- •1. TABLE OF CONTENTS
- •2. OVERVIEW
- •3. PROCESS CONTROL
- •3.1 INTRODUCTION
- •3.2 CONTROL SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
- •3.3 CONTROLLER TYPES
- •3.4 PROCESS DIAGRAMS AND SYMBOLS
- •3.5 PRACTICE QUESTIONS
- •4. DISCRETE CONTROLLER DESIGN
- •4.1 POSITIONING CONTROLLERS
- •4.1.1 Dead Beat Control
- •4.1.2 Programming Examples
- •4.1.2.1 - BASIC
- •4.1.2.3 - Pascal
- •4.1.2.4 - 6811 Assembler
- •4.1.3 First Order Response
- •4.2 TRACKING
- •4.2.1 Minimum Error
- •4.3 DISTURBANCE RESISTANT
- •4.3.1 Disturbance Minimization
- •4.4 MULTI-CONTROLLER SYSTEMS
- •4.4.1 Disturbance Feedforward
- •4.4.2 Command Feedforward
- •4.4.3 Cascade
- •4.5 SAMPLE TIME
- •4.6 SUMMARY
- •4.7 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •5. DISCRETE SYSTEMS
- •5.1 DISCRETE SYSTEM MODELLING WITH EQUATIONS
- •5.1.1 Getting a Discrete Equation
- •5.1.2 First Order System Example
- •5.1.3 Second Order System Example
- •5.1.4 Example of Dead (Delay) Time
- •5.2 DISCRETE CONTROLLERS
- •5.2.1 A Proportional Controller
- •5.2.2 Integral Control
- •5.2.3 Differential Control
- •5.2.4 Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) Control
- •5.3 BLOCK DIAGRAMS AND TRANSFER FUNCTIONS
- •5.3.1 The Backward-Shift ‘B’ Operator
- •5.3.2 Reducing Block Diagrams
- •5.3.3 Back-Shift Transform Table
- •5.3.3.1 - A Summary of Differential Equation Solutions
- •5.3.4 Stability
- •5.4 SAMPLING FUNCTIONS
- •5.5 SYSTEM RESPONSE
- •5.6 STEADY STATE ERROR
- •5.7 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •6. PETRI NETS
- •6.1 INTRODUCTION
- •6.2 IMPLEMENTATION FOR A PLC
- •6.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •7. CONTINUOUS CONTROL SYSTEMS
- •7.1 CONTROL SYSTEMS
- •7.1.1 PID Control Systems
- •7.1.2 Analysis of PID Controlled Systems With Laplace Transforms
- •7.1.3 Manipulating Block Diagrams
- •7.1.3.1 - Commercial PID Tuners
- •7.1.4 Finding The System Response To An Input
- •7.1.5 System Response
- •7.1.6 A Motor Control System Example
- •7.1.7 System Error
- •7.1.8 Controller Transfer Functions
- •7.2 ROOT-LOCUS PLOTS
- •7.2.1 Approximate Plotting Techniques
- •7.2.2 State Variable Control Systems
- •7.3 DESIGN OF CONTINUOUS CONTROLLERS
- •7.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •8. FUZZY LOGIC
- •8.1 COMMERCIAL CONTROLLERS
- •8.2 REFERENCES
- •8.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •9. MECHATRONICS CIRCUITS
- •9.1 POWER SWITCHING
- •9.2 USER INPUT/OUTPUT
- •9.2.1 Multiplexing
- •10. HARDWARE BASED CONTROLLERS
- •10.1 CIRCUITS
- •10.2 FLUIDICS
- •10.3 PNEUMATICS
- •10.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •11. EMBEDDED CONTROLLERS
- •11.1 TYPES
- •11.1.1 Micro Controllers
- •11.1.2 DSPs
- •11.1.3 CPUs
- •11.2 CONTROLLER DESIGN EXAMPLE
- •11.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •12. DISCRETE SENSORS
