Safety system for industrial robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10399232-B2
Application number	US-201515120305-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2015
Priority date	Mar 4, 2014
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

A safety system for an industrial robot, specifically an industrial robot and a method for implementing a safety system via predefined safety functions. To perform such safety functions the robot comprises in a joint connecting two robot arm sections a first position sensor ( 132 ) for sensing the angular orientation on an input side of a gear in the joint, and a second position sensor ( 133 ) for sensing an angular orientation on an output side of the gear.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An industrial robot comprising:
a robot arm having multiple sections;
a joint connecting two sections of the robot arm, the joint comprising a gear or transmission device for transmitting force or torque from one section of the robot arm to another section of the robot arm;
a first position sensor for sensing a first position on an input side of the gear or transmission device;
a second position sensor for sensing a second position on an output side of the gear or transmission device;
a control system configured to perform, using two separate systems, a same safety function among one or more safety functions for the industrial robot based on at least one of the first position or the second position and, in a case that outputs of the same safety function performed by the two separate systems disagree, to put the industrial robot in a safe state; and
a user interface for programming the industrial robot, the user interface being external to the industrial robot, an integral part of the industrial robot, or a combination of external to the industrial robot and the integral part of the industrial robot.

2. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the one or more safety functions comprise two or more of the following:
a joint position limit safety function in which the second position sensor is configured to monitor an angle of the joint and to detect if the angle is beyond a predefined angle range, and in which the first position sensor is configured to calculate an output side position based on a number of full revolutions and gear ratio of the joint;
a joint speed limit safety function in which a speed of the joint is determined by a rate of change in position of the joint;
a joint torque limit safety function in which a position and a speed of the joint and distribution of mass in the robot arm and a model of friction are used to calculate expected torque exerted in the joint;
a tool speed limit safety function in which a speed of a tool is determined based on output from the first position sensor and the second position sensor;
a tool force limit safety function in which the expected torque is projected into Cartesian space to obtain a force limiting function;
a power limit safety function in which mechanical work, calculated as torque times speed for the joint, is limited to a certain value;
an emergency stop safety function in which, when emergency stop is activated, redundant speed measurement is used to check that the industrial robot is decelerating, the industrial robot being configured to decelerate actively and within a trajectory in a fail-safe way;
a safeguard stop safety function in which speed estimation is used to control a deceleration of the robot when a safeguard input is active;
a power limit safety function in which a position and speed of the joint and a software model representing kinematics and dynamics of the robot arm are used in constantly monitoring whether total power put into the robot arm is within a certain limit;
a robot moving digital output safety function in which the first position sensor and the second position sensor each are configured to detect whether one or more robot joints are moving, and to set an output based on whether the one or more robot joints are moving;
a robot not stopping digital output safety function in which the first position sensor and the second position sensor each are configured to detect if the industrial robot is not actively braking or stopped;
a reduced mode zone safety function in which the first position sensor and the second position sensor are configured to monitor whether the industrial robot is in a workspace, and to change safety parameters based on whether the industrial robot is in the workspace;
a tool position limit safety function in which the first position sensor and the second position sensor are used in combination with the software model to determine a position of a robot arm end effector and to ensure that the position is within a user-defined limit;
a tool orientation limit safety function in which the first position sensor and the second position sensor are used in combination with the software model to determine orientation of the robot arm end effector and to ensure that the orientation is within a specified angular limit; or
a momentum limit safety function in which a position and a speed of one or more robot joints are usable to determine and to limit momentum of the industrial robot and a payload based on a distribution of mass in the robot arm and the payload.

3. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the robot arm is configured to hold a robot tool.

4. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the first position sensor comprises an encoder for sensing angular or linear position.

5. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the second position sensor comprises an encoder for sensing angular or linear position.

6. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the first position sensor is for sensing only the first position on the input side.

7. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the second position sensor is for sensing only the second position on the output side.

8. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the one or more safety functions comprise:
a joint position limit safety function in which the second position sensor is configured to monitor an angle of the joint and to detect if the angle is beyond a predefined angle range, and in which the first position sensor is configured to calculate an output side position based on a number of full revolutions and gear ratio of the joint;
a joint speed limit safety function in which a speed of the joint is determined by a rate of change in position of the joint; and
a joint torque limit safety function in which a position and a speed of the joint and a distribution of mass in the robot arm and a model of friction are used to calculate expected torque exerted in the joint.

9. The industrial robot of claim 1 , wherein the one or more safety functions comprise:
a joint position limit safety function in which the second position sensor is configured to monitor an angle of the joint and to detect if the angle is beyond a predefined angle range, and in which the first position sensor is configured to calculate an output side position based on a number of full revolutions and gear ratio of the joint;
a joint speed limit safety function in which a speed of the joint is determined by a rate of change in position of the joint;
a joint torque limit safety function in which a position and a speed of the joint and a distribution of mass in the robot arm and a model of friction are used to calculate expected torque exerted in the joint;
a tool speed limit safety function in which a speed of a tool is determined based on output from the first position sensor and the second position sensor; and
a tool force limit safety function in which the expected torque is projected into Cartesian space to obtain a force limiting function.

10. A method for providing safety control of an industrial robot, wherein the industrial robot comprises:
a joint connecting two sections of a robot arm and comprising a gear or transmission device for transmitting force or torque from one section to another section of the robot arm; a first position sensor for sensing a first position on an input side of the gear or transmission device; a second position sensor for sensing a second position on an output side of the gear or transmission device; a control system for performing, using two separate systems a same safety function among one or more safety functions for the industrial robot based on at least one of the first position or the second position; and a use

Assignees

• Universal Robots As

Inventors

• Oestergaard Esben H
• Zieba Grzegorz
• Brandt David

Classifications

• B25J13/08 Primary

  by means of sensing devices, e.g. viewing or touching devices · CPC title

• B25J13/088 Primary

  with position, velocity or acceleration sensors · CPC title

• B25J19/06

  Safety devices · CPC title

• B25J9/1674 Primary

  characterised by safety, monitoring, diagnostic · CPC title

• B25J9/16

  Program controls (total factory control, i.e. centrally controlling a plurality of machines, G05B19/418) · CPC title