DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues on page 9 of the Applicants Remarks that “By contrast, claim 1 recites that the force difference comprises a difference between the forces on the tool flange at the different orientations, and that this force differences is used to determine the mass.”. Applicant also argues on page 10 of the Applicants Remarks that “The cited portions of the remaining references are not understood to remedy this deficiency of Shiratsuchi vis-a-vis claim 1. ”. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Nishijima is used in the rejection to remedy this specific deficiency of Shiratsuchi. Nishijima teaches force being measured at different orientations of the tool flange which is used to determine the weight of the tool (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Nishijima and include the feature of measuring forces at different orientation to include the difference in calculating mass, thereby control force with high accuracy (Page 2 Para 5 “Therefore, even if the installation accuracy of the robot is low, necessary parameters can be calibrated in consideration of the error, so that the calibration accuracy of the tool centroid position vector and the tool weight can be improved. Therefore, the accuracy of gravity compensation using these parameters is improved, and force control with high accuracy becomes possible.”).
Applicant’s arguments filed on 12/16/2025 have been fully considered but they are not
persuasive or moot in view of new ground of rejection provided below which was necessitated based on Applicant’s amendments to claims. The new ground of rejection for independent claim 1 is based on Shiratsuchi, Nishijima, Radrich, Fuerstenberger, and Winkler. The same reasoning as applied to the independent claims above also apply to their corresponding dependent claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 9, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiratsuchi (US 2018/0169854 A1) in view of Nishijima (JP-2012040634-A, attached English translated copy is used for claim mapping), Radrich (US 2019/0009410 A1), Fuerstenberger (DE102017009278A1), and further in view of Winkler et al (A. Winkler and J. Suchy, "Dynamic force/torque measurement using a 12DOF sensor," 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, CA, USA, 2007, pp. 1870-1875) (Hereinafter Winkler).
Regarding claim 1, Shiratsuchi teaches a method of obtaining information about a payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm, where the robotic arm comprises joints connecting a base of the robotic arm to the tool flange (See at least Para [0038] “The calibration device is a device required when the force information is used to control a mechanical device, for example, a robot, in such a robot system. Moreover, when the robot carries out the work, a hand, a tool, and sensors used for the work are mounted to the tip of the robot arm 1 to carry out the work, and are referred to as tool parts…” describes load is mounted to the tip of the robot arm which construed as payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm, Para [0046] “Moreover, in order to remove influence of an inertial force due to the gravity and the hand tip acceleration to obtain an accurate external force, an actual external force can accurately be calculated by accurately identifying the mass and the center-of-gravity position of the tool part, namely, a hand tip load with respect to the sensor…” describes accurately identifying the mass namely a hand tip load with respect to the sensor which construed as obtaining information about a payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm, Fig 3 shows robotic arm comprises joints connecting the robot base to the tool flange), and where the method comprises:
arranging the tool flange in different orientations (See at least Para [0114] “…the force information that are obtained when the tool part is rotated in accordance with the attitude command value…” describes arranging the tool flange in different orientation);
at each of the different orientations, obtaining a force and a torque on the tool flange caused by effects of gravitational force acting on the payload (See at least Para [0038] “…In this case, the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” describes obtaining force and moment and a direction vector which construed as obtaining force and torque at different orientations, Para [0046] “… influence of an inertial force due to the gravity and the hand tip acceleration to obtain an accurate external force…” describes identifying center-of-gravity position of the tool part which construed as gravity acting on the payload at each of the different orientations creating different force and torque), the force and the torque being obtained using a force-torque sensor associated with the tool flange (See at least Fig 1 item 3, Para [0035] “a force sensor 3 is provided between the robot arm 1 and the tool part 4 as a force information sensor for acquiring force information in the robot system for carrying out the force control…” describes that a force sensor is provided between the robot arm and tool part, Para [0038] “The calibration device is a device required when the force information is used to control a mechanical device, for example, a robot, in such a robot system. Moreover, when the robot carries out the work, a hand, a tool, and sensors used for the work are mounted to the tip of the robot arm 1 to carry out the work, and are referred to as tool parts. On this occasion, in order to carry out the work through the force control, it is necessary to precisely know a contact state between the tool part on the hand tip side and the work subject. In this case, the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.”, Para [0063] “…when a sensor is mounted to the robot mechanical flange…”);
obtaining a mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange in the different orientations (See at least Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in different orientations), the forces being along one or more axes of a coordinate system (See at least Para [0018] “FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of a positional relationship between a mechanical flange coordinate system and the sensor coordinate system of the robot system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…”); wherein obtaining the mass of the payload comprises:
obtaining a force difference, where the force difference comprises a difference between the forces (See at least Para [0101] discloses difference of force estimated from the model and from the sensor output which construed as force difference, Para [0012]) … and
determining the mass of the payload based on the force difference (See at least Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0101] discloses difference of force estimated from the model and from the sensor output which construed as force difference, Para [0012] discloses that mass is calculated from force information and Para [0101] discloses force difference); and
obtaining a pose of the payload relative to the tool flange based on … and torques on the tool flange in the different orientations, … (See at least Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a pose of the payload based on torques on the tool flange produced in the different orientations), … the pose of the payload being defined by a positional vector indicating a position of a center of mass of the payload in relation to a reference point of the tool flange (See at least Para [0012] “… and to calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed; and an external force component calculation unit configured to subtract the bias value and the gravity action component of the hand tip load from the force information through use of the estimated bias value, and the mass and the center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load.”, Para [0065] “On this occasion, the homogeneous transformation matrix is a 4×4 matrix constructed by a rotation matrix R (3×3) and a position vector P representing a positional relationship defined in a reference coordinate system. For example, when a homogeneous transformation matrix wld Trob is expressed while the coordinate system serving as a reference is set to the world coordinate system Σwld and the coordinate system of interest is set to the robot coordinate system Σrob, the rotation matrix R, the position vector P, and the homogeneous transformation matrix wld Trob are expressed as the following expressions (3) to (5).”, Para [0108] “On this occasion, the force Fmdl that is estimated from the model can be defined as follows. The center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL is defined in the same axial directions as those of the mechanical flange coordinate system Σmec, an external force vector caused by the mass, which is a three dimensional vector of the axial forces with respect to the center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL , is expressed as L f, a moment vector caused by the mass with respect to the same center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL is expressed as L m, and a gravity acceleration vector with respect to the center-of-gravity coordinate system is expressed as L g…”), …
wherein arranging the tool flange in the different orientations comprises rotating the tool flange relative to a direction of gravitational force such that an angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force is different for each of the different orientations (See at least Para [0093] “M_y_b obtained by this expression is the bias value M_bis_y of the moment about the Y axis to be obtained. When the convergence of the solution is slow, and an approximate solution is not obtained, angles may be selected by dividing 360 degrees by a divisor of 360, for example, 0 degrees and 180 degrees as θ in case of 2, and 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees as θ in case of 4, and an average of My at respective angles may be obtained.” discloses arranging the tool flange in different orientation with different angles); and
However, Shiratsuchi does not explicitly spell out …
on the tool flange at the different orientations;
… the mass of the payload,…
the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system; …
wherein rotating the tool flange comprises:
rotating the tool flange around a first axis that is non-parallel to, and non-perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force; and
rotating the tool flange at an angle relative to the first axis around a second axis that is non-parallel to, and non- perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force.
