Patent Application
20130079928
The present invention pertains to a method of calibrating robots and a method of programming robots.
In the field of industrial robotics, the knowledge of the physical characteristics of the robot is important to calculate the exact position of the robot. These characteristics may be defined by a diagram of the robot design, but will vary depending on the assembling process of the robots and the tolerance of its components. In order to refine the knowledge and thereby enhance the robot accuracy, it is necessary to calibrate the model describing it.
Several methods and equipment for the programming of robots have been suggested in the patent literature. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,794 is disclosed a three-dimensional coordinate measuring machine utilizing a mechanical measuring arm having known dimensions in order to create an error map of data, which are used to calibrate the robot.
US 2011/0022216 discloses a method and apparatus for calibration of an industrial robot system including at least one robot having a robot coordinate system and a positioner having a positioner coordinate system and being adapted to hold and change the orientation of a workpiece by rotating it about a rotational axis. Target points for the robot are programmed with respect to an object coordinate system. The apparatus comprises a robot controller, at least three calibration objects arranged on the positioner, and a calibration tool held by the robot. The positions of the calibration objects are known in the object coordinate system. The robot controller is configured to determine the positions of the calibration objects with respect to the robot coordinate system, to determine the positions of a first and a second of said calibration objects for at least three different angles of the rotational axis of the positioner, to determine the direction of the rotational axis of the positioner in the robot coordinate system based on the determined positions of the first and second calibration objects for the three angles of the axis, and to determine the relation between the first object coordinate system and the positioner coordinate system by performing a best fit between the known and the determined positions of the calibration objects.
In US 2008/0188986 is disclosed a method and system to provide improved accuracies in multi-jointed robots through kinematic robot model parameters determination. Multi-jointed robots are calibrated by using the chain rule for differentiation in the Jacobian derivation for variations in calculated poses of reference points of a reference object as a function of variations in robot model parameters. The method also utilizes two such reference objects, and the known distance there between, to establish a length scale, thus avoiding the need to know one link length of the robot. An iterative method is used to find the optimum solution for improved accuracy of the resultant model parameters. Furthermore, determination of the end joint parameters of the robot, including parameters defining the tool attachment mechanism frame, is disclosed, which allows for interchange of tools without subsequent calibration.
In US 2008/0188983 is also disclosed a device and method for calibration of a multi-joint industrial robot.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,109 pertains to a robot calibration system, which includes a calibration sensor that provides an indication of when a first reference point, which remains fixed relative to a robot base, is a fixed distance from a second reference point, which is located on the robot arm. The robot arm is moved through a plurality of orientations, and each time that the fixed distance between the two reference points is achieved, robot joint position information is determined. The preferred calibration sensor includes a string, which extends between the two reference points and activates a signal generator each time that the string is taut as caused by the orientation of the robot arm. The generated signal indicates that the two reference points are separated by the fixed distance. The determined robot joint positions are then used to determine a calibration factor which varies depending on the needs of a particular situation. Example calibration factors are useful for correcting errors in robot kinematic information, locating the work cell reference frame and locating the tool center point reference frame.
In US 2009/0157226 is disclosed a calibration system for a robot and its peripheral, which system includes an emitter attached to the robot or its peripheral. The emitter emits a laser beam and a receiver also mounted to the robot or its peripheral at a point to permit calibration and for receiving the laser beam and to permit calculations to determine the dimension between the emitter and the receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,569 pertains to a method and apparatus for calibrating a computer guided robotic apparatus. At least one camera mounted on the robot arm, or fixed at the work station, views a target comprising a pattern of at least three dots fixed to the other of the robot arm or work station, such viewing taking place as the robot arm approaches the work station to carry out the intended operation. The sensing of any deviation relative to a predetermined target pattern is transmitted to the computer to reset the robot's computerized guidance system.
