DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, 8, 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ogawa (JP-H10100085-A).
Claim 1
Ogowa teaches
A robot comprising:
a robot body including an arm including a plurality of links,
(Ogawa - [0013] FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of a vibration suppression control apparatus for a robot according to the present invention. First, a robot having an arm that moves in a two dimensional plane to which a first embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the robot includes an arm 10 having a plurality of (n) joint portions 2-1 to 2-n rotatable in a horizontal direction and a plurality of (n) arm link portions 3-1 to 3-n connected to each other via the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n, …)
a plurality of driving axis units configured to drive the plurality of links,
(Ogawa - [0015] The joints 2-1 to 2-n are respectively provided with joint drive motors 15-1 to 15-n (see FIG. 2) that relatively rotate the arm links 3-1 to 3-n coupled to each other, …)
and an inertia sensor(s) included in the arm;
(Ogowa - [0034] An acceleration sensor 5' for detecting the amount of acceleration of the distal end of the arm 20 is mounted in the vicinity of the mounting portion of the end effector 4 at the distal end of the arm 20. The acceleration sensor 5 ′ has three acceleration sensors corresponding to the respective directions in order to detect acceleration components in the x, y, and z3 directions of the arm distal end coordinates system 6.)
and a controller configured to
acquire a compensation amount(s) for vibration based on a detection result(s) of the inertia sensor(s)
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1)
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[0027] … the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10 is obtained by the following equation (3).
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acquired by executing at least one of … elimination of a gravitational acceleration component(s) included in a detection result(s) that is/are detected by the inertia sensor(s).
(Ogowa - [0039] Next, the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 ′ to 2-n ′ for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 20 is obtained by the above formula (3). In the second embodiment, the acceleration α ′ z0 obtained by subtracting the gravity acceleration g from the acceleration α z0 in the z direction of the acceleration amount α 0 detected by the acceleration sensor 5 ′ is used as the acceleration in the z direction.)
Claim 4
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the controller is configured to acquire the gravitational acceleration component based on a rotation matrix based on coordinate transformation matrices of the plurality of driving axis units, and to subtract the acquired gravitational acceleration component from the detection result that is detected by the inertia sensor.
(Ogowa - [0038] Here, the calculation procedure in the operation unit 12 is basically the same as that in the first embodiment described above. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x, y, and z3 directions in the arm distal end coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensor 5 ′ are αxtip,αytip,αztip , first, these acceleration components αxtip,αytip,αztip are converted into acceleration components α 0 = ( αx0,αy0,αz0 ) in the reference coordinates system 7 using a conversion rotation matrix 0 rtip from the arm distal end coordinates system 6 to the reference coordinates system 7.
[0039]Next, the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 ′ to 2-n ′ for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 20 is obtained by the above formula (3). In the second embodiment, the acceleration α ′ z0 obtained by subtracting the gravity acceleration g from the acceleration α z0 in the z direction of the acceleration amount α 0 detected by the acceleration sensor 5 ′ is used as the acceleration in the z direction.)
Claim 8
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the plurality of driving axis units include a first driving axis unit, a second driving axis unit, and a third driving axis unit arranged in this order from a proximal end side;
and the controller is configured to acquire the compensation amounts of the three driving axis units, which are the first driving axis unit, the second driving axis unit and the third driving axis unit.
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1)
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[0027] … the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10 is obtained by the following equation (3).
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EXAMINER NOTE: Note that compensation amounts for each driving axis are acquired.
(Ogowa - [0042] [Examples]Next, a specific embodiment of the vibration suppression control apparatus for a robot shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. 3(a)(b)(c) and 4(a)(b)(c)(d of the figure are diagrams illustrating experimental results in a case where the vibration suppression control formulated as the above formula (4) is performed using an actual robot having the arm 10 connected by the six horizontally rotatable joints 2-1 to 2-6. Here, the real robot having the arm 10 corresponds to the first embodiment of the present invention.)
EXAMINER NOTE: A six-axis robot would necessarily include three driving axes. Compensation amounts for each axis are each determined as shown above in the previous citation.
Claim 10
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the inertia sensor(s) is/are arranged on a distal end side of the arm with respect to the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s).
