DE102012017062A1 - Manipulator for supporting people during e.g. process workflows, has pivots and/or arm arranged for movement in space, and process unit arranged at arm and regulated and/or controlled by measurement unit that sends and receives signal - Google Patents

Abstract

The manipulator (1) has a foot pivot (4), a swivel pivot (5) and/or an arm (6) arranged for movement in a space. A process unit (11) is arranged at the arm and regulated and/or controlled by a measurement unit (2) that sends and receives a signal. A transmitter system is provided in a joint and transmits data to a computer (3) over a measurement unit (2). Different articles are arranged at the process unit, where the process unit is more interchangeably arranged at an attachment part (10). The data is processed in the computer by an algorithm. The process unit is designed as a dispenser, a cutter, a screwdriver and a cutting tool. An independent claim is also included for a method for controlling- and/or regulating a process unit.

Description

State of the art

The invention is based on a manipulator, in particular for dispensing, gluing, milling, cutting or the like, according to the preamble of claim 1, and a method for controlling and / or regulating a processing unit arranged on a manipulator, according to the preamble of claim 15 ,

Manipulators to assist humans in processes such as dispensing, gluing, milling and cutting or the like have long been prior art. In particular, the manipulators allow a more precise and faster processing of simple to highly complex processes in process sequences in series production.

In utility model DE 200 04 882 U1 a manipulator for manual movement of a working head in space is shown and described, wherein the manipulator as Tragknickarm, consisting of a connected via an intermediate joint upper arm and lower arm portion is pivotally mounted and secured to a at the end of the Tragknickarmes bottom mounted Fußlager and the upper arm portion with its one end connected to the hinge and with this forms an obtuse angle. The disadvantage here is that it is not possible by this construction to edit products that change their position with respect to the range of Tragknickarms, since the range of the support arms and the function of the working head and thus the range of applications of the manipulator is limited.

To overcome this disadvantage is disclosed in the publication DE 30 45 094 A1 a programmable manipulator with point and / or path control, consisting of a working arm with drive units, motor controls, position sensors, force sensors, torque sensors and a programmable controller, which operates by means of a control arm in various ways, for example by a direct control or a programmed movement can be. The disadvantage of this is that a more expensive and space-consuming control arm is required for the manipulator, which allows the operation of the manipulator, whether directly guided or programmed.

A in the teach-in process programmable painting robot with a mounted at the end of the working arm handle for manually guiding the working arm or the Lackzerstäubungsorganes during the programming phase is in the published patent application DE 35 26 958 A1 described. This is intended to overcome the disadvantages of the two aforementioned manipulator devices. A disadvantage of this device and the teach-in method, however, that for this purpose a high programming effort must be operated and in addition high initial costs incurred for such a teach-in system.

The invention and its advantages

The manipulator according to the invention, with a foot swivel joint and / or at least one swivel joint and / or at least one arm, which has a tool center point for movement in space, in particular for the support of humans and more precise and faster processing from simple to to highly complex procedures in series production, such as dispensing, gluing, milling, cutting or the like., With the characterizing features of claim 1, and the inventive method for controlling and / or regulating a, for example, arranged at a tool center point of the manipulator Process unit, with the characterizing features of claim 15, have the advantage that at least one process unit is arranged on a connection (eg a platform) whose control and / or regulation is dependent on a manipulator position and / or manipulator speed, wherein the control and / or regulation by at least one measuring unit receiving and / or emitting measuring unit takes place, which detects the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position in space and transmits the signal reflecting the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position to the process unit, thereby ensuring a high level of process reliability with simultaneously low acquisition costs ,

According to an advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the arm is preferably made of a tube. The connection of the joints of the manipulator can also be realized differently, for. B. by different types of hollow body. The preferred pipe connections (pipes) are used for the invisible laying of the cable lines, but this is not absolutely necessary, d. H. The cable connections can also be installed elsewhere on the manipulator.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the manipulator has a foot pivot and three pivot hinges and four arms.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the manipulator is manually movable by an operator. It follows for the to be processed Workpiece that this does not always have to be in the same position. If a position monitoring of the workpiece is necessary, this is possible on the one hand by means of optoelectronics (camera) and on the other hand also by means of a monitoring of the position coordinates. Further monitoring strategies are possible. The manipulator can be switched on or off either directly via the operator (eg on / off switch, dead man's switch), optoelectronics with workpiece recognition or position monitoring of the position coordinates (working range).

