Robot arrangement and method for controlling a robot
AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorsSören Burmeister, Matthias Dürr
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Abstract
A method for controlling a robot, which is designed to be operated in a working mode, in which a part of the robot is moved at a speed at which there is a risk of injury to a person. The working mode is deactivated if a safety device detects that the person has entered an action region of the displaceable part. The aim is to make close cooperation possible between the person and the robot. A sensor unit determines a position and a posture of the person while the person is outside the action region of the part. A prediction unit determines an action region of the person. A collision monitoring unit monitors whether the two action regions overlap. The robot can optionally be switched from the working mode into a safety mode.
Claims14
A method for controlling a robot in an industrial environment, comprising:
- determining by a camera of a safeguarding apparatus a position and body posture of a person situated outside of an action range of a movable part of a robot;
- determining an action range of the person by a monitoring computer of the safeguarding apparatus in response to the determined body posture to thereby define the action range by locations expected to be reachable within a predetermined time interval by the person, wherein the monitoring computer predicts a movement of the person based on a behavior rule prescribed for a behavior of the person in a surrounding of the robot, said person always having a right-of-way and said person not stopping if said person crosses a path of the robot;
- determining a risk class RK0 which indicates no danger of a collision, or a risk class RK1 which indicates no acute risk of a collision but the person has the possibility to enter into a collision zone such that the robot is prepared, or a risk class RK2 which indicates that the person is too close to the robot such that there is an acute risk of a collision by the monitoring computer in response to data received by the camera;
- checking by a collision monitoring computer of the safeguarding apparatus whether the action range of the person and the action range of the movable part intersect;
- and
- switching the robot from a work mode into a safety mode to reduce a speed with which the movable part moves or to guide the movable part past the person, in the event the action range of the person and the action range of the movable part intersect so as to avoid a collision of the person with the movable part and injury to the person.
A robot arrangement for a handling system in an industrial environment, comprising:
- a robot including a drive and a part which is movable by the drive;
- and
- a safeguarding apparatus including
- a camera configured to determine a position and body posture of a person situated outside of an action range of the movable part of the robot,
- a monitoring computer configured to determine an action range of the person in response to the determined body posture to thereby define the action range by locations expected to be reachable within a predetermined time interval by the person, wherein the monitoring computer is configured to predict a movement of the person based on a behavior rule prescribed for a behavior of the person in a surrounding of the robot, said person always having a right-of-way and said person not stopping if said person crosses a path of the robot,
- the monitoring computer configured to determine a risk class RK0 which indicates no danger of a collision, or a risk class RK1 which indicates no acute risk of a collision but the person has a possibility to enter into a collision zone such that the robot is prepared, or a risk class RK2 which indicates that the person is too close to the robot such that there is an acute risk of a collision in response to data received by the camera;
- and
- a collision monitoring computer configured to check whether the action range of the person and the action range of the movable part intersect and switching the robot from a work mode into a safety mode to reduce a speed with which the movable part moves or to guide the movable part past the person, in the event the action range of the person and the action range of the movable part intersect so as to avoid a collision of the person with the movable part and injury to the person.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.