- •12.1 INTRODUCTION
- •12.2 SENSOR WIRING
- •12.2.1 Switches
- •12.2.2 Transistor Transistor Logic (TTL)
- •12.2.3 Sinking/Sourcing
- •12.2.4 Solid State Relays
- •12.3 CONTACT DETECTION
- •12.3.1 Contact Switches
- •12.3.2 Reed Switches
- •12.4 PROXIMITY DETECTION
- •12.4.1 Optical (Photoelectric) Sensors
- •12.4.2 Capacitive Sensors
- •12.4.3 Inductive Sensors
- •12.4.4 Ultrasonic
- •12.4.5 Hall Effect
- •12.4.6 Fluid Flow
- •12.4.7 Other Types
- •12.5 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •13. CONTINUOUS SENSORS
- •13.1 INPUT ISSUES
- •13.2 SENSOR TYPES
- •13.3 ANGULAR POSITION
- •13.3.1 Potentiometers
- •13.3.2 Encoders
- •13.3.3 Resolvers
- •13.3.4 Practice Problems
- •13.4 LINEAR POSITION
- •13.4.1 Potentiometers
- •13.4.2 Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDT)
- •13.4.3 Moire Fringes
- •13.4.4 Interferometers
- •13.5 VELOCITY
- •13.5.1 Velocity Pickups
- •13.5.2 Tachometers
- •13.6 ACCELERATION
- •13.6.1 Accelerometers
- •13.7 FORCE/MOMENT
- •13.7.1 Strain Gages
- •13.7.2 Piezoelectric
- •13.8 FLOW RATE
- •13.8.1 Venturi
- •13.9 TEMPERATURE
- •13.9.1 Resistive Temperature Detectors (RTDs)
- •13.9.2 Thermocouples
- •13.9.3 Thermistors
- •13.10 SOUND
- •13.10.1 Microphones
- •13.11 LIGHT INTENSITY
- •13.11.1 Light Dependant Resistors (LDR)
- •13.12 PRESSURE
- •13.12.1 Bourdon Tubes
- •13.13 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •13.14 REFERENCES
- •14. ACTUATORS
- •14.1 ACTUATOR TYPES
- •15. DISCRETE ACTUATORS
- •15.1 INTRODUCTION
- •15.1.1 Interfacing
- •15.1.1.1 - Relays
- •15.1.1.2 - Transistors
- •15.1.1.3 - Triacs
- •15.2 TYPES
- •15.2.1 Solenoids
- •15.2.2 Hydraulic
- •15.2.3 Hydraulics
- •15.2.4 Electric
- •15.2.5 Pneumatic
- •15.2.6 Others
- •15.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •16. CONTINUOUS ACTUATORS
- •16.1 ACTUATOR CONTROL
- •16.1.1 Block Diagrams
- •16.1.2 Linear Control Systems
- •16.1.3 Motor Controllers
- •16.1.3.1 - DC Motors
- •16.1.3.2 - Stepper Motors
- •16.1.3.3 - Separately Excited DC Motor
- •16.1.3.4 - AC Motors
- •16.1.3.4.1 - Synchronous
- •16.1.4 Hydraulic
- •16.2 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •17. PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLERS
- •17.1 BASIC PLCs
- •17.1.1 PLC Connections
- •17.1.2 Ladder Logic
- •17.1.3 Ladder Logic Outputs
- •17.1.4 Ladder Logic Inputs
- •17.2 A SIMPLE EXAMPLE
- •17.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •18. PLC CONNECTION
- •18.1 SWITCHED INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
- •18.1.1 Input Modules
- •18.1.2 Output Modules
- •18.1.2.1 - Relays
- •18.2 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •19. PLC OPERATION
- •19.1 PLC ORGANIZATION
- •19.2 PLC STATUS
- •19.3 MEMORY TYPES
- •19.4 SOFTWARE BASED PLCS
- •19.5 PROGRAMMING STANDARDS
