Industrial Robot And A Method For Adjusting A Robot Program

A computer program product directly loadable into the internal memory of a computer, comprising software for performing a method for adjusting a program including program instructions for controlling an industrial robot to carry out work at a plurality of target points on a work object, the robot comprising:

• a tool having two arms adapted to clamp the work object and at least one of the arms is arranged movable relative the other arm in an opening and a closing direction,
• a manipulator movable about a plurality of axes and adapted to hold the tool or the work object, and
• a controller controlling the movements of the manipulator and the movements of the tool arm and configured to switch between a normal control mode and a compliant control mode in which the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in at least one Cartesian direction, characterized in that the method comprises:
• moving the manipulator and the tool according to the program instructions until one of the target points is reached,
• switching the controller to the compliant control mode so that the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in said opening and closing direction of the tool,
• moving the tool arm in the closing direction until the work object is clamped between the tool arms, by that moving the manipulator to the correct position in relation to the work object, and
• storing the positions of the axes of the manipulator and the position of the tool when the work object is clamped between the tool arms, and adjusting the program instructions for the movements of the manipulator and the tool at the target point based on the stored positions.

A computer-readable medium, having a program recorded thereon, where the program is to make a computer perform, when said program is run on the computer, a method for adjusting a program including program instructions for controlling an industrial robot to carry out work at a plurality of target points on a work object, the robot comprising:

• a tool having two arms adapted to clamp the work object and at least one of the arms is arranged movable relative the other arm in an opening and a closing direction,
• a manipulator movable about a plurality of axes and adapted to hold the tool or the work object, and
• a controller controlling the movements of the manipulator and the movements of the tool arm and configured to switch between a normal control mode and a compliant control mode in which the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in at least one Cartesian direction, characterized in that the method comprises:
• moving the manipulator and the tool according to the program instructions until one of the target points is reached,
• switching the controller to the compliant control mode so that the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in said opening and closing direction of the tool,
• moving the tool arm in the closing direction until the work object is clamped between the tool arms, by that moving the manipulator to the correct position in relation to the work object, and
• storing the positions of the axes of the manipulator and the position of the tool when the work object is clamped between the tool arms, and adjusting the program instructions for the movements of the manipulator and the tool at the target point based on the stored positions.

A method for programming a welding application by adjusting a program including program instructions for controlling an industrial robot to carry out work at a plurality of target points on a work object, the robot comprising:

• a tool having two arms adapted to clamp the work object and at least one of the arms is arranged movable relative the other arm in an opening and a closing direction,
• a manipulator movable about a plurality of axes and adapted to hold the tool or the work object, and
• a controller controlling the movements of the manipulator and the movements of the tool arm and configured to switch between a normal control mode and a compliant control mode in which the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in at least one Cartesian direction, characterized in that the method comprises:
• moving the manipulator and the tool according to the program instructions until one of the target points is reached,
• switching the controller to the compliant control mode so that the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in said opening and closing direction of the tool,
• moving the tool arm in the closing direction until the work object is clamped between the tool arms, by that moving the manipulator to the correct position in relation to the work object, and
• storing the positions of the axes of the manipulator and the position of the tool when the work object is clamped between the tool arms, and adjusting the program instructions for the movements of the manipulator and the tool at the target point based on the stored positions.

An industrial robot comprising:

• a tool having two arms adapted to clamp a work object and at least one of the arms is arranged movable relative the other arm in an opening and a closing direction,
• a manipulator movable about a plurality of axes and adapted to hold the tool or the work object, and
• a controller controlling the movements of the manipulator and the movements of the tool arm and configured to switch between a normal control mode and a compliant control mode in which the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in at least one Cartesian direction, and the controller is configured to receive a program including program instructions for controlling the robot to carry out work at a plurality of target points on a work object, wherein the robot comprises means for manually stepping through the program and running the instructions in the program one by one thereby causing the manipulator and the tool to move according to the program instructions, characterized in that the robot further comprises a target adjusting module for automatically adjusting the positions of the targets points and the target adjusting module is configured to upon activation switch the controller to the compliant control mode so that the manipulator has a reduced stiffness in said opening and closing direction of the tool, to move the tool arm in the closing direction until the work object is clamped between the tool arms, by that moving the manipulator to the correct position in relation to the work object, and to store the positions of the axes of the manipulator and the position of the tool when the work object is clamped between the tool arms, and to adjust the program instructions for the movements of the manipulator and the tool based on the stored positions.