Thus, although there exists a multitude of ways of calibrating a robot, all of them require some kind of additional active measurement equipment, i.e. measurement equipment comprising sensors, and specialized knowledge of how to use said measurement equipment, and furthermore rely on the accuracy by which the physical characteristics of said equipment is known.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a method of calibrating a multi-joint robot, which is easy to implement, and which does not require the use of external active measurement equipment.
It is furthermore an object of the present invention to provide a method of duplicating a working program between un-calibrated robots.
According to the present invention, the above-mentioned and other objects are fulfilled by a method of calibrating robots, the method comprising the steps of:
Hereby is achieved a calibration method, which does not depend on the precision of external active measurement equipment—only the robots themselves are used. The inventive method combines the robots into a closed chain in order to obtain information, which is then used to adjust the kinematic parameters of the robots, i.e. used to update the kinematic models of the robots, whereby the robots are calibrated. The necessary information used in the calibration process is generated by modulating the chain in different formations distributed across the available workspace, i.e. by manipulating at least one of the joints of the at least two robots in the chain, thereby inducing manipulations of some of the other links and/or joints in the chain. The calibration, i.e. the estimation of the mathematical kinematic models, is then done by using the properties of the closed chain and knowledge from the links and/or joints in the various chain formations. To define the scaling size of the chain, at least one distance or distance change need to be known. The used links and/or joints in the chain are expressed in a system of equations, which can be solved, thus calibrating the robots. Thus, by using the principle of the closed chain, it is possible to explore large areas of the workspace of the robots, and therefore the outcome of this calibration method to a high degree represents the entire workspace of said robots. This allows a simultaneous calibration of several robots without any measuring equipment besides the robots themselves. By comparing the model representation of the closed chain with multiple physical observations, the parameters of the model can be refined and thus calibrated.
Here it is utilized that in a closed chain, each link is guided by its own constraints to fulfill the constraints of the entire closed chain. This applies for the positions, velocities, accelerations and forces etc. in the chain. By making use of this property, it is possible to estimate the kinematic properties of each links, and thus calibrate the robot's kinematics.
It is understood that throughout the present patent specification, the terms joint or joints can be used for denoting a revolute joint, a prismatic joint or a spherical joint. Depending on the type of joint, the joint can control and register the rotation and/or position. In the following, “position” is used to describe both the rotation and/or position. It is furthermore understood that the chain can comprise links, which are not joints or links, which are joints.
In an embodiment of the method according to the invention, the step (a) of providing at least two robots can be done by providing a single robot having at least two robot arms, and then treat each of said arms as one robot. This type of robots does not have the same number of base flanges as tool flanges.
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the sensor information is obtained from the same sensors, which are used to drive the robot joints and/or links.
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the sensor information is only obtained from the same sensors, which are used to drive the robot joints and/or links.
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the step (c) comprises the sub steps of
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the sensor information is information about the position (Q) of the joints, and wherein step (d) comprises estimating the kinematic models (M1, M2) based on the collected position pairs (<R1Q, R2Q>m).
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the sensor information comprises any of the following and/or changes in any of the following: angles, position coordinates, or their derivatives.
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the sensor information comprises any of the following and/or changes in any of the following: force, torque, or their derivatives.
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, step (b) of forming a closed chain from the at least two robots (R1, R2) is performed by physically connecting said at least two robots (R1, R2) at least at their base flanges, and/or at their tool flanges.
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the step (b) of forming the closed chain from the at least two robots (R1, R2) further comprises a step of fixing at least one distance between the at least two robots (R1, R2).
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the step (b) of forming a closed chain from the at least two robots (R1, R2) further comprises a step of fixing at least one direction of the connection between the at least two robots (R1, R2).
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the step (b) of forming a closed chain from the at least two robots (R1, R2) comprises the step of using measurement equipment to measure the relative positions between the at least two robots (R1, R2).
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the measurement equipment is configured for measuring the distance between parts of the at least two robots (R1, R2).
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the measurement equipment is configured for determining the direction between parts of the at least two robots (R1, R2).