Nishijima teaches …
obtaining a force difference, where the force difference comprises a difference between the forces on the tool flange at the different orientations (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…); and
determining the mass of the payload based on the force difference (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Nishijima and include the feature of measuring forces at different orientation to include the difference in calculating mass, thereby control force with high accuracy (Page 2 Para 5 “Therefore, even if the installation accuracy of the robot is low, necessary parameters can be calibrated in consideration of the error, so that the calibration accuracy of the tool centroid position vector and the tool weight can be improved. Therefore, the accuracy of gravity compensation using these parameters is improved, and force control with high accuracy becomes possible.”).
Radrich teaches … on the mass of the payload,… (See at least Abstract – …the orientation or the installation, of the robot relative to the direction of gravity is determined…”, Para [0002] “The present invention relates to a method for determining an orientation of a robot relative to a gravitational direction…”, Para [0024] “indicating the mass matrix M(q,g.sub.model), the speeds or accelerations {dot over (q)}, {umlaut over (q)}, the generalized forces h(q, {dot over (q)}, g.sub.model), (the vector) of the gravitational (force or direction) g.sub.model, and model forces, in particular model joint forces T.sub.model. In a static kinetic model, the terms {dot over (q)}, {umlaut over (q)} can be omitted or can be equal to zero.”, Para [0025] “…at least essentially only because of the deviation between the gravitational direction or gravitational vector g.sub.model that is fundamental to the model and the actual current gravitational direction or gravitational vector g.sub.actual. It should be noted that the gravitational direction g.sub.model on which the model is based relative to the robot can be used in corresponding kinetic parameters of the model, such as masses, locations of center of gravity, and/or inertia sensors.”)…
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Radrich and include the feature of obtaining a pose of the payload relative to the tool flange based on the mass of the payload and a gravity vector of the tool flange at each of the different orientations which will help with precise calculation, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Para [0009] “The object of the present invention is to improve the operation of a robot.”).
Fuerstenberger teaches …
wherein rotating the tool flange comprises:
rotating the tool flange around a first axis that is non-parallel to, and non-perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force (See at least Para [0025] Line 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, discloses inclined against the direction of gravity by at least 30°, 45°, or 75° which is construed as non-parallel to and non-perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Line 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”); and
rotating the tool flange at an angle relative to the first axis around a second axis that is non-parallel to, and non- perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force (See at least Para [0025] Lines 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, discloses inclined against the direction of gravity by at least 30°, 45°, or 75° which is construed as non-parallel to and non-perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Lines 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Fuerstenberger and include feature that let the tool flange rotate at a certain angle around an axis that is non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force in order to perform calculation that will help move the robot arm precisely, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Para [0019] “In one embodiment, this can improve the calibration, in particular making it more precise and/or reliable.”).
Shiratsuchi explicitly discloses contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector (See at least Para [0038]).
However, Winkler teaches … the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system (See at least Page 1870 Col 1 Para 5 “In the next section the well known basics necessary for the dynamic contact force measurement are described, especially different kinds of forces and torques acting on the end effector during its motion…”, Page 1870 Col 2 “II. PROBLEM FORMULATION AND BASIC RELATIONS - The forces and torques measured by F/T sensor are represented by vector Fs. Fs = [ Fxs Fys Fzs Mxs Mys Mzs] T (1)”, discloses that the torques being different from the forces, Page 1873 Col 1 Para 1 “From each rotation around the particular axis of the center of gravity coordinate frame the inertias on the diagonal of the inertial tensor can be determined from (15):”, Page 1875 Fig 4. Comparison of dynamic forces/torques measured by F/T sensor shows the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Winkler and include the feature of the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system in order to provide accurate calculation that will help move the robot arm precisely, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Page 1875 “VI. CONCLUSION - … These values may be important for other analyses like robot weight analysis to prevent robot overload [12]…”).
Regarding claim 4, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 1. Shiratsuchi further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the pose comprises:
obtaining a torque difference, where the torque difference is based on a difference between at least two torques on the tool flange at the different orientations of the tool flange (See at least Fig 9, Para [0023] “FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a bias estimation operation for a moment by the bias value estimation unit of the parameter estimation unit in the calibration device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Para [0091] “In other words, a numerical model of the moment is defined as a phase difference φ when the bias component of the moment about the Y axis is denoted by M_y_b, a rotation angle about the Y axis from the reference attitude R.sub.k0 is denoted by θ, θ is to the horizontal axis, and the moment is assigned to the vertical axis. Moreover, the amplitude of the cosine curve is denoted by Am. When moment data acquired on this occasion is denoted by M_y, the following expression (8) holds.” discloses determining difference in moments (considered as torques));
wherein the pose is based on the torque difference and the mass (See at least Para [0131] “…when the attitude is specified by the offset position/attitude specification unit 208, only the acting external forces generated at this position can be calculated as offsets.” Which construed as pose based on torque difference, Fig 14 item 208 offset position/attitude specification, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at different poses).