(Ogowa - [0034] An acceleration sensor 5' for detecting the amount of acceleration of the distal end of the arm 20 is mounted in the vicinity of the mounting portion of the end effector 4 at the distal end of the arm 20. The acceleration sensor 5 ′ has three acceleration sensors corresponding to the respective directions in order to detect acceleration components in the x, y, and z3 directions of the arm distal end coordinates system 6.)
Claim 11
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 10 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the inertia sensor(s) is/are arranged in a distal end part of the arm.
(Ogowa - [0034] An acceleration sensor 5' for detecting the amount of acceleration of the distal end of the arm 20 is mounted in the vicinity of the mounting portion of the end effector 4 at the distal end of the arm 20. The acceleration sensor 5 ′ has three acceleration sensors corresponding to the respective directions in order to detect acceleration components in the x, y, and z3 directions of the arm distal end coordinates system 6.)
Claim 12
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the robot body is a 6-axis vertical multi-joint type.
(Ogowa - [0042] [Examples]Next, a specific embodiment of the vibration suppression control apparatus for a robot shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. 3(a)(b)(c) and 4(a)(b)(c)(d of the figure are diagrams illustrating experimental results in a case where the vibration suppression control formulated as the above formula (4) is performed using an actual robot having the arm 10 connected by the six horizontally rotatable joints 2-1 to 2-6. Here, the real robot having the arm 10 corresponds to the first embodiment of the present invention.)
Claim 13
Ogowa teaches
a robot body including an arm including a plurality of links,
(Ogawa - [0013] FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a first embodiment of a vibration suppression control apparatus for a robot according to the present invention. First, a robot having an arm that moves in a two dimensional plane to which a first embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the robot includes an arm 10 having a plurality of (n) joint portions 2-1 to 2-n rotatable in a horizontal direction and a plurality of (n) arm link portions 3-1 to 3-n connected to each other via the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n, …)
a plurality of driving axis units configured to drive the plurality of links,
(Ogawa - [0015] The joints 2-1 to 2-n are respectively provided with joint drive motors 15-1 to 15-n (see FIG. 2) that relatively rotate the arm links 3-1 to 3-n coupled to each other, …)
and an inertia sensor(s) included in the arm;
(Ogowa - [0034] An acceleration sensor 5' for detecting the amount of acceleration of the distal end of the arm 20 is mounted in the vicinity of the mounting portion of the end effector 4 at the distal end of the arm 20. The acceleration sensor 5 ′ has three acceleration sensors corresponding to the respective directions in order to detect acceleration components in the x, y, and z3 directions of the arm distal end coordinates system 6.)
and a controller configured to
correct a detection result(s) that is/are detected by the inertia sensor(s) to compensate for vibration,
and to acquire a compensation amount(s) for the vibration based on the corrected detection result(s) of the inertia sensor(s).
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1)
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In the above equation (1), 0 rtip is a transformation rotation matrix from the arm distal end coordinate system 6 to the reference coordinate system 7, and is specifically expressed by the following equation (2).
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In the above equation (2), when the respective angles of the joints 2-1 to 2-n of the robot 10 are expressed as θ 1, θ 2,., θ n, C12. n is cos (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n), and S12. n is sin (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n). )
EXAMINER NOTE: The detected measurements of the acceleration sensor (inertia sensor) are transformed (corrected) based on the angles of each of the joints.
[0027] … the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10 is obtained by the following equation (3).
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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.
Claims 2-3, 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogowa in view of Imai (US-20200269419-A1)
Claim 2
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the controller is configured to
obtain the detection result(s) of the inertia sensor(s) corrected based on an inclination(s) of a […] driving axis unit(s)
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1). y0
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In the above equation (1), 0 rtip is a transformation rotation matrix from the arm distal end coordinate system 6 to the reference coordinate system 7, and is specifically expressed by the following equation (2).
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In the above equation (2), when the respective angles of the joints 2-1 to 2-n of the robot 10 are expressed as θ 1, θ 2,., θ n, C12. n is cos (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n), and S12. n is sin (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n). )
EXAMINER NOTE: The detected measurements of the acceleration sensor (inertia sensor) are transformed (corrected) based on the angles of each of the joints (inclinations of the driving axis units).
