# US 8,185,243 B2 · Robot, control device for robot arm and control program for robot arm > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,185,243 B2 - Document ID: US8185243B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/109,326 - Filed: 2011-05-17 - Published: 2011-09-08 - Granted: 2012-05-22 - Earliest claimed: 2009-07-02 - Assignees: Panasonic Corporation - Inventors: Yasunao Okazaki - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8185243B2 ## CPC - B25J 9/1075: {with muscles or tendons} - B25J 9/142: {comprising inflatable bodies} - B25J 9/1612: {characterised by the hand, wrist, grip control} - B25J 9/1633: {compliant, force, torque control, e.g. combined with position control} - B25J 15/0095: {with an external support, i.e. a support which does not belong to the manipulator or the object to be gripped, e.g. for maintaining the gripping head in an accurate position, guiding it or preventing vibrations} - G05B 2219/39462: Pneumatic actuator, imitates human muscle - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) ## Abstract A robot arm, which is driven by an elastic body actuator and has a plurality of joints, is provided with an arm-end supporting member that supports the robot arm when made in contact with a supporting surface that is placed on an arm-end portion of the robot arm and a control unit that controls a force by which the arm-end supporting member and the supporting surface are made in contact with each other, and further controls a position and orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A robot comprising: a robot arm that is driven by an elastic body actuator and has a plurality of joints; an arm-end supporting member that is placed near a wrist portion of the robot arm on a base side from the wrist portion, and supports the arm-end portion of the robot arm by making in contact with a supporting surface of the robot arm; and a control unit that controls a position and an orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm and controls a force by which the arm-end supporting member and the supporting surface are made in contact with each other, wherein the control unit (i) controls the force in a manner so as to press the arm-end supporting member onto the supporting surface to stop the position of the arm-end portion of the robot arm, and then controls the orientation of the arm-end portion, and (ii) carries out a force control by using a pressing force that is smaller than the force controlled upon moving the orientation of the arm-end portion so that the position of the arm-end portion is shifted. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein the arm-end supporting member has at least two supporting legs that are expandable, and by controlling lengths of the at least two expandable supporting legs, the orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm is controlled. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein the arm-end supporting member is formed by an elastic sucker capable of being sucked or suction-released to and from the supporting surface by an air pressure, with friction between the sucker and the supporting surface being controllable. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein the arm-end supporting member is formed by an electromagnet capable of being sucked or suction-released to and from the supporting surface by a magnetic force, with friction between the electromagnet and the supporting surface being controlled. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein the arm-end supporting member is formed by a ball caster with a brake, with friction between the ball caster and the supporting surface being controlled. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein the arm-end supporting member is formed by a wheel with a brake, with friction between the wheel and the supporting surface being controlled separately depending on directions. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot arm has three or more joints, and the arm-end supporting member is placed to a link of a second joint or thereafter from a fixed portion of the robot arm. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The robot according to claim 7, wherein the robot arm is further provided with a joint on an arm-end side from a position at which the arm-end supporting member is placed, with the joint having a degree of freedom that determines the orientation of the arm-end portion. ### Claim 9 A robot comprising: a robot arm that is driven by an elastic body actuator and has a plurality of joints; an arm-end supporting member that is placed near a wrist portion of the robot arm on a base side from the wrist portion, and supports the arm-end portion of the robot arm by making in contact with a supporting surface of the robot arm; and a control unit that controls a force by which the arm-end supporting member and the supporting surface are made in contact with each other, and further controls a position and an orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm, wherein the control unit controls to decelerate an arm-end velocity of the robot arm by utilizing friction generated by the contact between the arm-end supporting member and the supporting surface. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein, after supporting the arm-end portion of the robot arm by making the arm-end supporting member in contact with the supporting surface of the robot arm, the control unit controls the position and the orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm. ### Claim 11 A control device for a robot arm, which controls a robot arm that is driven by an elastic body actuator and has a plurality of joints, by making an arm-end supporting member that is placed near a wrist portion of the robot arm on a base side from the wrist portion in contact with a supporting surface so that the arm-end portion of the robot arm is supported, wherein the control device controls a position and an orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm and controls a force by which the arm-end supporting member and the supporting surface are made in contact with each other, (i) controls the force in a manner so as to press the arm-end supporting member onto the supporting surface to stop the position of the arm-end portion of the robot arm, and then controls the orientation of the arm-end portion, and (ii) carries out a force control by using a pressing force that is smaller than the force controlled upon moving the orientation of the arm-end portion so that the position of the arm-end portion is shifted. ### Claim 12 A control program for a robot arm, which controls a robot arm that is driven by an elastic body actuator and has a plurality of joints, by making an arm-end supporting member that is placed near a wrist portion of the robot arm on a base side from the wrist portion in contact with a supporting surface so that the arm-end portion of the robot arm is supported, the control program causing a computer to: controlling a position and an orientation of the arm-end portion of the robot arm, and controlling a force by which the arm-end supporting member and the supporting surface are made in contact with each other, (i) controlling the force in a manner so as to press the arm-end supporting member onto the supporting surface to stop the position of the arm-end portion of the robot arm, and then controlling the orientation of the arm-end portion, and (ii) carrying out a force control by using a pressing force that is smaller than the force controlled upon moving the orientation of the arm-end portion so that the position of the arm-end portion is shifted. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, further comprising: a desired trajectory generation unit that generates information relating to a position and an orientation of the arm-end portion for use in giving a control command relating to the position and the orientation of the arm-end portion to the control unit, wherein the desired trajectory generation unit determines whether or not the orientation of the arm-end portion thus generated is located within a predetermined movable range, and gives a command for controlling the orientation of the arm-end portion to the control unit when the orientation of the arm-end portion thus generated is located within the predetermined movable range, and gives a command for controlling the position of the arm-end portion to the control unit when the orientation of the arm-end portion thus generated is located out of the predetermined movable range. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The robot according to claim 1, wherein, when the position of the arm-end portion of the robot arm is stopped and the orientation of the arm-end portion is moved, a force-controlling motion is carried out so as to press the arm-end supporting member onto the supporting surface, and a position controlling gain of the arm-end position in a case of moving the orientation of the arm-end portion is made lower than a position controlling gain of the arm-end position in a case other than the case of moving the orientation of the arm-end portion so that position controlling rigidity is lowered.