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CN-121989302-A - Method for safely feeding a load to a robot

CN121989302ACN 121989302 ACN121989302 ACN 121989302ACN-121989302-A

Abstract

In order to safely feed a load (200) to a robot (110), a barrier (120) with a passage opening (121) and a conveyor belt (130) are provided. The radar system (140) is configured to detect moving objects in three different detection areas (142 a,142b,142 c) above the conveyor belt (130), including a first area (142 a) occupying the access opening (121), a third area (142 c) proximate the robot (110), and a second intermediate area (142 b). In a sequence of entry steps, the load (200) advancing in the first and second zones (142 a,142 b) is monitored until a verification step is initiated. In the verification step, the conveyor belt (130) remains stationary and it is verified that no person is present between the robot (110) and the barrier (120). In the entering and verifying step, detection of the moving object in the third zone (142 c) determines deactivation of the robot (110). In the delivering step, the conveyor belt (130) transports the load (200) towards the robot (110), and the detection of the moving object in the third zone (142 c) cannot determine the deactivation of the robot (110).

Inventors

  • A. Muzaka

Assignees

  • 印斯派克特公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20251106
Priority Date
20241108

Claims (9)

  1. 1. A method for safely feeding a load (200) to a robot (110), comprising: -providing a robot (110); providing a barrier (120) spaced apart from the robot (110) having a passage opening (121), -Providing a conveyor belt (130) operable to transport a load (200) from the access opening (121) to the robot (110), Providing a radar system (140) configured to detect moving objects in three different detection areas (142 a, 142b, 142 c) above the conveyor belt (130), comprising a first area (142 a) occupying the access opening (121), a third area (142 c) close to the robot (110), and a second area (142 b) between the first and third areas (142 a, 142 c), -Controlling the operation of the conveyor belt (130) and the robot (110) in accordance with the detection of objects by the radar system (140) in the first, second and third areas (142 c) such that: -in a sequence of entry steps and in a verification step, after said sequence of entry steps, said detection of a moving object in said third zone (142 c) determines the deactivation of said robot (110), -Detecting a load (200) as a moving object in said first and second areas (142 a,142 b) in said sequence of entering steps until a predetermined intermediate condition is reached, said predetermined intermediate condition being identified by such a combination of object detections in said first, second and third areas (142 a,142b,142 c) to determine the start of said verification step, wherein said intermediate condition is a condition in which the presence of at least one moving object is detected in said second area (142 b) and wherein the absence of moving objects is detected in said first and third areas (142 a,142 c), -In the verifying step, starting from the intermediate condition, controlling the conveyor belt (130) to remain stationary, and verifying whether a predetermined safety condition is fulfilled when the conveyor belt (130) is stationary, the predetermined safety condition being identified by a combination of object detections in the first, second and third zones (142 a,142b,142 c) indicating that no person is present between the robot (110) and the barrier (120), wherein the safety condition is a condition in which no moving object is detected in the first, second and third zones (142 a,142b,142 c), -In a delivery step, starting from the safety condition, controlling the conveyor belt (130) to advance and transport the load (200) towards the robot (110), and the detection of moving objects in the third zone (142 c) is not determining the deactivation of the robot (110).
  2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the radar system (140) is configured to detect moving targets in the first, second, and third regions (142 a,142b,142 c) without detecting stationary targets.
  3. 3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein in the verifying step and the delivering step the detection of a moving object in the first area (142 a) determines the deactivation of the robot (110).
  4. 4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein: -during the sequence of entering steps, controlling the conveyor belt (130) to advance and transport the load (200) towards the robot (110), and -In the step of verifying, controlling the conveyor belt (130) to stop before verifying whether the safety condition is met.
  5. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the first and third areas (142 a,142 b, 142 c) are barrier-shaped areas (120) and the second area (142 b) is an area having a larger dimension in the direction of advance (X-X) of the conveyor belt (130) than the first and third areas (142 a,142 c), wherein the dimension of the second area (142 b) in the direction of advance is sufficient to fully contain a predetermined load (200), the predetermined load (200) preferably comprising a tray.
  6. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the sequence of entering steps comprises a first step in which a moving object is detected only in the first region (142 a), and a second step in which a moving object is detected in both the first and second regions (142 a,142 b), the intermediate condition being subsequent to the second step.
  7. 7. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein the radar system (140) is identified by a single radar device (141) configured to simultaneously monitor the first, second and third areas (142 a,142b,142 c), preferably wherein the first, second and third areas (142 c) are parallelepiped-shaped areas, and the radar device (141) is a volumetric radar device configured to detect the target location in three spatial coordinate systems.
  8. 8. A control system for feeding a load (200) to a robot (110), comprising: A radar system (140) configured to detect moving objects in three different detection areas (142 a,142b,142 c) above the conveyor belt (130), comprising a first area (142 a), a second area (142 b) and a third area (142 c), the first area (142 a) being sized to occupy a passage opening (121) of the barrier (120), the third area (142 c) being sized to be positioned close to the robot (110), the second area (142 b) being between the first and third areas (142 c), Wherein the radar system (140) is further configured to generate status signals indicative of the presence and absence of moving objects detected in each of the first, second and third areas (142 a,142b,142 c), A processing system (150) having a first communication channel for receiving the status signal from the radar system (140), a second communication channel for controlling the conveyor belt (130), and a third communication channel for controlling the robot (110), Wherein the processing system is configured to control the operation of the conveyor belt (130) and the robot (110) in accordance with the status signal such that: -in a sequence of entry steps and in a verification step, after said sequence of entry steps, said detection of a moving object in said third zone (142 c) determines the deactivation of said robot (110), Monitoring the status signal in accordance with the presence of moving objects in the first and second areas (142 a,142 b) in the sequence of entering steps until a predetermined intermediate condition is reached, said intermediate condition being identified by such condition of the status signal to determine the start of the verification step, wherein the intermediate condition is a condition in which the presence of at least one moving object is detected in the second area and wherein the absence of moving objects is detected in the first and third areas, In the verification step, starting from the intermediate condition, the conveyor belt (130) is controlled to stop and remain stationary until a predetermined safety condition is reached, said predetermined safety condition being identified by a condition of the status signal indicating the absence of a person between the robot (110) and the barrier (120), wherein the safety condition is a condition in which the absence of a moving object is detected in the first, second and third areas, -In a delivery step, starting from the safety condition, controlling the conveyor belt (130) to advance and transport the load (200) towards the robot (110), and the detection of a moving object in the third zone (142 c) is not determining the deactivation of the robot (110).
  9. 9. A system (100) for feeding a load (200) to a robot (110), comprising: -a robot (110), A barrier (120) spaced apart from the robot (110) having a passage opening (121), -A conveyor belt (130) operable to transport a load (200) from the access opening (121) to the robot (110), and -A control system according to claim 8.