Ogowa may not explicitly teach the aspect of a not-to-be compensated driving axis unit. However, Imai teaches
… not-to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s), which is/are the driving axis unit(s) other than the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s), arranged between the inertia sensor(s) and the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s).
(Imai - [0038] … Note that the arm 22 performs feedback control on the first motor 261 based on the angular velocity ωA3 detected by the angular velocity sensor 201 to control the actuation of the first motor 261, and thereby, may suppress vibration generated in the spline shaft 253 of the working head 25. Therefore, as described above, the arm 22 even with the first arm 23 having the outer surface formed by a soft resin does not increase the vibration generated in the spline shaft 253 of the working head 25.)
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Imai teaches the aspect of compensating only one driving axis unit near the base of the robot, and therefore teaches not-to-be compensated driving axis unit (motor 271 in Fig. 1) arranged between the inertia sensor and the to-be-compensated driving axis unit. This arrangement simplifies the control taught by Ogowa in that fewer joints need to be controlled. When used in context of Ogowa's system, the measurement of the sensor would be transformed, at least in part, by the angle of the joint 2-2, which would correspond to the axis J2 of Imai's system, and would not be compensated.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Ogowa's system with Imai's suggestion to compensate the robot in only one axis in order to simplify the control of the robot. Imai further suggests that this arrangement is helpful when the arms are made of soft resin, which may reduce impact in the event of a collision.
(Imai - [0038] Note that it is preferable that the first arm 23 contains a member having flexibility of e.g. a resin or the like in a member forming the outer surface thereof. As the resin, e.g. thermoplastic resin including polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, thermosetting resin including phenol resin and melamine resin, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or the like may be exemplified. A resin or the like is used for the outer surface of the first arm 23, and thereby, contact impact when the pivoting first arm 23 comes into contact with another part may be reduced by buffer action due to flexibility of the resin. … Therefore, as described above, the arm 22 even with the first arm 23 having the outer surface formed by a soft resin does not increase the vibration generated in the spline shaft 253 of the working head 25.)
Claim 3
The combination of Ogowa and Imai teaches the limitations of claim 2 as outlined above. As shown above, Ogowa teaches
wherein the controller is configured to apply coordinate transformation of the not-to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s) to a detection result(s) that is/are detected by the inertia sensor(s).
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1). y0
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In the above equation (1), 0 rtip is a transformation rotation matrix from the arm distal end coordinate system 6 to the reference coordinate system 7, and is specifically expressed by the following equation (2).
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In the above equation (2), when the respective angles of the joints 2-1 to 2-n of the robot 10 are expressed as θ 1, θ 2,., θ n, C12. n is cos (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n), and S12. n is sin (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n). )
EXAMINER NOTE: The detected measurements of the acceleration sensor (inertia sensor) are transformed (corrected) based on the angles of each of the joints (inclinations of the driving axis units).
When combined with Imai as discussed above, transformation through the not-to-be compensated driving unit is used to transform the sensor measurements.
Claim 5
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. As shown above, Ogowa teaches
wherein the inertia sensors include an … acceleration sensor;
(Ogowa - [0034] An acceleration sensor 5' for detecting the amount of acceleration of the distal end of the arm 20 is mounted in the vicinity of the mounting portion of the end effector 4 at the distal end of the arm 20. The acceleration sensor 5 ′ has three acceleration sensors corresponding to the respective directions in order to detect acceleration components in the x, y, and z3 directions of the arm distal end coordinates system 6.)
and the controller is configured … to acquire a velocity compensation amount(s) based on a detection result(s) of the acceleration sensor.
(Ogowa - [0027]By regarding the acceleration components α x0 and α y0 converted by the above equation (2) as equivalent force equivalent components acting on the distal end of the arm 10, the acceleration components α x0 and α y0 can be converted into the drive torque components of the respective joints 2-1 to 2-n quasi-statically using the transposed matrix JT of the Jacobian matrix J determined by the structure of the arm 10 of the robot. That is, the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10 is obtained by the following equation (3).
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[0028]Here, when the velocity command type servo driver 14-i as shown in FIG. 2 is used, a value obtained by multiplying the acceleration feedback compensation component obtained by the above equation (3) by the feedback gain K α I is subtracted from the velocity command value applied from the positioning feedback control system 13-i, which is a position control loop system, to the servo driver 14-i, thereby obtaining a velocity command value after compensation. This relationship is shown in the following equation (4).