- •19.5.2 The Future of Open Architecture Controllers
- •19.6 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •20. SWITCHING LOGIC
- •20.1 BOOLEAN ALGEBRA
- •20.2 DISCRETE LOGIC
- •20.2.1 Boolean Algebra for Circuit and Ladder Logic Design
- •20.2.2 Boolean Forms
- •20.3 SIMPLIFYING BOOLEAN EQUATIONS
- •20.3.1 Karnaugh Maps for Combinatorial Design
- •20.4 ADDITIONAL TOPICS
- •20.4.1 Negative Logic
- •20.4.2 Common Logic Forms
- •20.4.2.1 - NAND/NOR Forms
- •20.4.2.2 - Multiplexers
- •20.4.2.3 - Seal-in Circuits
- •20.5 DESIGN CASES
- •20.5.1 Logic Functions
- •20.5.2 Car Safety System
- •20.5.3 Motor Forward/Reverse
- •20.6 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •21. NUMBERING
- •21.1 INTRODUCTION
- •21.2 DATA VALUES
- •21.2.1 Binary
- •21.2.2 Boolean Operations
- •21.2.3 Binary Mathematics
- •21.2.4 BCD (Binary Coded Decimal)
- •21.2.5 Number Conversions
- •21.2.6 ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
- •21.3 DATA CHARACTERIZATION
- •21.3.1 Parity
- •21.3.2 Gray Code
- •21.3.3 Checksums
- •21.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •22. EVENT BASED LOGIC
- •22.1 INTRODUCTION
- •22.2 TIMERS, COUNTERS, FLIP-FLOPS, LATCHES
- •22.2.1 Latches
- •22.2.2 Flip-Flops
- •22.2.3 Timers
- •22.2.4 Counters
- •22.3 PROGRAM DESIGN METHODS
- •22.3.1 Process Sequence Bits
- •22.3.2 Timing Diagrams
- •22.4 DESIGN CASES
- •22.4.1 Counters And Timers
- •22.4.2 More Timers And Counters
- •22.4.3 Oscillator
- •22.4.4 More Timers
- •22.4.5 Cascaded Timers
- •22.4.6 Deadman Switch
- •22.4.7 Conveyor
- •22.4.8 Accept/Reject Sorting
- •22.4.9 Shear Press
- •22.4.10 Actuator Failure
- •22.4.11 Palm Button Detection
- •22.5 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •23. SEQUENTIAL LOGIC DESIGN
- •23.1 SCRIPTS
- •23.2 FLOW CHARTS
- •23.3 STATE BASED MODELLING
- •23.3.1 State Diagrams Example
- •23.3.1.1 - Block Logic Conversion
- •23.3.1.2 - Single State Equations
- •23.3.1.3 - Entry and Exit State Equations
- •23.3.1.4 - State Transition Equations
- •23.4 PARALLEL PROCESS FLOWCHARTS
- •23.4.1 Implementation with Microcontroller
- •23.5 SEQUENTIAL LOGIC CIRCUITS
- •23.5.1 Latches and Seal-in
- •23.5.2 Shift Registers
- •23.6 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •24. ADVANCED LADDER LOGIC FUNCTIONS
- •24.1 ADDRESSING
- •24.1.1 Data Files
- •24.1.1.1 - Inputs and Outputs
- •24.1.1.2 - User Bit Memory
- •24.1.1.3 - Timer Counter Memory
- •24.1.1.4 - PLC Status Bits (for PLC-5s and Micrologix)
- •24.1.1.5 - User Function Control Memory
- •24.1.1.6 - Integer Memory
- •24.1.1.7 - Floating Point Memory
- •24.2 INSTRUCTION TYPES
- •24.2.1 Basic Data Handling
- •24.2.1.1 - Move Functions
- •24.2.1.2 - Mathematical Functions
- •24.2.2 Logical Functions
- •24.2.2.1 - Comparison of Values
- •24.2.2.2 - Binary Functions
- •24.2.3 Boolean Operations
- •24.2.4 Binary Mathematics
