System for carrying an item

• US 20060142896A1
• Filed: 12/13/2005
• Published: 06/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Sugiyama, Kenichiro, Yokoyama, Taro
• Granted Patent: US 7,551,978 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/245
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 13/082 Grasping-force detectors in general G01L5/16, G01L5/22
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1612 characterised by the hand, wrist, grip control
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/136 including wafer orienting means

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide an item-carrying system in which a robot can perform an item-receiving motion without giving the human a sense of discomfort when receiving it from the human.

The item-carrying system comprises: a robot comprising: a gripping portion for gripping an item and can open/close; external force detecting means for detecting an external force applied to the gripping portion; opening-degree detecting means for detecting an opening-degree of the gripping portion; and autonomous movement means; and receiving/passing motion deciding means 240 for deciding a motion of the robot in an item receiving/passing operation, the system receiving/passing the item with the gripping portion, wherein the receiving/passing motion deciding means 240 comprises: means for determining to start receiving an item 243 that causes the gripping portion to start a receiving motion if the external force detecting means has detected an external force not less than a first predetermined value, when the gripping portion is not gripping an item; and means for determining the completion of a receiving motion that determines the completion of an item-receiving motion on the basis of at least one of an external force detected by the external force detecting means and an opening-degree detected by the opening-degree detecting means, during the receiving motion.

Claims

1. An item-carrying system comprising:

a robot comprising;

a gripping portion for gripping an item and can open/close;

external force detecting means for detecting an external force applied to the gripping portion;

opening-degree detecting means for detecting an opening-degree of the gripping portion; and

autonomous movement means; and

receiving/passing motion deciding means for deciding a motion of the robot in an item receiving/passing operation, the system receiving/passing the item with the gripping portion, wherein

the receiving/passing motion deciding means comprises;

means for determining to start receiving an item that causes the gripping portion to start a receiving motion if the external force detecting means has detected an external force not less than a first predetermined value, when the gripping portion is not gripping an item; and

means for determining the completion of a receiving motion that determines the completion of an item-receiving motion on the basis of at least one of an external force detected by the external force detecting means and an opening-degree detected by the opening-degree detecting means, during the receiving motion.

2. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for determining the completion of a receiving motion determines that the receiving motion has completed if the external force is not more than a second predetermined value.

3. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for determining the completion of a receiving motion determines that the receiving motion has completed if the opening degree is not more than a third predetermined value.

4. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving/passing motion deciding means causes the gripping portion to generate a gripping force if the means for determining the completion of a receiving motion has determined that the receiving motion has completed.

5. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the system further comprises means for determining success/failure in gripping an item after the receiving/passing motion deciding means caused the gripping portion to generate a gripping force.

6. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the means for determining success/failure in gripping an item determines the success/failure of the gripping motion if the opening degree is not more than a fourth predetermined value.

7. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the receiving/passing motion deciding means reperforms the receiving motion if the means for determining success/failure in gripping an item has determined that the gripping motion is failed.

8. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the robot comprises a pair of gripping portions for gripping an item.

9. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the means for determining success/failure in gripping an item determines success/failure of the gripping motion on the basis of an external force generated from the item when the pair of gripping portions are moved closer or apart.

10. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the means for determining success/failure in gripping an item determines the gripping motion as success or failure, if the external force is not less than or less than a fifth predetermined value, respectively, the external force being generated from the item when the pair of gripping portions are moved closer or apart and detected by the external force detecting means.

11. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gripping portion comprises:

a palm portion;

a first finger attached to the palm portion via a first joint; and

a second finger attached to the palm portion via a second joint, the gripping portion gripping an item with the first and the second fingers, and wherein

the opening-degree detecting means comprises;

first finger angle detecting means for detecting a first finger angle between the palm and the first finger; and

second finger angle detecting means for detecting a second finger angle between the palm and the second finger.

12. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external force detecting means can detect a horizontally directed external force, and wherein the receiving/passing motion deciding means uses a horizontally directed external force applied to the gripping portion as an external force from the item.

13. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the external force detecting means is a six-axis force sensor.

14. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises:

human-position specifying means for specifying the position of a human; and

receiving/passing position deciding means for deciding, on the basis of the specified human-position, the position for the robot to receive/pass an item from/to the human, and then moving the robot to the receiving/passing position.

15. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises:

body-height specifying means for specifying the body-height of the human; and

receiving/passing height deciding means for deciding, on the basis of the specified human-body height, the height for the robot to receive/pass an item from/to the human, and then moving the gripping portion to the receiving/passing height.

16. An item-carrying system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system comprises human-specifying means for specifying the human to whom to pass the item, on the basis of a task instruction signal.