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)
EXAMINER NOTE: The transformed accelerations are used to determine the velocity compensation.
Ogowa may not explicitly teach the following limitations in combination. Howeer, Imai teaches
wherein the inertia sensors include an angular velocity sensor
(Imai - [0038] … Note that the arm 22 performs feedback control on the first motor 261 based on the angular velocity ωA3 detected by the angular velocity sensor 201 to control the actuation of the first motor 261,
and the controller is configured
to acquire a position compensation amount(s) based on a detection result(s) of the angular velocity sensor,
(Imai - [0067] Note that the control apparatus 3 may perform velocity control of controlling the actuation of the first motor 261 so that the arm 22 may move based on the angular velocity ωA3 in a direction in which the angular velocity ωA3 is cancelled out and position control of predicting displacement generated by the velocity control and moving the arm 22 to a target position, in parallel as feedback control.
[0070] Specifically, the first velocity control part 302 controls the actuation of the first motor 261 so that the arm 22 may move based on the direction and the magnitude of the angular velocity ωA3 about the roll axis of the arm 22 detected by the angular velocity sensor 201 in a direction in which the angular velocity ωA3 is cancelled out. That is, the control apparatus 3 controls the actuation of the first motor 261 as velocity control and moves the arm 22 in a direction in which the angular velocity ωA3 is generated, and thereby, cancels out the angular velocity ωA3 and reduces the angular velocity ωA3.
[0072] In the above described manner, the first velocity control part 302 controls the velocity of the first motor 261 based on the output from the angular velocity sensor 201 to suppress the vibration of the second arm 24 about the roll axis due to the angular velocity ωA3, and the first position control part 301 moves the arm to the target position by the amount of displacement due to the vibration by position control. Thereby, the distal end portion of the second arm 24 may be brought to the target position more accurately in a shorter time.)
EXAMINER NOTE: Position control is carried out based on output from the angular velocity sensor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Ogowa's system with Imai's suggestion to utilize angular velocity sensors for position compensation in order to more quickly and more accurately bring the arms into position.
Claim 6
The combination of Ogowa and Imai teaches the limitations of claim 5 as outlined above. As shown above, the cited combination teaches
the position compensation amount(s) based on the detection result(s) of the angular velocity sensor,
EXAMINER NOTE: See above rejection of claim 5. Imai teaches position compensation based on angular velocity sensor measurements.
… detection results … which is/are acquired by executing the
correction of the inclination(s) of the angular velocity sensor relative to the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s)
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1). y0
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In the above equation (1), 0 rtip is a transformation rotation matrix from the arm distal end coordinate system 6 to the reference coordinate system 7, and is specifically expressed by the following equation (2).
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In the above equation (2), when the respective angles of the joints 2-1 to 2-n of the robot 10 are expressed as θ 1, θ 2,., θ n, C12. n is cos (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n), and S12. n is sin (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n). )
EXAMINER NOTE: The detected measurements of the acceleration sensor (inertia sensor) are transformed (corrected) based on the angles of each of the joints (inclinations of the driving axis units). While Ogowa's sensor is an acceleration sensor, it will be shown below that Imai teaches the use of an acceleration sensor for measuring angular velocity.
Ogowa may not explicitly teach the following limitations in combination. However, Imai teaches
wherein the controller is configured to acquire … correction of an angular velocity component(s) of a not-to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s),
(Imai - [0110] Then, the calculation processing unit 40 obtains a difference between the sensor angular velocity calculated by the sensor angular velocity calculation part 405 and the motor angular velocity calculated by the motor angular velocity calculation part 407, and generates an angular velocity of only the vibration component about the roll axis of the arm 22.)
EXAMINER NOTE: The motor angular velocities are subtracted from the sensor measurement in order to obtain the angular velocity component of the vibration to be corrected.
(Imai - [0107] The sensor angular velocity calculation part 405 calculates the sensor angular velocity in the horizontal direction in the distal end portion of the arm 22 by processing of the distal end velocity of the arm 22 output from the integrating circuit 404 using 1/L. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, L is a distance from the first pivot axis J1 of the first motor 261 to the acceleration sensor 202a.)
