Method for operating a modular robot, controller and modular robot

A method for operating a modular robot, the modular robot comprising:

• a robot base,
• at least a robot arm arranged on the robot base, and
• a controller,
• wherein the controller, the robot base and the arm modules forming the robot arm are connected to one another via a field bus and data are exchanged between the arm modules, the robot base and the controller via the field bus,
• wherein a data telegram is sent out by the controller and the field bus sends the data telegram through all arm modules via a ring line and subsequently the data telegram returns to the controller, and
• wherein each arm module is a bus subscriber and comprises a switch-on unit for the field bus;
• the method comprising the controller carrying out the following steps:
• receiving allocation information from each of the arm modules in an allocation determining step, wherein each switch-on unit writes the allocation information into the data telegram, wherein the allocation information of each arm module includes a unique allocation number;
• determining arm module base data based on the allocation information for each arm module in an arm module base data determining step, wherein the arm module base data include at least kinematic data;
• creating a configuration of the modular robot from the allocation information and the arm module base data of the individual arm modules in a configurating step, wherein on the basis of the order of the allocation information of the arm modules, a mechanical structure of the robot arm is determined in the data telegram of the field bus;
• and
• controlling the robot arm on the basis of the configuration.

A controller for operating a modular robot, the modular robot comprising:

• a robot base, and
• at least a robot arm arranged on the robot base,
• wherein a controller, the robot base and arm modules forming the robot arm are connected to one another via a field bus and data are exchanged between the arm modules, the robot base and the controller via the field bus,
• wherein a data telegram is sent out by the controller and the field bus sends the data telegram through all the arm modules via a ring line and subsequently the data telegram returns to the controller,
• wherein each arm module is a bus subscriber and comprises a switch-on unit for the field bus,
• wherein the controller receives allocation information from each of the arm modules in an allocation determining step, wherein each switch-on unit writes the allocation information into the data telegram, wherein the allocation information of each arm module includes a unique allocation number,
• wherein the controller determines arm module base data based on the allocation information for each arm module in an arm module base data determining step,
• wherein the arm module base data include at least kinematic data,
• wherein the controller creates a configuration of the modular robot from the allocation information and the arm module base data of the individual arm modules in a configurating step,
• wherein on the basis of the order of the allocation information of the arm modules, a mechanical structure of the robot arm is determined in the data telegram of the field bus, and
• wherein the controller controls the robot arm on the basis of the configuration.