Regarding claim 5, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 4. Shiratsuchi further teaches the method of claim 4, wherein obtaining the pose comprises:
obtaining an initial guess of the pose of the payload (See at least Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a pose (here attitude is considered as pose) of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at at least two of the different orientations, Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.”, Para [0064] discloses initial values can be treated as known which construed as initial guess);
for the at least two different orientations, obtaining an expected torque on the tool flange caused by the payload having a pose corresponding to the initial guess (See at least Para [0038] “…In this case, the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” describes obtaining moments (torque) at different orientations, Para [0091] [0092] [0101] disclose a numerical model being used which construed as initial values can be treated as initial guess);
determining an expected torque difference between at least two expected torques on the tool flange (See at least Fig 9, Para [0023] “FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a bias estimation operation for a moment by the bias value estimation unit of the parameter estimation unit in the calibration device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Para [0091] “In other words, a numerical model of the moment is defined as a phase difference φ when the bias component of the moment about the Y axis is denoted by M_y_b, a rotation angle about the Y axis from the reference attitude R.sub.k0 is denoted by θ, θ is to the horizontal axis, and the moment is assigned to the vertical axis. Moreover, the amplitude of the cosine curve is denoted by Am. When moment data acquired on this occasion is denoted by M_y, the following expression (8) holds.” discloses determining difference in moments (considered as torques)); and
determining a torque error comprising a difference between the torque difference and the expected torque difference (See at least Para [0098] discloses error data at a total of N attitudes which construed as torque error, Para [0131] discloses offset position/attitude specification unit 208 where only the acting external forces generated at this position can be calculated as offsets);
wherein the pose is obtained based on the torque error (See at least Para [0070] “Errors decrease as a rotation amount about the rotation axis Vec_rot from position/attitude serving as a reference increases…” describes minimizing torque error, Para [0067] discloses error minimization and increases the estimation accuracy of the bias which is construed as minimizing torque error).
Regarding claim 9, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 1. Shiratsuchi further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein arranging the tool flange in different orientations comprises arranging the tool flange in four different orientations (See at least Para [0095] discloses four cases of different angle for rotation).
Regarding claim 21, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Shiratsuchi does not explicitly spell out the method of claim 1, further comprising verifying the different orientations of the tool flange based on (i) at least one angle between the
tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a first orientation of the tool flange and (ii) at least one angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a second orientation of the tool flange, the first orientation and the second orientation being different.
Fuerstenberger teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising
verifying the different orientations of the tool flange based on (i) at least one angle between the
tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a first orientation of the tool flange (See at least Para [0025] Line 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, Para [0033] Line 341-343 “Fig. 1 342 shows a robot arrangement with a robot in different poses and a system for calibrating joint load sensors of the robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.”, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Line 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”, Para [0017] Line 167-169 “In one embodiment, the first and the or one or more of the additional pose(s) are predetermined such that the joint load sensor is loaded differently in these poses due to gravity, in particular at different heights and/or directions.”) and (ii) at least one angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a second orientation of the tool flange, the first orientation and the second orientation being different (See at least Para [0025] Line 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, Para [0033] Line 341-343 “Fig. 1 342 shows a robot arrangement with a robot in different poses and a system for calibrating joint load sensors of the robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.”, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Line 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”, Para [0017] Line 167-169 “In one embodiment, the first and the or one or more of the additional pose(s) are predetermined such that the joint load sensor is loaded differently in these poses due to gravity, in particular at different heights and/or directions.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the
filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Fuerstenberger to include feature that will verify the different orientations of the tool flange by checking at least one angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force of an orientation that differs from at least one angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force of an older orientation in order for precise calculation for safe movement of the robot arm.
14. Claim(s) 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiratsuchi (US 2018/0169854 A1) in view of Nishijima (JP-2012040634-A, attached English translated copy is used for claim mapping), Radrich (US 2019/0009410 A1), Fuerstenberger (DE102017009278A1), Winkler et al (A. Winkler and J. Suchy, "Dynamic force/torque measurement using a 12DOF sensor," 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, CA, USA, 2007, pp. 1870-1875) (Hereinafter Winkler), and further in view of Jian et al. (US 2019/0084154 A1) (Hereinafter Jian).
15. Regarding claim 7, Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Shiratsuchi does not explicitly spell out the method of claim 1, wherein arranging the tool flange in different orientations comprises changing an orientation of the tool flange by at least 20° relative to at least one other orientation of the tool flange.
Jian teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the orientation of the tool flange is changed by at least 20° relative to a least one other orientation of the tool flange (See at least Para [0079] “…at the first position. At the first position, the first angle value for the joint 212 is π/2…”, Para [0080] “FIG. 6 illustrates the robotic arm 2 being at the second position. In this position, the first angle value for the joint 212 is π/8…”, Para [0079] and Para [0080] describes that the position of joint 212 is changed by 40.5°or 67.5° (calculation done using Para [0079] and [0080]) which is at least 20 degrees).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Jian and include feature that will let the tool flange rotate around an axis that is non-parallel to the direction of gravitational force in order to perform calculation that will let the tool flange to change its orientation by at least 20° relative to a least one other orientation of the tool flange which will help calculate the difference in toque more precisely, thereby providing preferred and safe movement of the robot arm.
