Selecting physical arrangements for objects to be acted upon by a robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9724826-B1
Application number	US-201514724193-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 28, 2015
Priority date	May 28, 2015
Publication date	Aug 8, 2017
Grant date	Aug 8, 2017

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for determining one or more spatial constraints associated with an object to be acted upon by a robot; determining a plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object that satisfy the one or more spatial constraints; calculating, for one or more of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object, a candidate physical arrangement cost that would be incurred as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement; and selecting, from the plurality of candidate physical arrangements, a candidate physical arrangement associated with a candidate physical arrangement cost that satisfies a criterion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
determining, by one or more processors, one or more spatial constraints associated with an object to be acted upon by a robot;
determining, by one or more of the processors, a plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object that satisfy the one or more spatial constraints;
receiving as input, by one or more of the processors for each of the candidate physical arrangements, a plurality of candidate paths traversable by a reference point of an end effector in acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement;
calculating, by one or more of the processors, for each of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object and for each of the candidate paths for the candidate physical arrangement, a cost that would be incurred as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement using the candidate path, wherein the calculating includes:
determining, from the plurality of candidate paths, a path traversable by the reference point associated with the end effector of the robot to a site corresponding to at least one of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object,
determining a plurality of candidate instructions sets, each candidate instruction set configured to cause the robot to assume a different respective set of poses while traversing the reference point along the path, and
calculating, for each candidate instruction set, a candidate instruction set cost that would be incurred to implement the candidate instruction set to traverse the reference point along the path;

selecting, by one or more of the processors, the candidate physical arrangement and candidate path associated with the cost that satisfies a criterion, wherein the selecting includes selecting, from the plurality of candidate instruction sets, the candidate instruction set associated with the candidate instruction set cost that satisfies the criterion or another criterion; and
with the object in the selected candidate physical arrangement, operating the robot to act upon the object using the selected candidate path.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of physical arrangements comprise a plurality of potential sites of the object that satisfy the spatial constraints.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of physical arrangements comprise a plurality of potential orientations of the object that satisfy the spatial constraints.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of candidate paths are traversable by a reference point of the end effector of the robot between a first site and a plurality of sites corresponding to the plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the cost that would be incurred as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement is based at least in part on a candidate path cost associated with the selected candidate path.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the cost that would be incurred as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement is based at least in part on the candidate instruction set cost associated with the selected candidate instruction set.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising building, by the one or more processors, a pose tree and calculating the costs based on traversal of the pose tree.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein calculating, for each of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object and for each of the candidate paths for the candidate physical arrangement, the cost that would be incurred as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement comprises calculating the cost that would be incurred by a one or more operational components of the robot as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement.

9. A method comprising:
determining a plurality of candidate physical arrangements of an object to be acted upon by a robot;
for one or more of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements:
receiving input that defines a plurality of candidate paths traversable by a reference point associated with an end effector of the robot while the robot acts upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement;
determining one or more candidate path costs associated with one or more of the plurality of candidate paths, wherein each of the candidate path costs is incurred by one or more operational components of the robot while traversing the reference point along a corresponding one of the candidate paths;
selecting, from the plurality of candidate paths, a given candidate path, of the candidate paths, that has a determined given candidate path cost, of the candidate path costs, that satisfies a first criterion; and
associating, with the candidate physical arrangement as a candidate physical arrangement cost, the given candidate path cost associated with the selected given candidate path, and

selecting, from the one or more of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements, the candidate physical arrangement associated with the candidate physical arrangement cost that satisfies a second criterion; and
operating the robot to act upon the object in the selected candidate physical arrangement;
wherein determining the one or more candidate path costs associated with one or more of the plurality of candidate paths comprises, for each of the one or more of the plurality of candidate paths:
determining a plurality of candidate instructions sets, each candidate instruction set configured to cause the robot to assume a different respective set of poses while traversing the reference point along the candidate path;
calculating, for each of the plurality of candidate instruction sets, an associated candidate instruction set cost that would be incurred by the particular operational component of the robot while implementing the candidate instruction set to traverse the reference point along the candidate path;
selecting, from the plurality of candidate instruction sets, the candidate instruction set associated with the candidate instruction set cost that satisfies a third criterion; and
associating, with the candidate path as the candidate path cost, the candidate instruction set cost associated with the selected candidate instruction set.

10. A system comprising one or more processors and memory operably coupled with the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores instructions that, in response to execution of the instructions by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
determine one or more spatial constraints associated with an object to be acted upon by a robot;
determine a plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object that satisfy the one or more spatial constraints;
receive as input for each of the candidate physical arrangements, a plurality of candidate paths traversable by a reference point of an end effector in acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement;
calculate, for each of the plurality of candidate physical arrangements of the object and for each of the candidate paths for the candidate physical arrangement, a cost that would be incurred as a result of the robot acting upon the object in the candidate physical arrangement using the candidate path;
select the candidate physical arrangement and candidate path associated with the cost that satisfies a criterion;
determine a path traversable by

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Prats Mario

Classifications

• G05B2219/40519

  Motion, trajectory planning · CPC title

• B25J9/1664 Primary

  characterised by motion, path, trajectory planning · CPC title

• G05B2219/40463

  Shortest distance in time, or metric, time optimal · CPC title

• G05B2219/40465

  Criteria is lowest cost function, minimum work path · CPC title