ROBOT AND CONTROL SYSTEM

Abstract: A light, relatively compact, higly versatile robot (20) of the 3-axis type comprising a base-mounted motor control system which senses the position of a robot arm through a servo-system comprising position-sensing potentiometers (96, 230, 332) mounted in the motor control system and a feed-back control system to coordinate the vertical and horizontal movement of a robot arm (30) and to provide counterbalancing against gravity.

Description: _i_ ROBOT AND CONTROL SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to robots and control mechanisms for robots which provide a light, relatively compact, highly versatile, robot system. A substantial amount of work has been done in robots over the years. An example of a typical robot operable in a three-dimensional plane is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,229,136 to Panissidi and, also, in U.S. Patent 3,661,276 to iesener. These patents are particularly illustrative of problems faced by the prior art in providing counterbalancing of such appa¬ ratus against gravity. The parent invention relates to the solution of both of these problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved robot system, one that is versatile with respect to the number and energy requirements of permissible robot tasks, and one which has a highly stable structure. Another object of the invention is to provide a novel, base-mounted, motor control system for such a robot. A further object of the invention is to provide a robot which can perform operations in a three-dimensional zone, relative to its central structure, which zone comprises an exceptionally large percentage of the total space occupied by the robot. Another object of the invention is to provide a robot, the arm of which can move smoothly from position to position by a unique positioning of, and control of, its cables. Another object of the invention is to utilize a unique position-feedback information from said cable-operating motors. Another object of the invention is to provide an im¬ proved process for generating and processing input signals into individual robot motors. A further object of the invention is to provide means to coordinate the vertical and horizontal motor means for said robot arm to achieve a smooth movement and to most efficiently use the energy of the robot. Another object of the invention is to provide improved means to generate and transmit digital signals through a cable in the time domain, that is in a relatively independent voltage form. Other objects of the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art on their reading of this description. The above objects have been substantially accomplished by the construction of a robot apparatus of the type compris¬ ing means to move a robot arm in a vertical direction, in a horizontal direction substantially co-axial with said arm, and in a plane of rotation co-planar with said horizontal direction, wherein motor means for moving said robot arms in said vertical and horizontal directions are mounted on a hor¬ izontal turntable with winch means for operating horizontal cable means and vertical cable means, respectively, and wherein, mounted beneath, said turntable is a turntable- rotating motor, and winch and cable means for driving the turntable. The motor means for moving said vertical or horizontal directions is controlled by a motor control system including means to sense the vertical and horizontal position of said robot arm. Preferably the sensing means comprises a potenti¬ ometer mounted on said turntable and forming means to measure the rotational position of each '' winch means and convert the rotational position into an electrical signal which resulting signals are coordinated through a servo-system with one another to achieve a smooth movement of said robot arm. These motor means and winch means are the sole means for providing motive power for moving said robot arm. Conse- quently, very substantial forces can be applied to the robot arm by merely providing large motors in the base. The pro¬ vision of these motors in the base position only further stabilizes the apparatus. It should also be understood that the apparatus des¬ cribed herein may be substantially modified, e.g., with respect to the movement and reach of its arm, with no funda¬ mental change in components of the apparatus. For example, were one to wish to provide more travel, one "could merely increase the length of the cable and, if necessary, the arms. (Moreover, as will be seen below, if one is to utilize a preferred motor control system, one would have to select a winch/potentiometer combination that allows the potentiometer to sense the number of turns and thereby sense 'the • .rotary position of the winch.) In order to provide smooth movement of the arm, it is desirable to coordinate the relative speed of cable movement of the vertical cable