Control system of multi-joint arm robot apparatus

Claim 2

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (11) having a plurality of unit arms (12 1 to 12 n ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (13 1 to 13 ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (91 1 to 91 n ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (92 1 to 92 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (16) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm (11), said movable support having second motor means (94) for moving said movable support so as to move said multi-joint arm, and second detecting means (95) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: storage means (99) for storing joint angle data of said joints (13 1 to 13 ) by which said joints are located on a path of said multi-joint arm (11) when said movable support (16) is moved a unit distance; and means (96, 97) responsive to the joint angle data read out of said storage means (99) for controlling the joint angles of said joints each time said movable support (16) is moved the unit distance.

Claim 3

A system according to claim 1, characterized in that the joint angle data is read out from said storage means (99) during backward movement of said multi-joint arm, in an order opposite to that of the forward movement.

Claim 4

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (11) having a plurality of unit arms (12 1 to 12 n ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (13 1 to 13 n ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (91 1 to 91 n ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (92 1 to 92 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (16) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm (11), said movable support having second motor means (94) for moving said movable support so as to move said multi-joint arm, and second detecting means (95) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: means (14, 15, 20, 22, 98) for measuring the direction and distance in and by which said multi-joint arm (11) to be moved; data processing means (96, 99) for calculating a path equation of said multi-joint arm (11) in accordance with the measured direction and distance data, and such a joint angle of each of said joints that said joints are put into the path represented by the path equation when said movable support is moved a unit distance; and means (97) responsive to said data processing means for driving said second motor means (94) to move said movable support (16) the unit distance, and said first motor means (91 1 to 91 n ) of said multi-joint arm (11) is such a way that said joints (13 1 to 13 n ) are set to the joint angles calculated by said data processing means.

Claim 5

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (11) having a plurality of unit arms (12 1 to 12 n ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (13 1 to 13 n ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (91 1 to 91 n ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (92 1 to 92 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (16) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm (11), said movable support having second motor means (94) for moving said movable support so as to move said multi-joint arm, and second detecting means (95) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: means (14, 15, 20, 22, 98) for measuring the direction and distance in and by which said multi-joint arm (11) to be moved; data processing means (96, 99) for calculating a path equation of said multi-joint arm (11) in accordance with the measured direction and distance data, and such a joint angle of each of said joints that said joints are put into the path represented by the path equation when said movable support is moved a unit distance; and means (97) responsive to said data processing means for driving said second motor means (94) to move said movable support (16) the unit distance, and said first motor means (91 1 to 91 n ) of said multi-joint arm (11) is such a way that said joints (13 1 to 13 n ) are set to the joint angles calculated by said data processing means.

Claim 6

A system according to claim 3, characterized in that said means for measuring the direction and distance comprises: a television camera (14) mounted on the leading end of said multi-joint arm (11), and a range finder (15) for providing distance data; a monitor receiver (22) connected to said television camera (14); and means (98, 20) connected to said monitor receiver (22) for specifying the direction in which the leading end of said multi-joint arm (11) to be moved on the screen of said monitor receiver (22).

Claim 7

A system according to claim 3, characterized in that said means for measuring the direction and distance comprises: a stereoscopic television camera mounted on the leading end of said multi-joint arm; stereoscopic display means connected to said stereoscopic television camera; and means connected to said stereoscopic display means for specifying the direction in which said multi-joint arm to be moved on the screen of said stereoscopic display means, and measuring the distance to a target spot in the specified direction.

Claim 8

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (11) having a plurality of unit arms (12 1 to 12 ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (13 1 to 13 n ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (91 1 to 91 ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (92 1 to 92 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (16) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm (11), said movable support having second motor means (94) for moving said movable support (16) so as to move said multi-joint arm (11), and second detecting means (95) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: data processing means responsive to coordinate data of a plurality of points (19, 96, 99) on a path (C) of said multi-joint arm (11) which is determined in advance, for calculating a path equation indicating the path, and such a joint angle each of said joints that said joints (13 1 to 13 n ) are put into the path (C) when said movable support (16) is moved a unit distance, and for storing calculated path and joint angle data; and motor driving means (97) responsive to output data from said data processing means for driving said second motor means (94) to move said movable support by the unit distance and said first motor means of said multi-joint arm (11) in such a way that said joints are set to the joint angles calculated by said data processing means.

