Various approaches to ensuring safe operation of industrial machinery in a workcell include disposing multiple image sensors proximate to the workcell and acquiring, with at least some of the image sensors, the first set of images of the workcell; registering the sensors to each other based at least in part on the first set of images and, based at least in part on the registration, converting the first set of images to a common reference frame of the sensors; determining a transformation matrix for transforming the common reference frame of the sensors to a global frame of the workcell; registering the sensors to the industrial machinery; acquiring the second set of images during operation of the industrial machinery; and monitoring the industrial machinery during operation thereof based at least in part on the acquired second plurality of images, transformation, and registration of the sensors to the industrial machinery.

An interference avoidance device is provided with: a three-dimensional sensor that is attached to a tip portion of a robot arm and acquires a distance image of an area around a robot; a position data creating portion that converts coordinates of a nearby object in the distance image to coordinates on a robot coordinate system and creates the position data of the nearby object based on the coordinates of the nearby object on the robot coordinate system; a storage portion that stores the position data; and a control portion that controls the robot based on the robot coordinate system; and the control portion controls the robot to avoid interference of the robot with the nearby object, based on the position data stored in the storage portion.

Automatic calculation of a trajectory by taking the interference with an obstacle into account may be performed by calculating trajectory information representing a trajectory on which (i) the picking hand picks, on the first position, the work with a posture associated with the first position included in the first combination; and (ii) the picking hand arranges, on the second position, the work with a posture associated with the second position included in the first combination, and determining whether an interference is present or absent on the trajectory represented by the trajectory information calculated in the calculating a trajectory.

A robot disposed in a given space is disclosed. The robot includes a mobile module, a communication unit configured to communicate with a robot control system, at least one sensing unit, an input unit configured to receive a user input or an image signal, a display, and a control module. Upon receiving destination information via the input unit, the control module searches for a movement route based on at least one of image information, spatial map information of the space, or information of a sensed obstacle region. Therefore, artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G communication can be performed by the robot, and user convenience can be improved, resulting in improved movement efficiency of the robot.

A teaching system includes: a teaching-data generator configured to generate teaching data of a robot having a joint in a virtual environment, the virtual environment including a work tool, the robot, and a workpiece to which a plurality of working points is preliminarily set, the teaching data causing the robot to move one of the work tool and the workpiece passing through approach points corresponding to the respective working points to cause the work tool to relatively reach and separate from the working points; a determiner configured to determine whether a virtual line interferes with another of the workpiece and the work tool, the virtual line connecting the approach points of the consecutively worked working points together; and a teaching-data updater capable of changing a position of the approach point on the virtual line.

A robot is configured to perform a task on an object using a method for generating a 3D model sufficient to determine a collision free path and identify the object in an industrial scene. The method includes determining a predefined collision free path and scanning an industrial scene around the robot. Stored images of the industrial scene are retrieved from a memory and analyzed to construct a new 3D model. After an object is detected in the new 3D model, the robot can further scan the image in the industrial scene while moving along a collision free path until the object is identified at a predefined certainty level. The robot can then perform a robot task on the object.

A controller controls a motion of an object performing a task for changing a state of the object from a start state to an end state while avoiding collision of the object with an obstacle according to an optimal trajectory determined by solving an optimization problem of the dynamics of the object producing an optimal trajectory for performing the task subject to constraints on a solution of first-order stationary conditions modeling a minimum distance between the convex hull of the object and the convex hull of the obstacle using complementarity constraints.

A method of controlling a non-productive movement of a tool from a starting position to an end position in a travel envelope of a machine tool includes the steps of a) providing a collision-free first trajectory for the non-productive movement of the tool, b) determining a second trajectory that is improved over the first trajectory with regard to a selectable target parameter using an algorithm, and c) checking the second trajectory for collisions and, if the second trajectory is free of collisions, providing an instruction corresponding to the second trajectory. The first trajectory in step a) includes plural rectilinear segments and the second trajectory in step b) includes a polynomial segment and, if the second trajectory is not free of collisions in step c), steps b) to c) are repeated so that the algorithm is provided with a modified model of the travel envelope in a repeat of step b).

The system, devices and methods disclosed herein enable autonomous operation of robots around known and unknown obstacles on a property. A robot includes an optical marker disposed to be visible in a top-view image of the robot, a receiver configured to receive a top-down image of an area of interest surrounding the robot within a property, and a processor configured to distinguish the robot from structural features on the property based on an image of the optical marker. A position and an orientation of the robot and the structural features relative to the property is determined based on the top-down image. Among the structural features, a subset of features classified as obstacles inhibiting an operation of the robot as the robot moves within the area of interest is determined. An operating path for the robot within the area of interest so as to avoid the obstacles is then determined.

A method of responsive robot path planning implemented in a robot controller, including: providing a plurality of potential motion paths of a robot manipulator, wherein the potential motion paths are functionally equivalent with regard to at least one initial or final condition, a transportation task and/or a workpiece processing task; causing an operator interface to visualize the potential motion paths, wherein the operator interface is associated with an operator sharing a workspace with the robot manipulator; obtaining operator behavior during the visualization; and selecting at least one preferred motion path based on the operator behavior. A method in an operator interface, including obtaining from a robot controller a plurality of potential motion paths of the robot manipulator; visualizing the potential motion paths; sensing operator behavior during the visualization; and making the operator behavior available to the robot controller.