Intuitive grasp control of a multi-axis robotic gripper

• US 9,199,376 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Wells, James W., Menassa, Roland J., Einav, Omer, Perlis, Noam
• Primary Examiner(s): Edwards, Jerrah
• Assistant Examiner(s): WEBER, TAMARA L
• Application Number:
  US13/802,972
• Publication Number:
  US 20140277742A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: 700/214, 700/245, 700/261
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 15/0009 comprising multi-articulated fingers, e.g. resembling a human hand
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1612 characterised by the hand, wrist, grip control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/40099 Graphical user interface for robotics, visual robot user interface

Abstract

A system includes a robotic gripper and a grasp controller. The gripper, which has a sensory matrix that includes a plurality of sensors, executes selected grasp poses with respect to a component in the corresponding method to thereby grasp the component in response to a grasp command signal from the controller. The controller has a touch-screen or other interactive graphical user interface (GUI) which generates a jog signal in response to an input from a user. Sensory maps provide calibrated limits for each sensor contained in the sensory matrix for the selected grasp pose. The controller transmits the grasp command signal to the gripper in response to receipt of the jog signal from the GUI. The GUI may display a jog wheel having icons, including a hub corresponding to a neutral pose of the robotic gripper and icons corresponding to grasp poses arranged around a circumference of the jog wheel.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a robotic gripper having a sensory matrix that includes a plurality of sensors connected to or embedded in the robotic gripper, wherein the robotic gripper is configured to execute, in response to a grasp command signal, a selected one of a plurality of grasp poses with respect to a component; and

a grasp controller in communication with the robotic gripper that is configured to selectively generate the grasp command signal, including;

an interactive, touch screen graphical user interface (GUI) device operable to display a jog wheel having a hub and a circumference about which is displayed the plurality of grasp poses, and to generate a jog signal in response to a received input in the form of a touch gesture in which the user slides a finger from the hub toward one of the plurality of grasp poses; and

tangible, non-transitory memory on which is recorded a sensory map in the form of a data table, wherein the sensory map provides calibrated limits for each sensor contained in the sensory matrix for the selected grasp pose;

wherein the grasp controller transmits the grasp command signal to the robotic gripper in response to receipt of the jog signal from the interactive GUI device to thereby cause the robotic gripper to grasp the component and receives sensory feedback signals from the sensory matrix.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of grasp poses has a corresponding sensory map stored in the memory of the grasp controller.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the robotic gripper has a palm and at least one articulated finger, and wherein the sensors are positioned on each of the articulated fingers and the palm.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensors of the sensory matrix include at least one of:

a force sensor, a load sensor, a weight sensor, and a temperature sensor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the grasp controller is further configured to execute a teach mode in which the sensory matrix is populated via some of the sensory feedback signals derived while the user manually poses or backdrives the robotic gripper.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensory matrix includes at least one external sensor that is not connected to or embedded within the robotic gripper.

7. A method for controlling a robotic gripper having a sensory matrix that includes a plurality of sensors connected to or embedded in the robotic gripper, the method comprising:

displaying, via an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) of a grasp controller for the robotic gripper, a jog wheel having a hub and a circumference about which is displayed a plurality of grasp poses of the robotic gripper;

generating a jog signal via the interactive GUI of the grasp controller in response to an input from a user, wherein the input from the user is a touch gesture in which the user slides a finger from the hub toward a selected one of the plurality of grasp poses;

processing the jog signal via a processor of the grasp controller;

generating a grasp command signal via the grasp controller in response to the jog signal;

executing the selected grasp pose via the robotic gripper with respect to a component in response to the grasp command signal, including grasping the component with the robotic gripper;

receiving sensory feedback signals from the sensory matrix during execution of the selected grasp pose;

comparing the received sensory feedback signals via the grasp controller to a corresponding sensory map in the form of a data table, wherein the at least one sensory map provides calibrated limits for the selected grasp pose for each sensor contained in the sensory matrix; and

executing a control action with respect to the robotic gripper when any of the received sensory feedback signals fall outside of their corresponding calibrated limits.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the robotic gripper has a palm, at least one finger, and an opposable thumb.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one finger includes four articulated fingers, and wherein the sensory matrix includes sensors positioned on each of the fingers, the thumb, and the palm.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving sensory feedback signals from the sensory matrix includes receiving at least one force or load sensor signal, a weight sensor signal, and a heat sensor signal.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising executing a teach mode via the grasp controller, including manually posing or backdriving the robotic gripper and then populating the sensory matrix with values that are derived during the posing or backdriving.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the grasp controller is in communication with a task controller, further comprising receiving a task command signal from the task controller.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

executing a maintenance mode in which the GUI displays a status of an automatic operation of the robotic gripper, including displaying a state of motion of the robotic gripper, the grasp type, and a progression of the grasp pose.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein executing a maintenance mode includes displaying a dynamic state of the sensory map and indicating a condition of limits of the sensory map via corresponding colors.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving sensory feedback signals from the sensory matrix during execution of the selected grasp pose includes receiving sensory feedback from at least one external sensor that is not connected to or embedded within the robotic gripper.

16. A system comprising:

a robotic gripper having a sensory matrix that includes a plurality of sensors connected to or embedded within the robotic gripper, including at least a plurality of force or load sensors, a weight sensor, and a heat sensor, wherein the robotic gripper includes a plurality of articulated fingers, a palm, and an opposable thumb, and is configured to execute a selected one of a plurality of grasp poses in response to a grasp command signal to thereby grasp the component; and

a grasp controller in communication with the robotic gripper and configured to generate the grasp command signal, the grasp controller including;

a touch-screen interactive graphical user interface (GUI) operable to display a jog wheel having a plurality of grasp pose icons arranged around its circumference and a neutral grasp pose icon positioned at its center or hub, wherein the GUI is configured to generate a jog signal in response to an input touch motion from a user;

a processor; and

tangible, non-transitory memory on which is recorded a plurality of different sensory maps in the form of data tables, wherein the sensory maps provide calibrated limits for a corresponding one of the plurality of grasp poses for each sensor contained in the sensory matrix;

wherein the controller transmits the grasp command signal to the robotic gripper in response to receipt of the jog signal from the GUI and receives sensory feedback signals from the sensory matrix to thereby cause the robotic gripper to grasp the component.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the grasp controller is configured to execute a teach mode in which the sensory matrix is populated via some of the sensory feedback signals derived by manually jogging, posing, or backdriving the robotic gripper.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the grasp controller is in communication with a task controller, and receives a task command signal from the task controller.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the sensory matrix also includes a camera.