Computer system for controlling an industrial robot subsystem which can monitor and detect abnormalities therein

• US 5,715,388 A
• Filed: 03/28/1997
• Issued: 02/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kohki Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Kohki Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Tsuchihashi, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Palys, Joseph E.
• Application Number:
  US08/829,480
• Time in Patent Office: 312 Days
• Field of Search: 395/183.21, 395/183.22, 395/182.13, 395/182.14, 395/185.1, 395/185.01, 395/80, 395/189.01
• US Class Current: 714/46
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4063 Monitoring general control system G05B19/4062 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/425 Teaching successive positions by numerical control, i.e. commands being entered to control the positioning servo of the tool head or end effector
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35289 Display machining state and corresponding control program
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35291 Record history, log, journal, audit of machine operation
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39375 MMI to path planner to servo controller
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40396 Intermediate code for robots, bridge, conversion to controller
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40397 Programming language for robots, universal, user oriented
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0736 in functional embedded systems, i.e. in a data processing system designed as a combination of hardware and software dedicated to performing a certain function testing or monitoring of automated control systems G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0766 Error or fault reporting or storing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/321 Display for diagnostics, e.g. diagnostic result display, self-test user interface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring

Abstract

Each of the states of the computer system is displayed in units of a module which is executed for a predetermined time period, thereby facilitating diagnosis and countermeasure by a maker. For this purpose, software of a computer system operable by software is classified hierarchically, a module of the hierarchical software which is being executed for a predetermined time period is managed as a minimum unit and displayed on an as-needed basis, and the state of execution of the software can be understood.

Claims

1. A computer system operable by hierarchical software for controlling an industrial robot connected to said computer system, said industrial robot comprising a plurality of subsystems, the computer system comprising:

input means for inputting instruction data containing an order in which software modules of said hierarchical software should be executed, one of said modules which is being executed for a predetermined time period being treated as a minimum unit by said computer system;

execution means for executing said software on the basis of said instruction data;

monitor means for monitoring and detecting an abnormality in each individual part of the computer system and in said industrial robot subsystems;

management means for managing one of said software modules which is being executed by said execution means and for displaying on a display the one of said software modules which is currently being executed by said execution means when an abnormality is detected by said monitor means;

wherein said management means includes a memory and stores data in the memory in a manner such that the informational content of the currently executed software module is written into the memory each time a software module is executed by said execution means, and when an abnormality is detected by said monitor means, the stored content of said memory is frozen, and the frozen content of said memory is displayed on said display; and

wherein said management means writes into said memory the informational content of a software module which was executed by said execution means immediately preceding the currently executed software module, and when the abnormality is detected by the monitor means, freezes and displays the informational content of the preceding software module.

2. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein

said execution means includes a plurality of sub-execution means, and

said management means includes means for storing information indicating the software module currently being executed by each of said sub-execution means.

3. An industrial robot computer system operating on software classified hierarchically wherein a module of the hierarchial software being executed for a predetermined time period is managed by said computer system as a minimum unit, comprising,

a man-machine subsystem for receiving input commands and outputting position information, a trajectory subsystem for receiving position information and outputting coordinate signal commands, and a servo subsystem for receiving coordinate signal commands and outputting drive signals for operating a robot, each said subsystem executing modules in the hierarchial software for operating the robot,

said man-machine subsection including a memory for storing information identifying the module and the software of the module that is being executed,

a control section including a display for displaying the information identifying the module and the software of the module that is being executed,

means responsive to the detection of an abnormality in the operation of the computer system or any said subsystem for indicating on the display the information identifying the module of software that is being executed and for freezing in the man-machine subsystem memory the software of the module of software being executed,

means for causing the software of the module stored in said memory to be displayed on said display for facilitating error diagnosis, and

wherein said display also displays information identifying the module that immediately preceded the module currently being executed, and said memory also stores the software of the module that preceded the module currently being executed, wherein upon the detection of an abnormality in the operation of the computer system or any said subsystem the preceding module is frozen in memory and also displayed on the display for facilitating error diagnosis.