Claim 9

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (11) having a plurality of unit arms (12 1 to 12 ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (13 1 to 13 n ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (91 1 to 91 ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (92 1 to 92 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (16) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm (11), said movable support having second motor means (94) for moving said movable support (16) so as to move said multi-joint arm (11), and second detecting means (95) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: data processing means responsive to coordinate data of a plurality of points (19, 96, 99) on a path (C) of said multi-joint arm (11) which is determined in advance, for calculating a path equation indicating the path, and such a joint angle each of said joints that said joints (13 1 to 13 n ) are put into the path (C) when said movable support (16) is moved a unit distance, and for storing calculated path and joint angle data; and motor driving means (97) responsive to output data from said data processing means for driving said second motor means (94) to move said movable support by the unit distance and said first motor means of said multi-joint arm (11) in such a way that said joints are set to the joint angles calculated by said data processing means.

Claim 10

A system according to claim 6, characterized in that each unit arm of said multi-joint arm (11) comprises contact sensor means (80) for detecting the contact of said multi-joint arm with an obstacle to generate a contact signal; and said data processing means (19, 96, 99) calculates path equations for a plurality of paths determined in advance, and joint angles of said joints for said plurality of paths (C, C', C"), respectively, and is responsive to the contact signal from said contact sensor means to apply to said motor driving means (97) data on a different path from the path along which said multi-joint arm (11) has been moved thereby transferring the path of said multi-joint arm to the different one.

Claim 11

A system according to claim 6, characterized in that each unit arm of said multi-joint arm (11) comprises contact sensor means (80) for detecting the contact of said multi-joint arm with an obstacle to generate a contact signal; and said data processing means (19, 96, 99) is responsive to application of new data on coordinates of points (P' 2 , P' 3' P' 4 ) on a different path from the path along which said multi-joint arm (11) has been moved to cause said motor driving means (97) to correct the path of said multi-joint arm, when said multi-joint arm (11) contacts the obstacle.

Claim 12

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (111) having a plurality of unit arms (112 1 to 112 n+1 ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (113 1 to 113 n ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (118 1 to 118 n ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (124 1 to 124 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (117) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm, said movable support having second motor means (119) for moving said movable support so as to move said multi-joint arm (111), and second detecting means (125) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: first distance measuring means (115) for measuring the distance to a front obstacle with respect to the leading unit arm of said multi-joint arm (111), and second distance measuring means (116) for measuring distances to obstacles in a plurality of side directions; and controlling means (120, 121, 123, 126) responsive to distance data from said first and second distance measuring means for moving said movable support (117) a unit distance to move the leading end of said multi-joint arm (111) in an advancable direction, and controlling the joint angles of said joints (113 1 to 113 n ).

Claim 13

In a control system for a multi-joint arm robot apparatus including a multi-joint arm (111) having a plurality of unit arms (112 1 to 112 n+1 ) coupled in tandem with each other through joints (113 1 to 113 n ), said multi-joint arm having first motor means (118 1 to 118 n ) for controlling the joint angle of each of said joints, and first detecting means (124 1 to 124 n ) for detecting the joint angle of each of said joints in accordance with the rotation angle of said first motor means; and a movable support (117) for supporting a proximal portion of said multi-joint arm, said movable support having second motor means (119) for moving said movable support so as to move said multi-joint arm (111), and second detecting means (125) for detecting the rotation angle of said second motor means; said control system comprises: first distance measuring means (115) for measuring the distance to a front obstacle with respect to the leading unit arm of said multi-joint arm (111), and second distance measuring means (116) for measuring distances to obstacles in a plurality of side directions; and controlling means (120, 121, 123, 126) responsive to distance data from said first and second distance measuring means for moving said movable support (117) a unit distance to move the leading end of said multi-joint arm (111) in an advancable direction, and controlling the joint angles of said joints (113 1 to 113 n ).

Claim 14

A system according to claim 9, characterized in that said controlling means has storage means (123) for storing data on the joint angle of the leading joint of said joints, each time said movable support (117) is moved the unit distance, and controls said joints in such a way that the joint angle of each- joint is set to the joint angle of the predecessor joint, each time said movable support is moved the unit distance.

Claim 15

A system according to claim 3 or 6, characterized in that said multi-joint arm comprises contact sensor means (80, 93 1 to 93 n ) for detecting which unit arm is in contact with the obstacle to generate a contact signal; and data processing means is responsive to the contact signal to cause said motor driving means (97) to rotate the rearward joint of a contacting unit arm of said multi-joint arm until the contact signal disappears, and then rotate the forward joint of said contacting unit arm in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of said rearward joint through approximately the same amount.