According to a further embodiment of the method of calibrating robots, the measurement equipment is at least one ball bar connecting the at least two robots (R1, R2).
According to a further embodiment, the sensor information comprises any information given by the link in the closed chain to fulfill the model regarding both the static and dynamic part of the calibration. For example—but not limited to—position and force information and its derivatives.
While it is understood that other kind of sensor information could be used, using the angles is a very practical way of representing positions of the joints of robots with revolute joints. The forces and torque readings/estimations and/or momentum calculation could also be calibrated according to the present method—not only the dimensions of the robots.
It is not a constraint that the robots need to be connected physically to each other as long as information to close the chain is provided. Hence, according to a further preferred embodiment, step (b) of forming a closed chain from the at least two robots comprises the steps of: Fixing the at least two robots together at their base flange, and at their tool flange. This provides two well-defined distances, by which the models can be scaled. Another possibility is to use statistical knowledge of the robots to scale the model (e.g. by Tikhonov regularization). This statistical knowledge could be based on a number of robots of the same kind, and/or the technical drawings of the robot itself.
According to a further embodiment, the step (b) of forming a closed chain from the at least two robots comprises the steps of: Using extra links in the chain that provide information or properties than those used to close the chain. For example, a ball-bar can fix or measure a distance of a link connecting the robots which provide a property of at least one dimension that can be modulated to be used in the calibration.
According to a further embodiment, the step (b) of forming a closed chain from the at least two robots comprises the steps of using measurement equipment to measure the relative positions of the at least two robots. For example, the measurement equipment could be a ball bar measuring the distances between the flanges of the robots.
According to a further embodiment, the base and tool flanges of the at least two robots do not share a same rotational axis in order to reduce the dependencies between the connected joints of the robots. This will reduce the possibility of calibrating all the links but still be usable as the necessary kinematics properties can be estimated in order to model the closed chain.
According to a further embodiment, the step (d) of estimating the kinematic models is furthermore based on an estimation or measurement of the offset between the at least two robots at their base flange, and at their tool flange. Hereby it will be possible to use one or both of these two distances to scale the sizes of the models. An alternative possibility is to use statistical knowledge of the robots to scale the model (e.g. by Tikhonov regularization).
According to a further embodiment, the step (d) of estimating the kinematic models (M1, M2) is furthermore based on statistical information about at least one part of the chain.
According to a further embodiment, the statistical information is used to estimate the models (M1, M2) based on sensor information which exceeds the number of equations, without statistical information, to be solved.
In yet another preferred embodiment, the inventive method further comprises the step of evaluating whether sufficient sensor information associated with the joints of each of the at least two robots is obtained after step (d), but before step (e). Hereby is achieved that the number of unknowns does not exceed the number of equations to be solved.
A further preferred embodiment of the method moreover comprises the step of evaluating whether sufficient position pair data (<R1Q, R2Q>m) are obtained after step (d), but before step (e), and then
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the method comprises the step of collecting an overhead percentage (OPI) of sensor information, in addition to what is necessary for solving the equations in order to update the kinematic models. Hereby is ensured a stable convergence of the kinematic models.
According to a further embodiment, the method also comprises the steps of
Since said fraction of OPI is not used to update the models, it can be used to verify the models, i.e. to verify whether the angles or positions correspond to what is predicted by the estimated models. Thus, the step of verifying the calibration may in an embodiment comprise the steps of comparing said fraction of the collected overhead percentage of sensor information with corresponding values predicted by the updated kinematic models for the robots. Preferably, said comparison is performed by calculating a difference between every one of said fraction of the collected overhead percentage of sensor information and corresponding values predicted by the estimated kinematic models for the robots, and comparing said difference, or its numerical value, with a threshold value. According to a further embodiment, said overhead percentage of sensor information (OPI) is in the range between 10% and 200%, preferably between 20% and 80%, even more preferably between 20% and 60%, or alternatively in the range between 10% and 20%, or in the range between 20% and 40%, or in the range between 40% and 60%, or in the range between 60% and 80%, or in the range between 80% and 100%, or in the range between 100% and 120%, or in the range between 120% and 140%, or in the range between 140% and 160%, or in the range between 160% and 200%.
