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US 11,453,122 B2Granted
Collaborative robot system
AssigneeBAE SYSTEMS plc
InventorsMartin Knott, Daniel James Middleton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for robot and human collaboration. The system comprises: a multi-axis robot; one or more torque sensors, each torque sensor being configured to measure a torque about a respective axis of the multi-axis robot; and a controller configured to: receive one or more torque measurements taken by the one or more torque sensors; compare the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements to a threshold value; and control the multi-axis robot based on the comparison.
Claims20
A system for robot and human collaboration, the system comprising:
- a multi-axis robot;
- one or more torque sensors, each torque sensor being configured to measure a torque about a respective axis of the multi-axis robot;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine that the multi-axis robot cannot achieve a predetermined task without the one or more torque measurements or the function of the one or more torque measurements exceeding a threshold value;
- responsive to the determination, iteratively:
- increase the threshold value by a predetermined amount;
- and
- determine whether the multi-axis robot is able achieve the predetermined task without the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements exceeding the increased threshold value, wherein
- the iteration is performed until the controller determines that the multi-axis robot can achieve the predetermined task without the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements exceeding the current threshold value;
- and
- thereafter, control the multi-axis robot based on the current threshold value
- receive one or more torque measurements taken by the one or more torque sensors;
- compare the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements to the current threshold value;
- responsive to determining that the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements is below the current threshold value, control the multi-axis robot so as to cause the one or more torque measurements or the function of the one or more torque measurements to increase to a higher value, the higher value being below the current threshold value, wherein controlling the multi-axis robot comprises at least one of increasing a speed of movement of the multi-axis robot and adjusting a path for the multi-axis robot;
- and
- responsive to determining that the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements is above the current threshold value, decrease a speed of movement of the multi-axis robot.
14 more elements
The system according to 9, wherein the controller is configured to, using the received one or more sensor measurements, determine one or more parameters of the object selected from the group of parameters consisting of mass, shape, size, weight, texture, stiffness, centre of mass, coefficient of friction, thermal conductivity, and heat signature.
A method for operating a multi-axis robot in a workspace shared by the multi-axis robot and a human, the method comprising:
- determining, by a controller, that the multi-axis robot cannot achieve a predetermined task without the one or more torque measurements or the function of one or more torque measurements exceeding a threshold value;
- and
- responsive to the determination, iteratively:
- increasing the threshold value by a predetermined amount;
- and
- determining whether the multi-axis robot is able achieve the predetermined task without the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements exceeding the increased threshold value,
- wherein the iteration is performed until the controller determines that the multi-axis robot can achieve the predetermined task without the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements exceeding the current threshold value;
- and
- thereafter, controlling the multi-axis robot based on the current threshold value
- measuring, by one or more torque sensors, a torque about one or more axes of the multi-axis robot;
- receiving, by the controller, the one or more torque measurements taken by the one or more torque sensors;
- comparing, by the controller, the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements to the current threshold value;
- and either:
- if the controller determines that the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements is below the current threshold value, controlling, by the controller, the multi-axis robot so as to cause the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements to increase to a higher value, the higher value being below the current threshold value, wherein controlling the multi-axis robot comprises at least one of increasing a speed of movement of the multi-axis robot and adjusting a path for the multi-axis robot;
- or
- if the controller determines that the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements is above the current threshold value, decreasing, by the controller, a speed of the multi-axis robot.
13 more elements
A system for robot and human collaboration, the system comprising:
- a multi-axis robot comprising an end effector for performing an action on an object;
- one or more torque sensors, each torque sensor being configured to measure a torque about a respective axis of the multi-axis robot;
- one or more sensors configured to measure one or more physical properties of an object being acted on by or proximate to the end effector;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- receive one or more torque measurements taken by the one or more torque sensors;
- compare the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements to a threshold value;
- responsive to determining that the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements is below the threshold value, control the multi-axis robot so as to cause the one or more torque measurements or the function of the one or more torque measurements to increase to a higher value, the higher value being below the threshold value, wherein controlling the multi-axis robot comprises at least one of increasing a speed of movement of the multi-axis robot and adjusting a path for the multi-axis robot;
- and
- responsive to determining that the one or more torque measurements or a function of the one or more torque measurements is above the threshold value, decrease a speed of movement of the multi-axis robot,
- receive one or more sensor measurements taken by the one or more sensors;
- and
- responsive to determining that the object being acted on by or proximate to the end effector is not an expected object, control the multi-axis robot based on the determination,
- wherein options for controlling the multi-axis robot based on the determination of the object being acted on by or proximate the end effector comprise controlling the multi-axis robot to stop moving according to a predetermined stop method and/or controlling the end effector to release the object.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.