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the manipulator has a kinematics.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the kinematics is a serial, a parallel, a Cartesian kinematics or the like.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, a donor system is present in at least one joint.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, an encoder system transmits data to a computer via a measuring unit.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the processing of the data in the computer takes place by means of an algorithm.

In accordance with an advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the algorithm determines a manipulator speed via a forward transformation of the axis angles into Cartesian coordinates and a subsequent calculation of the position change over time.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the manipulator speed processed in a computer and / or the manipulator position is transmitted as control and / or controlled variable to the process unit arranged at a connection.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the transmitted signal is analog and / or digital.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, different attachments (eg different milling heads) can be arranged on the process unit and / or the process unit is arranged interchangeably at the connection. An attachment of the process unit is preferably achieved by latching, screwing or the like.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention, the process unit is a process unit for dispensing, gluing, milling, cutting or the like.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention for controlling and / or regulating a process unit arranged on a manipulator, wherein at least one process unit is arranged on a connection whose control and / or regulation is dependent on a manipulator position and / or manipulator speed, wherein the controller and / or regulation by at least one signal receiving and / or emitting measuring unit takes place, which detects the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position in space and the the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position reflecting signal, which is analog and / or digital, to the Process unit transmitted.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the manipulator has at least one joint over whose position the manipulator position is determined.

After an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, a donor system determines the position of the joints to one another.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the manipulator position is detected in a measuring unit for encoder systems.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the measuring unit forwards data to a computer.

After an advantageous embodiment of the inventive method, the computer calculates the position coordinates of a tool center point from the position of the manipulator, in particular by means of a coordinate transformation.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the manipulator position in the computer is converted over a sampling rate into the manipulator speed.

After an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the sampling rate is variable.

The sampling rate preferably adapts automatically depending on the manipulator speed.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position is forwarded to a process unit for its control and / or regulation.

According to an additional advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, a manipulator according to one of claims 1 to 14 is used for controlling and / or regulating a process unit arranged on a manipulator.

Further advantages and advantageous embodiments of the invention are the following description, the claims and the drawings removed.

drawing

Preferred embodiments of the subject invention are illustrated in the drawings and will be explained in more detail below. Show it

1 a side view of the manipulator according to the invention, which is connected via a measuring unit with a computer,

2 a perspective view of the manipulator according to the invention,

3 a rotated by 90 ° side view of the manipulator according to the invention, according to 1 .

4 a side view of the manipulator according to the invention, in which the joints are angled and

5 a perspective view of the manipulator according to the invention with angled arms.

