SENSOR AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A ROBOTIC GRIPPER

Abstract: In a control system for a robotic gripper a processing circuit (10) controls movement of the gripper (20) on a prearranged path. An article (A) held by gripper (20) comes into contact with the probe member (32) of a "known-down" sensor (30). A support assembly (33), on which the probe member (32) is mounted, is displaced with respect to a base member (31) allowing a continuous, uninhibited movement of the gripper along the path, even after contact has been established. In an alternative arrangement the sensor is mounted on the gripper and establishes contact with an article located at a fixed work station.

Description: This invention relates to a control system for a robotic gripper and it relates also to a sensing device for use in such a system. In an automatic assembly and/or processing system a robotic gripper is often employed to convey an article, e.g. a workpiece or tool, from one prearranged work station to another. The article should be presented at the intended station with a required degree of precision and, to this and, it is usually desirable to assess if the article is being held in the gripper correctly. A known system includes a processor conditioned to control movement of the gripper on a desired, preplanned path. To assess if an article is being held correctly, the path is so designed that the article contacts a sensor fixed at a known position. Conventionally the sensor output is monitored continually and the gripper halted when contact is detected. The position of the gripper is then evaluated and, if necessary, a suitable correction applied to the path to take account of any discrepancy between the actual and expected positions of the gripper. This technique tends to be rather unsatisfactory in that the gripper is subject to delay, reducing the efficiency of associated processing and/or assembly operations. Delay may also be encountered If the sensor is mounted on the gripper itself and used to evaluate the position of an article which is fixed in relation to a work surface and relative to which the gripper, and so the sensor, can move. It is an object of the present invention to provide a control system in which the above-described problems are at least alleviated. AT-A-351 779 discloses a probe arrangement for use in a control system for controlling movement of an article. The arrangement includes an elongate probe body for sensing the profile of the article by detecting movement of the probe body along its own axis as the article moves in a direction transverse to that axis. GB-A-1,589,297 discloses a sensor including a probe which is mounted coaxially in a base member, and generates an electrical signal when its movement along its own axis brings it into contact with an article. GB-A-1,586,052 discloses a sensor having a probe resiliently mounted coaxially in a base member, and generating an electrical signal when its movement transverse to its own axis brings it into contact with an article. Contact is detected by movement between the probe and the base member. According to the invention there is provided a sensor, for use in a control system for a robotic gripper, the control system including a processing circuit for controlling movement of the gripper on a prearranged path so as to establish, at a position intermediate the ends of said path, contact between the sensor and an article either with the sensor mounted on the gripper and the article located at a workstation, or with the sensor at a reference position and the article carried by the gripper, the sensor comprising: a base portion; and a probe member mounted coaxially with the base portion and displaceable relative thereto, and the sensor being characterised in that it further comprises: a support assembly the probe member being resiliently displaceably mounted in the support assembly and the support assembly being resiliently displaceably mounted in the base portion; and means for detecting a force exerted on the probe member in a direction transverse to the axis of the base portion and the probe member when a said contact is established and for generating an electrical signal in response thereto, the probe member being displaceable relative to the support assembly in response to such a force and the support assembly being displaceable relative to the base portion in response to such a force when the probe member has been displaced relative to the support assembly, such as to allow a substantially continuous, uninhibited movement of the gripper beyond the intermediate position on said path, even after a said contact has been established. With a sensor in accordance with the present invention data may be evaluated while the gripper is in motion. "On-the-fly" measurement of this kind leads to faster accumulation of data and more efficient planning of gripper movement than would otherwise be the case. In order that the invention may be carried readily into effect an embodiment thereof is now described, by way of example only, by reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings of which, Figure 1 shows, in schematic form, a system for controlling a robotic gripper, Figure 2 shows a simplified example of the system shown in Figure 1, Figures 3a to 3d show a sensing device in different operational configurations, and Figure 4, shows a detailed sectional view on a longitudinal axis of the sensing device. The control system of Figure 1 includes a processing circuit, shown generally at 10, conditioned to control movement of a robotic gripper 20 on a prearranged path. To assess if an article, respresented at A, is being gripped correctly a sensing device 30 is provided to contact the article at a known position on the path. When contact is established, the sensing device generates a electrical pulse which is routed to the processing circuit. In general, the processing circuit will have been supplied with data relating to the size and/or shape of the article to be gripped and to its intended position and/or orientation in the gripper, and with this data the processing circuit can evaluate the expected position of the gripper at the instant of contact. This evaluation is, of course, based on the assumption that the article is being gripped correctly. The extent of any discrepancy between the actual and expected positions can be evaluated by the processor which may then effect a suitable modification in the path to compensate for misalignment and/or mis-orientation of the article in the gripper. Figure 2 illustrates, schematically a simplified example, in which a gripper 20 moves in one direction only (in the x-axis direction) and the article A, which is rectangular in cross-section, is intended to be gripped centrally, as shown in Figure 2a. In these circumstances, the gripper assumes an expected position x o when the leading face of the article contacts sensor 30. If, however, the article is held incorrectly, as shown in Figure 2b, the gripper assumes an actual position x o - δx and the processor must take corrective action by shortening the original path by an amount δx, the extent of the misalignment of the object in the gripper. It will be appreciated that if the article has an irregular or complex shape the gripper may need to approach the sensor device in a number of different directions to assess the precise nature and extent of any misalignment and/or mis-orientation. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the sensing device is so contructed as to allow substantially uninterrupted movement of the gripper, even when contact with an article, held by the gripper, has been established. The device has three main parts, namely a base 31, a rod-like probe 32 and a support assembly 33 on which the probe is mounted. These parts assume a normally stable configuration, each centred on, and having cylindrical symmetry about, a common, longitudinal axis XX of the device. However, to accommodate movement of the gripper both the probe and its support are individually displaceable with respect to the axis. On first contact with an object, the situation illustrated in Figure 3b, the probe is displaced in relation to the support assembly and a displacement sensor, described in greater detail hereinafter, responds instantaneously to indicate that contact has been detected. The probe is capable of undergoing only limited displacement with respect to the support assembly and eventually comes hard up against a stop, as shown in Figure 3c. Thereafter, the support assembly itself is displaced with respect to the base, as demonstrated in Figure 3d. Thus the device has, in effect, a "knock-down" construction. Referring to Figure 4, the probe is anchored securely to a lower part 34' of a bush 34. An upper part 34'' of the bush is fixed to the body of the support assembly and has a rim R defining, in effect, a pivot on which the lower part of the bush can rock thereby to accommodate angular displacement of the probe with respect to the support assembly. A compression spring 35 is arranged to act on the lower part of the bush and tends to maintain the probe in its stable position, as shown, and to restore the probe to that position, with precision, after it has been displaced. In this example, the bush also houses a displacement sensor 36 comprising a pair of windings W', W'' formed on respective ferrite cores C', C'' mounted in the upper and lower parts of the bush. A slight displacement of the probe, occasioned by contact with an article, introduces an air gap between the cores sufficient to produce a detectable change in the mutual inductance of the coils. Typically, one of the coils is fed with a suitable a.c. signal and a response signal is detected across the leads of the other. It will be appreciated that an alternative form of sensor suitable for detecting contact with an article could be employed e.g. a sensor utilising an optical, capacitive, magnetic or piezo-electric technique. A flange 37 on the upper part of the bush defines a stop which limits displacement of the probe, with respect to the support assembly. Continued displacement of the probe with respect to the longitudinal axis XX of the device can still be achieved, however, by displacement of the support assembly itself with respect to the base. To this end a groove G formed in the lower edge of the support assembly locates in an upstanding rim R' of the base which acts as a pivot. The base and support assembly are coupled together resiliently by means of a coil spring 38, and suitably shaped formations on the lower edge ensure that the support assembly is held in contact with the base during displacement. As in the case of spring 35, spring 38 tends to hold the support assembly in the stable position, as shown in Figure 4, and to restore the assembly to that positon, with precision, after it has been displaced. It will be appreciated that a sensing device of the kind described herein by reference to Figures 3 and 4 is particularly beneficial when used in a system of the kind described by reference to Figure 1. A sensing device having a "knock-down" construction of the described kind permits uninhibited movement of the gripper; thus "on-the-fly" measurements can be made resulting in a faster accumulation of data and faster manipulator speeds than would otherwise be possible. The sensing device is especially advantageous in an application wherein a robotic gripper must approach the sensor in a number of different directions thereby to accumulate sufficient data to assess the position and/or orientation of a complex object in relation to the gripper; in these circumstances more efficient planning of the gripper movement can be achieved. In another example of the invention, a "knock-down" sensor of the kind described hereinbefore is mounted on the gripper itself and used to evaluate the position and/or orientation of an article relative to which the gripper, and so the sensor, can move. The article may, for example, be held in a vice mounted on a work surface. The gripper may be caused to move on a path so as to contact the article to evaluate, without ambiguity its position and/or orientation in relation to the gripper. The sensor may be used, for example, to contact a distinctive feature of the article.

