Control apparatus and method for industrial robot

Claim 1

A control apparatus for an industrial robot, comprising: a programming unit and a robot control unit; said programming unit comprising a program editing arithmetic processor, data inputting means for inputting data to said program editing arithmetic processor, a random-access memory coupled to said program editing arithmetic processor for storing a program prior to processing, an external memory communicated with said random-access memory and said program editing arithmetic processor for storing a plurality of programs, and first communicating circuit means for transmitting programs outputted through said program editing arithmetic processor to said robot control unit; and said robot control unit comprising second communication circuit means for receiving processed programs from said first communicating circuit means of said programming unit, a plurality of program memories each of which is capable of storing a single program for operating said industrial robot, selecting means for routing programs communicated through said second communicating circuit to a designated one of said program memories and for selectively reading programs out of a designated one of said program memories, a robot operation control unit for controlling operations of said industrial robot in accordance with a program read out by said selecting means from a selected one of said program memories, and mode setting means for operating said selecting means and said robot operation control means, wherein said mode setting means can selectively set said selecting means and said control means in a mode for receiving and storing programs to receive processed programs from said programming unit for storing process programs in said program memories and in a continuous operation mode for reading out a selected -program from a designated one of said program memories for causing said robot control units to control operations of said industrial robot in accordance with said selected program.

Claim 6

A method for controlling the operation of an industrial robot through an industrial robot control apparatus including a programming unit and a robot control unit detachably coupled to said programming unit; the programming unit comprising an arithmetic processor, data inputting means for inputting data to said arithmetic processor, a temporary memory coupled to said arithmetic processor, and a second memory coupled to said arithmetic processor through said temporary memory for storing a plurality of operating programs; and said robot control unit comprising a program memory for receiving and storing programs transferred from said programming unit, and means for controlling the movement of said industrial robot in accordance with a selected program read out from said memory means, comprising the steps of: transferring position control data from a selected program from said second memory to said temporary member; inputting data representative of corrective values through said data inputting means; processing said data from said selected program and said data inputted through said data inputting means in said arithmetic processor to provide corrected program data; transmitting said corected program data from said arithmetic processor to said program memory of said robot control unit; receiving said and storing corrected program data in said program memory of said robot control unit; and operating said industrial robot in accordance with the corrected program data.

Claim 7

A method for controlling the operation of an industrial robot through an industrial robot control apparatus including a programming unit and a robot control unit detachably coupled to said programming unit; the programming unit comprising an arithmetic processor, data inputting means for inputting data to said arithmetic processor, a temporary memory coupled to said arithmetic processor, and a second memory coupled to said arithmetic processor through said temporary memory for storing a plurality of operating programs; and said robot control unit comprising a program memory for receiving and storing programs transferred from said programming unit, and means for controlling the movement of said industrial robot in accordance with a selected program read out from said memory means, comprising the steps of: transferring position control data from a selected program from said second memory to said temporary member; inputting data representative of corrective values through said data inputting means; processing said data from said selected program and said data inputted through said data inputting means in said arithmetic processor to provide corrected program data; transmitting said corected program data from said arithmetic processor to said program memory of said robot control unit; receiving said and storing corrected program data in said program memory of said robot control unit; and operating said industrial robot in accordance with the corrected program data.

Claim 10

A method for controlling an industrial robot through an industrial robot -control apparatus including a programming unit and a robot control unit detachable connected to said programming unit; the programming unit comprising an arithmetic processor, a temporary memory coupled said arithmetic processor, a second memory capable of storing a plurality of operating programs coupled to said temporary memory, and display means for displaying data inputted through said inputting device and stored in said tempcrary memory; and said robot control unit comprising a program - memory for storing completed programs communicated to said robot control unit from said arithmetic processor,, and means for controlling movements of said industrial robot in accordance with a selected program read out from said program memory comprising the steps of: inputting data through said data inputting means for selecting a program stored in said second memory for causing said selected program to be read from said second memory into said temporary memory; displaying data identifying said selected. program on said displaying means; determining whether a positional direction or an offset is to be effected in said selected program; supplying one of an offset- indicating input and a correction input in accordance with the result of the step of determining whether a positional correct or an offset is to be made in Cartesian coordinate form and in the form of differences; changing numerical values in said selected program representing an operating pattern of said industrial robot in accordance with said data inputted into said temporary memory using said arithmetic processor; simultaneously, displaying data indicative of corrected positions on said display means; transferring a corrected program from said arithmetic processor to said robot control unit; and operating said industrial robot in accordance with said corrected program.

Claim 11

A method for controlling an industrial robot through an industrial robot -control apparatus including a programming unit and a robot control unit detachable connected to said programming unit; the programming unit comprising an arithmetic processor, a temporary memory coupled said arithmetic processor, a second memory capable of storing a plurality of operating programs coupled to said temporary memory, and display means for displaying data inputted through said inputting device and stored in said tempcrary memory; and said robot control unit comprising a program - memory for storing completed programs communicated to said robot control unit from said arithmetic processor,, and means for controlling movements of said industrial robot in accordance with a selected program read out from said program memory comprising the steps of: inputting data through said data inputting means for selecting a program stored in said second memory for causing said selected program to be read from said second memory into said temporary memory; displaying data identifying said selected. program on said displaying means; determining whether a positional direction or an offset is to be effected in said selected program; supplying one of an offset- indicating input and a correction input in accordance with the result of the step of determining whether a positional correct or an offset is to be made in Cartesian coordinate form and in the form of differences; changing numerical values in said selected program representing an operating pattern of said industrial robot in accordance with said data inputted into said temporary memory using said arithmetic processor; simultaneously, displaying data indicative of corrected positions on said display means; transferring a corrected program from said arithmetic processor to said robot control unit; and operating said industrial robot in accordance with said corrected program.