with the horizontal cable. In the sense used herein the "vertical cable" is conventionally used to describe that cable system which operates the robot arm to move it up and down. Moreover, the term "down" is used to refer to the base position as shown in the drawings. Despite the use of such conventions for the purpose of illustration, and despite the fact that the motor position lends substan¬ tial stability in this conventional position, it is to be emphasized that the design of the present system is such that it can be advantageously attached to vertical surfaces and, when desired, to ceilings. Thus it may be conceived as a relatively gravity-independent apparatus, although as will be seen from considerations discussed below, it may be more desirable to use different motor systems to maintain desir¬ able gearing ratios when the arm becomes the vertical axis. It is preferred that direct current, servo motors geared down to the desired operating speed, usually from about 2 to 20 inches per second, be used to drive the cables. Each of the position-indicating potentiometers is used to send a signal which is indicative of where each winch (and thus each cable and the arm) is at any given time. This signal is fed back and summed with an input signal of differ¬ ent polarity, in the illustrated case a negative signal, which is indicative of where the winch wants to be. Then the winch is driven by an amplified "difference signal." When the difference is zero the winch is where it is supposed to be. What is achieved by controlling the horizontal motor with reference to the vertical motor is that, were this not done, it would be necessary to have each of the winches for vertical and horizontal movement driven at a precisely deter¬ mined value when, say, a vertical movement is required. How¬ ever when the horizontal movement is controlled by, i.e., servoed to, the vertical motor, the desired result is achieved without any need to feed a precise independent input to the horizontal motor to have it respond with proper rela¬ tionship to the vertical movement. The illustrated circuit is one way in which the vertical motor-driving circuit can be utilized to control the activity of the horizontal-motor-driving circuit by a signal inversion means; however, numerous other such signal-investing-control means can also be employed. It would be entirely practical to operate and control the apparatus with stepping motors and, for example, chains or flat straps as cables. However, it has been found partic¬ ularly advantageous to utilize wire cable with geared-down direct current motors. This allows one to avoid having to deal with resonance- or vibration-imparting problems (which are associated with the use of such cables and stepping motors) with each change in system size. The placement of the motors on the base reduces bulk, puts the weight near the center of gravity of the robot where it contributes to stability. Typical travel specifications of the apparatus comprise a 13-inch travel in each of the horizontal and vertical dis¬ tances. However, it is important to note that there is nothing in the design to preclude the arm from travelling over a much larger range, e.g., three or four feet. The turntable is advantageously adapted to turn more than 360 angular degrees. Additional, e.g., an additional 90-degree turning capacity allows the apparatus to proceed directly to a nearby work assignment, say the 80 degrees from a 290- degree position to a 360° plus 10° position, without the need to go 280° in the other direction. The position of the motors and associated winches and potentiometers, the centers of gravity of which are posi¬ tioned substantially within the cylinder out of which the end of the robot arm must remain, is a substantial benefit in stabilizing the robot apparatus. ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION In the application and accompanying drawings there is shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention and suggested various alternatives and modifications thereof, but it is to be understood that these are not intended to be exhaustive and that other changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the invention. These suggestions herein are selected and included for purposes of illustration in order that others skilled in the art will more fully under stand the invention and the principles thereof and will be able to modify it and embody it in a variety of forms, each as may be best suited in the condition of a particular case. Figure 1 is perspective.view of a robot constructed according to the invention. Figure 2 illustrates a cable diagram indicating the rela tive position of cables, winches and pulleys in the apparatus. Figure 3 is a somewhat schematic elevation of the apparatus of the invention indicating the relative position of the motors and principal robot member. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram indicating a preferred way of generating pulses for the motor circuits. Figure 5 is a circuit diagram disclosing a preferred way of controlling vertical and horizontal motors. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, it is seen that robot 20 comprises a vertical track 22 formed of hollow vertical track rods 24, and a turntable 26 which provides means to rotate vertical track 22 about a 360-degree arc. Mounted for movement up and down along track 22 is an arm-bearing bracket 28 which, in addition to apertures for rods 24, comprises a diamond-shaped aperture for passage of arm 30. Arm 30 rests on four sets of roller bearings mounted on the lower surfaces of the passage and which are not shown but are conventionally used in the mechanical arts and is adapted to be moved back and forth through bracket 28 on the roller bearings. Motion is impacted by three motor-driven cable systems, each of which comprises a length of cable, pulleys or sheaves for facilitating the movement of said cable, biasing means for maintaining desired tension on said cables and a winding means for the cable operation. (See Figure 2.) In each case, the winch is mounted between the ends of the cable which it is moving so that movement of the winch (about which are wound several windings of cable) pulls one end of the cable while feeding out the cable demanded by the integrated movement being imparted to the robot arm by the sum of the action of all three cable/winch systems. Upper pulleys 32 and 33 for the cable system are housed in an upper housing bracket 36. Pulleys 42 and 43 for hori¬ zontal arm movement are housed within cavities of the central bracket 28. Cable 50 is the operating cable for moving arm 30 in and out of bracket 28. One end of the cable is attached to the arm 30 near each end thereof. Cable 50 feeds from an ini¬ tial anchoring position 48 back over pulley 43 downwardly around the horizontal, or arm-operating winch 52, around the winch for several turns, thence upwardly to pulley 33, down¬ wardly to pulley 42 and back to its terminal anchoring posi¬ tion at 54. The anchoring positions are selected to assure they will not engage the pulley or pulley-holding bracket during the desired travel path. Similarly, bracket 28 is itself carried in a vertical direction in response to the movement of a cable 60 which is attached to the bracket at anchor positions 62 and 64. Rota¬ tion of winch 66 will cause the cable to carry the up and down tracking rods 24. Each combination of motor, gear box, winch, and potenti¬ ometer is assembled so that the individual parts rotate to¬ gether. Thus, referring to Figure 3, it is seen that the turntable motor 80 is aligned on a common shaft with gear box * 82, winch 84 and potentiometer 86 below turntable 90 which comprises a rotary mounting plate 92 and a grooved circumfer¬ ence for receiving turntable cable 62. Also seen in Figure 3 and numbered to correspond with Figure 5, are the horizontal, or arm, motor 360, its gear box 358, its winch 52 (hidden), and its potentiometer 332. Also seen on Figure 3 are the vertical control motor system com¬ prising vertical motor 260, its gear box 250, its winch 66, and its potentiometer 232. Winch 66 is connected, ori a common shaft, to turn with a multiturn potentiometer 232 (described below) and gear box 258 of motor 260. Likewise, winch 358 is connected on a common shaft to turn with a multiturn potentiometer 332 and gear box 358 of motor 360. The illustrated cable arrangement is of particular value in tying in the horizontal and vertical movement of the arm by having each anchored to the bracket 28. In this arrangement, for example, the arm will move horizontally when the block moves downwardly unless, of course, horizon¬ tal movement counteracts the effect. This interacting cable arrangement facilitates a smooth control of the robot as will be described below. Figure 5 describes the operation of the motors. Speci¬ fic detail is set forth only for the horizontal and vertical motors which can interact to assure desirable tracking char¬ acteristics for the robot arm. It will be understood that the turntable motor can be driven by a similar circuit. The circuit described as Figure 4 has as its object the generation of three modulated, pulse-width signals for ver¬ tical, horizontal and rotary motion of the robotic arm. Any appropriate controlling computer 200 is connected through a standard buss interface 202 to a series of three digitally-programmable one-shot multivibrators. An example of a device readily utilized for this function is a program¬ mable interval timer 203 sold by Intel Corporation under the trade designation Intel8253. This device is well known in the art and its use is described, among other places, in Intel Corporation's publications entitled "The 8086 Family User's Manual" (October, 1979) and "Component Data Catalog" (January, 