Claims: A sensor, for use in a control system for a robotic gripper, the control system including a processing circuit (10) for controlling movement of the gripper (20) on a prearranged path so as to establish, at a position intermediate the ends of said path, contact between the sensor (30) and an article (A), either with the sensor mounted on the gripper and the article located at a workstation, or with the sensor at a reference position and the article carried by the gripper, the sensor comprising: a base portion (31); and a probe member (32), mounted coaxially with the base portion and displaceable relative thereto, and the sensor being characterised in that it further comprises: a support assembly (33), the probe member being resiliently displaceably mounted in the support assembly and the support assembly being resiliently displaceably mounted in the base portion; and means for detecting a force exerted on the probe member in a direction transverse to the axis of the base portion and the probe member when a said contact is established and for generating an electrical signal in response thereto, the probe member being displaceable relative to the support assembly in response to such a force and the support assembly being displaceable relative to the base portion in response to such a force when the probe member has been displaced relative to the support assembly, such as to allow a substantially continuous, uninhibited movement of the gripper beyond the intermediate position on said path, even after a said contact has been established. A sensor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support assembly, base portion and probe member are so arranged with respect to one another that displacement of the support assembly with respect to the base portion can only occur provided the probe member is first displaced, by a preset amount, with respect to the support assembly. A control system comprising a sensor according to one of claims 1 and 2, the control system including a processing circuit (10) for controlling movement of the gripper (20) on a prearranged path wherein said processing circuit is conditioned to modify said path in dependence on a said evaluation of the position of the article with respect to said reference position or the gripper. A control system comprising a sensor according to one of claims 1 and 2, the control system including a processing circuit (10) for controlling movement of the gripper (20) on a prearranged path, said electrical signal being utilised by the processing circuit to evaluate the position of the article with respect to said reference position or the gripper.

Inventors: ASHTON, MARK, HOUNSFIELD, GODFREY NEWBOLD
Applicants: MANUFACTURING JOINT VENTURES INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G05B19
IPC codes: G05B19, B25J13, G01B7, B25J9