According to an embodiment, the method further comprises the step of saving the updated kinematic models on a data storage device, which could be placed in a robot controller operatively connected to the robot, or on another device.
According to a further embodiment, the step (c) of manipulating at least one of the links and/or joints of the at least one robot in the chain is performed by turning off at least one of the position regulators of the joints of one of said two robots, and let it be led around by the other robot.
According to a further embodiment, the step (c) of manipulating at least one of the joints of the at least one robot in the chain over at least a part of the full workspace of the robots is performed by turning off at least one, for example all, of the position regulators of the joints of each of said two robots, and change the joint positions externally, for example manually by an operator.
According to yet a further embodiment, the step (c) of manipulating at least one of the joints of the at least one robot (R1, R2) in the chain is performed by turning off at least one of the position regulators of the joints of each of said two robots (R1, R2), and change the joint position manually.
According to a further embodiment, the kinematic models (M1, M2) are determined by parameters defining transformations.
According to a further embodiment, the parameters are two types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters. The two types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters may be represented by the Schilling parameters, and the parallel variant parameters, respectively.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises the step of adjusting the force by which the at least two robots (R1, R2) operate. According to a further embodiment, each of the models (M1, M2) comprises a transformation for each joint.
As mentioned, the kinematic models of the at least two robots are preferably determined by two types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters. The two types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters may be represented by the Schilling parameters, and a variation designed for parallel rotation axis, respectively. The variation is here after called parallel DH parameter. The chosen notations with 4 parameters are both a minimal and complete way to describe the transformation between rotation axes. However, other notations can also be used.
The method may according to a further embodiment furthermore comprise the step of adjusting the force by which the at least two robots operate. Preferably, each of the models comprises a transformation for each joint of each of the at least two robots.
The method as described above can be extended to cover more than two robots. Hence, according to a further embodiment, the method further comprises the steps of connecting N additional robots in parallel or in series with the at least two robots, N being a natural number and performing the steps of the inventive method for each additional N robots.
According to a further embodiment, said at least two robots (R1, R2) are two robot arms of a single robot. In a further embodiment, at least one of said arms may be an articulated robot arm. Furthermore, at least one of said arms may comprise a prismatic joint. Said single robot has at least one base flange and at least two tool flanges, and in any case more tool flanges than base flanges.
To use a working program directly from another robot it is necessary that the proportions of both robots are identical and that the position sensors are equally adjusted. As this is very difficult to achieve, it may be difficult to duplicate a program between robots. It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a method of duplicating a program between—possibly un-calibrated—robots.
This and further objectives are achieved by a second aspect of the invention pertaining to a method of converting a working program from a first robot R1 to a second robot R2, each robot (R1, R2) having joints connecting two flanges: a base flange and a tool flange, the method comprising the steps of:
Often a need emerges to replace one robot with a newer one. However, instead of performing a calibration of the new robot, the joint angles of the “old” robot can be used as one half of the chain in the mathematical model and the corresponding angles of the “new” robot as the other half of the chain. Hereby is achieved as mentioned in step (c) above a set of angle pair data, which are used to update the kinematic models of the robots.
An embodiment of the second aspect of the invention further comprises the step of evaluating whether the program can run on the second robot within suitably chosen tolerances.
A further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention further comprises the step of choosing an additional number of positions in accordance with the working program R1P and moving the second robot R2 to those additional positions, thereby providing an extended position pair data set, and then performing steps (d) and (e), using this extended position pair data set if the program cannot run on the second robot within the suitably chosen tolerances.
A further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention further comprises the steps of converting another working program on the basis of the estimated kinematic models (M1, M2).