- •24.2.5 BCD (Binary Coded Decimal)
- •24.2.6 Advanced Data Handling
- •24.2.6.1 - Multiple Data Value Functions
- •24.2.7 Complex Functions
- •24.2.7.1 - Shift Registers
- •24.2.7.2 - Stacks
- •24.2.7.3 - Sequencers
- •24.2.8 Program Control Structures
- •24.2.8.1 - Branching and Looping
- •24.2.8.2 - Immediate I/O Instructions
- •24.2.8.3 - Fault Detection and Interrupts
- •24.2.9 Block Transfer Functions
- •24.3 DESIGN TECHNIQUES
- •24.3.1 State Diagrams
- •24.4 DESIGN CASES
- •24.4.1 If-Then
- •24.4.2 For-Next
- •24.4.3 Conveyor
- •24.5 FUNCTION REFERENCE
- •24.6 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •25. PLC PROGRAMMING
- •25.1 PROGRAMMING STANDARDS
- •25.1.2 The Future of Open Architecture Controllers
- •25.2 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •26. STRUCTURED TEXT PROGRAMMING
- •26.1 INTRODUCTION
- •26.2 THE LANGUAGE
- •26.3 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •27. INSTRUCTION LIST PROGRAMMING
- •27.1 INTRODUCTION
- •27.2 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •28. FUNCTION BLOCK PROGRAMMING
- •28.1 INTRODUCTION
- •28.2 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •29. ANALOG INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
- •29.1 ANALOG INPUTS
- •29.1.1 Analog To Digital Conversions
- •29.1.2 Analog Inputs With a PLC
- •29.2 ANALOG OUTPUTS
- •29.2.1 Analog Outputs With A PLC
- •29.3 DESIGN CASES
- •29.3.1 Oven Temperature Control
- •29.3.2 Statistical Process Control (SPC)
- •29.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •30. CONTINUOUS CONTROL
- •30.1 CONTROLLING CONTINUOUS SYSTEMS
- •30.2 CONTROLLING DISCRETE SYSTEMS
- •30.3 CONTROL SYSTEMS
- •30.3.1 PID Control Systems
- •30.3.1.1 - PID Control With a PLC
- •30.4 DESIGN CASES
- •30.4.1 Temperature Controller
- •30.5 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •31. PLC DATA COMMUNICATION
- •31.1 COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS CATEGORIES
- •31.2 THE HISTORY
- •31.3 WITH PLCs
- •31.4 SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS
- •31.4.1.1 - ASCII Functions
- •31.4.2 ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
- •31.5 PARALLEL
- •31.6 NETWORKS
- •31.6.1 Introduction
- •31.6.2 OSI Network Model
- •31.6.2.1 - Physical Layer
- •31.6.2.2 - Data Link Layer
- •31.6.2.3 - Network Layer
- •31.6.2.4 - Transport Layer
- •31.6.2.5 - Session Layer
- •31.6.2.6 - Presentation Layer
- •31.6.2.7 - Application Layer
- •31.6.2.8 - Open Systems
- •31.6.2.9 - Networking Hardware
- •31.7 BUS TYPES
- •31.7.1 Devicenet
- •31.7.2 CANbus
- •31.7.3 Controlnet
- •31.7.4 Profibus
- •31.7.5 Ethernet
- •31.7.6 Proprietary Networks
- •31.7.6.1 - Data Highway
- •31.7.7 Other Network Types
- •31.8 DESIGN CASES
- •31.8.1 PLC Interface To Robots And NC Machines
