Robot apparatus including gripper and control method thereof

A robot apparatus comprising:

• a robot arm comprising a plurality of joints;
• a gripper comprising a first driving motor, a first needle, and a second needle, wherein the first needle and the second needle are each connected to an end of the robot arm and are curved toward each other;
• an image sensor configured to obtain an image of a target contained in a container;
• memory storing at least one instruction and further storing information on a reference signal pattern corresponding to a target gripping process;
• and
• at least one processor configured to individually or collectively execute the at least one instruction,
• wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, causes the robot apparatus to:
• identify the target to be gripped based on the image,
• control the gripper to grip the identified target using the first needle and the second needle by controlling the first driving motor to cause the first needle and the second needle to move in a first direction from an inside of the gripper toward an outside of the gripper, and
• based on a change pattern of an electrical signal corresponding to a load applied to the first driving motor during the target gripping process not matching the reference signal pattern, control the gripper to grip the identified target again by controlling the first driving motor to cause the first needle and the second needle to move in a second direction from the outside of the gripper toward the inside of the gripper, and then controlling the first driving motor to cause the first needle and the second needle to move in the first direction from the inside of the gripper toward the outside of the gripper.

A method of controlling a robot apparatus including a gripper, the method comprising:

• identifying a target based on an image of the target;
• controlling a first needle included in the gripper and a second needle included in the gripper to grip the identified target;
• identifying a change pattern of an electrical signal corresponding to a load applied to a driving motor of the gripper during the driving of the first needle and the second needle, wherein the driving motor drives the first needle and the second needle;
• and
• based on a previously stored reference signal pattern and the identified change pattern of the electrical signal not matching, controlling the first needle and the second needle to grip the target again.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by at least one processor individually or collective, cause the at least one processor individually or collectively to execute a method of controlling a robot apparatus including a gripper, the method comprising:

• identifying a target based on an image of the target;
• controlling a first needle included in the gripper and a second needle included in the gripper to grip the identified target;
• identifying a change pattern of an electrical signal corresponding to a load applied to a driving motor of the gripper during the driving of the first needle and the second needle, wherein the driving motor drives the first needle and the second needle;
• and
• based on a previously stored reference signal pattern and the identified change pattern of the electrical signal not matching, controlling the first needle and the second needle to grip the target again.