A further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention further comprises step (e) of performing the working program conversion on the basis of said estimated kinematic models, and comprises the sub steps of:
According to a further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, the kinematic models (M1, M2) are determined by parameters defining transformations.
According to a further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, the kinematic models (M1, M2) are determined by three types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters.
According to a further embodiment of the method according to the second aspect of the invention, the three types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters are represented by the Schilling parameters, the parallel DH variant parameters, and Roll-Pitch-Yaw rotation with translation parameters. Hereafter called RPY.
According to an embodiment of the method according to the second aspect of the invention, the RPY parameters are used to modulate the last joint of the robot. Other notation to modulate a full rotation and translation could also be used. But RPY notation is a minimal and complete notation of 6 parameters for small rotation changes.
According to a further embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, the kinematic models (M1, M2) are estimated by using predetermined models as a starting point. These predetermined models may be approximated models for example determined by using statistical information of the kind mentioned above.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings. In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to the drawings, wherein
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. Like elements will, thus, not be described in detail with respect to the description of each figure.
Classic kinematics is used to model the robots. This makes it possible to transfer information from the robot joints to the Cartesian coordinate system in order to make their joints comparable.
The used notation is as follows:
The robots are modeled with two types of Denavit-Hartenberg, DH, parameters. The first type of DH uses the Schilling notation (c.f. R. J. Schilling. “Fundamentals of Robotics: Analysis and Control”. Simon & Schuster Trade, 1st ed. 1996, incorporated in its entirety by reference) to describe a transformation between two non parallel z-axes, since the notation has a singularity when the z-axis is parallel (see equation 1 below).
The second type uses a DH parallel variant to avoid this singularity (see equation 2 below). The parallel DH variant uses the same principles as the original DH, but has a singularity when the first y and the next z-axis, respectively, is parallel. The singularity of Schilling DH is defined by the normal between the first and next z-axis, since the distance to the normal intersection with the first z-axis is used as a parameter, see illustration
Choosing the right notation for each joint element results in a representation of the robot without any DH parameter singularities:
ΦDH(θ,d,α,a)≡Tz(θ)rTz(d)tTx(α)rTx(a)t (1)
ΨDH(β,b,α,a)≡Tx(β)rTx(b)tTx(α)rTx(a)t (2)
The representation combines each element in the chain to one model. The model reflects the physical characteristic of the closed chain, and makes it possible to relate each element to each other. Depending on the equipment used to connect the robots, different approaches may be used. In the basic installation, the tool flanges are connected via a stiff solid adapter 2, and the base flanges are connected with a stiff solid adapter 4 and all the joints in the chain are represented by DH parameters as described above. This has the advantages as being a minimal complete representation describing the joints' rotational axes in the system relative to each other, see illustration
A more advanced adapter can be used to connect the tool and base flanges 10. Preferably, the model is configured to reflect the used equipment. An example of an advanced way to connect the base flanges 10 of the robots 6, 8, could include a prismatic joint that can displace the robots 6, 8 with a known distance. Another example of adding a more advanced joint to the chain could be done with a ball-bar or an additional joint. The ball-bar is a common known tool for calibration of single robot (c.f. M. R. Driels: Using passive end-point motion constraints to calibrate robot manipulators. Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, 115(3): 560-566, 1993—hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). This method works by mounting one of the ball-bar ends to a fixed location and the other end to the robot. This means that all observations are done relative to the fixed location and therefore limited by it. The movement is also limited due to the fixed location. When the equipment is used in the context of the present invention, each end is mounted on each robot 6, 8 and the measurements will therefore not be limited to a fixed location. This gives the possibility to take measurements that relate to the whole workspace of the robots 6, 8.
Some robots have multiple limbs. By treating them as individual robot arms, the method according to the invention, which is described in the present patent specification, can be used to calibrate these limbs without additional active measurement equipment.
