Programmable automatic assembly system
First Claim
1. In a programmable manipulator, the combination of, a manipulator arm movable in a plurality of axes, memory storage means having stored therein a plurality of digital command signals corresponding to the program step positions to which said arm is to be moved, at least one of said stored signals including a stored velocity mode signal, address means for causing said stored command signals to appear at the output of said memory means in a predetermined sequence, means operative in the absence of said velocity mode signal for moving said arm to the position represented by said stored command signals, means responsive to said velocity mode signal for developing a digital signal equal to the difference between a command signal which includes said velocity mode signal and the preceding command signal, means for dividing said difference signal into a predetermined number of increments, means for producing a series of artificial command signals equal in number to said predetermined number of increments which differ from said preceding command signal by said increments and are equally spaced in time, and means utilizing said artificial command signals to move said arm at a substantially constant velocity.
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Abstract
A programmable automatic assembly system is provided which may be employed to assemble small parts. Each assembly station includes cooperating manipulator arms which are programmable to assemble parts on a centrally located work table. Improved facilities are provided for teaching the manipulator arms at each station, these facilities including a computer which assists the teaching operator in setting up the programs required for assembly of small parts to close tolerances. Each manipulator arm includes closed loop teach facilities for maintaining the arm at a previously located position during the teaching mode of operation. The computer is employed as a teach assist facility in performing a number of tasks during the teaching operation which are extremely difficult for the operator to perform manually. All of the assembly stations may be controlled during playback from a common disc storage facility so that the control circuitry and memory storage facilities at each manipulator are minimized.
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Citations
32 Claims
- 1. In a programmable manipulator, the combination of, a manipulator arm movable in a plurality of axes, memory storage means having stored therein a plurality of digital command signals corresponding to the program step positions to which said arm is to be moved, at least one of said stored signals including a stored velocity mode signal, address means for causing said stored command signals to appear at the output of said memory means in a predetermined sequence, means operative in the absence of said velocity mode signal for moving said arm to the position represented by said stored command signals, means responsive to said velocity mode signal for developing a digital signal equal to the difference between a command signal which includes said velocity mode signal and the preceding command signal, means for dividing said difference signal into a predetermined number of increments, means for producing a series of artificial command signals equal in number to said predetermined number of increments which differ from said preceding command signal by said increments and are equally spaced in time, and means utilizing said artificial command signals to move said arm at a substantially constant velocity.
- 15. The method of programming a manipulator provided with an arm which is movable in a plurality of axes and having encoder means for said axes operative to develop position signals corresponding to the actual position of said arm in said plurality of axes, which comprises the steps of moving said arm to a first position, storing said position signals corresponding to said first position in a memory, moving said arm to a second position, storing said position signals corresponding to said second position in said memory, storing a digital representation corresponding to a desired velocity between said first and second positions, utilizing said stored position signals and said digital representation to develop a velocity control signal, storing said velocity control signal in said memory, and controlling movement of said arm during playback in accordance with both said stored position signals and said stored velocity control signal.
- 20. In a programmable manipulator, the combination of, a manipulator arm movable in a plurality of axes, memory storage means having stored therein a plurality of digital command signals corresponding to the program step positions to which said arm is to be moved, at least one of said command signals including a stored velocity control signal, address means for causing said stored command signals to appear at the output of said memory means in a predetermined sequence, means for developing a digital signal equal to the difference between said one command signal and the next command signal in said sequence, means controlled by said stored velocity control signal for dividing said difference signal into a predetermined number of increments, means for producing a series of artificial command signals equal in number to said predetermined number of increments which differ from said one command signal by said increments and are equally spaced in time, and means utilizing said artificial command signals to move said arm at a substantially constant velocity.
- 25. In a programmable manipulator, the combination of, a manipulator arm movable in a plurality of axes, memory means for storing a plurality of digital command signals corresponding to the program step positions to which said arm is to be moved during a playback cycle, encoder means for developing position signals corresponding to the position of said arm in each of said plurality of axes, means for moving said arm to first and second positions and storing the position signals developed by said encoder means at each of said first and second positions, means for storing a digital representation corresponding to a desired velocity of movement of said arm between said first and second positions, means responsive to said stored position signals and said stored digital representation for developing a velocity control signal, means for storing said velocity control signal in said memory means for use with a command signal during playback, and means controlled in part by said stored velocity control signal for moving said arm between said first and second positions at said desired velocity during a playback cycle.
Specification