EXAMINER NOTE: While this example is illustrated using an acceleration sensor, the acceleration sensor is utilized to measure angular velocity through calculations, and therefore functions as an angular velocity sensor.
… not-to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s), which is/are the driving axis unit(s) other than the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s), arranged between the angular velocity sensor and the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s),
(Imai - [0038] … Note that the arm 22 performs feedback control on the first motor 261 based on the angular velocity ωA3 detected by the angular velocity sensor 201 to control the actuation of the first motor 261, and thereby, may suppress vibration generated in the spline shaft 253 of the working head 25. Therefore, as described above, the arm 22 even with the first arm 23 having the outer surface formed by a soft resin does not increase the vibration generated in the spline shaft 253 of the working head 25.)
EXAMINER NOTE: Imai teaches the aspect of compensating only one driving axis unit near the base of the robot, and therefore teaches not-to-be compensated driving axis unit (motor 271 in Fig. 1) arranged between the inertia sensor and the to-be-compensated driving axis unit. This arrangement simplifies the control taught by Ogowa in that fewer joints need to be controlled. When used in context of Ogowa's system, the measurement of the sensor would be transformed, at least in part, by the angle of the joint 2-2, which would correspond to the axis J2 of Imai's system, and would not be compensated.
and an angular velocity instruction(s) to the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s).
(Imai - [0105] The differentiating circuit 401 is a part that differentiates the pivot angle about the first pivot axis J1 of the first arm 23 obtained by the output from the second encoder 272. An angular velocity command as a command generated by the differentiation is input to the first velocity control part 302 and superimposed on the current command to drive the first motor 261)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Ogowa's system with Imai's suggestion to compensate the robot in only one axis in order to simplify the control of the robot. Imai further suggests that this arrangement is helpful when the arms are made of soft resin, which may reduce impact in the event of a collision.
(Imai - [0038] Note that it is preferable that the first arm 23 contains a member having flexibility of e.g. a resin or the like in a member forming the outer surface thereof. As the resin, e.g. thermoplastic resin including polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene, thermosetting resin including phenol resin and melamine resin, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or the like may be exemplified. A resin or the like is used for the outer surface of the first arm 23, and thereby, contact impact when the pivoting first arm 23 comes into contact with another part may be reduced by buffer action due to flexibility of the resin. … Therefore, as described above, the arm 22 even with the first arm 23 having the outer surface formed by a soft resin does not increase the vibration generated in the spline shaft 253 of the working head 25.)
Claim 7
The combination of Ogowa and Imai teaches the limitations of claim 5 as outlined above. Ogowa further teaches
wherein the controller is configured to acquire
the velocity compensation amount(s) based on the detection result(s) of the acceleration sensor,
(Ogowa - [0027]By regarding the acceleration components α x0 and α y0 converted by the above equation (2) as equivalent force equivalent components acting on the distal end of the arm 10, the acceleration components α x0 and α y0 can be converted into the drive torque components of the respective joints 2-1 to 2-n quasi-statically using the transposed matrix JT of the Jacobian matrix J determined by the structure of the arm 10 of the robot. That is, the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10 is obtained by the following equation (3).
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[0028]Here, when the velocity command type servo driver 14-i as shown in FIG. 2 is used, a value obtained by multiplying the acceleration feedback compensation component obtained by the above equation (3) by the feedback gain K α I is subtracted from the velocity command value applied from the positioning feedback control system 13-i, which is a position control loop system, to the servo driver 14-i, thereby obtaining a velocity command value after compensation. This relationship is shown in the following equation (4).
which is/are acquired by
executing the correction of the inclination(s) of the acceleration sensor relative to the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s)
(Ogowa - [0024]Here, details of a calculation procedure in the calculation unit 12 will be described. Assuming that the acceleration components in the x and y2 directions in the arm tip coordinates system 6 detected by the acceleration sensors 5a and 5b are represented by αxtip,αytip , these acceleration components αxtip,αytip are first converted into acceleration components α 0 = (α x0, α) in the reference coordinates system 7 by the following equation (1). y0
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In the above equation (1), 0 rtip is a transformation rotation matrix from the arm distal end coordinate system 6 to the reference coordinate system 7, and is specifically expressed by the following equation (2).
