JPH0197591A - Robot steering assist system for space - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Overview Regarding a space robot operation support system, the purpose of this invention is to provide a space robot operation support system that can safely and reliably operate a robot installed in outer space. an image display device that can display two sets of images of a robot installed in A robot control device that can move to a robot, a delay device that delays the operation of one robot displayed on an image display device for a predetermined period of time, and a communication device that communicates between the robot and a computer installed in outer space. The other robot displayed on the image display device is operated by the robot control device, and at the same time, the operation data of this robot is transferred to the robot installed in outer space via the communication means, and the image display device The one robot displayed above is configured to perform the same operation with a delay of the predetermined time.

Industrial applications The present invention relates to a space robot operation support system.

In recent years, with the practical application of the Space Shuttle as an opportunity, great expectations have been placed on experiments and manufacturing in cutting-edge technology fields such as new materials and biotechnology that utilize the special environment of space (microgravity, ultravacuum, etc.). It has become to. Traditionally,
There is a great deal of interest in industry in technologies that utilize location in outer space, such as satellite communications and resource remote sensing, and recent developments have been particularly remarkable in the field of satellite communications that utilize geostationary satellites such as Intelsat.

When conducting various experiments such as manufacturing new materials in outer space, astronauts may conduct the experiments, but due to requests to change plans due to the results of the experiments, the space station and other facilities are used for these experiments. It is expected that robots mounted on Furthermore, when assembling structures such as space stations in outer space, it is expected that robots will be used because of the harsh environmental conditions.

In such a case, it is conceivable that the robot would be operated by an astronaut on board the space station, but there may also be cases where it would be desirable to operate the robot from the ground using satellite communications.

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of communication between the space station and the ground. Space station 2 is orbiting several hundred feet above Earth 1, and is used for communication between Earth 1 and space station 2. Space Shuttle 3 will be used. Space Shuttle 3 stays in outer space for several days to several weeks and is reused after returning to Earth. Since the orbits of the space station 2 and the space shuttle 3 are several hundred meters high, the orbit time is short, from one and a half hours to two hours. For this reason, if you try to directly communicate between Space Station 2 or Space Shuttle 3 and Earth 84, the communication time is very short, and the space station is stationary in the sky - 36,000 above the equator within the shell. Communication is carried out via a geostationary satellite 5.

Similarly, when a robot mounted on the space station 2 is operated from the ground, it is expected that the robot will be operated via the geostationary satellite 5; In this case, it is extremely difficult to operate a space robot due to delays in control instruction information due to communication lines and delays in image information for confirming the robot's movements in space. Therefore, there is a need for a system to support this difficult maneuver.

Background of the Invention Figure 6 shows a block diagram of a space robot control system currently being considered. 10 is a robot mounted on a space station or the like, and a TV camera 12 and a lighting device 14 are attached to this robot 10. The space station is further equipped with a plurality of TV cameras 16 for displaying the work environment of the robot 10 on the ground, as well as an information transmission device 18 for transmitting information between the ground and the robot 10 and the movement of the robot 10. A robot controller 20 is provided to control the robot.

On the other hand, an information transmission device 22 for transmitting information to and from outer space is provided on the ground side, and a plurality of TV monitors 24 are connected to this information transmission device 22. The image is displayed. 2
6 is a robot control device such as a teaching box, which is connected to the information transmission device 22 via a robot control device controller 28 .

However, the robot 10 installed in space on the ground side
When performing the maneuver, the operator should watch the TV monitor 24
The robot is controlled by operating the robot control device 26 while observing the robot.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, as mentioned above, when operating a robot installed in space from the ground, it is necessary to operate a robot installed in space from the ground via a geostationary satellite stationary 36,000 feet above the equator. Since the robot 10 is controlled by satellite communication, the image on the TV monitor 24 is delayed by a predetermined time (for example, about 0.5 seconds) from the actual movement of the robot 10. In addition to this, since the transmission capacity of nu communication is limited, there is a possibility that a complete moving image cannot be obtained on the TV monitor 24, but only one image per second, for example. For this reason, the operator
There has been a problem in that it is extremely difficult to operate the robot 10 installed in outer space while observing the monitor 24.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its objectives are 1. An object of the present invention is to provide a space robot operation support system that can safely and reliably operate a robot installed in outer space.