The method according to the invention is based on the closed chain principle, as illustrated in
The—preferably over-determined—system of equations is solved by a least squares function that represents the squared error. In equation 3, the transformation represents the error for the joints in the open chain as illustrated in FIG. 7:
Error≡T0{circumflex over (0)}=T01T12 . . . Tn−1nTn{circumflex over (0)} (3)
The position error is taken into account by calculating the squared length of the Error's translation part, see equation 4:
ePos2≡∥p0{circumflex over (0)}∥2=p0{circumflex over (0)}·p0{circumflex over (0)} (4)
The rotation error is calculated by the axis angle notation AA (c.f. Robert J. Schilling: Fundamentals of Robotics: Analysis and Control. Simon & Schuster Trade, 1st edition, 1996). The error of angle is found by calculating the AA from the Error rotation part, see equation 5:
{angle,{right arrow over (axis)}}=AA(R0{circumflex over (0)})eRot≡angle (5)
The resulting least squares equation is a squared sum of equations 4 and 5 for N observations, see equation 6:
representing the error gap between the chain ends as illustrated in
In order to scale the model properly it is necessary to have a known distance or distance change in the model. This can be illustrated by trigonometry as in
In order to use the method, as described above, is it necessary to collect and save observations from the physical chain in order to imitate it with the mathematical representation. The observations can be collected both manually supervised by an operator or automatically by the robots moving autonomously around in the workspace. It is necessary to collect enough measurements distributed in the whole workspace. This is due to the fact that the calibration can only be assumed to represent the used workspace. As the robots 6, 8 need to be connected and follow each other, it is furthermore preferred that the position regulators of some of the joints can be turned off and be led around by the others. It is necessary to manipulate the chain of robots 6, 8 without any use of inverse kinematics, since the kinematics is not known due to the lack of calibration.
A reliable evaluation of the final calibration uses the estimated mathematical model and compares it with the observations. It is important that these observations are independent from those used in the calibration procedure and distributed throughout the workspaces of the robots. If the observations from the calibration are used to evaluate the calibration, then the result will not be trustworthy as no new information has been added to support the result. Another reliability indication for the quality of the results is to let the calibration adjust on physical known parameters and afterwards compare it with the known values.
Having joints of the robots 6, 8 connected in a closed chain opens the possibility to adjust other parameters than those, which relate to determination of the position. An example of these parameters could be to adjust parameters that relate to the forces in the chain.
The object of this example is to illustrate and explain how the method according to the invention can be used on specific robots manufactured by the applicant, Universal Robots. The setup includes two UR-6-85-5-A industrial serial robots 6, 8 and two solid passive adapters to connect the tool and base flanges. In
The model of the closed chain includes a transformation for each joint as illustrated in
Tbasewrist3≡TbaseshoulderTshoulderelbowTelbowwrist1Twrist1wrist2Twrist2wrist3
Error≡[Tbase
The connection between the robots can be represented with an extended version of DH (see equation 8 and 9 below). This representation makes it possible to represent any transformation in a similar way as DH which gives the same advantages.
T
ΦDH(θ1,d1,α,a,θ2,d2)≡Tz(θ1)rTz(d1)tTx(α)rTx(a)tTz(θ2)rTz(d2)t (b 8)
T
ΨDH(β1,b1,α,a,β2,b2)≡Tx(β1)rTx(b1)tTx(α)rTx(a)tTx(β2)rTx(b2)t (9)
The parameters for each transformation of the closed chain model are described in table 1 below. The fixed distances are represented in the model with the “a” parameter (see table 1). The same design trick is done for both the connection, the tool and base flanges, both of them can be fixed with a known normal length. As mentioned above it is preferred—but not necessary—to have multiple pre-known parameters in the system. This makes it possible to include one of them as a ground true to evaluate the outcome of the calibration.