Description of the embodiments

In 1 is a preferred embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention 1 shown. The manipulator 1 is about a measurement unit 2 (Evaluation unit) with a computer 3 connected. The connection of the computer 3 For the evaluation, recording, calculation and monitoring of the incoming and outgoing signals (eg data) can be both data lines (eg cables), as in 1 shown, as well as via wireless connection, such as Bluetooth or the like., Or other connections. The manipulator 1 has a foot swivel 4 , Rotary swivel joints 5 and arms 6 on. By the above-described arrangement of rotary joints, in this case a foot swivel joint 4 and three rotary swivel joints 5 , with a simultaneous connection of the joints by four arms 6 , creates a 5-axis system, which has independent system parameters (degrees of freedom) in space in each joint. In the embodiment, the manipulator has 1 a serial kinematics, ie it consists of successively connected, rotary joints, with arms 6 , here connecting pipes, are interconnected. In principle, the manipulator 1 however be equipped with any kind of kinematics. Here, for example, a parallel kinematics, a Cartesian kinematics or the like. Imagine. The poor 6 are preferably designed as a hollow body, in the embodiment pipe joints are used. The as arms 6 Hollow bodies used have the advantage over solid connectors that the data lines (eg cables) are located on the inside of the manipulator 1 can be installed and beyond the manipulator 1 lighter, ie he has less weight, will. The foot swivel 4 will not only increase the independent parameters of the manipulator 1 but also for reversible attachment on for the manipulator 1 intended location. The foot swivel 4 makes on the one hand a rotation of the manipulator in the direction of the arrow 7 , ie in the circumferential direction, and on the other hand an angular arrangement 8th to the attachment point 9 or the like of the associated arm 6 possible. The rotary swivel joints 5 are also in the direction of the arrow 7 , ie in the circumferential direction, rotatable and the arms 6 can by means of the rotary swivel joints 5 be positioned at different angles to each other. In the preferred embodiment, a connection 10 Here's a Tool Center Point, farthest from the foot swivel 4 arranged. At the connection 10 can a process unit, not shown here 11 , such as a dispenser, cutter, screwdriver, cutting tool, etc., be arranged, which serves for example for processing a workpiece, not shown.

An encoder system in each joint determines the position of each joint and transmits it to the measuring unit 2 (Evaluation unit) and to the computer 3 , The position of the joints to each other is preferably defined by the so-called Denavit-Hartenberg parameters. These describe coordinate systems whose z-axes represent the axes of rotation of the joints. At the same time, the last coordinate system is the so-called Tool Center Point (manipulator position). To determine the positions of the tool center point in the room is by means of a mathematical program on the computer 3 performed a forward transformation to get from the joint positions a Cartesian coordinate position of the tool center point (manipulator position). At one arranged process unit 11 becomes the manipulator position by adding the coordinates of the process unit 11 to the manipulator position to a new manipulator position with an active point of the process unit 11 converted. The determined manipulator position is then converted into a manipulator speed in a further loop of the algorithm using the time interval resulting from the sampling rate. This is used around the process unit 11 , z. As a dispensing needle to control or regulate. A higher speed of the manipulator 1 that z. B. by a faster hand movement of the operator, means that a higher flow of fluid through the dispensing needle must be ensured in order to ensure a consistent quality of workmanship of the workpiece with high process reliability. With a correspondingly slower manipulator speed, a lower flow rate can be realized. Will a stoppage of the manipulator 1 determined, the flow of the fluid is interrupted at the latest after reaching the intended for this workpiece position amount of fluid. This will cause that at the location of the workpiece, the predetermined desired amount of fluid is applied. It is also conceivable that the sampling rate is automatically changed if the manipulator speed changes greatly. If necessary, the process unit also becomes 11 off.

That by the process unit 11 executed method is by the control and / or regulation of the arranged process unit 11 permanently monitored and the processing quality kept at the desired level. In addition, on the one hand the trajectories, ie the area to be processed, by the computer 3 or monitored by the operator. For this purpose, it is either necessary to program the trajectories in advance or to perform a web recording via a teach-in system or to perform a work area monitoring by means of optoelectronics (camera). Thereafter, an offset, in the form of an envelope, can be calculated on the recorded web to monitor the operator in his work and at the same time the machining quality of the workpiece. With an optoelectronics, the calculation of an envelope is not necessary because the camera always monitors the machining process

In 2 is the preferred embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention 1 shown in a perspective side view. 3 represents the embodiment in a rotated by 90 ° side view. In both figures, the measuring unit 2 and the computer 3 Not shown.

4 represents the preferred embodiment of the manipulator according to the invention 1 in a side view, wherein the joints are in an angled position to each other. In the 4 shown preferred embodiment is shown in

5 shown in perspective view. The joint angles are freely selectable within their feasibility.

