Condition monitoring of an industrial robot

1. A method for detecting a fault in a robot joint, the method comprising the steps of:

performing a first torque measurement at the robot joint to obtain a first set of torque values and weighting each individual torque value of the first set of torque values by means of a weighting vector to thereby obtain a first set of weighted torque values, the weighting vector having a set of different weights so that the first set of weighted torque values reflects torque magnitudes in time domain;

calculating a first distribution characteristic reflecting a distribution of the first set of weighted torque values;

performing a second torque measurement at the robot joint to obtain a second set of torque values and weighting each individual torque value of the second set of torque values by means of the weighting vector to thereby obtain a second set of weighted torque values reflecting torque magnitudes in time domain;

calculating a second distribution characteristic reflecting a distribution of the second set of weighted torque values;

comparing the first and the second distribution characteristics to determine whether a fault is present or not; and

performing maintenance on the robot joint when it is determined that a fault is present.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first distribution characteristic comprises a first distribution function, and the second distribution characteristic comprises a second distribution function, the method further comprising the step of:

calculating a difference between the first and the second distribution functions to thereby obtain a first difference to determine whether a fault is present or not.

3. The method according to claim 2 , the method further comprising the steps of:

performing a third torque measurement at the robot joint to thereby obtain a third set of torque values;

weighting each individual torque value of the third set of torque values to thereby obtain a third set of weighted torque values;

calculating a third distribution function reflecting a distribution of the third set of weighted torque values;

calculating a difference between the second and the third distribution functions to thereby obtain a second difference; and

calculating a sum of the first difference and the second difference to determine whether a fault is present or not.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the first and second distribution functions are kernel density estimators, and the first difference is calculated using a distance measure such as Kullback-Leibler distance.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the first and second distribution functions are kernel density estimators, and the first difference is calculated using a distance measure such as Kullback-Leibler distance.

6. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the first and the second distribution functions are weighted by means of a weighting function.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the weighting function has joint speed as an input.

8. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising the step of:

before calculating the first and second distribution characteristics, eliminating from the first and the second sets of weighted torque values those values that are obtained at a joint speed under a first threshold value and/or at a joint speed over a second threshold value to thereby obtain a first set of filtered torque values and a second set of filtered torque values.

9. The method according to claim 5 , the method further comprising the steps of:

calculating a mean value of the first set of filtered torque values to thereby obtain a first distribution mean value;

calculating a mean value of the second set of filtered torque values to thereby obtain a second distribution mean value; and

calculating a difference between the first and the second distribution mean values to determine whether a fault is present or not.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first measurement is performed during a first task executed by the robot joint, and the second measurement is performed during a second task executed by the robot joint, the first task being executed earlier than the second task.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first and the second tasks are identical.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first task is executed when the robot joint is new or it is otherwise known that a fault is not present.

13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the first task is executed when the robot joint is new or it is otherwise known that a fault is not present.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first torque measurement is performed at a first joint temperature, and the second torque measurement is performed at a second joint temperature, the first joint temperature being identical with the second joint temperature.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the comparing comprises comparing distributions of the first and second sets of weighted torque values.

16. A method for detecting a fault in a robot joint, the method comprising the steps of:

performing a first torque measurement at the robot joint to obtain a first set of torque values and weighting each individual torque value of the first set of torque values by means of a weighting vector to thereby obtain a first set of weighted torque values, the weighting vector having a set of different weights so that the first set of weighted torque values reflects torque magnitudes in time domain;

calculating a first distribution characteristic reflecting a distribution of the first set of weighted torque values;

performing a second torque measurement at the robot joint to obtain a second set of torque values and weighting each individual torque value of the second set of torque values by means of the weighting vector to thereby obtain a second set of weighted torque values reflecting torque magnitudes in time domain;

calculating a second distribution characteristic reflecting a distribution of the second set of weighted torque values;

comparing the first and the second distribution characteristics to determine whether a fault is present or not; and

performing maintenance on the robot joint when it is determined that a fault is present;

wherein the weighting individual torque values amplifies an indicator of whether a fault is present or not.

17. A method for detecting a fault in a robot joint, the method comprising the steps of:

performing a first torque measurement at the robot joint to obtain a first set of torque values;

calculating a first distribution function reflecting a distribution of the first set of torque values using a weighting function;

performing a second torque measurement at the robot joint to obtain a second set of torque values;

calculating a second distribution function reflecting a distribution of the second set of torque values using the weighting function;

calculating a difference between the first and the second distribution functions to determine whether a fault is present or not; and

performing maintenance on the robot joint when it is determined that a fault is present;

wherein the weighting function has joint speed as an input.