Robot control apparatus

• US 5,008,834 A
• Filed: 10/28/1988
• Issued: 04/16/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fanuc Ltd (Fanuc Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fanuc Ltd (Fanuc Corporation)
• Inventors: Ito, Takayuki, Mizuno, Tohru
• Primary Examiner(s): MacDonald, Allen R.
• Application Number:
  US07/265,673
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 364/191-193, 364/513, 364/474.23, 364/200, 364/900
• US Class Current: 700/257
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/40936 Defining geometry with a high level language
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/414 Structure of the control system, e.g. common controller or multiprocessor systems, interface to servo, programmable interface controller
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/34346 User program fetches part of system program when flags are set and detected
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45083 Manipulators, robot
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A robot control apparatus has robot control conditions set by a monitor program described in a robot language. Since a system program ordinarily is fixedly designed into a robot control apparatus, the program cannot be freely set and modified by the user. However, by storing part of the system program for constantly monitoring robot operations in a user area USER and making this part of the system program open to a user, unnecessary functions can be deleted, presently existing functions can be modified and functions can be added.

Claims

1. A robot control system for controlling the motion of a robot using a system program having first and second parts and a user program, said system comprising:

storage means for storing the system program and the user program, said storage means having a system area and a user area, the first part of the system program being stored in the system area and providing a plurality of flags indicating operating status of the robot, the second part of the system program being stored in the user area and including monitor programs corresponding to the flags, the system area of said storage means includes at least

register means for storing the flags; and

a correspondence table for providing the predetermined location of the monitor programs within the user area based upon the flags; and

processor means for continuously monitoring the operating status of the robot based on the system program and for processing the user program to generate motion commands for the robot, said processor means monitors the operating status of the robot by jumping from the first part of the system program to the second part.

2. A robot control method for controlling motion of a robot based on a user program prepared in robot language, said robot control method using a main memory device having a user area and a system area, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) storing a plurality of flags for monitoring status of the robot in the system area of a main memory device;

(b) storing system programs, described in robot language, in the user area of the main memory device at vector address locations corresponding to the flags; and

(c) background processing the system programs based on the flags corresponding thereto when the user program is executed.

3. A robot control method according to claim 2, wherein step (c) comprises the substeps of:

(i) jumping from the system area to the user area to process the system programs; and

(ii) returning to the system area after execution of the system programs.

4. A robot control system for controlling the motion of a robot using a system program having first and second parts and a user program, said system comprising:

storage means for storing the system program and the user program, said storage means having a system area and a user area, the first part of the system program being stored in the system area and providing a plurality of flags indicating operating status of the robot, the second part of the system program being stored in the user area and including monitor programs corresponding to the flags, the monitor programs are described in a robot language and located at a predetermined location within the user area, each of the monitor programs corresponds to one of the flags, and the second part of the system program is freely alterable as is the user program and only the first part of the system program is fixed; and

processor means for continuously monitoring the operating status of the robot based on the system program and for processing the user program to generate motion commands for the robot, said processor means monitors the operating status of the robot by jumping from the first part of the system program to the second part.

5. A robot control system according to claim 4, wherein the system area of said storage means comprises:

register means for storing the flags; and

a correspondence table for providing the predetermined location of the monitor programs within the user area based upon the flags.

6. A robot control system according to claim 4, wherein said processor means executes the system program in a background mode.