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US 10,065,316 B2Granted
Systems and methods for safe robot operation
AssigneeRethink Robotics, Inc.
InventorsMichael Sussman, Michael Guay, Anthony Robson, James Sirois
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In various embodiments, safe robot operation is achieved by combining commercial, off-the-shelf, safety-rated components with the inherent safety-design mechanism of the robot to provide various allowable power levels to robotic actuators and thereby limit the forces and/or speeds generated by robotic appendages driven by the actuators.
Claims9
A robot comprising:
- a body and, attached thereto, at least one appendage movable with respect thereto;
- at least one actuator driving the at least one appendage;
- power circuitry for supplying power to the at least one actuator;
- a safety system configured to (i) receive a safety condition associated with the at least one appendage and (ii) based at least in part thereon, determine an allowable power level of the at least one actuator, the allowable power level being sufficient to operate the at least one actuator but limiting an operating speed thereof;
- a control unit configured to regulate the power circuitry based on the determined allowable power level;
- and
- a feedback system for (i) monitoring an actual operating power of the at least one actuator, (ii) determining (a) if the actual operating power exceeds the allowable power level and (b) if the actual operating power does not reach the allowable power level on a steady-state basis within a predetermined time interval, and (iii) causing the safety system to disable operation of the robot when (a) or (b) is determined to occur.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.