Interface for robot motion control

A system for controlling a robot, comprising:

• means for receiving, from a robot controller software module, a robot-independent software command that is independent of the robot's hardware capabilities, wherein the robot-independent software command includes an absolute starting time that indicates when to execute the robot-independent software command based on a clock;
• means for determining a first configurable time period based on the absolute starting time;
• means for waiting for the first configurable time period to elapse;
• means for determining, after the first configurable time period has elapsed, a robot-dependent software command that is not independent of the robot's hardware capabilities based on the robot-independent software command;
• means for sending, to a robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command;
• means for receiving, from the robot driver software module, a first reply;
• means for waiting for a second configurable time period to elapse;
• means for determining, after the second configurable time period has elapsed, a second reply based on the first reply;
• and
• means for sending, to the robot controller software module, the second reply.

A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and including instructions that, when loaded into memory, cause a processor to perform a set of operations for controlling a robot, the set of operations comprising:

• receiving, from a robot controller software module, a robot-independent software command that is independent of the robot's hardware capabilities, wherein the robot-independent software command includes an absolute starting time that indicates when to execute the robot-independent software command based on a clock;
• determining a first configurable time period based on the absolute starting time;
• waiting for the first configurable time period to elapse;
• determining, after the first configurable time period has elapsed, a robot-dependent software command that is not independent of the robot's hardware capabilities based on the robot-independent software command;
• sending, to a robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command;
• receiving, from the robot driver software module, a first reply;
• waiting for a second configurable time period to elapse;
• determining, after the second configurable time period has elapsed, a second reply based on the first reply;
• and
• sending, to the robot controller software module, the second reply.