JPH0611473B2 - Robot controller - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control device for a plurality of robots.

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional robot control device equipped with a work environment, there is one having a configuration as shown in FIG. The program execution means 22 interprets the program 23, executes it, and converts it into an operation signal of the robot 25. When the processes to be executed in parallel are described in the program, they are executed by time division. As a description method of parallel execution, there is a method of describing the process to be executed in parallel between cobegin and coend, such as cobegin proc1 (); proc2 (); coend. In the above example the processes proc1 and proc
2 is executed in parallel by time division. By writing different robot control programs in proc1 and proc2, each robot can be controlled independently.

The environment management means 24 stores the robot state such as the position data of the hand of the robot and the environment data regarding the object existing in the work environment such as the position data of the object, and the program when the operation command is executed. The necessary environmental data is passed to the execution means 22. In addition, the environment data is updated when the movement of the object is completed.
The environment management means 24 sets initial environment data 27 created in advance by the environment data creating device 26 when the robot controller 21 is activated.

In the program in the robot controller having such a work environment, hold (rob, objA) ... Object objA is gripped by the robot rob in the instruction.

move (obiA, obiB) ... Object objA at the position where object objB exists
To move. In this case, the robot ro holding bojA
The move is executed by b.

release (rob) ... Releases the object held by the robot rob.

An object can be directly described by a symbol like. For example, in the case of the above move instruction, objA30 and objB3 are previously set as environment data as shown in FIG.
Position data associated with an object such as a frame A 32 and a frame B 33 is created for each item 1. And the fifth
As shown in FIG. B, objA30 is moved onto objB31 so that the frame A32 and the frame B33 match.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when controlling a plurality of robots using a plurality of processes in such a conventional example, when an object to be grasped is moving due to the motion of another robot When another robot is performing a gripping operation or a gripping release operation on the object to be set to. When the object to be moved is an object existing at the target position of the move command being executed by another robot. When the operation command is executed as it is, a contradiction occurs between the program content and the actual work, such as performing a gripping operation at a position where an object does not actually exist or moving the object with an object that does not exist as a target position. Also, there is a contradiction between the actual environment and the contents of the environmental data.

For example, it is assumed that the operation commands for the robots A and B, whose timing charts are shown in FIG. 6 for the above example, are processed in parallel. Robot A grips object A and is moving from position A to position B. It is assumed that a command for gripping the object A by the robot B is interpreted during the operation. If the gripping command is executed as it is, the position data of the object A in the environmental data remains the position A, and therefore the robot B will execute the gripping operation at the position A where the object A does not already exist. As a result, the robot B grasps the object A in the environment data even though the robot A cannot grasp the object A, which makes a difficult difference between the actual environment and the environment data.

The same problem as above occurs in the case shown in.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a robot controller that does not cause a difficult difference between the contents of a program and actual work or between the contents of environmental data and the actual environment.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is a robot controller used in a robot control system including a plurality of independently operating robots and a robot controller for controlling the plurality of robots. A program execution means capable of parallel execution of a plurality of processes for interpreting and executing a program and converting the program into a plurality of robot motion signals, and storing the state of the robot and environmental data relating to objects existing in the working environment of the robot, Move by the environment management means for updating, a means for storing an object gripped by a gripping command described in the program, and a movement command for moving the gripped object described in the program Means for storing an object, means for storing an object existing at a movement target position of the moved object, and the program By a grip release command for the gripped object described in
Means for storing an object to be gripped and waiting for execution of a robot operation command described in the program that refers to the object stored in the storage means, while the object is stored in the storage means The operation control means for instructing the program execution means to do so is provided.

Action The present invention has the following actions due to the above configuration.
At the time of interpreting a motion command, it is checked whether or not the motion command refers to the object stored in the four storage means, and if the motion command is referenced, the execution of the command is delayed by the period in which the object is stored in the storage means It eliminates the discrepancy between the contents of the program and the actual work, and between the environmental data and the actual environment.

Embodiment FIG. 1 shows an outline of a robot controller according to an embodiment of the present invention. The program execution means 2 interprets and executes the program 3, and converts it into motion signals of the robot A10 and the robot B11. When the processes to be executed in parallel are described in the program, they are executed by time division.
The environment management means 4 manages the environment data such as taking out the data necessary for the program executing means 2 and updating the environment data at the end of the operation. Further, it instructs the gripping object storage means 5, the moving object storage means 6, the moving target object storage means 7, and the grip release object storage means 8 to store and erase the necessary objects. The gripping object storage means 5 stores the object to be gripped by the gripping command. The moving object storage unit 6 stores an object that moves according to a movement command for the gripped object. The moving target object storage means 7 stores the object existing at the moving target position of the object that moves according to the moving command. The grip interpretation object storage unit 8 stores an object to be released by a grip release command for the grasped object. The object data in each storage means is stored according to an instruction from the environment management means at the time of interpreting the operation command, and is erased at the end of the operation. When the program execution means 2 executes an operation command, the operation control means 9 checks whether or not the object referred to by the operation command is stored in the storage means 5 to 8, and if stored, the program execution means It has a function to instruct to wait for the execution of the operation command. Further, it has a function of instructing the program executing means to cancel the waiting for the execution of the operation command when the object data which causes the waiting for the execution of the operation command is erased from the storage means 5-8. The environment data creation device 12 is configured to operate the environment management means 4 when the robot control device 1 is activated.
This is a device for creating the initial environment data 13 set by the.