- •31.9 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •32. HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACES (HMI)
- •32.1 INTRODUCTION
- •32.2 HMI/MMI DESIGN
- •32.3 DESIGN CASES
- •32.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •33. DESIGNING LARGE SYSTEMS
- •33.1 PROGRAMMING
- •33.2 DOCUMENTATION
- •33.3 PLC PROGRAM DESIGN FORMS
- •33.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •34. IMPLEMENTATION
- •34.1 ELECTRICAL
- •34.1.1 Electrical Wiring Diagrams
- •34.1.1.1 - JIC Wiring Symbols
- •34.1.2 Wiring
- •34.1.3 Shielding and Grounding
- •34.2 SAFETY
- •34.2.1 Troubleshooting
- •34.2.2 Forcing Outputs
- •34.2.3 PLC Environment
- •34.2.3.1 - Enclosures
- •35. PROCESS MODELLING
- •35.1 REFERENCES
- •35.2 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •36. SELECTING A PLC
- •36.1 SPECIAL I/O MODULES
- •36.2 PLC PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
- •36.3 ISSUES
- •36.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •37. PLC REFERENCES
- •37.1 SUPPLIERS
- •37.2 PROFESSIONAL INTEREST GROUPS
- •37.3 PLC/DISCRETE CONTROL REFERENCES
- •38. USING THE OMRON DEMO PACKAGE
- •38.1 OVERVIEW
- •38.1.1 Installation
- •38.1.2 Basic Use
- •38.1.3 Connecting to the PLC
- •38.2 REFERENCE GUIDE FOR OMRON PLC DEMO SOFTWARE
- •39. INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS
- •39.1 INTRODUCTION
- •39.1.1 Basic Terms
- •39.1.2 Positioning Concepts
- •39.1.2.1 - Accuracy and Repeatability
- •39.1.2.2 - Control Resolution
- •39.1.2.3 - Payload
- •39.2 ROBOT TYPES
- •39.2.1 Basic Robotic Systems
- •39.2.2 Types of Robots
- •39.2.2.1 - Robotic Arms
- •39.2.2.2 - Autonomous/Mobile Robots
- •39.2.2.2.1 - Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
- •39.2.3 Commercial Robots
- •39.2.3.1 - Seiko RT 3000 Manipulator
- •39.2.3.2 - DARL Programs
- •39.2.3.2.1 - Language Examples
- •39.2.3.2.2 - Commands Summary
- •39.2.3.3 - Mitsubishi RV-M1 Manipulator
- •39.2.3.4 - Movemaster Programs
- •39.2.3.4.1 - Language Examples
- •39.2.3.4.2 - Command Summary
- •39.2.3.5 - IBM 7535 Manipulator
- •39.2.3.6 - AML Programs
- •39.2.3.7 - ASEA IRB-1000
- •39.2.4 Unimation Puma (360, 550, 560 Series)
- •39.3 ROBOT APPLICATIONS
- •39.3.1 Overview
- •39.3.2 Spray Painting and Finishing
- •39.3.3 Welding
- •39.3.4 Assembly
- •39.3.5 Belt Based Material Transfer
- •39.4 END OF ARM TOOLING (EOAT)
- •39.4.1 EOAT Design
- •39.4.2 Gripper Mechanisms
- •39.4.2.1 - Vacuum grippers
- •39.4.3 Magnetic Grippers
- •39.4.3.1 - Adhesive Grippers
- •39.4.4 Expanding Grippers
- •39.4.5 Other Types Of Grippers
- •39.5 ADVANCED TOPICS
- •39.5.1 Simulation/Off-line Programming
- •39.6 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •40. ROBOTIC PATH PLANNING METHODS
- •40.1 INTRODUCTION:
- •40.1.1 ROBOT APPLICATIONS
- •40.1.2 ROBOTIC CONSTRAINTS
- •40.1.3 THE OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM OF PATH PLANNERS
