In-network control of actuators for robotic arms
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
InventorsCsaba Györgyi, Gergely Pongrácz, Geza Szabo, Sándor Laki
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A packet forwarding circuit (18), such as a programmable switch or router, for example, is disposed between a control server (14) and one or more actuators (17) associated with a robotic arm (16), for example. The packet forwarding circuit is configured to perform real-time velocity control of the one or more actuators in addition to other functionalities that it normally performs, such as routing, packet forwarding, and firewall protection.
Claims18
A method, implemented by a packet forwarding circuit disposed between a control server and an actuator, for controlling the actuator, the method comprising:
- receiving, from the control server, trajectory information for controlling the actuator, wherein the trajectory information defines a sequence of target points along a trajectory to be followed by the actuator;
- receiving, from the actuator, a status message comprising status information about the actuator;
- generating a command message to control the actuator based on the status information and the received trajectory information, wherein the status message comprises a status message header and the command message a command message header, and wherein generating the command message comprises converting the status message by:
- removing the status message header from the status message;
- modifying a destination address of the status message to be an address of the actuator;
- adding the command message header to the command message;
- and
- initializing the command message header;
- and
- sending the command message to the actuator.
A packet forwarding circuit disposed between a control server and one or more actuators, the packet forwarding circuit comprising:
- communications circuitry configured to communicate with both the control server and the one or more actuators;
- and
- processing circuitry operatively connected to the communications circuitry and configured to:
- receive, from the control server, trajectory information for controlling an actuator, wherein the trajectory information defines a sequence of target points along a trajectory to be followed by the actuator;
- receive, from the actuator, a status message comprising status information about the actuator;
- generate a command message to control the actuator based on the status information and the received trajectory information, wherein the status message comprises a status message header and the command message comprises a command message header, and
- wherein to generate the command message, the processing circuitry converts the status message by:
- removing the status message header from the status message;
- modifying a destination address of the status message to be an address of the actuator;
- adding the command message header to the command message;
- and
- initializing the command message header;
- and
- send the command message to the actuator.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program thereon, the computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a packet forwarding circuit disposed between a control server and one or more actuators, causes the packet forwarding circuit to:
- receive, from the control server, trajectory information for controlling an actuator, wherein the trajectory information defines a sequence of target points along a trajectory to be followed by the actuator;
- receive, from the actuator, a status message comprising status information about the actuator;
- generate a command message to control the actuator based on the status information and the received trajectory information, wherein the status message comprises a status message header and the command message comprises a command message header, and wherein to generate the command message, the packet forwarding circuit converts the status message by:
- removing the status message header from the status message;
- modifying a destination address of the status message to be an address of the actuator;
- adding the command message header to the command message;
- and
- initializing the command message header;
- and
- send the command message to the actuator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.