ROBOT SYSTEM

• US 20090173560A1
• Filed: 01/19/2007
• Published: 07/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
• Inventors: Handa, Hiroyuki, Nakamoto, Zenta, Matsukuma, Kenji
• Granted Patent: US 8,260,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 180/167
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 13/084 Tactile sensors in general G01L5/16, G01L5/22
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 13/085 Force or torque sensors B25J13/082, B25J13/084 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 15/0009 comprising multi-articulated fingers, e.g. resembling a human hand
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 5/00 Manipulators mounted on wheels or on carriages B25J1/00 takes precedence; programme-controlled manipulators B25J9/00 ; vehicle aspects B60, B62, e.g. remote-controlled steering for motor vehicles B62D1/24; control of position of vehicles G05D1/00
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1612 characterised by the hand, wrist, grip control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39523 Set holding force as function of dimension, weight, shape, hardness, surface
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40564 Recognize shape, contour of object, extract position and orientation
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40607 Fixed camera to observe workspace, object, workpiece, global

Abstract

A robot system capable of safely and stably holding an object with an optimum holding method and holding force. A robot control section (7) has an object information calculation section (21) for calculating, based on image information from an image processing section (8), the size and shape of an object to be held; a holding method determination section (22) for determining, based on the object information calculated, a method for holding the object; a holding execution section (23) for executing lifting of the object by the holding method determined; a sensor information processing section (24) for processing pieces of sensor information and controlling holding force, the pieces of sensor information being those obtained at the time of the execution, the processing of the pieces of sensor information being made for each combination of one or more of the pieces of information; and a holding method correction section (25) for correcting, based on the result of the processing, the pieces of sensor information, the method of holding the object.

Claims

1. A robot system comprising:

a hand section having a finger with a hand-section force sensor provided at a distal end thereof;

one or more arm sections having the hand section at a distal end thereof;

a trunk section having the arm sections and on which a trunk-section force sensor is provided;

a camera for measuring a shape of an object;

a robot control section for controlling movement of the arm sections; and

an image processing section for processing an image acquired by the camera;

wherein the robot control section includes;

an object information calculating section for calculating, based on image information from the image processing section, a size and shape of the object to be held;

a holding method determining section for determining, based on the object information calculated, a method for holding the object;

a holding execution section for executing lifting of the object by the holding method determined;

a sensor information processing section for processing pieces of sensor information and controlling holding force, the pieces of sensor information being those obtained at a time of the execution, and the processing of the pieces of sensor information being made for each combination of one or more of the pieces of information; and

a holding method correction section for correcting, based on a result of the sensor information processing, the method for holding the object.

2. The robot system according to claim 1, comprising a storage section for storing inherent attribute information regarding the object as object data when the object is held, and maintaining the object data.

3. The robot system according to claim 2, wherein the object data stored in the storage section when the object is held is one or more pieces of data regarding the object, such as a size, shape, mass, or shade of the object, and data regarding a holding method.

4. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the arm section (3) includes:

an arm-section force sensor for measuring a load on the arm section, and

wherein the robot control section controls holding force by using the arm-section force sensor in combination with the trunk-section force sensor.

5. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the holding method determining section calculates a holding position of the object to be held and determines a holding method based on the object information calculated by the object information calculation section.

7. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the robot control section includes:

an indicating section for determining, based on the object information, whether it is possible to hold the object, and for indicating that holding is not possible when it is determined that holding is not possible.

8. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the object information calculation section includes:

an ID tag reading section for recognizing the object to be held from an ID tag provided on the object.

9. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the method for holding the object, executed by the holding execution section, is:

holding with three fingers of one hand, holding with five fingers of one hand, or holding with entire one hand in a case where the number of the arm sections provided, having the hand section with five fingers, is one, and

holding with three fingers of one hand, holding with five fingers of one hand, holding with entire one hand, holding with entire both hands, or holding with entire both arms in a case where the number of the arm sections provided, having the hand section with five fingers, is two.

10. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the robot control section includes:

an object movement processing section for selecting a part of the robot used for movement, that is, the hand section, the arm section, or a moving mechanism for moving a main unit of the robot in a case where the moving mechanism is provided, in accordance with an amount of movement of the object when the object is held and moved.

6. A robot system comprising:

a hand section having a finger with a hand-section force sensor provided at a distal end thereof;

one or more arm sections having the hand section at a distal end thereof;

a trunk section having the arm sections and on which a trunk-section force sensor is provided;

a camera for measuring a shape of an object; and

a moving mechanism for moving, based on the size and shape of the object, obtained from the image of the camera, the object to be held to a position where it is easy to hold the object.

11. A robot system comprising:

a hand section having a finger with a hand-section force sensor provided at a distal end thereof;

one or more arm sections having the hand section at a distal end thereof;

a trunk section having the arm sections and on which a trunk-section force sensor is provided;

a camera for measuring a shape of an object; and

a robot control section having an amount-of-movement distributing section for distributing, based on remaining amounts to movable limits of individual joints of the hand section or the arm section, amounts of movement of the individual parts of the robot used to move the object when the object is held and moved.