16. Regarding claim 10, Shiratsuchi teaches a method of controlling a robotic arm, the robotic arm comprising joints connecting a base of the robotic arm to a tool flange of the robotic arm, the tool flange for holding a payload (See at least Para [0038] “The calibration device is a device required when the force information is used to control a mechanical device, for example, a robot, in such a robot system. Moreover, when the robot carries out the work, a hand, a tool, and sensors used for the work are mounted to the tip of the robot arm 1 to carry out the work, and are referred to as tool parts…” describes load is mounted to the tip of the robot arm which construed as payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm, Para [0046] “Moreover, in order to remove influence of an inertial force due to the gravity and the hand tip acceleration to obtain an accurate external force, an actual external force can accurately be calculated by accurately identifying the mass and the center-of-gravity position of the tool part, namely, a hand tip load with respect to the sensor…” describes accurately identifying the mass namely a hand tip load with respect to the sensor which construed as obtaining information about a payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm, Fig 3 shows robotic arm comprises joints connecting the robot base to the tool flange), the method comprising:
obtaining a mass of the payload based on differences in forces at the tool flange at different orientations of the tool flange,(See at least Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…”, Para [0085] “… As illustrated in FIG. 7, at least three attitudes rotated about the Y axis from the reference attitude R.sub.k0 are acquired…” which construed as obtaining a mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at at least two of the different orientations), the forces being along one or more axes of a coordinate system (See at least Para [0018] “FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of a positional relationship between a mechanical flange coordinate system and the sensor coordinate system of the robot system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…”), the forces resulting from the payload (See at least Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…”, Para [0085] “… As illustrated in FIG. 7, at least three attitudes rotated about the Y axis from the reference attitude R.sub.k0 are acquired…” which construed as obtaining a mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at at least two of the different orientations), … wherein obtaining the mass of the payload comprises:
obtaining a force difference, where the force difference comprises a difference between the forces (See at least Para [0101] discloses difference of force estimated from the model and from the sensor output which construed as force difference, Para [0012]) … and
determining the mass of the payload based on the force difference (See at least Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0101] discloses difference of force estimated from the model and from the sensor output which construed as force difference, Para [0012] discloses that mass is calculated from force information and Para [0101] discloses force difference); and
obtaining a pose of the payload relative to the tool flange based on … torques at the tool flange at the different orientations, … the torques resulting from the payload (See at least Para [0012] “…position information acquisition unit configured to acquire position information on the tool part…”, Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a pose of the payload based on torques on the tool flange produced in at least two of the different orientations), the pose of the payload being defined by a positional vector indicating a position of a center of mass of the payload in relation to a reference point of the tool flange (See at least Para [0012] “… and to calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed; and an external force component calculation unit configured to subtract the bias value and the gravity action component of the hand tip load from the force information through use of the estimated bias value, and the mass and the center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load.”, Para [0065] “On this occasion, the homogeneous transformation matrix is a 4×4 matrix constructed by a rotation matrix R (3×3) and a position vector P representing a positional relationship defined in a reference coordinate system. For example, when a homogeneous transformation matrix wld Trob is expressed while the coordinate system serving as a reference is set to the world coordinate system Σwld and the coordinate system of interest is set to the robot coordinate system Σrob, the rotation matrix R, the position vector P, and the homogeneous transformation matrix wld Trob are expressed as the following expressions (3) to (5).”, Para [0108] “On this occasion, the force Fmdl that is estimated from the model can be defined as follows. The center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL is defined in the same axial directions as those of the mechanical flange coordinate system Σmec, an external force vector caused by the mass, which is a three dimensional vector of the axial forces with respect to the center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL , is expressed as L f, a moment vector caused by the mass with respect to the same center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL is expressed as L m, and a gravity acceleration vector with respect to the center-of-gravity coordinate system is expressed as L g…”)…; …
and
However, Shiratsuchi does not explicitly spell out …
… on the tool flange at the different orientations; and
… where the different orientations of the tool flange correspond to rotations of the tool flange around at least first and second axes at one or more angles that are each non-parallel to and non-perpendicular to, a direction of gravitational force;…
… the mass of the payload,…
controlling the joints based on a kinematic model of the robotic arm and information about the payload, where the information comprises the mass of the payload and the pose of the payload relative to the tool flange.
Nishijima teaches …
obtaining a force difference, where the force difference comprises a difference between the forces on the tool flange at the different orientations (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…); and
determining the mass of the payload based on the force difference (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Nishijima and include the feature of measuring forces at different orientation to include the difference in calculating mass, thereby control force with high accuracy (Page 2 Para 5 “Therefore, even if the installation accuracy of the robot is low, necessary parameters can be calibrated in consideration of the error, so that the calibration accuracy of the tool centroid position vector and the tool weight can be improved. Therefore, the accuracy of gravity compensation using these parameters is improved, and force control with high accuracy becomes possible.”).
Fuerstenberger teaches …where the different orientations of the tool flange correspond to rotations of the tool flange around at least first and second axes at one or more angles that are each non-parallel to and non-perpendicular to, a direction of gravitational force (See at least Para [0025] Line 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Line 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”, Para [0017] Line 167-169 “In one embodiment, the first and the or one or more of the additional pose(s) are predetermined such that the joint load sensor is loaded differently in these poses due to gravity, in particular at different heights and/or directions.”);…
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings Fuerstenberger by including feature of rotations of the tool flange at a certain angle around at least first and second axes that are each non-parallel to and is non-perpendicular to a direction of gravitational force in order to perform calculation that will help balance the robot arm more accurately, and with the teachings of Jian by including feature that will use kinematic model to control the robot joints, thereby making movement of the robot arm more accurate and safe.
Radrich teaches … on the mass of the payload,… (See at least Abstract – …the orientation or the installation, of the robot relative to the direction of gravity is determined…”, Para [0002] “The present invention relates to a method for determining an orientation of a robot relative to a gravitational direction…”, Para [0024] “indicating the mass matrix M(q,g.sub.model), the speeds or accelerations {dot over (q)}, {umlaut over (q)}, the generalized forces h(q, {dot over (q)}, g.sub.model), (the vector) of the gravitational (force or direction) g.sub.model, and model forces, in particular model joint forces T.sub.model. In a static kinetic model, the terms {dot over (q)}, {umlaut over (q)} can be omitted or can be equal to zero.”, Para [0025] “…at least essentially only because of the deviation between the gravitational direction or gravitational vector g.sub.model that is fundamental to the model and the actual current gravitational direction or gravitational vector g.sub.actual. It should be noted that the gravitational direction g.sub.model on which the model is based relative to the robot can be used in corresponding kinetic parameters of the model, such as masses, locations of center of gravity, and/or inertia sensors.”)…
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Radrich and include the feature of obtaining a pose of the payload relative to the tool flange based on the mass of the payload and a gravity vector of the tool flange at each of the different orientations which will help with precise calculation, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Para [0009] “The object of the present invention is to improve the operation of a robot.”).
