Robot with control system for discrete manual input of positions and/or poses

1. A robot having a movable, multi-membered robot structure that can be driven by means of actuators, wherein

at least one structural element S is defined on the movable robot structure, with at least one point P S marked on the structural element S,

the robot is designed such that, in an input mode, the robot learns positions POS PS of the point P S and/or poses of the structural element S in a work space of the robot, wherein the user exerts an input force {right arrow over (F)} EING on the movable robot structure in order to move the structural element S, which force is conveyed to the point P S as {right arrow over (F)} EING,PS , and/or to the structural element S as torque {right arrow over (M)} EING,S ,

a virtual 3D grid is defined, that at least partially fills the work space,

a virtual discrete 3D orientation space O is defined, wherein the 3D orientation space O is or can be defined by a triplets of discrete angles: (αi, βi, γk), where i=1, 2, . . . , I, j=1, 2, . . . J, k=1, 2, . . . ,K, and

a control device of the robot is designed such that,

in the input mode, the actuators are controlled such that the structural element S is moved with a pre-defined force F GRID ({right arrow over (P)}OS PS ), according to the current position POS PS of the point P S in the 3D grid, to the adjacent grid point of the 3D grid or in a grid point volume defined around the adjacent grid point of the 3D grid,

wherein the point P S of the structural element S remains on said adjacent grid point or in said grid point volume in the event of the following holding true: |{right arrow over (F)} EING,PS |<|{right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS )| and/or,

in the input mode, the actuators are controlled that the structural element S is moved with a predefined torque M O (OR s ) according to the current orientation OR S of the structural element, towards the adjacent discrete orientation of the 3D orientation space {right arrow over (O)}=: (α i , β h , γ k ),

wherein the structural element S remains in said adjacent discrete orientation of the 3D orientation space {right arrow over (O)} in the event that the following holds true: |{right arrow over (M)} EING,S |<|{right arrow over (M)} O (OR S )|.

2. The robot of claim 1 ,

wherein the predetermined force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ) periodically varies within the 3D grid.

3. The robot of claim 1 ,

wherein the control device is designed in such a way that if at least two adjacent grid points or grid point volumes are positioned at the same distance from the current position POS PS of point P S , one of these grid points/grid point volumes is selected as the adjacent grid point/grid point volume according to a predetermined method.

4. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured in such a way that in the work space a virtual 3D potential field is defined, the local minima of which are identical to the grid points of the 3D grid, wherein the force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ) is determined based on the negative gradient of said potential field.

5. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the control device is configured in such a way that if at least two adjacent orientations O=: (α i , β j , γ k ) have the same differences with respect to the current orientation {right arrow over (O)}R S of structural element S, one of these orientations O=: (α i , β i , γ k ) is selected according to a predetermined method.

6. The robot of claim 1 , wherein the orientation space O =: (α i , β i , γ k ) is defined depending on the current position POS PS of point P S : O=O(POS PS )=(α i (POS PS ), β j (POS PS ), γ k (POS PS )).

7. A method for controlling a robot, which has a movable, multi-membered robot structure, that can be driven by means of actuators, wherein

at least one structural element S is defined on the movable robot structure, with at least one point P S marked on the structural element S,

the robot, in an input mode, learns positions POS PS of the point P S and/or poses of the structural element S in a work space of the robot, wherein the user exerts an input force {right arrow over (F)} EING on the movable robot structure in order to move the structural element S, which force is conveyed to the point P S as {right arrow over (F)} EING,PS , and/or to the structural element S as torque {right arrow over (M)} EING,S ,

a virtual 3D grid is defined, that at least partially fills the work space,

a virtual discrete 3D orientation space O is defined, wherein the 3D orientation space O is or can be defined by a triplets of discrete angles: (αi, βi, γk), where i=1, 2, . . . , I, j=1, 2, . . . J, k=1, 2, . . . , K, and

a control device

in the input mode, controls the actuators such that the structural element S is moved with a pre-defined force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ), according to the current position POS PS of the point P S in the 3D grid, to the adjacent grid point of the 3D grid or in a grid point volume defined around the adjacent grid point of the 3D grid,

wherein the point P S of the structural element S remains on said adjacent grid point or in said grid point volume in the event of the following holding true: |{right arrow over (F)} EING,PS |<|{right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS )| and/or,

in the input mode, controls the actuators such that the structural element S is moved with a predefined torque {right arrow over (M)} O ({right arrow over (O)}R S ) according to the current orientation {right arrow over (O)}R S of the structural element, towards the adjacent discrete orientation of the 3D orientation space O=: (α i , β j , γ k ), wherein the structural element S remains in said adjacent discrete orientation of the 3D orientation space O in the event that the following holds true: |{right arrow over (M)} EING,S |<{right arrow over (M)} O ({right arrow over (O)}R S ).

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein in the work space a virtual 3D potential field is defined, the local minima of which are identical to the grid points of the 3D grid, wherein the force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ) is determined based on the negative gradient of said potential field.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the local minima of the 3D potential field have a constant potential within a predetermined space region around each grid point of the 3D grid, wherein the space region has a maximum extension which is smaller than the grid spacing between two adjacent grid points.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein, if at least two adjacent orientations have the same difference with respect to the current orientation OR s of structural element S, one of these orientations O=: (α i , β j , γ k ) is selected according to a predetermined method.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the local minima of the 3D potential field have a constant potential within a predetermined space region around each grid point of the 3D grid, wherein the space region has a maximum extension which is smaller than the grid spacing between two adjacent grid points.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein, if at least two adjacent orientations have the same difference with respect to the current orientation OR s of structural element S, one of these orientations O=: (α i , β j , γ k ) is selected according to a predetermined method.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein, if at least two adjacent orientations have the same difference with respect to the current orientation OR s of structural element S, one of these orientations O=: (α i , β j , γ k ) is selected according to a predetermined method.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein, if at least two adjacent orientations have the same difference with respect to the current orientation OR of structural element S, one of these orientations O=: (α i , β j , γ k ) is selected according to a predetermined method.

15. The robot of claim 2 , wherein the control device is designed in such a way that if at least two adjacent grid points or grid point volumes are positioned at the same distance from the current position POS PS of point P S , one of these grid points/grid point volumes is selected as the adjacent grid point/grid point volume according to a predetermined method.

16. The robot of claim 15 , wherein the control device is configured in such a way that in the work space a virtual 3D potential field is defined, the local minima of which are identical to the grid points of the 3D grid, wherein the force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ) is determined based on the negative gradient of said potential field.

17. The robot of claim 2 , wherein the control device is configured in such a way that in the work space a virtual 3D potential field is defined, the local minima of which are identical to the grid points of the 3D grid, wherein the force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ) is determined based on the negative gradient of said potential field.

18. The robot of claim 3 , wherein the control device is configured in such a way that in the work space a virtual 3D potential field is defined, the local minima of which are identical to the grid points of the 3D grid, wherein the force {right arrow over (F)} GRID (POS PS ) is determined based on the negative gradient of said potential field.