Interface for robot motion control

• US 8,060,251 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2005
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Board of Trustees of The University of Illinois, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Yang, Allen Y., Ng-Thow-Hing, Victor, Gonzalez-Banos, Hector H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATTON, SPENCER D
• Application Number:
  US11/296,174
• Publication Number:
  US 20060161300A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,170 Days
• Field of Search: 700/245, 700/264, 700/83, 700/86, 700/14, 700/18, 700/183, 700/247, 700/250, 700/253, 700/260, 700/262, 700/257, 700/246, 318/568.1, 318/568.11, 318/565, 318/568.2, 318/568.24, 318/567, 318/625, 318/626, 901/2, 901/3, 901/8, 901/14, 901/19, 901/1
• US Class Current: 700/246
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/161 Hardware, e.g. neural networks, fuzzy logic, interfaces, processor
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33148 CLS client server architecture, client consumes, server provides services
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40147 Variable time delay, through internet

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented that enable a higher-level software application to control a robot'"'"'s motion through a generic motion interface. In one embodiment, a system includes a controller, an interface, and a set of robot driver modules. The interface receives a command from the controller and translates the command into another command to send to the driver modules. The interface includes a client, a server, and a network. The server includes two interfaces: a client interface to communicate with the client and a driver interface to communicate with the driver modules. The server also includes two buffers: a command queue and a reply queue. The command queue stores commands received from the controller (via the client). The reply queue stores replies received from the driver modules.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a robot, comprising:

receiving, from a robot controller software module, a robot-independent software command that is independent of the robot'"'"'s hardware capabilities, wherein the robot-independent software command includes an absolute starting time that indicates when to execute the robot-independent software command based on a clock;

determining a first configurable time period based on the absolute starting time;

waiting for the first configurable time period to elapse;

determining by a processor, after the first configurable time period has elapsed, a robot-dependent software command that is not independent of the robot'"'"'s hardware capabilities based on the robot-independent software command;

sending, to a robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command;

receiving, from the robot driver software module, a first reply;

waiting for a second configurable time period to elapse;

determining, after the second configurable time period has elapsed, a second reply based on the first reply; and

sending, to the robot controller software module, the second reply.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an amount of network congestion that affects commands received from the robot controller software module; and

determining the first configurable time period based on the amount of network congestion.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the robot controller software module, the robot-independent software command comprises receiving, from the robot controller software module, a set of commands that includes the robot-independent software command.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving, from the robot controller software module, the robot-independent software command comprises receiving, from one of a plurality of robot controller software modules, the robot-independent software command.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein sending, to the robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command comprises sending, to one of a plurality of robot driver software modules, the robot-dependent software command.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the robot-independent software command comprises a motion command.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the robot-independent software command differs from the robot-dependent software command.

8. A system for controlling a robot, comprising:

means for receiving, from a robot controller software module, a robot-independent software command that is independent of the robot'"'"'s hardware capabilities, wherein the robot-independent software command includes an absolute starting time that indicates when to execute the robot-independent software command based on a clock;

means for determining a first configurable time period based on the absolute starting time;

means for waiting for the first configurable time period to elapse;

means for determining, after the first configurable time period has elapsed, a robot-dependent software command that is not independent of the robot'"'"'s hardware capabilities based on the robot-independent software command;

means for sending, to a robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command;

means for receiving, from the robot driver software module, a first reply;

means for waiting for a second configurable time period to elapse;

means for determining, after the second configurable time period has elapsed, a second reply based on the first reply; and

means for sending, to the robot controller software module, the second reply.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

means for determining an amount of network congestion that affects commands received from the robot controller software module; and

means for determining the first configurable time period based on the amount of network congestion.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein receiving, from the robot controller software module, the robot-independent software command comprises receiving, from the robot controller software module, a set of commands that includes the robot-independent software command.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein receiving, from the robot controller software module, the robot-independent software command comprises receiving, from one of a plurality of robot controller software modules, the robot-independent software command.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein sending, to the robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command comprises sending, to one of a plurality of robot driver software modules, the robot-dependent software command.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the robot-independent software command comprises a motion command.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the robot-independent software command differs from the robot-dependent software command.

15. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and including instructions that, when loaded into memory, cause a processor to perform a set of operations for controlling a robot, the set of operations comprising:

receiving, from a robot controller software module, a robot-independent software command that is independent of the robot'"'"'s hardware capabilities, wherein the robot-independent software command includes an absolute starting time that indicates when to execute the robot-independent software command based on a clock;

determining a first configurable time period based on the absolute starting time;

waiting for the first configurable time period to elapse;

determining, after the first configurable time period has elapsed, a robot-dependent software command that is not independent of the robot'"'"'s hardware capabilities based on the robot-independent software command;

sending, to a robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command;

receiving, from the robot driver software module, a first reply;

waiting for a second configurable time period to elapse;

determining, after the second configurable time period has elapsed, a second reply based on the first reply; and

sending, to the robot controller software module, the second reply.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the set of operations further comprises:

determining an amount of network congestion that affects commands received from the robot controller software module; and

determining the first configurable time period based on the amount of network congestion.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein receiving, from the robot controller software module, the robot-independent software command comprises receiving, from the robot controller software module, a set of commands that includes the robot-independent software command.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein receiving, from the robot controller software module, the robot-independent software command comprises receiving, from one of a plurality of robot controller software modules, the robot-independent software command.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein sending, to the robot driver software module, the robot-dependent software command comprises sending, to one of a plurality of robot driver software modules, the robot-dependent software command.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the robot-independent software command comprises a motion command.