Patent ID: 7765031

Claim:
A method of avoiding interference between first and second movable parts of first and second robots during movement of the first and second movable parts toward first and second target positions, respectively, the method comprising: defining a first occupation region for the first movable part of the first robot at the first target position, the first occupation region depending on a pose of the first movable part located at the first target position and identifying an interference range of the pose of the first movable part; defining a second occupation region for the second movable part of the second robot at the second target position, the second occupation region depending on a pose of the second movable part located at the second target position and identifying an interference range of the pose of the second movable part; determining whether there is an interference region in which the first occupation region and the second occupation region are at least partially overlapped with each other; determining whether at least one of the first and second movable parts is at least partially located in the interference region based on actual positions of the respective first and second movable parts; and beginning stopping, at a predetermined timing, the movement of one of the first and second movable parts if it is determined that there is the interference region and that the other of the first and second movable parts is at least partially located in the interference region, the predetermined timing being determined based on a positional relationship between the actual position of the one of the first and second movable parts and the interference region.