Programmable robot

A robot comprising:

• a robot arm;
• sensors to obtain data resulting from manual movement of the robot arm to points in a neighborhood of the robot in order to obtain the data from the sensors;
• memory storing computer code;
• and
• a control system to execute the computer code to control movements of the robot arm within the neighborhood of the robot and to obtain information based on the data from the sensors, the data corresponding to a geometrical feature in the neighborhood, the geometrical feature comprising a line, a plane, or a three-dimensional object;
• the computer code also being executable by the control system to perform operations comprising:
• storing, in the memory, the information representing the geometrical feature and a label identifying the geometrical feature;
• wherein the information representing the geometrical feature and the label are usable by the control system to control movement of a part of the robot along the geometrical feature, are usable by the robot to control movement of the part of the robot at points away from the geometrical feature, and are usable to implement the movement.

A method performed using a computing system for programming a robot using a geometrical feature in a neighborhood of the robot, the robot comprising a robot arm, the method comprising:

• manually positioning the robot arm in the neighborhood;
• using positions of the robot arm to obtain information representing the geometrical feature, the geometrical feature comprising a line, a plane, or a three-dimensional object, wherein obtaining the information comprises:
• obtaining data from sensors that are associated with least one of motors or joints of the robot arm, the data being based on points in the neighborhood, and
• using the data to obtain the information representing the geometrical feature;
• and
• storing, in computer memory, a label for the geometrical feature and the information representing the geometrical feature;
• wherein the information representing the geometrical feature together with the label are usable to enable movement of a part of the robot along the geometrical feature, and are usable to enable movement of a part of the robot at points away from the geometrical feature.

A method performed using a computing system to program a robot using a geometrical feature in a neighborhood of the robot, the method comprising:

• manually positioning the robot to points in the neighbored to obtain information representing the geometrical feature in the neighborhood, the geometrical feature comprising a line, a plane, or a three-dimensional object, wherein obtaining the information comprises:
• manually moving a part of the robot to the points in the neighborhood in order to obtain data based on the points, the data being obtained from sensors associated with at least one of motors or joints of the robot, and
• using the data to determine the information representing the geometrical feature;
• and
• storing, in a storage device, the information representing the geometrical feature and a label identifying the geometrical feature;
• wherein the information representing the geometrical feature and the label are usable by the robot to define movements of the part of the robot along multiple different paths, and are usable to implement the movements.

A robot comprising:

• a robot arm;
• sensors to obtain data resulting from manual movement of the robot arm to points in a neighborhood of the robot in order to obtain the data from the sensors;
• memory storing computer code;
• and
• a control system to execute the computer code to control movements of the robot arm within the neighborhood of the robot and to obtain information corresponding to a geometrical feature in the neighborhood based on the data from the sensors, the geometrical feature comprising a line, a plane, or a three-dimensional object;
• the computer code also being executable by the control system to perform operations comprising:
• storing, in the memory, the information representing the geometrical feature and a label identifying the geometrical feature;
• wherein the information representing the geometrical feature and the label are usable by the control system to control movements of a part of the robot along multiple different paths, and are usable to implement the movements.