Description

Method for safely feeding a load to a robot Technical Field The invention has been developed in the field of security technology in an automated work environment that is dangerous to humans. Background In industrial production or processing sites, the presence of robotic machinery is common, and therefore with parts that move automatically, is potentially dangerous for people that are too close to the robot. In some applications, the robot must perform a series of repetitive operations on the specific products loaded onto the tray. In these cases, the first safety measure for the personnel is the presence of a physical barrier to hinder the access of the worker to the robot while the robot is operating, but still allow the load to be treated to pass. Since people cannot reach the robot, the load on the pallet is transported to the robot by a conveyor belt passing through an opening in the barrier. However, it may also happen that a person passes over an opening of the barrier and approaches the robot, for example to verify an undesired condition in the operation of the robot. When this happens, it is critical to follow a safety procedure, such as disabling the robot when the operator reaches a certain distance. Automated systems for controlling robot deactivation when dangerous conditions occur are known in the art. Due to this automation, the risk of human error is avoided. Technical problem In order to ensure maximum safety and avoid the risk of the robot remaining active even in dangerous conditions, many automation systems often control the deactivation of the robot, even in non-dangerous conditions during normal operation of the robot and the conveyor belt. This results in processing delays and sometimes requires manual intervention to re-activate the robot. To avoid these problems, an automated safety system is desired that selectively intervenes when actually needed, distinguishing dangerous situations from normal safety operations (such as movement of loads on a conveyor belt). Disclosure of Invention The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to perform a very selective detection of dangerous conditions, allowing a continuous operation of the robot as long as the danger does not occur. These and other objects are achieved by a method for safely feeding a load to a robot, a control system for feeding a load to a robot, and a system for feeding a load to a robot according to any of the appended claims. According to the invention, a radar system detects moving objects in three different detection areas above a conveyor belt, including a first area occupying a passage opening protecting a physical barrier of a robot, a third area close to the robot, and a second area between the first and third areas. The operation of the conveyor belt and the robot is controlled in accordance with target detection by the radar system in the first, second and third areas. The control means that in the entering step sequence and in the verifying step, after the entering step sequence, the detection of the moving object in the third zone determines the deactivation of the robot. In the sequence of entry steps, as the load passes through the first and second regions, it is monitored until a predetermined intermediate condition is reached, which is identified by a combination of target detections in the first, second and third regions, to thereby determine the start of the verification step. In the verification step, starting from the intermediate condition, the conveyor belt is controlled to remain stationary until a predetermined safety condition is reached, which safety condition is identified by a combination of target detections in the first, second and third areas, which combination indicates that no person is present between the robot and the barrier. In the delivering step, after the verifying step, starting from the safety condition, the conveyor belt is controlled to advance and transport the load toward the robot, and the detection of the moving object in the third area cannot determine the deactivation of the robot. Advantageously, this control maintains general safety precautions, i.e. the target can pass through the third zone without disabling the robot only if it is reasonably determined that the target is a load instead of a person. Advantageously, the automatic verification of the absence of an absence is performed by stopping the conveyor belt and verifying that all objects remain stationary at that moment. Advantageously, the load has passed the first zone when no human being is verified to be present. Thus, from that moment on, restarting the conveyor belt will no longer pass the load through the first zone. Thus, detection of the target in the first area is necessarily caused by an unforeseen event, potentially a person passing, so that the robot may be deactivated. Further features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated by those