Means to solve problems FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the principle of the present invention.

An image display device 32 capable of displaying two sets of simulated robot images on a computer 30 in an overlapping manner;
A robot control device 26 is connected that can move the robot displayed above arbitrarily on a three-dimensional coordinate space. moreover,
A robot data file 38 storing robot data and a space environment data file 40 storing space environment data are connected to the computer 30, and the operation of one robot displayed on the image display device 32 is delayed for a predetermined time. A delay means 34 is provided, and a communication means 36 is provided for communication between the robot 10 and the computer 30 installed in outer space.

The robot data from the working robot data file 38 is
Data on the space environment in which the robot 10 is installed is read from the space environment data file 40 into the computer 30, and two sets of the robots and their environments used in space are simulated and superimposed on the image display device (graphic display) 32. For example, one of them is displayed completely filled in, and the other is displayed semi-transparent.

The robot control device 26 causes one robot displayed on the image display device 32 (for example, the one that is filled out) to operate, and at the same time transmits the motion data of this robot to the communication means 3.
6 to a robot 10 installed in outer space. Further, the robot is delayed for a predetermined time by the delay means 34, and the other robot displayed on the image display device 32 (for example, the one displayed semitransparently) is caused to perform the same operation. In order to operate the actual robot 10 installed in outer space, the robot's motion is edited on the -degree image display device 32, and the robot is operated after confirming the motion.

The operator can operate the robot 10 installed in outer space while observing the robots operating in real time and the robots operating after a predetermined time delay on the image display device 32, thereby operating the robot 10 safely and reliably. Can be done.

Example The present invention will be described below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the system of the present invention, and the same components as those of the conventional system shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals. 10 is a robot installed on the space station, and a TV camera 12 and a lighting device 14 are attached to this robot 10. In general, the space station is equipped with a plurality of TV cameras 16 for displaying the working environment of the robot on the ground, an information transmission device 18 that transmits information between the ground and the ground, and an information transmission device 18 that controls the movement of the robot 10. robot controller 20
is provided.

On the other hand, on the ground side, an information transmission device 22 is provided for transmitting information to and from outer space.
2 is connected to a plurality of TV monitors 24 that display images from TV cameras 12 and 16. 42 is a space robot simulator composed of, for example, a computer, and a robot data file 38 storing robot data and a space environment data file 40 storing space environment data are connected to this space robot simulator 42. The movement of the robot 10 installed in outer space is simulated, and two sets of images of the robot can be superimposed and displayed on the image display bag M (graphic display) 32.

Of the two sets of images, for example, one robot's image is filled in and the other robot's image is displayed semitransparently to distinguish the two sets of images. The image display device 32 is capable of displaying a three-dimensional image of the robot, and can also enlarge, reduce, translate, rotate, etc. images in areas that cannot be seen by the TV camera 12.16. This allows the image to be displayed on the image display device 32. 26 is a robot control device such as a teaching box, which is connected to the space robot simulator 42 via a robot control device controller 44 .

A delay circuit is provided in the space robot simulator 42, and is programmed to operate one image (for example, the semi-transparent one) with a delay of a predetermined time (for example, about 1 second).

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a teaching box 45 which is an embodiment of the robot operating device 26. As shown in FIG.

The teaching box 45 has 12 θ to θ6 drive buttons that drive the robot's 6@.Pressing the button on the left side of each row causes the motor to rotate forward, and pressing the button on the right rotates the motor in reverse. It has become. Also, the bottom 2
These buttons are hand opening/closing buttons; pressing the left button opens the hand, and pressing the right button closes the hand. Furthermore, teaching box 4
There are 11 edit buttons in 4 rows on the left side of 5. By pressing these buttons, the position information of the robot at the time of teaching is transferred to the robot operating device controller 44.
can be stored in memory. 46 is LE
It is a D display, and 48 is an emergency stop button to stop the robot from running out of control. Further, 50 is a mode selection switch for switching between XYZ mode, hand mode, and θ mode, 52 is a speed control switch for switching between 1 step mode, low speed mode, and speed increase mode, and 54 is for switching the speed into 3 stages. It is a speed selector switch.

Although a specific embodiment of the robot control device 26 is configured as described above, it is of course possible to use other robot control devices such as those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-211212.

