JP2554968B2 - Article transfer method by multiple robots - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for simultaneously moving a plurality of robots operating independently of each other to transfer the same article.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a plurality of industrial robots, each of which controls one robot main body by one controller, are used to perform a collaborative work, the controllers of the robots are connected via an interface. Then, a method has been proposed in which each robot transmits motion information to the other side when the robot passes the target point, and confirms the mutual position (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-63).
62002).

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, a plurality of robots perform cooperative work in the same work space, and the next motion is determined while monitoring the motion information of other robots. This is a synchronous process, and no consideration has been given to the case where the same article is transferred by a plurality of robots. Therefore, conventionally, there has been a problem that the same article cannot be transferred by a plurality of robots. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to enable a plurality of robots that operate independently of each other to operate at the same time and transfer the same article. It is to provide a method of transferring articles by a robot.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses a transfer robot that transfers the same product by a plurality of robots that operate independently of each other, and uses the transfer robot to transfer the product information and transfer information. The destination information is entered and stored, the transfer route is set, the distance between them is kept within a predetermined range, and the transfer distance of each robot is made different .
The operation speed calculated from
When downloading and transferring the goods, the robot
Each robot is downloaded so as to start the operation in synchronization with the start of the work and reach the target point at the same time .
The feature is that the same article is transferred depending on the operation speed .

Further, in the above route setting, it is characterized in that a route point of each robot is provided on the transfer route so that the mutual distance is within a predetermined range.

Further, in the above, the robot having a longer distance between the via points is operated at the maximum speed, and the robot having a shorter distance is set in speed according to the ratio of the distances. .

[0007]

According to the present invention, according to the present invention, article information and transfer destination information are input and stored in a plurality of robots operating independently of each other, a transfer route is set, the robots are simultaneously started, It is possible to transfer the same article so that the target point is reached at the same time while keeping the distance between each other. Further, the articles are transferred by keeping the distances within a predetermined range on the route and avoiding any obstacles. Furthermore, by setting the speed of the robot according to the distance between each waypoint, the article can be transferred at high speed.

[0008]

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 shows an example in which the same article 7 is transferred by two robots 1 and 2 that operate independently of each other. The robots 1 and 2 have control devices 5 and 6, respectively, and are independently controlled by them. The respective control devices 5 and 6 are connected by an interface. The two robots 1 and 2 both grab and transfer the article 7 with the hands 3 and 4 attached to their hands. Via points for transfer are calculated from article information and transfer destination information (described later) given in advance.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart for calculating a waypoint and an operation speed when transferring a plurality of articles. In this embodiment, the article information refers to the shape and initial position of the article and the gripping position of each hand, and the transfer destination information refers to the transfer destination position of the article.

In the above, as the preprocessing, step 1
At 0, article information and transfer destination information for a plurality of transferred articles are input to the computer in advance, and these are stored in step 12. Subsequently, in step 14, the article information and the transfer destination information stored as described above are sequentially read out in the computer, and in step 16, the route points of the two robots are calculated from the article information and the transfer destination information. This waypoint should be located so as to avoid obstacles. As will be described later, the distance between corresponding waypoints is the distance between two hands when the robot grips the article at the initial position of the article as a reference distance, and is within a predetermined range with respect to this reference distance. To be in.

In step 18, the motion speed of each robot is calculated from the motion distance. This calculation is performed after the calculation of the waypoints is completed in the computer. Next, step 2
At 0, it is determined whether or not the article information is completed. And
The calculation of these via points and the operation speed between each via point is repeated for all the previously input articles, and if the article information is not completed, the process returns to step 14. If the article information has been completed, in step 22, the operation speed between the waypoints calculated as described above and each waypoint is calculated as follows.
Download to the controller of each robot.

When the two robots transfer the articles, the interfaces are synchronized with each other at the start of the operation and simultaneously start the operation. Each robot follows its pre-calculated and downloaded waypoints,
The operation is performed at each operation speed calculated and downloaded in advance.

FIG. 3 shows an example of waypoints created by calculation. 3A-3B-3C-3 in FIG.
D is a waypoint of the robot 1, and 3E-3F-3G-
3H is a waypoint of the robot 2. The initial positions of the hands 3 and 4 are 3A and 3E, respectively, and the distance between them is the reference distance L. The distance between corresponding waypoints of the robots 1 and 2, that is, the distances of 3B to 3F, 3C to 3G, and 3D to 3H are set to L ± α where a predetermined margin is α.

When the robot transfers an article, the robot having the longer operation distance of the corresponding operation is operated at the maximum speed, and the robot having the shorter operation distance changes the operation speed according to the ratio of the operation distances. decide. That is, in the example of the waypoints in FIG. 3, for example, the movement distance of the robot 1 at the waypoints 3B to 3C is a, the movement distance of the robot 2 at the waypoints 3F to 3G is b, and the relationship of a <b is satisfied. is there. Therefore, the operating speed of the robot 2 at the waypoints 3F to 3G is the maximum speed V _{max of the} robot. The operation speed V ₁ of the robot 1 at the waypoints 3B to 3C is calculated as V ₁ = V _max × a / b from the ratio of the operation distances.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, the same article is transferred by a plurality of robots that operate independently of each other, so that the robots can perform a cooperative operation with a simple configuration. Further, even if there is an obstacle on the transfer route, the obstacle can be avoided and the transfer can be performed, so that it can be applied to a wide range of applications. Furthermore, since the same article can be transferred at high speed by a plurality of robots that operate independently of each other, the cycle time of the transfer operation can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example in which the same article is transferred by a plurality of robots that operate independently of each other.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flowchart for calculating waypoints and operation speeds when transferring a plurality of articles.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of waypoints created by calculation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ・ ・ Robot 1 2 ・ ・ Robot 2 3 ・ 4 ・ ・ Hands 5 ・ 6 ・ ・ Control device 7 ・ ・ Articles 3A to 3H

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transfer robot that transfers the same article by a plurality of robots operating independently of each other is used to input and store article information and transfer destination information, set a transfer route, and set each other. The distance between the robots is kept within a predetermined range, and the transfer distance of each robot is made different .
The operation speed calculated from
When downloading and transferring the goods, the robot
Each robot is downloaded so as to start the operation in synchronization with the start of the work and reach the target point at the same time .
A method of transferring parts by a plurality of robots, wherein the same article is transferred according to the operation speed . 2. In the route setting according to claim 1,
A method for transferring articles by a plurality of robots, characterized in that via points of the robots are provided on the transfer path so that the distance between them is within a predetermined range. 3. The transfer method according to claim 1, wherein the robot having a longer distance between the via points is operated at a maximum speed, and the robot having a shorter distance is moved at a speed corresponding to a distance ratio. A method for transferring parts by a plurality of robots, which is characterized by being set.