Patent ID: 8175749
Filing Date: 2012-05-08
Classification: B25J,G05B

Abstract:
1. A control apparatus for a robot arm, which controls an operation of the robot arm so as to execute a job including a plurality of operations by the robot arm, comprising: a control unit configured to control, by a processor, movements of the robot arm based upon operation information corresponding to the operation of the robot arm, acquired from an operation information database in which at least one or more factors among a position, an orientation, and a speed of the robot arm are stored in a time-sequential manner as pieces of operation information; a correction method setting unit configured to set a presence or an absence of a correction of the operation information; a control parameter managing unit configured to switch modes between (i) a position control mode for automatically shift-controlling the robot arm based upon operation information stored in the operation information database, which is used when the correction method setting unit determines that no correction is required for the operation information, and (ii) a hybrid impedance control mode for allowing a person to hold the robot arm and move the robot arm, which is used when the correction method setting unit determines that a correction is required for the operation information; an information acquiring unit configured to acquire at least one or more pieces of correction operation information relating to the position, orientation, and speed of the robot arm, used upon correcting the operation of the robot arm, by allowing the person to hold the robot arm and move the robot arm in the hybrid impedance control mode; and an operation correction unit configured to correct the operation information in accordance with the correction operation information, at each point of time acquired by the information acquiring unit, wherein the operation information database has a correction parameter flag used for specifying an object to be corrected with respect to at least one or more pieces of operation information relating to the position, the orientation, and the speed, after the control parameter managing unit has made a switch to the hybrid impedance control mode, midway during the automatic shift control of the robot arm in the position control mode, the information acquiring unit acquires the correction operation information of the robot arm made by the person, relating to the operation information specified by the correction parameter flag as the object to be corrected, the operation correction unit corrects the operation information in accordance with the correction operation information, the control unit shift-controls the robot arm based upon the corrected operation information, the correction method setting unit sets a method for correcting the operation information by the operation correction unit, and in accordance with the correction method set by the correction method setting unit, the operation information is corrected by the operation correction unit, in a case where, after the correction in the operation correction unit based upon the setting that the correction of the operation information is required, a setting is made so that the correction of the operation information is not required, the correction method setting unit sets a correction method as to whether the corrected operation is carried out or the operation is returned to a previous operation before the correction, and in a case where, after the correction in the operation correction unit based upon the setting that the correction of the operation information is required, referring to the correction method set by the correction method setting unit, by the operation correction unit, a setting is made so that the correction of the operation information is not required, the correction method setting unit switches the operation as to whether the corrected operation is carried out or the operation is returned to a previous operation before the correction, and in a case where, after the correction in the operation correction unit carried out by controlling the operation of the robot arm based upon the operation information corrected by the operation correction unit, a setting is made so that the correction of the operation information is not required, the operation of the robot arm is controlled in accordance with the operation switched by the correction method set in the correction method setting unit.