Computer System, Control Apparatus For A Machine, In Particular For An Industrial Robot, And Industrial Robot

• US 20100287556A1
• Filed: 01/13/2009
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KUKA Laboratories GmbH (Midea Group Co., Ltd)
• Original Assignee: KUKA Roboter GmbH (Midea Group Co., Ltd)
• Inventors: Munz, Heinrich
• Granted Patent: US 9,501,324 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/102
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/483 Multiproc
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4887 involving deadlines, e.g. rate based, periodic
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5044 considering hardware capabilities

Abstract

The invention relates to a computer system (6) having a multicore processor (20) and an operating system, in particular a so-called ‘general-purpose’ operating system. The multicore processor (6) has at least one first processor core (21) and at least one second processor core (22). The operating system is configured to allocate real-time tasks, in particular hard real-time tasks, solely to the first processor core (21) and to allocate further tasks solely to the second processor core (22).

Claims

1-15. -15. (canceled)

16. A control apparatus for an industrial robot, comprising:

a multi-core processor having at least one first processor core and at least one second processor core; and

an operating system configured to be executed by the multi-core processor, and further configured to assign hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core and assign other tasks to the at least one second processor core,

wherein the hard real-time tasks control at least a component of the industrial robot.

17. The control apparatus of claim 16, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

assign first interrupt routines triggered by first external interrupts and categorized as hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core; and

assign second interrupt routines triggered on the basis of second external interrupts and categorized as other tasks to the at least one second processor core.

18. The control apparatus of claim 17, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

execute the first interrupt routines categorized as hard real-time tasks on the at least one first processor core by initiating first deferred procedure calls from the first interrupt routines; and

execute the second interrupt routines categorized as other tasks on the at least one second processor core by initiating second deferred procedure calls from the second interrupt routines.

19. The control apparatus of claim 18, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

assign a first FIFO buffer to the at least one first processor core; and

assign a second FIFO buffer to the at least one second processor core,

wherein the first deferred procedure calls are temporarily stored in the first FIFO buffer, and

wherein the second deferred procedure calls are temporarily stored in the second FIFO buffer.

20. The control apparatus of claim 16, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

assign first program threads categorized as hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core; and

assign second program threads categorized as other tasks to the at least one second processor core.

21. The control apparatus of claim 20, wherein the operating system includes a multimedia service and wherein the operating system is further configured to:

prioritize the first program threads categorized as hard real-time tasks ahead of the multimedia service.

22. The control apparatus of claim 21, wherein the operating system is a WINDOWS®

operating system and wherein the multimedia service is a multimedia class scheduler service of the WINDOWS®

operating system.

23. A system, comprising:

an industrial robot; and

a control apparatus including;

a multi-core processor having at least one first processor core and at 1east one second processor core; and

an operating system configured to be executed by the multi-core processor, and further configured to assign hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core and assign other tasks to the at least one second processor core;

wherein the hard real-time tasks control at least a component of the industrial robot.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

assign first interrupt routines triggered by first external interrupts and categorized as hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core; and

assign second interrupt routines triggered on the basis of second external interrupts and categorized as other tasks to the at least one second processor core.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

execute the first interrupt routines categorized as hard real-time tasks on the at least one first processor core by initiating first deferred procedure calls from the first interrupt routines; and

execute the second interrupt routines categorized as other tasks on the at least one second processor core by initiating second deferred procedure calls from the second interrupt routines.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

assign a first FIFO buffer to the at least one first processor core; and

assign a second FIFO buffer to the at least one second processor core,

wherein the first deferred procedure calls are temporarily stored in the first FIFO buffer, and

wherein the second deferred procedure calls are temporarily stored in the second FIFO buffer.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the operating system is further configured to:

assign first program threads categorized as hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core; and

assign second program threads categorized as other tasks to the at least one second processor core.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the operating system includes a multimedia service and wherein the operating system is further configured to:

prioritize the first program threads categorized as hard real-time tasks ahead of the multimedia service.

29. A method of controlling motion of an industrial robot:

on a multi-core processor with a first processor core and a second processor core, assigning hard real-time tasks to the first processor core; and

assigning other tasks to the second processor core,

wherein the hard real-time tasks control at least a component of the industrial robot.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

assigning first program threads categorized as hard real-time tasks to the at least one first processor core; and

assigning second program threads categorized as other tasks to the at least one second processor core.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

prioritizing the first program threads categorized as hard real-time tasks ahead of a multimedia service.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

assigning first interrupt routines triggered by first external interrupts and categorized as hard real-time tasks to the first processor core; and

assigning second interrupt routines triggered on the basis of second external interrupts and categorized as other tasks to the second processor core.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

in response to initiating first deferred procedure calls from the first interrupt routines, executing the first interrupt routines categorized as hard real-time tasks on the first processor core; and

in response to initiating second deferred procedure calls from the second interrupt routines, executing the second interrupt routines categorized as other tasks on the second processor core.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

assigning a first FIFO buffer to the first processor core;

assigning a second FIFO buffer to the second processor core,

temporarily storing the first deferred procedure calls in the first FIFO buffer; and

temporarily storing the second deferred procedure calls in the second FIFO buffer.