Unimation, Inc.

Transitions Research Corporation

Joseph F Engelberger

Maurice J Dunne

William Perzley

Torsten H Lindbom

Wilbur N Roberts

Horace L Gardner

William S Kazman

John M Evans, Jr

William Pong

Peter F Rogers

Jr Pong

A tether-guided vehicle and method of controlling same. A tether sensor indicates the angle, .theta., of the tether with respect to the vehicle and the tension, T, on the tether. A contact-sensitive bumper disposed about at least the front periphery of the vehicle indicates the position, P, and force, F, of contact with an obstacle. A drive system moves the vehicle in response to tether angle, .theta., and tension, T, thereby providing a 'servo pull' feature. When the vehicle contacts an obstacle, it stops, backs up, turns and resume forward motion to circumnavigate the obstacle, thereby providing an 'obstacle avoidance' feature. The servo pull and obstacle avoidance features make the vehicle suitable in a number of applications, such as for canister vacuums, hospital or factory carts, and the like.

Tether-guided vehicle and method of controlling same

A means and method for control of an autonomous vehicle while working on a surface, specifically for operation of an automatic floor cleaning machine using power derived from line power through a wall plug and cord. The vehicle uses information derived from contact between bumpers and objects in the environment to sense the geometry of its environment and utilizes a recursively applied algorithm to systematically and efficiently cover the floor area.

Autonomous vehicle for working on a surface and method of controlling

A programmable automatic assembly system is provided which may be employed to assemble small parts. Each assembly station includes cooperating manipulator arms which are programmable to assemble parts on a centrally located work table. Improved facilities are provided for teaching the manipulator arms at each station, these facilities including a computer which assists the teaching operator in setting up the programs required for assembly of small parts to close tolerances. Each manipulator arm includes closed loop teach facilities for maintaining the arm at a previously located position during the teaching mode of operation. The computer is employed as a teach assist facility in performing a number of tasks during the teaching operation which are extremely difficult for the operator to perform manually. All of the assembly stations may be controlled during playback from a common disc storage facility so that the control circuitry and memory storage facilities at each manipulator are minimized.

Programmable automatic assembly system

A programmable automatic assembly system is provided which may be employed to assemble small parts. Each assembly station includes cooperating manipulator arms which are programmable to assemble parts on a centrally located work table. Improved facilities are provided for teaching the manipulator arms at each station, these facilities including a computer which assista the teaching operator in setting up the programs required for assembly of small parts to close tolerances. Each manipulator arm includes closed loop teach facilities for maintaining the arm at a previously located position during the teaching mode of operation. The computer is employed as a teach assist facility in performing a number of tasks during the teaching operation which are extremely difficult for the operator to perform manually. All of the assembly stations may be controlled during playback from a common disc storage facility so that the control circuitry and memory storage facilities at each manipulator are minimized.

Trajectory correlation and error detection apparatus is provided for use with a programmed manipulator to detect movement during an operational work cycle outside a predetermined volumetric envelope. The trajectory correlation and error detection apparatus stores positional data representations of the manipulator during an observed acceptable operational work cycle and compares those stored positional data representations with the actual positional representations during subsequent work cycles to thereby detect an error mode. The detected error during an operational work cycle may be caused by a memory readout malfunction, drive train system malfunction, manipulator positional representation apparatus malfunction, control circuitry malfunction, etc. A warning to nearby personnel and an emergency stop or withdraw command is executed in addition to the normal protective devices on the manipulator apparatus to further ensure against injury to personnel and damage to surrounding machinery, test equipment and work pieces.

Trajectory correlation and error detection method and apparatus

A programmable manipulator apparatus having an arm movable in a plurality of axes employs a feedback signal representing the dynamic behavior of the end of the manipulator arm for use in stabilizing a positional servo loop especially where the position sensing is performed at a location on the manipulator apparatus which is physically closer to the drive apparatus than the end of the arm. The manipulator apparatus includes encoders for developing position signals representing the position of the manipulator in each of the axes which are stored in a memory. The stored digital signals are utilized as command signals and are compared with the encoder signals to develop an error signal utilized to control movement of the manipulator apparatus. The dynamic feedback signal is selectively combined with the positional error signal in a predetermined manner to stabilize the control and operation of the manipulator arm by providing a high negative dynamic feedback signal during deceleration and a low signal during the acceleration phase thereby avoiding conflict between the positional error signal and the dynamic feedback signals.

Programmable manipulator with dynamic feedback apparatus for

A programmable manipulator having an arm which is movable in a plurality of axes and encoder apparatus for the axes operative to develop position signals corresponding to the actual position of the arm is provided adjacent a workpiece moving along a predetermined path, a conveyor for example, to perform a series of programmed operations on the workpiece. The programmable manipulator is provided with teach-programming apparatus for moving the arm during an initial teaching operation to different positions of the stationary workpiece corresponding to the desired series of operations of the manipulator relative to the stationary workpiece. Further, apparatus is provided for calculating digital representations during the teaching operation representing the positions of the arm accounting for the projected workpiece movement during playback and corresponding to the initial teaching positions relative to the workpiece. The calculated digital representations are than stored for use in controlling movement of the arm during playback with a moving workpiece. The manipulator control electronics is provided with an interpolation unit which is effective to maintain the manipulator in synchronism with the moving conveyor during playback. This interpolation unit achieves substantially constant velocity dividing the recorded conveyor position signals for successive steps into a predetermined number of increments and utilizing the interpolated increments as artificial command signals. A velocity mode constant may also be calculated and recorded during the teach mode and utilized in playback to generate velocity command signals to control the manipulator.

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Newtown, CT, United States of America

Joseph F Engelberger