Collision detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10369697-B2
Application number	US-201515311753-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2015
Priority date	Jun 5, 2014
Publication date	Aug 6, 2019
Grant date	Aug 6, 2019

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of determining a collision between an object and a robot, comprises monitoring one or more articular parts of the robot by measuring the parameters associated with the real displacements of the one or more articular parts; comparing the measured parameters with the expected parameters associated with the corresponding commanded displacements; and determining the probability of a collision with an object. Described developments comprise the exclusion of system failures, the identification of the collided object by computer vision or by communicating with the object, the execution of one or more actions such as a safety mode, the identification of systematic discrepancies in performed comparisons, the grouping of articular parts belonging to a same articular chain, and the mutual surveillance of robots. The use of capacitive sensors, bumper sensors and magnetic rotary encoders is disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of determining a collision between an object and a humanoid robot, comprising:
monitoring one or more articular parts of said robot by measuring parameters associated with real displacements of said one or more articular parts, the one or more articular parts being associated with at least one of a head, a leg, a foot, an arm, a hand, and a torso;
comparing said measured parameters with expected parameters associated with corresponding commanded displacements; and
determining a collision with an object, determining the collision with the object comprising:
integrating the comparisons performed for articular parts of the robot belonging to a same articular chain, said articular chain grouping related articular parts, wherein said grouping is dynamic; and
identifying the object that the humanoid robot collided with by computer vision;

wherein
comparing said measured parameters with the expected parameters associated with the corresponding commanded displacements is performed by a second independent robot or an independent camera.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the collision with the object comprises excluding one or more failures associated with the one or more parts of the robot.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising executing one or more actions.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the one or more actions are associated with a safety mode.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein measured parameters comprise at least one of geometric position parameters and speed of displacement parameters.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying systematic discrepancies in performed comparisons.

Assignees

• Softbank Robotics Europe

Inventors

• Dalibard Sébastien
• Gouaillier David

Classifications

• G05B2219/37624

  Detect collision, blocking by measuring change of velocity or torque · CPC title

• G05B2219/39011

  Fixed camera detects deviation end effector from reference on workpiece, object · CPC title

• B25J9/1697

  Vision controlled systems · CPC title

• B25J9/1653

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

• G05B2219/37622

  Detect collision, blocking, stall by change, lag in position · CPC title