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US 7,860,609 B2Granted
Robot multi-arm control system
AssigneeFanuc Robotics America, Inc.
InventorsAkihiro Yanagita, Jianming Tao, Tien L. Chang, Ho Cheung Wong, H. Dean McGee, Chi-Keng Tsai, Sai-Kai Cheng, Steven E. Nickel, Hadi Akeel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A robot multi-arm control system includes robot controllers that communicate via a network to transmit synchronization information from a master controller to one or more slave controllers in order to coordinate manufacturing processes. The system accounts for the network communication delay when synchronizing the event timing for process and motion synchronization.
Claims22
A system for motion synchronization and coordination of a family of robots including at least two robot arms comprising:
- a master robot arm connected to a master controller having a data area in which robot family information is stored;
- at least one slave robot arm connected to a slave controller having a data area in which said robot family information is stored;
- a network connection between said master controller and said at least one slave controller for transmitting signals;
- and
- a master program stored in said data area of said master controller and a slave program stored in said data area of said at least one slave controller, said master program and said slave program each containing program instructions to be executed for coordinated operations of said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm respectively, wherein said robot family information identifies said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm as members of a robot family for execution of each of the program instructions to perform the coordinated operations with motion synchronization, and wherein in response to a first said program instruction having a first motion duration to be performed by said master robot arm in motion synchronization with a second said program instruction having a second motion duration to be performed by said slave robot arm, said first and second motion durations being different, said master program changes a shorter one of said first and second motion durations to a longer one of said first and second motion durations whereby said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm start and stop motion according to said first and second program instructions with a common duration.
2 more elements
A method of controlling motion synchronization and coordination of a family of robots having at least one controller, at least two robot arms and associated control programs comprising the steps of:
- connecting a controller with a means for exchanging data;
- storing the associated control program having program instructions for each of the at least two robot arms in a data area in the controller;
- storing in the controller a plurality of guide rules that direct execution of the associated control programs;
- selecting a set of the guide rules from the plurality of guide rules according to the type of the associated control program;
- and
- executing the associated control programs according to the set of guide rules to generate data through the network connection to synchronize and coordinate motion of the at least two robot arms, wherein in response to a first one of the program instructions having a first motion duration to be performed by one of the at least two robot arms in motion synchronization with a second one of the program instructions having a second motion duration to be performed by another one of the at least two robot arms, the first and second motion durations being different, changing a shorter one of the first and second motion durations to a longer one of the first and second motion durations whereby the at least two robot arms start and stop motion according to the first and second program instructions with a common duration.
3 more elements
A system for motion synchronization and coordination of a family of robots including at least two robot arms comprising:
- a master robot arm connected to a master controller having a data area in which robot family information is stored;
- at least one slave robot arm connected to a slave controller having a data area in which said robot family information is stored;
- a network connection between said master controller and said at least one slave controller for transmitting signals;
- a master program stored in said data area of said master controller and a set of slave programs stored in said data area of said at least one slave controller, said master program and said set of slave programs each containing program instructions to be executed for coordinated operations of said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm respectively, and wherein said robot family information identifies said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm as members of a robot family for execution of each of the program instructions related to the coordinated operations;
- and
- a set of guide rules stored in at least one of said master controller and said slave controller, wherein said master controller and said slave controller execute said program instructions according to said set of guide rules, and wherein said master controller and said slave controller synchronize at least one of stopping of movement of said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm based upon a longer one of associated deceleration times according to said set of guide rules, resumption of movement of said master robot arm and said at least one robot arm after a stop based upon a common start time according to said set of guide rules, and single step operation of said master robot arm and said at least one slave robot arm with simultaneous pausing or stopping according to said set of guide rules.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.