Next, an operation example will be described. FIG. 2 is the timing chart. This example corresponds to the case of the prior art. The environment management means 4 sets the initial environment data 13 created by the environment data creation device 12 when the robot controller 1 is activated, and updates the environment data according to the execution of the program. Here, it is assumed that the robot A10 is in a state of gripping the object A, and the object is not stored in each of the storage units 5 to 8. Program execution means 2
When interprets the movement command of the object A, asks the motion control means 9 whether the movement command can be executed.
The operation control unit 9 stores the object A in any one of the gripping object storage unit 5, the movement target object storage unit 7, and the grip release object storage unit 8.
However, it also checks whether or not the object B is stored in the moving object storage means 6. Since no objects are stored in the storage means 5 to 8, the program execution means 2 is notified that the movement instruction can be executed. The program execution means 2 receives the necessary data such as the position data of the object from the environment management means 4 and executes the movement command. At this time, the environment management unit 4 instructs the moving object storage unit 6 to store the object A and the moving target object storage unit 7 to store the object B.

Next, it is assumed that a command for gripping the object A by the robot B11 is interpreted while the object A is moving by the robot A10.
The program execution means 2 inquires of the operation control means 9 whether or not the gripping command can be executed. The motion control means 9 detects that the object A is stored in the moving object storage means 6, and
Instruct to wait for the execution of the grip command. The program execution means thereby puts the gripping command in a waiting state. When the movement of the object A by the robot A10 is completed, the environment management means 4 updates the environmental data such as the position data of the object,
The object A is deleted from the moving object storage means 6 and the object B is deleted from the moving target object storage means 7. The movement control means 9 detects that the object A has been erased from the moving object storage means 6, and instructs the program execution means 2 to cancel the waiting state for the grip command. This moves the grip command to execution,
The operation control means 9 notifies the program execution means that it can be executed by the same check as before, and the program execution means 2 processes the gripping instruction. By making the execution of the operation command wait as described above, the object A can be correctly grasped by the robot B11, and the contradiction does not occur in the environmental data.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the processing at the time of executing an instruction and the processing at the end of an operation in this embodiment described above.

Also in the case of the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is possible to eliminate the disagreement between the program content and the actual operation and between the environment data and the actual environment by a method substantially similar to the above-described operation example.

As described above, according to the present invention, when controlling a plurality of robots by a plurality of processes executed in parallel, between the contents of the program and the actual operation or between the environment data and the actual environment, It eliminates discrepancies, enables consistent program execution and environment management, and facilitates programming.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a robot controller in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a timing chart of an operation example in the robot controller, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing in the robot controller, and FIG. Is a block diagram of a robot controller in a conventional embodiment, FIG. 5 is an example of move command execution in the robot controller, and FIG. 6 is a timing chart of an operation example in the robot controller. 1 ... Robot control device, 2 ... Program execution means,
3 ... Program, 4 ... Environment management means, 5 ... Gripping object storage means, 6 ... Moving object storage means, 7 ... Moving target object storage means, 8 ... Gripping release object storage means, 9 ... Operation Control means, 10 ... Robot A, 11 ... Robot B, 12 ... Environmental data creating device, 13 ... Initial environmental data.

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A robot controller used in a robot control system comprising a plurality of independently operating robots and a robot controller for controlling the plurality of robots, interpreting and executing a program. Then, a program execution means capable of parallel execution of a plurality of processes for converting into a plurality of robot motion signals, a means for storing an object gripped by a gripping command described in the program, and a program execution means described in the program. A means for storing a moving object, a means for storing an object existing at a movement target position of the moved object, and a means for storing the moving object according to a movement command for moving the grasped object. By a grip release command for the gripped object,
Means for storing an object to be gripped and storing and updating environmental data regarding the state of the robot and an object existing in the working environment of the robot, and for each storage means according to the description in the program. The environment management means for instructing storage and erasing the storage after the end of the operation, and the execution of the operation command of the robot described in the program, which refers to the object stored in the storage means, executes the execution of the object. A robot controller comprising: an operation control unit for instructing the program execution unit to wait for the period stored in the storage unit.