Interface for robot motion control

• US 20060161300A1
• Filed: 12/06/2005
• Published: 07/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Board of Trustees of The University of Illinois, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ng-Thow-Hing, Victor, Yang, Allen Y., Gonzalez-Banos, Hector H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,060,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/245
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/161 Hardware, e.g. neural networks, fuzzy logic, interfaces, processor
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33148 CLS client server architecture, client consumes, server provides services
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40147 Variable time delay, through internet

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented that enable a higher-level software application to control a robot'"'"'s motion through a generic motion interface. In one embodiment, a system includes a controller, an interface, and a set of robot driver modules. The interface receives a command from the controller and translates the command into another command to send to the driver modules. The interface includes a client, a server, and a network. The server includes two interfaces: a client interface to communicate with the client and a driver interface to communicate with the driver modules. The server also includes two buffers: a command queue and a reply queue. The command queue stores commands received from the controller (via the client). The reply queue stores replies received from the driver modules.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a robot, comprising:

receiving, from a robot controller module, a first command;

determining, after a time period has elapsed, a second command based on the first command; and

sending, to a robot driver module, the second command.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first command includes a starting time, and further comprising determining the time period based on the starting time.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an amount of network congestion that affects commands received from the robot controller module; and

determining the time period based on the amount of network congestion.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the robot controller module, the first command comprises receiving, from the robot controller module, a set of commands that includes the first command.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the robot controller module, the first command comprises receiving, from one of a plurality of robot controller modules, the first command.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein sending, to the robot driver module, the second command comprises sending, to one of a plurality of robot driver modules, the second command.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first command comprises a motion command.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first command differs from the second command.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the robot driver module, a first reply;

determining a second reply based on the first reply; and

sending, to the robot controller module, the second reply.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the second reply based on the first reply comprises determining, after a second time period has elapsed, the second reply based on the first reply.

11. A system for controlling a robot, comprising:

means for receiving, from a robot controller module, a first command;

means for determining, after a time period has elapsed, a second command based on the first command; and

means for sending, to a robot driver module, the second command.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first command includes a starting time, and further comprising means for determining the time period based on the starting time.

13. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for determining an amount of network congestion that affects commands received from the robot controller module; and

means for determining the time period based on the amount of network congestion.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein receiving, from the robot controller module, the first command comprises receiving, from the robot controller module, a set of commands that includes the first command.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein receiving, from the robot controller module, the first command comprises receiving, from one of a plurality of robot controller modules, the first command.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein sending, to the robot driver module, the second command comprises sending, to one of a plurality of robot driver modules, the second command.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the first command comprises a motion command.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the first command differs from the second command.

19. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for receiving, from the robot driver module, a first reply;

means for determining a second reply based on the first reply; and

means for sending, to the robot controller module, the second reply.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein determining the second reply based on the first reply comprises determining, after a second time period has elapsed, the second reply based on the first reply.