Shiratsuchi explicitly discloses contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector (See at least Para [0038]).
However, Winkler teaches … the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system (See at least Page 1870 Col 1 Para 5 “In the next section the well known basics necessary for the dynamic contact force measurement are described, especially different kinds of forces and torques acting on the end effector during its motion…”, Page 1870 Col 2 “II. PROBLEM FORMULATION AND BASIC RELATIONS - The forces and torques measured by F/T sensor are represented by vector Fs. Fs = [ Fxs Fys Fzs Mxs Mys Mzs] T (1)”, discloses that the torques being different from the forces, Page 1873 Col 1 Para 1 “From each rotation around the particular axis of the center of gravity coordinate frame the inertias on the diagonal of the inertial tensor can be determined from (15):”, Page 1875 Fig 4. Comparison of dynamic forces/torques measured by F/T sensor shows the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Winkler and include the feature of the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system in order to provide accurate calculation that will help move the robot arm precisely, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Page 1875 “VI. CONCLUSION - … These values may be important for other analyses like robot weight analysis to prevent robot overload [12]…”).
Jian teaches …controlling the joints based on a kinematic model of the robotic arm and information about the payload, where the information comprises the mass of the payload and the pose of the payload relative to the tool flange (See at least Para [0058] “Specifically, for a five-axel robotic arm 2, the set of correction parameters (α and β) the no-load torque value G.sub.0(θ) and the maximum-load torque value G.sub.max(θ) may be calculated by the load estimation module 4, using a set of equations that are derived based on forward kinematic and that are associated with the joint angle and a torque outputted by the joint 21.” describes calculation is performed using equations derived based on forward kinematics).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Jian and include the feature of controlling the joints based on a kinematic model of the robotic arm and information about the payload, where the information comprises the mass of the payload and the pose of the payload relative to the tool flange, thereby enhance efficiency of robot movement (See at least Para [0003] “… In compliance control of a robotic arm, the robotic arm is subjected to an external load during operation (operated alone or by an operator in a man-machine operation), and some parameters associated with an output of the robotic arm need to be adjusted according to the external load in order to output a torque that can achieve gravity compensation, thereby ensuring normal operation under the external load.”).
17. Regarding claim 11, Shiratsuchi teaches a robot system comprising:
a tool flange for holding a payload (describes load is mounted to the tip of the robot arm which construed as payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm, Para [0046] “Moreover, in order to remove influence of an inertial force See at least Para [0038] “The calibration device is a device required when the force information is used to control a mechanical device, for example, a robot, in such a robot system. Moreover, when the robot carries out the work, a hand, a tool, and sensors used for the work are mounted to the tip of the robot arm 1 to carry out the work, and are referred to as tool parts…” due to the gravity and the hand tip acceleration to obtain an accurate external force, an actual external force can accurately be calculated by accurately identifying the mass and the center-of-gravity position of the tool part, namely, a hand tip load with respect to the sensor…” describes accurately identifying the mass namely a hand tip load with respect to the sensor which construed as obtaining information about a payload attached to a tool flange of a robotic arm);
a robotic arm comprising joints connecting a base of the robotic arm to the tool flange (See at least Fig 3 shows robotic arm comprises joints connecting the robot base to the tool flange), and
at least one controller configured to control the joints (See at least Para [0038] “The calibration device is a device required when the force information is used to control a mechanical device, for example, a robot, in such a robot system. Moreover, when the robot carries out the work, a hand, a tool, and sensors used for the work are mounted to the tip of the robot arm 1 to carry out the work, and are referred to as tool parts…” ) … and information about the payload, the information comprising a mass of the payload and a pose of the payload relative to the tool flange (See at least Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at at least two of the different orientations, which construed as obtaining a pose (here attitude is considered as pose) of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at at least two of the different orientations; Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” discloses moments which is construed as torque);
wherein the controller is configured to perform operations comprising:
obtaining the mass of the payload based on forces on the tool flange in different orientations (See at least Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0012] “…position information acquisition unit configured to acquire position information on the tool part…”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a mass and pose of the payload, Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” discloses moments which is construed as torque), the forces being along one or more axes of a coordinate system (See at least Para [0018] “FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating an example of a positional relationship between a mechanical flange coordinate system and the sensor coordinate system of the robot system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.”, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…”); wherein obtaining the mass of the payload comprises:
obtaining a force difference, where the force difference comprises a difference between the forces (See at least Para [0101] discloses difference of force estimated from the model and from the sensor output which construed as force difference, Para [0012]) … and
determining the mass of the payload based on the force difference (See at least
Para [0012], “calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed”, Para [0101] discloses difference of force estimated from the model and from the sensor output which construed as force difference, Para [0012] discloses that mass is calculated from force information and Para [0101] discloses force difference); and
obtaining the pose of the payload relative to the tool flange based on … torques on the tool flange in the different orientations, …(See at least Para [0012] “…position information acquisition unit configured to acquire position information on the tool part…”, Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a pose of the payload based on torques on the tool flange produced in at least two of the different orientations), … the pose of the payload being defined by a positional vector indicating a position of a center of mass of the payload in relation to a reference point of the tool flange (See at least Para [0012] “… and to calculate a mass and a center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load through use of the force information from which the bias value is removed; and an external force component calculation unit configured to subtract the bias value and the gravity action component of the hand tip load from the force information through use of the estimated bias value, and the mass and the center-of-gravity position vector of the hand tip load.”, Para [0065] “On this occasion, the homogeneous transformation matrix is a 4×4 matrix constructed by a rotation matrix R (3×3) and a position vector P representing a positional relationship defined in a reference coordinate system. For example, when a homogeneous transformation matrix wld Trob is expressed while the coordinate system serving as a reference is set to the world coordinate system Σwld and the coordinate system of interest is set to the robot coordinate system Σrob, the rotation matrix R, the position vector P, and the homogeneous transformation matrix wld Trob are expressed as the following expressions (3) to (5).”, Para [0108] “On this occasion, the force Fmdl that is estimated from the model can be defined as follows. The center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL is defined in the same axial directions as those of the mechanical flange coordinate system Σmec, an external force vector caused by the mass, which is a three dimensional vector of the axial forces with respect to the center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL , is expressed as L f, a moment vector caused by the mass with respect to the same center-of-gravity coordinate system ΣL is expressed as L m, and a gravity acceleration vector with respect to the center-of-gravity coordinate system is expressed as L g…”)…;
However, Shiratsuchi does not explicitly spell out …
… on the tool flange at the different orientations; and …
…based on a kinematic model of the robotic arm…
… the mass of the payload,…
wherein the tool flange in the different orientations comprises the tool flange rotated relative to a direction of gravitational force, the tool flange rotated relative to the direction of gravitational force comprising:
the tool flange rotated around a first axis that is non-parallel to, and non- perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force; and
the tool flange rotated at an angle relative to the first axis around a second axis that is non-parallel to, and non-perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force.
