Transformation mode switching for a real-time robotic control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11904473-B2
Application number	US-201916730864-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2019
Priority date	Dec 30, 2019
Publication date	Feb 20, 2024
Grant date	Feb 20, 2024

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for performing transformation mode switching in a robotics control system. One of the methods includes receiving data representing a state machine that defines one or more portions of a robotics task; executing a first control loop corresponding to a first node of the state machine, wherein executing the first control loop comprises providing commands to the robotic components computed from a first coordinate transformation process; determining, based on one or more status messages, that an exit condition for the first node has been satisfied; performing a mode switch between the first coordinate transformation process and a different second coordinate transformation process; and executing a second control loop corresponding to a second node of the state machine, wherein executing the second control loop comprises providing commands to the robotic components computed from the second coordinate transformation process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, from a user by a robotics control system comprising one or more computers, data representing a user-defined state machine that defines one or more portions of a robotics task, each portion being represented by a different subgraph of the state machine, wherein each subgraph is associated with a different respective coordinate transformation process, wherein the state machine has nodes that represent respective states of one or more robotic components, wherein each node has one or more exit conditions that define when the robotics control system should transition from one state to another state, and when the robotics control system should transition from executing a first subgraph of the state machine having a first coordinate transformation process to executing a second subgraph of the state machine having a different second coordinate transformation process;
executing, by the robotics control system, a first control loop corresponding to a first subgraph of the state machine having the first coordinate transformation process, wherein executing the first control loop comprises providing commands to the one or more robotic components computed from the first coordinate transformation process and receiving status messages;
determining, based on one or more status messages received during the first control loop, that an exit condition for transitioning to executing the second subgraph has been satisfied;
in response to determining that the exit condition for transitioning to executing the second subgraph has been satisfied, performing a mode switch between the first coordinate transformation process of the first subgraph and the different second coordinate transformation process of the second subgraph; and
executing, by the robotics control system, a second control loop corresponding to the second subgraph of the state machine having the second coordinate transformation process, wherein executing the second control loop comprises providing commands to the one or more robotic components computed from the second coordinate transformation process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the mode switch occurs within real-time constraints of the robotics control system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first coordinate transformation process is an inverse kinetics coordinate transformation process and the second coordinate transformation process is a Cartesian impedance control coordinate transformation process.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a user of the robotics control system has specified that the first control loop corresponding to the first subgraph of the state machine be executed using the first coordinate transformation process, and that the second control loop corresponding to the second subgraph of the state machine be executed using the second coordinate transformation process.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the exit conditions of the state machine have been specified by a user of the robotics control system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
executing the second control loop further comprises receiving status messages; and
the method further comprises:
determining, based on one or more status messages received during the second control loop, that an exit condition for transitioning to executing a third subgraph has been satisfied;
in response to determining that the exit condition for transitioning to executing the third subgraph has been satisfied, performing a mode switch between the second coordinate transformation process of the second subgraph and a third coordinate transformation process that is different from that second coordinate transformation process; and
executing, by the robotics control system, a third control loop corresponding to the third subgraph of the state machine having the third coordinate transformation process, wherein executing the third control loop comprises repeatedly providing commands to one or more robotic components computed from the third coordinate transformation process.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the third coordinate transformation process is different from the first coordinate transformation process and the second coordinate transformation process.

8. A robotics control system comprising one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform a method comprising:
receiving, from a user by a robotics control system comprising one or more computers, data representing a user-defined state machine that defines one or more portions of a robotics task, each portion being represented by a different subgraph of the state machine, wherein each subgraph is associated with a different respective coordinate transformation process, wherein the state machine has nodes that represent respective states of one or more robotic components, wherein each node has one or more exit conditions that define when the robotics control system should transition from one state to another state, and when the robotics control system should transition from executing a first subgraph of the state machine having a first coordinate transformation process to executing a second subgraph of the state machine having a different second coordinate transformation process;
executing, by the robotics control system, a first control loop corresponding to a first subgraph of the state machine having the first coordinate transformation process, wherein executing the first control loop comprises providing commands to the one or more robotic components computed from the first coordinate transformation process and receiving status messages;
determining, based on one or more status messages received during the first control loop, that an exit condition for transitioning to executing the second subgraph has been satisfied;
in response to determining that the exit condition for transitioning to executing the second subgraph has been satisfied, performing a mode switch between the first coordinate transformation process of the first subgraph and the different second coordinate transformation process of the second subgraph; and
executing, by the robotics control system, a second control loop corresponding to the second subgraph of the state machine having the second coordinate transformation process, wherein executing the second control loop comprises providing commands to the one or more robotic components computed from the second coordinate transformation process.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein performing the mode switch occurs within real-time constraints of the robotics control system.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first coordinate transformation process is an inverse kinetics coordinate transformation process and the second coordinate transformation process is a Cartesian impedance control coordinate transformation process.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein a user of the robotics control system has specified that the first control loop corresponding to the first subgraph of the state machine be executed using the first coordinate transformation process, and that the second control loop corresponding to the second subgraph of the state machine be executed using the second coordinate transformation process.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein one or more of the exit conditions of the state machine have been specified by a user of the robotics control system.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein:
executing the second control loop further comprises receiving status messages; and
the method further comprises:
determining, bas

Assignees

• Intrinsic Innovation Llc

Inventors

• Cassero Sean Alexander
• Beardsworth Michael

Classifications

• B25J9/1653 Primary

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

• B25J9/1607

  Calculation of inertia, jacobian matrixes and inverses · CPC title

• B25J9/1628 Primary

  characterised by the control loop · CPC title

• B25J9/1661

  characterised by task planning, object-oriented languages · CPC title

• G05B2219/39346

  Workspace impedance control · CPC title