Methods and systems for detecting states of operation of a robotic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10189159-B1
Application number	US-201514679286-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Apr 6, 2015
Priority date	Apr 6, 2015
Publication date	Jan 29, 2019
Grant date	Jan 29, 2019

Abstract

Examples are provided that describe a model free power detector. In one example, a method includes receiving, by one or more computing devices, a measurement of electrical power to a robotic device. The method also includes receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a measurement of mechanical power by the robotic device. Based on combinations of the electrical power to the robotic device being one of positive, negative, or about zero, and the mechanical power by the robotic device being one of positive, negative, or about zero, the method includes determining possible states of operation of the robotic device. The method also includes providing, by the one or more computing devices, the possible states of operation of the robotic device to a detector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
controlling, by one or more computing devices, a robotic device to perform a predetermined motion to accomplish a task within an environment of the robotic device, wherein the robotic device includes (i) a motor configured to receive electrical power for causing movement of the motor, (ii) a transmission coupled to the motor, (iii) a torque sensor coupled to the transmission and configured to determine a torque of the transmission and a direction of rotation of the transmission, (iv) a link coupled to the transmission, and (v) an encoder configured to measure a velocity of the link, and wherein the predetermined motion involves the motor moving the link;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, an expected state of operation of the link of the robotic device, the expected state of operation being associated with performance of the predetermined motion;
while the robotic device is performing the predetermined motion:
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a first measurement of the electrical power received by the motor, wherein the firt measurement has a respective sign;
based on the velocity of the link measured by the encoder, the torque of the transmission determined by the torque sensor, and the direction of rotation of the transmission determined by the torque sensor, determining, by the one or more computing devices, a second measurement of mechanical power associated with the link, wherein the second measurement has a respective sign;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a current state of operation of the link of the robotic device based on a comparison of the signs of the first and second measurements to predetermined reference data, wherein the predetermined reference data includes multiple distinct pairs of an electrical power measurement sign and a mechanical power measurement sign and correlates each pair with a state of operation of the link of the robotic device; and
making, by the one or more computing devices, a determination that the current state of operation differs from the expected state of operation; and

based on the determination that the current state of operation differs from the expected state of operation, controlling, by the one or more computing devices, the link of the robotic device to perform a physical action different from the predetermined motion.

2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the predetermined reference data includes a pair of a positive electrical power measurement sign and a positive mechanical power measurement sign and correlates the pair with a state of operation in which the motor is driving the robotic device, and
wherein determining the current state of operation of the link of the robotic device based on the comparison of the signs of the first and second measurements to the predetermined reference data comprises:
based on the predetermined reference data correlating the pair with the state of operation in which the motor is driving the robotic device, and based on the signs of the first and second measurements both being positive, determining the current state of operation of the link of the robotic device to be the state of operation in which the motor is driving the robotic device.

3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the predetermined reference data includes a pair of a negative electrical power measurement sign and a positive mechanical power measurement sign and correlates the pair with a state of operation in which the motor is externally back-driven, and
wherein determining the current state of operation of the link of the robotic device based on the comparison of the signs of the first and second measurements to the predetermined reference data comprises:
based on the predetermined reference data correlating the pair with the state of operation in which the motor is externally back-driven, based on the sign of the first measurement being negative, and based on the sign of the second measurement being positive, determining the current state of operation of the link of the robotic device to be the state of operation in which the motor is externally back-driven.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the first measurement of the electrical power received by the motor according to a measured voltage and a measured current provided to the motor of the robotic device.

5. A system comprising:
a robotic device including (i) a motor configured to receive electrical power for causing movement of the motor, (ii) a transmission coupled to the motor, (iii) a torque sensor coupled to the transmission and configured to determine a torque of the transmission and a direction of rotation of the transmission, (iv) a link coupled to the transmission, and (v) an encoder configured to measure a velocity of the link;
one or more processors; and
data storage comprising instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
controlling the robotic device to perform a predetermined motion to accomplish a task within an environment of the robotic device, wherein the predetermined motion involves the motor moving the link;
determining an expected state of operation of the link of the robotic device, the expected state of operation being associated with performance of the predetermined motion;
while the robotic device is performing the predetermined motion:
based on measurements of a voltage and a current associated with the motor, determining a first measurement of the electrical power received by the motor, wherein the first measurement has a respective sign;
based on the velocity of the link measured by the encoder, the torque of the transmission determined by the torque sensor, and the direction of rotation of the transmission determined by the torque sensor, determining a second measurement of mechanical power associated with the link, wherein the second measurement has a respective sign;
determining a current state of operation of the link of the robotic device based on a comparison of the signs of the first and second measurements to predetermined reference data, wherein the predetermined reference data includes multiple distinct pairs of an electrical power measurement sign and a mechanical power measurement sign and correlates each pair with a state of operation of the link of the robotic device; and
making a determination that the current state of operation differs from the expected state of operation; and

based on the determination that the current state of operation differs from the expected state of operation, controlling the link of the robotic device to perform a physical action different from the predetermined motion.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the first measurement of the electrical power is determined further based on a first threshold,
wherein the second measurement of the mechanical power is determined further based on a second threshold, and
wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are updated according to the expected state of operation of the link of the robotic device.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:
updating the first threshold based on the second measurement of the mechanical power satisfying the second threshold and information representing the expected state of operation.

8. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:
updating the second threshold based on the first measurement of the electrical power satisfying the first threshold and information representing the expected state of operation.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon program instructions that when executed by a computing system that includes at least one processor cause the

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Wilson Rob
• Bingham Jeffrey Thomas

Classifications

• Y10S901/46

  Sensing device · CPC title

• Y10S901/23

  Electric motor · CPC title

• B25J9/1653 Primary

  parameters identification, estimation, stiffness, accuracy, error analysis · CPC title

• G05B2219/39261

  Calculate driving torque from dynamic model, computed torque method variant · CPC title