Nishijima teaches …
obtaining a force difference, where the force difference comprises a difference between the forces on the tool flange at the different orientations (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…); and
determining the mass of the payload based on the force difference (See at least Page 1 Last Para and Page 2 Para 1 “According to the present invention, there is provided a calibration apparatus for a force control robot in which a tool is attached to a hand of a robot arm that moves three-dimensionally via a force sensor, the robot arm being operated in a plurality of postures, and the force A robot control device that acquires sensor measurement values, posture data of force sensors when acquiring the measurement values, a measurement value of the force sensors, and a posture of the robot of the force sensor when acquiring the measurement values A plurality of parameters including a gravitational direction, a tool weight, and a tool barycentric position…); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Nishijima and include the feature of measuring forces at different orientation to include the difference in calculating mass, thereby control force with high accuracy (Page 2 Para 5 “Therefore, even if the installation accuracy of the robot is low, necessary parameters can be calibrated in consideration of the error, so that the calibration accuracy of the tool centroid position vector and the tool weight can be improved. Therefore, the accuracy of gravity compensation using these parameters is improved, and force control with high accuracy becomes possible.”).
Jian teaches …based on a kinematic model of the robotic arm (See at least Para [0058] “Specifically, for a five-axel robotic arm 2, the set of correction parameters (α and β) the no-load torque value G.sub.0(θ) and the maximum-load torque value G.sub.max(θ) may be calculated by the load estimation module 4, using a set of equations that are derived based on forward kinematic and that are associated with the joint angle and a torque outputted by the joint 21.” describes calculation is performed using equations derived based on forward kinematics)...
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings Fuerstenberger by including feature of rotations of the tool flange at a certain angle around at least first and second axes that are each non-parallel to and is non-perpendicular to a direction of gravitational force in order to perform calculation that will help balance the robot arm more accurately, and with the teachings of Jian by including feature that will use kinematic model to control the robot joints, thereby making movement of the robot arm more accurate and safe.
Radrich teaches … on the mass of the payload,… and a gravity vector of the tool flange at each of the different orientations (See at least Abstract – …the orientation or the installation, of the robot relative to the direction of gravity is determined…”, Para [0002] “The present invention relates to a method for determining an orientation of a robot relative to a gravitational direction…”, Para [0024] “indicating the mass matrix M(q,g.sub.model), the speeds or accelerations {dot over (q)}, {umlaut over (q)}, the generalized forces h(q, {dot over (q)}, g.sub.model), (the vector) of the gravitational (force or direction) g.sub.model, and model forces, in particular model joint forces T.sub.model. In a static kinetic model, the terms {dot over (q)}, {umlaut over (q)} can be omitted or can be equal to zero.”, Para [0025] “…at least essentially only because of the deviation between the gravitational direction or gravitational vector g.sub.model that is fundamental to the model and the actual current gravitational direction or gravitational vector g.sub.actual. It should be noted that the gravitational direction g.sub.model on which the model is based relative to the robot can be used in corresponding kinetic parameters of the model, such as masses, locations of center of gravity, and/or inertia sensors.”)…
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Radrich and include the feature of obtaining a pose of the payload relative to the tool flange based on the mass of the payload and a gravity vector of the tool flange at each of the different orientations which will help with precise calculation, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Para [0009] “The object of the present invention is to improve the operation of a robot.”).
Fuerstenberger teaches …
wherein the tool flange in the different orientations comprises the tool flange rotated relative to a direction of gravitational force, the tool flange rotated relative to the direction of gravitational force comprising:
the tool flange rotated around a first axis that is non-parallel to, and non- perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force (See at least Para [0025] Line 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, discloses inclined against the direction of gravity by at least 30°, 45°, or 75° which is construed as non-parallel to and non-perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Line 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”); and
the tool flange rotated at an angle relative to the first axis around a second axis that is non-parallel to, and non-perpendicular to, the direction of gravitational force (See at least Para [0025] Lines 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, discloses inclined against the direction of gravity by at least 30°, 45°, or 75° which is construed as non-parallel to and non-perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Lines 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Fuerstenberger and include feature that let the tool flange rotate at a certain angle around an axis that is non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the direction of gravitational force in order to perform calculation that will help move the robot arm precisely, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Para [0019] “In one embodiment, this can improve the calibration, in particular making it more precise and/or reliable.”).
Shiratsuchi explicitly discloses contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector (See at least Para [0038]).
