Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Robot control
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-10
2002-08-06
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Robot control
C700S247000, C700S258000, C073S172000, C073S862046, C073S856000, C318S568110, C318S568120, C318S568190, C318S687000, C901S028000, C901S046000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06430475
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot to assist with the nursing of the elderly and so on, and more particularly to a sensor, and peripheral technology thereof, for detecting the pressure distribution, such as that in multi-jointed arms, and for use in the drive-control of the robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an aging society, while nursing of the elderly and so forth is of increasing importance, it is physically demanding for those undertaking the nursing and there are frequent cases of the caregivers themselves sustaining injuries to hips, knees, shoulders, arms and so forth. Such situations have given rise to intensive research and development of means to help with nursing. The advent of nursing robots is also eagerly anticipated but has not yet reached the practical stage. Unlike industrial robots, since such robots are intended for human beings and the physically weak, the movements of such robots must not only be sufficiently safe and reliable, but also delicate, so as to provide those receiving care with a sense of security. In other words, since people require gentle care, the provision of a nursing robot poses tremendous -difficulties in terms of the control and the mechanics involved.
The present inventors initially researched and developed a “Rotary articulated robot and method of control thereof”, this robot having a construction in which offset joints and rotating joints were integrated, and a Japanese Patent Application was filed (H 11-319334), which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/708,667. In a multi-jointed robot having a plurality of offset-rotation joints by which the drive-side arm and driven-side arm are rotatably driven about an offset-rotation axis inclined with respect to the arm axis, the multi-jointed robot of this invention is characterized by allowing a hollow rotating shaft to rotate freely, this hollow rotating shaft being inclined by a prescribed offset angle and driven by a motor in the tip of either the drive-side arm or driven-side arm, and characterized by a rotor member being fixed that transmits a rotation force from the abovementioned hollow shaft to the base end of the other arm, and by the abovementioned hollow rotating shaft and abovementioned rotor member constituting a mechanism permitting high deceleration ratio transmission and an increase in torque. With this construction, even smaller drive motors are employed, greater rotational torque can be transmitted, highly precise positioning is possible, and a very lightweight joint with offset rotation at a higher torque is obtained. By virtue of the fact that this offset-rotation joint is linked at many points, it was possible to provide a highly functional multi-jointed robot capable of a wide range of complicated and precise movements with a high payload.
The basic construction of an offset-rotation joint in this multi-jointed robot is shown in FIG.
7
. This figure shows the case where the cylindrical hand-base arm is the drive-side arm
6
and the hand-end arm is the driven-side arm
7
, and depicts a state in which the driven-side arm
7
is linked by an offset-rotation joint offset by an offset angle y with respect to the arm axis of drive-side arm
6
. The tip of the arm main body
6
a
of drive-side arm
6
is an aperture that is at a night angle to the axis, the base end of the driven-side arm is an aperture that is inclined at an angle of inclination &ggr; with respect to the arm axis, and an offset-rotation joint assembly body is created in the right-rotation joint assembly body in this embodiment is constructed by integrating a motor unit
8
, a drive-side arm tip portion
6
b
fixed to the leading edge of this motor unit, and a joint rotation transmission mechanism
9
fixed to this drive-side arm tip portion. A right-angle aperture is created in the base end side of the drive-side arm tip portion
6
b
and an inclined aperture is created in the tip side thereof. The right-angle aperture receives the tip of the motor shaft, and the joint rotation transmission mechanism
9
is fixed to the inclined aperture. The motor unit
8
has a motor case
10
of the same diameter as the arm, and by integrating the top and bottom ends of this motor case, as shown in the figure, by linking these ends to the drive-side arm
6
a
and drive-side arm tip portion
6
b,
the motor case
10
itself comprises one part of the drive-side arm. The motor unit
8
comprises a motor
11
formed so as to be integral with the abovementioned motor case
10
, an encoder E, slip ring
13
, and rotation speedometer (not illustrated), and the motor shaft
14
is established in a position on the same axis as the arm axis or on a parallel axis. In a construction of this kind, when the motor
11
is in a driving condition, the cylinder shaft
21
rotates at a prescribed rotational speed via the external teeth bevel gear
17
and internal teeth bevel gear
24
. Here, by making the diameter of the internal teeth bevel gear
24
large, the motor is able to decelerate according to the ratio of the gear diameters, and a large torque can be produced using very small motors. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain a large deceleration ratio with a harmonic gear mechanism inside joint rotation transmission mechanism
9
, and obtain greater rotational torque using small motors. It is possible, through this rotational torque, to extend the driven-side arm
7
through a desired angle with respect to drive-side arm
6
.
The present inventors considered applying the invention “Rotary articulated robot and method of control thereof”, permitting the provision of a highly functional multi-jointed robot capable of a wide range of complicated and precise movements with a high payload, to the arms of a nursing robot, which pose tremendous difficulties in terms of the control and the mechanics involved because people require gentle care. As far as the arms of the nursing robot are concerned, not only is it essential that the arms be capable of handling the work easily, but the movements of these arms must also not cause a person in care any pain or discomfort. For example, if a movement is considered in which a person lying in bed is picked up by the robot, when particular locations of the robot's arms are subjected to concentrations of stress, these arms touch the person in care strongly in those locations, and the direct result is that the person is bruised by this strong use of force. Consequently, it is necessary for the arms of the nursing robot to deform and make movements to change to a state in which the person's body is supported uniformly, and for local concentrations of stress to be avoided. In other words, since it is required for the nursing robot to make movements according to an initial objective, while taking appropriate measures to the state of contact with the person in care, that changes from one moment to the next, it is necessary for the nursing robot to constantly detect the state of holding the person in care and perform control corresponding to this detected value. When attempting to employ the developed multi-jointed robot, developed by the present applicants, as a nursing robot, a sensor, for detecting the state of contact between the robot and the person in care, is of prime importance.
Conventionally, pressure-sensitive sheet sensors have been employed as means for detecting pressure distribution received in particular areas. Such a sensor is shown in FIG.
6
and is formed as a layered single sheet comprising column electrodes
2
arranged on a column electrode side substrate material sheet
1
composed of polyester film or the like, and row electrodes
4
arranged on a row electrode side substrate material sheet
5
, a pressure-sensitive resistive raw material
3
being interposed there between. A pressure-sensitive resistive raw material
3
is interposed between specific row electrodes and specific column electrodes of this pressure-sensitive sheet sensor. Consequently, the resistance value between both set
Izaki Mitsuharu
Kamimura Heihachiro
Nagano Hiroaki
Nakaya Teruomi
Okamoto Osamu
Marc McDieunel
National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan
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