Synchronization of a graphical program and a robot program

1. A method for synchronizing a graphical program generated in an off-line simulation environment and a robot program, wherein the graphical program includes a graphical 3D representation of robot motions along a path including 3D points and actions given in a sequence, the actions contain events that will occur along the path, and the robot program includes a sequence of textual instructions for robot motions and actions, the method comprising:

receiving information on which of the programs is a leader program during synchronization and which of the programs is a follower program during synchronization, wherein the leader program is to remain unchanged during the synchronization, the follower program is to be modified according to the leader program, and wherein both the graphical program and robot program are capable of being selected as the leader program,

converting the sequence of 3D points and actions of the graphical program into a first sequence of tokens including data and instructions for motions and actions contained in the graphical program,

converting the motion content of the robot program into a second sequence of tokens including data and instructions for motions and actions contained in the robot program,

comparing the first and second sequences of tokens and based thereon:

generating modification commands in dependence on which program is the leader and which is the follower, and

editing the follower program based on the generated modification commands so that the token sequence of the follower matches the sequence of the leader.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the editing comprises editing the sequence of tokens of the follower so that the token sequence matches the sequence of the leader, and converting the edited sequence of tokens of the follower back to the original program form.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said programs are converted into sequences of sentences built up of said tokens, and said modification commands include: insert sentence, delete sentence and edit token.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the difference between the first and second sequences of token is calculated by a Longest Common Subsequence algorithm.

5. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

computer program instructions recorded on the computer readable medium and executable by a processor for performing a method for synchronizing a graphical program generated in an off-line simulation environment and a robot program, wherein the graphical program includes a graphical 3D representation of robot motions along a path including 3D points and actions given in a sequence, the actions contain events that will occur along the path, and the robot program includes a sequence of textual instructions for robot motions and actions, the method comprising

receiving information on which of the programs is a leader program during synchronization and which of the programs is a follower program during synchronization, wherein the leader program is to remain unchanged during the synchronization, the follower program is to be modified according to the leader program, and wherein both the graphical program and robot program are capable of being selected as the leader program,

converting the sequence of 3D points and actions of the graphical program into a first sequence of tokens including data and instructions for motions and actions contained in the graphical program,

converting the motion content of the robot program into a second sequence of tokens including data and instructions for motions and actions contained in the robot program,

comparing the first and second sequences of tokens and based thereon:

generating modification commands in dependence on which program is the leader and which is the follower, and

editing the follower program based on the generated modification commands so that the token sequence of the follower matches the sequence of the leader.

6. A device comprising a processor for synchronizing a graphical program generated in an off-line simulation environment and a robot program, wherein the graphical program includes a graphical 3D representation of robot motions along a path including 3D points and actions given in a sequence, the actions contain events that will occur along the path, and the robot program includes a sequence of textual instructions for robot motions and actions, the device comprising:

a first converter adapted to convert a sequence of 3D points and actions of a graphical program into a first sequence of tokens including data and instructions for motions and actions contained in the graphical program,

a second converter adapted to convert the motion content of the robot program into a second sequence of tokens including data and instructions for motions and actions contained in the robot program, and

a modification command generator adapted to compare the first and second sequences of tokens and based thereon generate modification commands, wherein said first converter is adapted to receive said modification commands and edit the graphical program based on the modification commands so that the token sequence of the graphical program matches the token sequence of the robot program and said second converter is adapted to receive said modification commands and edit the robot program based on the modification commands so that the token sequence of the robot program matches the token sequence of the graphical program.

7. The device according to claim 6 , wherein the device is adapted to receiving information on which of the programs is to remain unchanged during the synchronization, in the following called a leader program for the synchronization, and which of the programs to be modified according to the program that is selected as the leader program, in the following called a follower program, and the modification command generator is adapted to generate and send said modification commands to either the first or the second converter in dependence on which program is the leader and which is the follower.

8. The device according to claim 7 , wherein said converters are adapted to edit the sequence of tokens of the follower so that the token sequence matches the sequence of the leader and converting the edited sequence of tokens of the follower back to the original program form.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising utilizing off-line programming of an industrial robot.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the robot program includes comments.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein elements from the graphical program sequence are selectively converted.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein elements from the robot program sequence are selectively converted.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conversion of the robot program and the conversion of the graphical program are performed simultaneously.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graphical program includes a graphical representation of the robot.