However, Winkler teaches … the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system (See at least Page 1870 Col 1 Para 5 “In the next section the well known basics necessary for the dynamic contact force measurement are described, especially different kinds of forces and torques acting on the end effector during its motion…”, Page 1870 Col 2 “II. PROBLEM FORMULATION AND BASIC RELATIONS - The forces and torques measured by F/T sensor are represented by vector Fs. Fs = [ Fxs Fys Fzs Mxs Mys Mzs] T (1)”, discloses that the torques being different from the forces, Page 1873 Col 1 Para 1 “From each rotation around the particular axis of the center of gravity coordinate frame the inertias on the diagonal of the inertial tensor can be determined from (15):”, Page 1875 Fig 4. Comparison of dynamic forces/torques measured by F/T sensor shows the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Winkler and include the feature of the torques being different from the forces and being around one or more axes of the coordinate system in order to provide accurate calculation that will help move the robot arm precisely, thereby balancing the robot arm more accurately (See at least Page 1875 “VI. CONCLUSION - … These values may be important for other analyses like robot weight analysis to prevent robot overload [12]…”).
18. Regarding claim 12, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 11. Shiratsuchi further discloses the robot system of claim 11, wherein the operations comprise providing instructions to a user, the instructions instructing the user to change an orientation of the tool flange relative to the direction of gravitational force (See at least Para [0021] “FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are explanatory diagrams for illustrating an example of an operation in accordance with an attitude command value generated by an attitude-on-specified-axis generation unit in the calibration device according to the first embodiment of the present invention”, Fig 14 item 203 command value generation unit, command is construed as instruction, Para [0071] “…a user may determine the rotation axis in consideration of interference with a peripheral environment…” construed as user changes an orientation of the tool flange relative to the direction of gravitational force).
19. Regarding claim 13, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 12. Shiratsuchi further discloses the robot system of claim 12, wherein the instructions instruct the user to rotate the tool flange around the first and second axes (See at least Para [0021] “FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are explanatory diagrams for illustrating an example of an operation in accordance with an attitude command value generated by an attitude-on-specified-axis generation unit in the calibration device according to the first embodiment of the present invention”, Fig 14 item 203 command value generation unit, command is construed as instruction, Para [0071] “…a user may determine the rotation axis in consideration of interference with a peripheral environment…” construed as user changes an orientation of the tool flange around an axis).
20. Regarding claim 14, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 11. Shiratsuchi further discloses the robot system of claim 11, further comprising: an interface device comprising a display device for displaying a first representation of the tool flange, the first representation showing the tool flange in at least one of the different orientations (See at least Para [0125] discloses display unit configured to display the position information).
21. Regarding claim 15, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 14. Shiratsuchi further discloses the robot system of claim 14, wherein the display device is also for displaying a second representation of the tool flange, the second representation showing the tool flange at a different one of the different orientations than the first representation (See at least Para [0125] discloses display unit configured to display the position information).
24. Regarding claim 19, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 11. Shiratsuchi further discloses the robot system of claim 11, wherein the pose is obtained by the controller performing operations comprising:
obtaining at least one a torque difference, where the torque difference is based on a difference between at least two torques obtained at the different orientations of the tool flange (See at least Fig 9, Para [0023] “FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a bias estimation operation for a moment by the bias value estimation unit of the parameter estimation unit in the calibration device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Para [0091] “In other words, a numerical model of the moment is defined as a phase difference φ when the bias component of the moment about the Y axis is denoted by M_y_b, a rotation angle about the Y axis from the reference attitude R.sub.k0 is denoted by θ, θ is to the horizontal axis, and the moment is assigned to the vertical axis. Moreover, the amplitude of the cosine curve is denoted by Am. When moment data acquired on this occasion is denoted by M_y, the following expression (8) holds.” discloses determining difference in moments (considered as torques)).
25. Regarding claim 20, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 19. Shiratsuchi further discloses the robot system of claim 19, wherein the pose is obtained by the controller performing operations comprising:
obtaining an initial guess of the pose of the payload (See at least Para [0091], [0092], [0101] disclose a numerical model being used which is construed as using initial values that can be treated as initial guess, Para [0051] “…as an attitude at which the position information and the force information are acquired, an attitude is changed by rotation about an arbitrary axis of the sensor coordinate system…” which construed as obtaining a pose (here attitude is considered as pose) of the payload based on forces on the tool flange produced in at at least two of the different orientations, Para [0038] “…the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.”);
for at least two of the different orientations, obtaining an expected torque on the tool flange caused by the payload having a pose corresponding to the initial guess (See at least Para [0038] “…In this case, the contact state is expressed as magnitudes of forces and moments and a direction vector.” describes obtaining moments (torque) at different orientations, Para [0064] discloses initial values can be treated as known which construed as initial guess);
determining an expected torque difference between at least two expected torques on the tool flange (See at least Fig 9, Para [0023] “FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for illustrating a bias estimation operation for a moment by the bias value estimation unit of the parameter estimation unit in the calibration device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Para [0091] “In other words, a numerical model of the moment is defined as a phase difference φ when the bias component of the moment about the Y axis is denoted by M_y_b, a rotation angle about the Y axis from the reference attitude R.sub.k0 is denoted by θ, θ is to the horizontal axis, and the moment is assigned to the vertical axis. Moreover, the amplitude of the cosine curve is denoted by Am. When moment data acquired on this occasion is denoted by M_y, the following expression (8) holds.” discloses determining difference in moments (considered as torques)); and
determining a torque error comprising a difference between the torque difference and the expected torque difference (See at least Para [0098] discloses error data at a total of N attitudes which construed as torque error, Para [0131] discloses offset position/attitude specification unit 208 where only the acting external forces generated at this position can be calculated as offsets);
wherein the pose is obtained based on the torque error (See at least Para [0070] “Errors decrease as a rotation amount about the rotation axis Vec_rot from position/attitude serving as a reference increases…” describes minimizing torque error, Para [0067] discloses error minimization and increases the estimation accuracy of the bias which is construed as minimizing torque error).