1981) . (However, it is not believed that the pre¬ cise use described herein is disclosed anywhere in the prior art.) An oscillator 204 is connected to . the clock inputs of the one-shots has a frequency of about 1 megacycle. (How¬ ever, it should be realized that the frequency could be up to the maximum count rate of the particular one-shot. Lower frequencies could be used but this is generally undesirable. Such lower frequencies will cause reduction in resolution or a reduction in the frequency of the pulse rate modulated sig¬ nal outputs.) The one-shots generate a pulse which is proportional to their digital inputs up to a maximum value permitted by the frequency divider counter 205, which is suitably of thirteen binary bits or a count of 8192 decimal. The percentage of "on" time (as opposed to "off" time) of the output pulses from the one-shots of timer 203 is proportional to the input digital data and the frequency of the output is equal to the oscillator frequency divided by the frequency of the divider counter. These signals are sent over a transmission line from the computer to the robo¬ tic arm-operating mechanisms as shown schematically at 206, 207, and 208. This has the advantage that the information component of the signal is in the time domain and is not directly dependent upon the voltage levels or voltage drop in the cable. Typical useful pulse width inputs profiles are shown in Figure 6. These inputs cause a change-of-state of a C-MOS switch 210, typically a National Semiconductor Model No. 4053, which switches the output from voltage reference to ground through a pair of resistors 212 and 214. This switching is smoothed by capacitor 216 followed by an inte¬ grating amplifier 220 whose time constants, together, filter the AC component out of the pulse-width-signal. I is well to note that the reference voltage (at 230) to the C-MOS switch 210 is the same as the reference voltage (at 230a) to the feedback potentiometer 232. This is the potentiometer associated directly with motor and winch. Thus the input signal becomes independent of voltages generated other than the reference voltage. Moreover, because the in¬ put switch (210) and feedback potentiometer (232) both ratio the reference voltage, that voltage is- not itself critical except that there be no substantial difference between the reference tied to the input switch 210 and the feedback poten¬ tiometer. Tracing the signal from potentiometer 232, the wiper 234 of potentiometer 232 is connected to a feedback repeater amplifier 240 which forms means to minimize or reduce the effect of loading on the potentiometer 232. (A load -lo¬ resistor connected across the potentiometer would normally cause a non-linearity of the feedback signal, i.e., an unde¬ sirable difference between the feedback signal and the actual position of the potentiometer.) The feedback voltage is then summed together with the input voltage, which is of opposite polarity. The difference in feedback and input voltages is suitably amplified in difference amplifier 250. The ampli¬ fied signal is sent to.powerdriver 252, which generates the necessary voltage to drive the permanent magnet direct cur¬ rent motor that moves the "vertical" servo drive mechanism 260. The stabilizing network 256, which is connected from the motor input back to the summing junction, prevents oscil¬ lation of the total system. Use and design of such stabiliz¬ ing networks is well known in the art. The vertical drive gear box 258 has a relatively high gear ratio, which increases the lifting force, yet, at the same time, limits the vertical speed of the motor which causes the vertical lift and, thus, limits the speed of the robot arm lift motion. This has the advantage of allowing the horizontal servo 334-360 system to track the position of the vertical motion with minimum error and provides for the force necessary for the verticle servo to lift a large mass. The direct current motor 260, the gear box 258, the cable pulley 66, or sheave, and the multiturn feedback poten¬ tiometer 232 are connected to a common shaft. Thus, the position of the vertical motion is locked directly to the motor 260 and the feedback potentiometer 232. Referring to Figure 6, showing the processing of the pulse width input to the horizontal drive control system (300) goes through the same process of being switched from reference voltage to ground through the resistances that are in series with those leads and is smoothed by the integrating inverting amplifier 220 as in the vertical motion circuitry. The resulting D.C. voltage is summed together with the feed¬ back from the horizontal feedback potentiometer 334 along with a signal that is inversely proportional to the feedback OM?I signal from the vertical feedback potentiometer 232 through a signal inverting potentiometer 400. This signal causes the horizontal servo 360 to closely track the position of the