Robotic system

A system for controlling a plurality of robots comprising:

• a work space;
• holder means arranged in close proximity to the work space for holding at least two elements, said elements including means for releasable coupling to a robot;
• means for storing data representing the work locations and the characteristics and location of said robots and said element;
• and
• selection means responsive to a job request for selecting from said data storing means the robot and an element to be releasably coupled thereto, said selection means including means for determining the distances between the robots and elements and means for selecting the robot and element to be coupled which will require the least travel time for moving the selected robot to the selected element and including means for controlling the selected robot and element to perform the requested job.

A method for operating a plurality of resources including robots selectively interconnectable with elements for respectively grasping and releasing items, and performing operations on items;

• feeders for feeding items;
• and including means for moving the robots over work stations;
• memory means for storing spatial information and characteristics of said robots, elements, feeders and items, said method including the steps of:
• examining the stored spatial information and characteristics for the resources to be interconnected responsive to a request indicating the type of job to be performed;
• creating perimeter portions of a path proposed for moving each robot to the elements and feeders;
• storing the path data of the proposed path in the memory means for each robot;
• and
• moving the robots along the associated stored paths.

A method for operating a plurality of resource including robots selectively interconnectable with elements for respectively grasping and releasing items for placement on a work surface including the sr of:

• generating a proposed path of movement for a robot which path comprises points identifying the perimeter of the area enclosed by said path;
• comparing perimeter portions of said proposed path with perimeter portions of other areas within the total area of movement of the robots which areas define the perimeters of objects and the perimeters of a path within which such objects are moved;
• and
• moving the robot along the proposed path in the event that none of the perimeter portions of the proposed path intersect with any of the perimeter portions of the occupied areas.

A method for performing operations at a work station by controlling two or more robots to perform said work substantially simultaneously wherein said work station is provided with a group of movable robots and a group of manipulators releasably attachable with said robots and arranged at predetermined locations accessible by said robots, said method comprising the steps of:

• selecting one of the robots and one of the manipulators from the group of robots and the group of manipulators responsive to a work request whereby the robot and manipulator selected are separated by the shortest distance relative to the other available robots and manipulators;
• creating a first proposed path of movement of the selected robot to the selected manipulator;
• comparing the first proposed path with previously selected paths for moving other robots and with regions occupied by objects within the range of movement of said robots;
• and
• moving the selected robot to the selected manipulator in the event that no collisions are indicated as a result of the comparison step.

A system for simultaneously performing a plurality of functions comprising:

• a work surface having a plurality of sites for supporting work pieces;
• a plurality of robots each being movable in mutually perpendicular directions along a common surface position adjacent to said work surface;
• a plurality of tool cribs positioned adjacent said work surface, each crib including means for positioning and supporting a plurality of tools for performing a variety of different work activities;
• storage means for storing data identifying all of the robots and tools including the characteristics and work capabilities of each;
• means responsive to a work request for searching said storage means to locate robots and tools which are capable of being combined and which are further capable of performing the desired work activity;
• and
• means for allocating the selected components to prevent their subsequent selection upon the occurrence of a subsequent work request.

A system for simultaneously performing a plurality of functions comprising:

• a work surface having a plurality of sites for supporting work pieces;
• a plurality of robots each being movable in mutually perpendicular directions along the common surface position adjacent to said work surface;
• a plurality of feeder stations for dispensing items at outfeed locations accessible to said robots;
• said robots including means for picking up an item from a feeder station and for releasing said item upon demand;
• means for controlling movement of said robots including means for selecting movement paths to avoid collisions between and among said robots;
• said path moving and selection means including means for generating positions along said path which constitute safe points;
• means responsive to a work request for generating equations representing a region through which a robot must move to perform a work function;
• means for determining if said equations intersects with previously stored equations representing presently occupied regions within the work surface;
• and
• means responsive to the presence of an intersection to permit movement of the robot to said safe point.

A method for producing robotic devices each comprised of a plurality of interconnectable elements which may be assembled by a microprocessor-based operating system including memory means, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) requesting the introduction of data associated with each of said elements including spatial data representing locations of connections and operating devices, physical data such as size, weight, operating speed and the like and logical data such as operating and control signals and the like;
• (b) supplying the data requested in step (a);
• (c) requesting the description of compounds which are composed of a plurality of interconnectable elements and the elements which may be used to create a compound when the data requested in step (a) has been supplied in step (b);
• (d) supplying the data requested in step (c);
• (e) requesting the description of the positional data identifying the locations of the product to be worked on by the compounds defined hereinabove when the data requested in step (c) has bee supplied in step (d);
• (f) requesting data representing the jobs to be performed on the product when the data requested in step (e) has been supplied in step (f);
• and
• (g) employing the data supplied during steps (b), (d) and (f) to allocate elements to a compound and the N assembling the allocated elements upon receipt of a first job request.