26. Regarding claim 22, modified Shiratsuchi has all the elements of claim 11.
However, Shiratsuchi does notexplicitly spell out the robot system of claim 11, wherein the
operations comprise:
verifying the different orientations of the tool flange by determining whether at least one angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a first orientation of the tool flange differs from at least one angle between the robot tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a second orientation of the tool flange, the first orientation and the second orientation being different.
Fuerstenberger teaches the robot system of claim 11, wherein the operations
comprise:
verifying the different orientations of the tool flange by determining whether at least one angle between the tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a first orientation of the tool flange differs from at least one angle between the robot tool flange and the direction of gravitational force at a second orientation of the tool flange, the first orientation and the second orientation being different. (See at least Para [0025] Line 235-239 “In one embodiment, the (joint) axis of the joint which connects or is connected to the adjacent member of the robot base is or is inclined against the direction of gravity at least during the detection of the joint and calibrator load(s) or in the first and optionally the additional pose(s), in one embodiment by at least 30°, in particular at least 45°, in one embodiment by at least 75°.”, Para [0033] Line 341-343 “Fig. 1 342 shows a robot arrangement with a robot in different poses and a system for calibrating joint load sensors of the robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.”, Para [0036] Line 369-370 “In one embodiment, the force-moment sensor 40 detects the resultant of the two tilting moments about axes perpendicular to each other and to the axis of rotation of the first joint 21.”, Para [0041], Para [0011] Line 89-100 “In one embodiment, a load can be a force and/or deformation in one or more, in particular three, directions. 91 axes and/or a (torque) moment about one or more, in particular three, axes, or a corresponding single- or multi-axis tension or 93 Stretching condition include, in particular, its. 94 In a further development, the or one or more of the joint sensors (to be calibrated) each detects, in particular electrically, a torque about or in the joint axis and/or at least one axis transverse to the joint axis or is designed to do so, in particular a joint torque sensor. Additionally or alternatively, in a further development, the calibration sensor detects, in particular electrically, a (tilting) torque about or in one or more axes or is designed for this purpose, in particular a force torque sensor. This allows for advantageous, particularly precise and/or flexible, calibration in one embodiment”, Para [0017] Line 167-169 “In one embodiment, the first and the or one or more of the additional pose(s) are predetermined such that the joint load sensor is loaded differently in these poses due to gravity, in particular at different heights and/or directions.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the
filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Fuerstenberger to include feature that will verify the different orientations of the tool flange by checking at least one angle between the robot tool flange and the direction of gravitational force of a second orientation that differs from at least one angle between the robot tool flange and the direction of gravitational force of the first orientation in order for precise calculation, thereby providing safe movement of the robot arm.
26. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiratsuchi (US 2018/0169854 A1) in view of Nishijima (JP-2012040634-A, attached English translated copy is used for claim mapping), Radrich (US 2019/0009410 A1), Fuerstenberger (DE102017009278A1), Winkler et al (A. Winkler and J. Suchy, "Dynamic force/torque measurement using a 12DOF sensor," 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, CA, USA, 2007, pp. 1870-1875) (Hereinafter Winkler), and further in view of Liu et al. (A Base Force/Torque Sensor Approach to Robot Manipulator Inertial Parameter Estimation) (Hereinafter Liu)
27. Regarding claim 8, Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 1.
However, Shiratsuchi does not disclose the method of claim 1, wherein arranging the tool flange in different orientations comprises changing an orientation of the tool flange by between 110° and 130° relative to at least one other orientation of the tool flange.
Liu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein arranging the tool flange in different orientations comprises changing an orientation of the tool flange by between 110° and 130° relative to at least one other orientation of the tool flange (See at least Fig 3, Fig 4 discloses different degrees of orientation of the tool flange which is construed as some of the orientations of the tool flange is changed by between 110° and 130° relative to a least one other orientation of the tool flange).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Liu and include feature that will let the tool flange change its orientation between 110° and 130° relative to at least one other orientation of the tool flange which will help calculate the difference in toque more precisely, thereby leading to the movement of the robot arm more accurately and safely.
28. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiratsuchi (US 2018/0169854 A1) in view of Nishijima (JP-2012040634-A, attached English translated copy is used for claim mapping), Radrich (US 2019/0009410 A1), Fuerstenberger (DE102017009278A1), Winkler et al (A. Winkler and J. Suchy, "Dynamic force/torque measurement using a 12DOF sensor," 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, CA, USA, 2007, pp. 1870-1875) (Hereinafter Winkler), Jian et al. (US 2019/0084154 A1) (Hereinafter Jian), and further in view of Kassow et al. (US 8614559 B2) (Hereinafter Kassow).
29. Regarding claim 16, modified Shiratsuchi teaches all the elements of claim 11.
However, Shiratsuchi does not disclose the robot system of claim 11, further comprising: an interface device comprising a display device for displaying a representation of the tool flange, where the representation indicates an actual orientation of the tool flange, and where the display device is also for displaying an arrow indicating a direction to rotate the tool flange.
Kassow discloses the robot system of claim 11, further comprising: an interface device comprising a display device for displaying a representation of the tool flange, where the representation indicates an actual orientation of the tool flange, and where the display device is also for displaying an arrow indicating a direction to rotate the tool flange (See at least Fig 11(a), Fig 11(b)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the filling date of the claimed invention to modify Shiratsuchi with the teachings of Kassow and include a feature of a display device for representation of the tool flange, where the representation indicates an actual orientation of the tool flange, and where the display device is also for displaying an arrow indicating a direction to rotate the tool flange, thereby making the user interaction not only easy but also fast and help control the robot arm with ease and with more accuracy.
Conclusion
30. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Development of a Torque Sensing Robot Arm for Interactive Communication (Hashimoto et al.) teaches joint torque sensing technique without reducing stiffness of the robot
Identification of the payload inertial parameters of industrial manipulators (Khalil et al.) teaches four methods to identify inertial parameters of the load of a manipulator
32. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAHEDA HOQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-5310. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 am- 5:00 pm.
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/SHAHEDA HOQUE/Examiner, Art Unit 3658
/Ramon A. Mercado/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3658