FIG. 4 shows a display example of the image display device 32, in which the display screen is divided into four parts, for example, and a top view, a front view, a side view, and a perspective view are each displayed using a multi-window system. In each window, two sets of robot images, a filled image and a translucent image, are displayed in an overlapping manner. Also, depending on the operator's selection, only one of the images displayed in these windows can be enlarged and displayed on the entire display screen. The robot 10 is displayed on the rough image display device 32.
It is possible to simulate and display images seen from 12 directions of the TV camera attached to the screen.

The data of the robot from the robot data file 38 and the data of the space environment in which the robot is installed from the space environment data file 40 are read into the space robot simulator 42, and two sets are displayed on the image display device 32 in a superimposed manner. At this time, one robot is displayed completely filled in and the other robot is displayed semi-transparently to distinguish the two robots. When the robot control device @26 as shown in FIG. 3 is operated, the shaded robot of the two robots on the image display device 32 operates in real time. At the same time, the robot's motion data is transferred to the robot 10 installed in outer space via the information transmission device 22.18, and the robot 10 is operated by the robot controller 20. The robot to be used (semi-transparent robot) displayed on the image display device ff32 performs the same operation after a delay of a predetermined time (for example, about 1 second).

Before operating the robot 10 installed in outer space,
- After editing the robot's motion on the image display storage 32 and confirming the motion, the robot 10 is operated based on the data. This ensures safety,
It is possible to reliably operate the robot 10 installed in outer space.

Further, since the operator can operate the robot 10 installed in outer space while observing the two sets of robots displayed on the image display device 32, the operator can operate the robot 10 relatively easily.

In addition, since the image display device 32 can simulate and display an image seen from the direction of the TV camera 12 attached to the robot 10, it is possible to simulate and display the image seen from the direction of the TV camera 12 attached to the robot 10. It is possible to easily predict whether the robot is approaching on the ground, and as a result, the maneuverability and work efficiency of the robot can be greatly improved.

For example, when a TV camera is attached to the tip of a 6-degree-of-freedom articulated robot, the viewpoint position and direction can be determined by using the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-20876. Can be done. The position/orientation value of the robot tip is calculated from the camera mounting position/direction to the viewpoint position/
The direction is determined and this data is passed to the image display device 32.

Thereby, the image seen from the TV camera attached to the tip of the robot can be displayed on the image display device.

Effects of the Invention Since the space robot operation support system of the present invention is configured as detailed above, it is possible to very easily operate a robot installed in outer space and to operate the robot safely and reliably. be effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the system of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a robot control device, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example display of an image display device. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of communication between the space station and the ground, and Figure 6 is a block diagram of the conventional system. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Robot, 12.16... TV camera, 14... Lighting device, 26... Robot operating device, 30... Computer, 32... Image display device, 34... Delay means , 36...Communication means, 3
8... Robot data file, 40... Space environment data file. Dori Ban Akira 0 Ryori Block Diagram 1 Figure 1 Honyaki system dry jA/) Father's skin 7 keli block concave Figure 2 Mouth piece xpu beg d of the device Figure 3 1L I Raku iA $ Front blade of split 1 (I row Figure 4 space station Hi split', h'ttD open one piece fu twist J)
Figure 5

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A robot (10) installed in outer space, a computer (30), an image display device (32) that is connected to the computer (30) and can display two sets of simulated robot images superimposed, and an image A robot control device (26) that can arbitrarily move the robot displayed on the display device (32) in a three-dimensional coordinate space.
), a delay means (34) for delaying the operation of one of the robots displayed on the image display device (32) for a predetermined period of time, and a delay means (34) for delaying the operation of one robot (34) displayed on the image display device (32), and a delay means (34) for delaying the operation of one robot (34) displayed on the image display device (32); A communication means (36) for communicating, and an image display device (32) by a robot control device (26).
At the same time as operating the other robot shown above,
The motion data of this robot is transferred to the robot (10) installed in outer space via the communication means (36), and the one robot displayed on the image display device (32) is delayed for the predetermined time. A space robot operation support system that is characterized by the ability to operate robots in the same way. (2) Claims characterized in that a camera (12) is attached to a robot (10) installed in outer space, and an image seen from this camera is simulated and displayed on an image display device (32). The space robot operation support system described in item 1.