simultaneously achieving safety awareness and robot state observation
2Loss of information
If the virtual fence uses higher transmission factors to improve robot state visibility, then the worker can better observe the robot, but the worker safety awareness deteriorates as the virtual boundary becomes less distinct
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the transmission factors based on the robot's operational state. When the robot is in a safe state (e.g., stopped or moving slowly), the virtual fence can have higher transmission factors for better visibility. When the robot is in a high-speed or high-risk state, the transmission factors are lowered to emphasize safety, thus adapting to different operational contexts
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the virtual fence are assigned different transmission factors based on their proximity to the worker and the robot's operational state. This allows the system to maintain overall visibility while emphasizing safety-critical areas with lower transmission factors
3Adaptability or versatility
If the virtual fence transmittance is adjusted based on worker position and direction, then the display adapts to worker movement, but the worker's ability to grasp the robot's current status deteriorates when moving closer to the robot
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multiple dynamic parameters including worker position, worker direction, and robot operational state to control the virtual fence display. This multi-parameter dynamic control allows the system to adapt to worker movement while simultaneously considering the need to display robot status information, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and information visibility
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual fence is divided into multiple segments with different display characteristics. By controlling the transmission factors of different segments based on their spatial relationship to the worker and the robot's state, the system maintains adaptability to worker movement while ensuring that robot status information remains visible through appropriate local variations in transparency
Data Source
AI summary
A control apparatus that controls a robot having a movable unit, includes a display control unit that changes a display form of a virtual wall displayed on a display unit transmitting visible light based on a distance between the virtual wall on a real space and the movable unit and a velocity of the movable unit.