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In the above equation (2), when the respective angles of the joints 2-1 to 2-n of the robot 10 are expressed as θ 1, θ 2,., θ n, C12. n is cos (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n), and S12. n is sin (θ 1 + θ 2 +. + θ n). )
EXAMINER NOTE: The detected measurements of the acceleration sensor (inertia sensor) are transformed (corrected) based on the angles of each of the joints (inclinations of the driving axis units).
and elimination of the gravitational acceleration component included in the detection result that is detected by the acceleration sensor,
(Ogowa - [0039]Next, the acceleration feedback compensation component α θ = (α θ 1, α θ 2,., α θ n) for each of the joint portions 2-1 ′ to 2-n ′ for suppressing the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 20 is obtained by the above formula (3). In the second embodiment, the acceleration α ′ z0 obtained by subtracting the gravity acceleration g from the acceleration α z0 in the z direction of the acceleration amount α 0 detected by the acceleration sensor 5 ′ is used as the acceleration in the z direction.)
and an acceleration instruction(s) to the to-be-compensated driving axis unit(s).
(Ogawa - [0029]In this way, the speed command value compensated so as to suppress the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10 is applied to the servo driver 14-i, the torque command value finally applied to the joint drive motor 15-i is obtained by the servo driver 14-i, and the i-th joint 2-i is driven so as to suppress
the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10. Similarly, each of the joint portions 2-1 to 2-n is driven so as to suppress the vibration generated at the distal end of the arm 10, whereby the arm link portions 3-1 to 3-n are rotated relative to each other in the horizontal direction, and the distal end of the arm 10 can be quickly moved to the target position in the two dimensional plane in a state where the vibration is extremely suppressed.
[0030] When a torque command type servo driver is used, a value obtained by multiplying the acceleration feedback compensation component obtained by the above equation (3) by the feedback gain K ′ α I is subtracted from the torque command value applied from the position / speed control loop system to the servo driver, thereby obtaining a torque command value after compensation. Here, each of the feedback gains K α I and K ′ α I is a value set so that the acceleration feedback compensation system including the unit conversion coefficient to the speed command value or the torque command value does not become unstable. Kpi is a feedback gain in the positioning control loop system 13 - I including the unit conversion factor.)
EXAMINER NOTE: The torque command is obtained through acceleration feedback, and functions as a command for desired acceleration.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogawa in view of Wada (US 20150290804 A1).
Claim 9
Ogowa teaches the limitations of claim 8 as outlined above. Ogowa may not explicitly teach the following limitations in combination. However, Wada teaches
wherein a rotation axis of the second driving axis unit and a rotation axis of the third driving axis unit are parallel to each other;
(Wada - [0053] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an articulated robot 1 to which the weaving control device according to the present embodiment has been applied, as an example of a robot which performs tilting movement (weaving movement) of a welding torch. This articulated robot 1 is a vertical articulated robot having six joints, J1 through J6. )
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EXAMINER NOTE: The second and third axes J2 and J3 are parallel to each other
and the controller is configured to acquire the compensation amounts of the second driving axis unit and the third driving axis unit based on interference of inertia of the second driving axis unit and the third driving axis unit.
(Wada - [0027] Even more preferably, the motor control unit may be configured further including a feed-forward control unit which predicts interference inertia force and centrifugal/Coriolis force acting on the own axis by another axis accelerating/decelerating, and adds these to a torque instruction value output from the speed feedback.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Ogowa's compensation with Wada's suggestion to incorporate interference of inertia in order to improve precision of positioning.
(Wada - [0028] Using the weaving control device according to the present invention in an articulated robot having multiple axes suppresses occurrence of error in weaving movement occurring to dynamic characteristics of a motor itself which moves the axes of the articulated robot, and error in weaving movement due the influence of other axes moving. Accordingly, weaving movement can be performed with high trajectory precision.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Motoyoshi (US-20150306765-A1) and Asada (US-20140309776-A1) each teach many of the same limitations as Ogowa and Imai regarding compensations for vibration, and incorporate sensors including acceleration sensors and angular velocity sensors.
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/JAMES MILLER WATTS III/Examiner, Art Unit 3657
/ADAM R MOTT/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3657