IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,471,593
Granted Patent B2
US 10,471,593 · App. 15/265,534 · Granted Nov 12, 2019

Rotation driving apparatus, robot apparatus, control program, and article manufacturing method

Inventor: Yutaka Tsuchiya (Kawasaki, JP)
Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
B25J9/1651B25J9/1694
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,471,593
App. No.
15/265,534
Granted
Nov 12, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

A joint of a robot comprises a servo motor, a speed reducer driven by the servo motor, and an output-side encoder for measuring a rotation angle of the output-side rotation shaft of the speed reducer, and the position/orientation of the robot is controlled by the joint. The present invention, which aims to be able to detect certainly and at a high speed the state of the speed reducer, is characterized by driving the joint via the speed reducer by rotating the servo motor, obtaining a resonance amplitude of the joint from the rotation angle obtained from the output-side encoder, and thus diagnosing the lifetime of the speed reducer according to the obtained resonance amplitude of the joint.

Claims (48)

1. A rotation driving apparatus which comprises:

a rotation driving source configured to drive a joint comprising a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft;

a transmission configured to change a rotation speed of the first rotation shaft driven by the rotation driving source to a rotation speed of the second rotation shaft;

a sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the second rotation shaft; and

a controller configured to operate the rotation driving source such that the joint resonates, and to diagnose a state of the transmission based on a value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in a case where the joint is resonating.

2. The rotation driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein, in the case of resonating the joint, the controller is configured to rotate the joint within a speed range including a rotation speed at which the resonance of the joint occurs.

3. The rotation driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the rotation driving source of the joint in predetermined orientation of the joint.

4. The rotation driving apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a second sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the first rotation shaft,

wherein the controller is configured to diagnose the state of the transmission based on a difference between values respectively calculated by the sensor and the second sensor.

5. The rotation driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to diagnose the state of the transmission by calculating a change rate of value from the value calculated by the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating and a value calculated by a rotation angle previously obtained by the sensor.

6. A robot apparatus comprising:

a rotation driving source configured to drive a joint comprising a first rotation shaft and second rotation shaft;

a transmission configured to change a rotation speed of the first rotation shaft driven by the rotation driving source to a rotation speed of the second rotation shaft;

a sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the second rotation shaft; and

a controller configured to operate the rotation driving source such that the joint resonates, and to diagnose a state of the transmission based on a value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating.

7. An article manufacturing method of manufacturing an article by using a robot apparatus:

the robot apparatus comprising:

a rotation driving source configured to drive a joint comprising a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft;

a transmission configured to change a rotation speed of the first rotation shaft driven by the rotation driving source to a rotation speed of the second rotation shaft;

a sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the second rotation shaft; and

a controller, the method comprising:

the controller operating the rotation driving source such that the joint resonates; and

the controller diagnosing a state of the transmission based on a value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in a case where the joint is resonating.

8. An article manufacturing method of an article manufactured by a rotation driving apparatus, the rotation driving apparatus comprising:

a rotation driving source configured to drive a joint comprising a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft;

a transmission configured to change a rotation speed of the first rotation shaft driven by the rotation driving source to a rotation speed of the second rotation shaft;

a sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the second rotation shaft; and

a controller, the method comprising:

the controller operating the rotation driving source such that the joint resonates; and

the controller diagnosing a state of the transmission based on a value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in a case where the joint is resonating.

9. The robot apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to compare a predetermined value with the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating, and to output a warning in a case where the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor is larger than the predetermined value.

10. The robot apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein, in the case of resonating the joint, the controller is configured to rotate the joint within a speed range including a rotation speed at which the resonance of the joint occurs.

11. The article manufacturing method according to claim 7 , further comprising the controller comparing a predetermined value with the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating, and outputting a warning in a case where the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor is larger than the predetermined value.

12. The article manufacturing method according to claim 7 , wherein, in the case of resonating the joint, the controller rotates the joint within a speed range including a rotation speed at which the resonance of the joint occurs.

13. The article manufacturing method according to claim 8 , further comprising the controller comparing a predetermined value with the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating, and outputting a warning in a case where the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor is larger than the predetermined value.

14. The article manufacturing method according to claim 8 , wherein, in the case of resonating the joint, the controller rotates the joint within a speed range including a rotation speed at which the resonance of the joint occurs.

15. A controlling method of a rotation driving apparatus which comprises:

a rotation driving source configured to drive a joint comprising a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft; a transmission configured to change a rotation speed of the first rotation shaft driven by the rotation driving source to a rotation speed of the second rotation shaft; and a sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the second rotation shaft, the controlling method comprising:

operating the rotation driving source such that the joint resonates; and

diagnosing a state of the transmission based on a value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in a case where the joint is resonating.

16. The controlling method according to claim 15 , further comprising comparing the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating with a predetermined value, and outputting a warning in a case where the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor is larger than the predetermined value.

17. The controlling method according to claim 15 , wherein, in the case of resonating the joint, the joint is rotated within a speed range including a rotation speed at which the resonance of the joint occurs.

18. The rotation driving apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to compare a predetermined value with the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in the case where the joint is resonating, and to output a warning in a case where the value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor is larger than the predetermined value.

19. The rotation driving apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the controller changes stepwise the rotation speed of the joint within the speed range.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a control program for performing a controlling method of a rotation driving apparatus which comprises:

a rotation driving source configured to drive a joint comprising a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft; a transmission configured to change a rotation speed of the first rotation shaft driven by the rotation driving source to a rotation speed of the second rotation shaft; and a sensor provided to obtain a rotation angle of the second rotation shaft, the program comprising code to execute:

operating the rotation driving source such that the joint resonates; and

diagnosing a state of the transmission based on a value calculated by using the rotation angle obtained by the sensor in a case where the joint is resonating.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 5, 2016
From: TSUCHIYA, YUTAKA
To: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 040511/0295 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2015-186265 · Sep 24, 2015 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20170087719A1 · Mar 30, 2017
Cited By (1)
US 12,496,731