The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 07, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2000
H. Dean McGee, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Eric C. Lee, Bloomfield Hills, MI (US);
Robert V. Bauer, Clarkston, MI (US);
Peter J. Swanson, Lake Orion, MI (US);
Sai-Kai Cheng, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Chi-Keng Tsai, Bloomfield Hills, MI (US);
Yi Sun, West Bloomfield, MI (US);
Fanuc Robotics North America, Inc., Rochester, MI (US);
Abstract
A method of teaching a robot a desired operating path and a lead-through teach handle assembly are disclosed. A mounting mechanism mounts the entire handle assembly to an arm of the robot. The handle assembly also includes a handle that is supported by the mounting mechanism. A robot operator utilizes the handle assembly and grasps the handle to apply an external force to move the robot arm, or the operator, without the handle assembly, directly holds a tool connected to the robot arm to apply the external force at the tool. The handle assembly is characterized by a universal joint that interconnects the handle and the mounting mechanism and that accommodates orientation changes of the handle relative to the mounting mechanism that result from translational and rotational movement of the robot arm as the user is teaching the robot. The external force applied at the tool is estimated with either a force sensor disposed on the handle assembly or by monitoring the torque of motors used to move the robot. Motion commands are generated in response to the estimated force to power assist the operator in moving the robot arm. During teaching of the robot, the operator selects either a translational operating mode which limits the movement imparted on the tool only to translational movement, or a rotational operating mode which limits the movement imparted on the tool only to rotational movement.