,
, α, a)
,
, α, a)
In order to use the calibrated model in the controller of the robots 6, 8, it is necessary to re-compute the transformations into the needed format. Including extraction of useful information from Tbase
This section will be described as an example of how the closed chain method can be used to duplicate a working program from one robot to another where one or both is un-calibrated. The example takes advantage of the program that is to be duplicated. The program to be duplicated contains way-points of robot configurations. Here a closed chain is obtained by using the way-points to represent the first part of the chain and then—mathematically—close the chain by re-teaching the same way-points with the new robot that is intended to perform the tasks of the first robot. See
The generated reference data is based on the program of the robot that is going to be duplicated. The data is collected manually by relearning key way-point positions, which are essential to the task of program. These essential positions may vary in precision depending on the program, but will in most cases be those that are most explicit and easiest to replicate. By relearning these essential positions it is also achieved that the resulting program of the new robot will match in these key positions. If several programs are being duplicated between the same two robots, then those key positions can be reused, thereby leading to a higher level of compliance between them. Depending on the task and the robot tool it may be difficult to determine the correct position and rotation. Especially the rotations may be difficult to replicate correctly if the tool is rotation independent. This can thus reduce the level of knowledge but still be usable as the rotation in these tasks is not that important because of the rotation independence. Depending on the tasks of the robots, the collected data is typically grouped in groups where the essential action of the robot is made. This implies that the relationship between the workspaces of the two robots are only partly known and that correct corresponding configurations can only be provided near the key positions. However, as the other waypoints are not essential for the tasks of the robot it will in the most cases be good enough for the robot executing the tasks of the program. If the program needs to be duplicated back to the original robot, then the same corresponding key positions may be reused. This enables the original program as well as changes in it to be ported back to the original robot. This is particularly interesting if the same program is used in similar robot cells, which thereby enables production to be up-scaled by duplicating the programs without loss of flexibility.
In the present example it is assumed that the same tool is mounted on both robots 6, 8 and that the position of the tool center point is the same (see
T
RPYxyz(θx,θy,θz,x,y,z)≡Tx(x)tTy(y)tTz(z)tTz(θz)rTy(θy)rTx(θx)r (10)
The robots 6, 8 are modulated with three types of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters. The two first ones are the same as used in the calibration example above. However, for modulation of the last joint, a RPY notation is chosen in order to ensure that any position and rotation can be modulated (see equation 11 below). This notation is used because none of the other DH notations can represent any transformation which is needed to modulate any tool flange transformation. Like the base representation, the RPY is a good choice as only modest or none rotation is needed to be modeled. By choosing the right notation for each joint, the result is a representation of the robot without any parameter singularities:
RPY
DH(r,p,y,x,y,z)≡Tz(θz)rTy(θy)rTx(θz)rTx(x)tTy(y)tTz(z)t (11)
The transformation that defines where the tool center point is placed relative to the tool flange of the robot is called Ttftcp. This transformation is fixed due to the assumption that the same tool is mounted on both robots 6, 8. Furthermore, any small adjustment, which is needed, can be obtained by the parameters of the last joint. In this example, the scale of the model is not important as long as the relative scales of the robots are the same as the scale of the physical robots 6, 8. This is valid as long as the input and output to the method are pure angles, as angles are independent of the scale of the objects as illustrated in
The representation of the model is illustrated in table 2 below. To avoid linearly dependent parameters in the model, some of them are fixed. The parameter θ and d for the base joint of both robots are fixed because the same adjustment can be done by the Tbase
,
,
,
,
,
)
,
, α, a)
,
, α, a)
In
In
In
If the program is usable, then it is in the next step—optional step 136—evaluated whether more programs need to be converted, and if affirmative, then perform the steps 132-136 where the given angle pairs can be adjusted or additional can be added. Otherwise, the program is ready to use, as indicated by block 138 in the illustrated flowchart.
In
As illustrated it is by the invention possible to perform program conversions between robots, which are un-calibrated.
In the following is given a list of reference numbers that are used in the detailed description of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61540150 | Sep 2011 | US |