vertical servo 260 allowing the cable system controlling the arm to be of simple construction. When the arm is raise the horizontal cable 60 must be moved exactly synchronously with it to provide that a tool mounted on arm 30 will move directly upward. The inverse is true when arm 30 is to be moved in a downward direction. To accomplish this, the hor¬ izontal gear box 358 has a lower gear ratio allowing higher speeds in the horizontal direction and, hence a faster re¬ sponse than is provided by the vertical gear box 258. This is permissible and convenient because horizontal arm 30 does not need to lift mass. Thus, forces generated on the cable and sheave will be suitably low despite the relatively rapid movement of the arm in a horizontal direction. The horizon¬ tal stabilizing circuitry, of course, will be optimized for the different speed. This stabilizing is within. the ordinary skill of the art. ' It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific fea¬ tures of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which might be said to fall there¬ between.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1 1. In a robot apparatus of the type comprising means to move a robot arm in a vertical direction, and in a horizontal direction substantially co-axial with said arm and means to rotate said arm through a plane 5 co-planar with said horizontal direction, the improve¬ ment wherein motor means for moving said robot arms in said vertical and horizontal directions are mounted on a horizontal turntable with winch means for operating horizontal cable means and vertical cable means, respec- 0 tively and wherein, mounted beneath, said turntable is a turntable-rotating motor, and winch means for operat¬ ing said turntable. 2. A robot apparatus as defined in Claim 1 where- 5 in said motors a__e direct current servo motors and where¬ in said cable means are steel cables. 3. A robot apparatus as defined in Claim 1 where¬ in said motor means for moving said arm in vertical or 0 horizontal directions is controlled by a motor control system including means to sense the vertical and hori¬ zontal position of said robot arm and sensing means comprising a potentiometer mounted on said turntable and forming means to measure the rotational position of 5 each said winch means and connect said rotational posi¬ tion into an electrical signal which resulting signals are coordinated through a servo-system with one another to achieve a smooth movement of said robot arm. GMFI 4. Apparatus as defined in Claims 1, 2 or 3 where in said motor means and winch means are the sole means for providing motive power for moving said robot arm. 5. Apparatus as defined in Claims 1, 2 or 3, where in said motors, said winches and said potentiometers are clustered substantially within a cylinder defined *by a top circle defined by the smallest radii formed by the end of said arm in its positions nearest a central- vertical track means, said top circle being at the low¬ est vertical position of said arm. 6. Aparatus as defined in Claims 1, 2 or 3, com¬ prising a first cable for moving said robot arm verti- cally, said first cable being fastened at each end to an arm-holding bracket adapted to slide on vertical tracks and said first cable being looped around a winch proximate the bottom of said track and around a pulley proximate the top of said track; and comprising a second cable forming means to move said arm vertically through said bracket, said second cable means the ends of which are attached to said arm near end of said arm on oppo¬ site sides of said bracket; and wherein the second cable runs from one said cable end to a pulley in said bracket downwardly to a pulley mounted proximate the top of said vertical track, downwardly around a second pulley attached to said bracket and thence to the other of said cable ends. 7. A robot comprising an arm which is adapted to slide back-and-forth within a support bracket in a hori- -14- zontal direction in response to a first motor and in a vertical direction in response to a second motor, form¬ ing means to move said bracket, the improvement compris¬ ing motor control means whereby the horizontal motor control means is geared to operate said horizontal con¬ trol motor at a maximum speed of at least four times the maximum gear-speed ratio of said second motor. 8. A robot as defined in Claim 1 wherein the motor control system of said first motor comprises a signal inversion means allowing its operating speed to be deter¬ mined, at least in part, by the control system for said second motor.

Inventors: ABRAHAMS LOUIS, DUNLAP RAYMOND R, HUTCHINS BURLEIGH M, ABRAHAMS, LOUIS, DUNLAP, RAYMOND, R., HUTCHINS, BURLEIGH, M.
Applicants: ABRAHAMS LOUIS, DUNLAP RAYMOND R, HUTCHINS BURLEIGH M, ABRAHAMS, LOUIS, DUNLAP, RAYMOND, R., HUTCHINS, BURLEIGH, M.
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B66C23
IPC codes: B25J9, B25J18