All features shown here may be essential to the invention both individually and in any combination.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

manipulator

2

Measuring unit (evaluation unit)

3

computer

4

Turning ankle

5

Articulating joint

6

poor

7

arrow

8th

Angled arrangement

9

fastening point

10

connection

11

process unit

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• DE 20004882 U1 [0003]
• DE 3045094 A1 [0004]
• DE 3526958 A1 [0005]

Claims (25)

Manipulator ( 1 ), with a foot swivel ( 4 ) and / or at least one pivot swivel ( 5 ) and / or at least one arm ( 6 ), arranged for movement in space, characterized in that on an arm ( 6 ) at least one process unit ( 11 ), whose control and / or regulation by at least one signal receiving and / or emitting measuring unit ( 2 ), is arranged. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to claim 1, characterized in that the arm ( 6 ) is preferably made from a tube. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the manipulator ( 1 ) a foot swivel ( 4 ) and three pivot hinges ( 5 ) and four arms ( 6 ) having. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the manipulator ( 1 ) is manually movable. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the manipulator ( 1 ) has a kinematics. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to claim 5, characterized in that the kinematics is a serial, a parallel, a Cartesian kinematics or the like Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in at least one joint, a donor system is present. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a transmitter system via a measuring unit ( 2 ) Data to a computer ( 3 ) transmitted. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to claim 8, characterized in that the processing of the data in the computer ( 3 ) is done by means of an algorithm. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to claim 8 or claim 9, characterized in that the algorithm determines a manipulator speed via a forward transformation of the axis angle into Cartesian coordinates and a subsequent calculation of the position change over time. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that in a computer ( 3 ) processed manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position as a control and / or controlled variable to the at a connection ( 10 ) arranged process unit ( 11 ) is transmitted. Manipulator ( 1 ), According to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmitted signal is analog and / or digital. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at the process unit ( 11 ) different attachments can be arranged and / or the process unit ( 11 ) at the connection ( 10 ) is arranged interchangeably. Manipulator ( 1 ), according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the process unit ( 11 ) a process unit ( 11 ) for dispensing, gluing, milling, cutting or the like. Is. Method for controlling and / or regulating a manipulator ( 1 ) arranged process unit ( 11 ), characterized in that at least one process unit at a connection ( 10 ), whose control and / or regulation is dependent on a manipulator position and / or manipulator speed, wherein the control and / or regulation by at least one signal unit receiving and / or emitting ( 2 ), which detects the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position in space, and which transmits the signal reflecting the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position to the process unit (FIG. 11 ) transmitted. Method according to claim 15, characterized in that the measuring unit ( 2 ) processes analog and / or digital signals. Method according to claim 15 or claim 16, characterized in that the manipulator ( 1 ) has at least one joint over the position of the manipulator position is determined. A method according to claim 17, characterized in that a donor system determines the position of the joints to each other. Method according to one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that the manipulator position in a measuring unit ( 2 ) is detected for encoder systems. Method according to one of claims 15 to 19, characterized in that the measuring unit ( 2 ) Data to a computer ( 3 ). Method according to claim 20, characterized in that the computer ( 3 ) the position coordinates of a tool center point from the position of the manipulator ( 1 ), in particular by means of a coordinate transformation. Method according to one of claims 15 to 21, characterized in that the Manipulator position in the computer ( 3 ) is converted over a sampling rate in the manipulator speed. A method according to claim 22, characterized in that the sampling rate is variable. Method according to one of claims 15 to 23, characterized in that the manipulator speed and / or the manipulator position to the process unit ( 11 ) is forwarded to their control and / or regulation. A method according to any one of claims 15 to 24, characterized in that for controlling and / or regulating a (to a manipulator 1 ) arranged process unit ( 11 ) a manipulator ( 1 ) is used according to one of claims 1 to 14.

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