- •40.1.4 EVALUATION OF PATH PLANNERS
- •40.2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
- •40.2.1 PROBLEM DIMENSIONALITY
- •40.2.2 2D MOBILITY PROBLEM
- •40.2.2.1 - 2.5D HEIGHT PROBLEM
- •40.2.2.2 - 3D SPACE PROBLEM
- •40.2.3 COLLISION AVOIDANCE
- •40.2.4 MULTILINK
- •40.2.5 ROTATIONS
- •40.2.6 OBSTACLE MOTION PROBLEM
- •40.2.7 ROBOT COORDINATION
- •40.2.8 INTERACTIVE PROGRAMMING
- •40.3 SETUP EVALUATION CRITERIA
- •40.3.1 INFORMATION SOURCE
- •40.3.1.1 - KNOWLEDGE BASED PLANNING (A PRIORI)
- •40.3.1.2 - SENSOR BASED PLANNING (A POSTIERI)
- •40.3.2 WORLD MODELLING
- •40.4 METHOD EVALUATION CRITERIA
- •40.4.1 PATH PLANNING STRATEGIES
- •40.4.1.1 - BASIC PATH PLANNERS (A PRIORI)
- •40.4.1.2 - HYBRID PATH PLANNERS (A PRIORI)
- •40.4.1.3 - TRAJECTORY PATH PLANNING (A POSTIERI)
- •40.4.1.4 - HIERARCHICAL PLANNERS (A PRIORI & A POSTIERI)
- •40.4.1.5 - DYNAMIC PLANNERS (A PRIORI & A POSTIERI)
- •40.4.1.6 - OFF-LINE PROGRAMMING
- •40.4.1.7 - ON-LINE PROGRAMMING
- •40.4.2 PATH PLANNING METHODS
- •40.4.3 OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES
- •40.4.3.1 - SPATIAL PLANNING
- •40.4.3.2 - TRANSFORMED SPACE
- •40.4.3.3 - FIELD METHODS
- •40.4.3.4 - NEW AND ADVANCED TOPICS
- •40.4.4 INTERNAL REPRESENTATIONS
- •40.4.5 MINIMIZATION OF PATH COSTS
- •40.4.6 LIMITATIONS IN PATH PLANNING
- •40.4.7 RESULTS FROM PATH PLANNERS
- •40.5 IMPLEMENTATION EVALUATION CRITERIA
- •40.5.1 COMPUTATIONAL TIME
- •40.5.2 TESTING OF PATH PLANNERS
- •40.6 OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST
- •40.6.1 ERRORS
- •40.6.2 RESOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENT REPRESENTAION
- •40.7 COMPARISONS
- •40.8 CONCLUSIONS
- •40.9 APPENDIX A - OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES
- •40.9.1 OPTIMIZATION : VELOCITY
- •40.9.2 OPTIMIZATION : GEOMETRICAL
- •40.9.3 OPTIMIZATION : PATH REFINEMENT
- •40.9.4 OPTIMIZATION : MOVING OBSTACLES
- •40.9.5 OPTIMIZATION : SENSOR BASED
- •40.9.6 OPTIMIZATION : ENERGY
- •40.10 APPENDIX B - SPATIAL PLANNING
- •40.10.1 SPATIAL PLANNING : SWEPT VOLUME
- •40.10.2 SPATIAL PLANNING : OPTIMIZATION
- •40.10.3 SPATIAL PLANNING : GENERALIZED CONES
- •40.10.4 SPATIAL PLANNING : FREEWAYS
- •40.10.5 SPATIAL PLANNING : OCT-TREE
- •40.10.6 SPATIAL PLANNING : VORONOI DIAGRAMS
- •40.10.7 SPATIAL PLANNING : GENERAL INTEREST
- •40.10.8 SPATIAL PLANNING - VGRAPHS
- •40.11 APPENDIX C - TRANSFORMED SPACE
- •40.11.1 TRANSFORMED SPACE : CARTESIAN CONFIGURATION SPACE
- •40.11.1.1 - TRANSFORMED SPACE :
- •40.11.2 TRANSFORMED SPACE : JOINT CONFIGURATION SPACE
- •40.11.3 TRANSFORMED SPACE : OCT-TREES
- •40.11.4 TRANSFORMED SPACE : CONSTRAINT SPACE
- •40.11.5 TRANSFORMED SPACE : VISION BASED
- •40.11.6 TRANSFORMED SPACE : GENERAL INTEREST
- •40.12 APPENDIX D - FIELD METHODS
- •40.12.1 SPATIAL PLANNING : STEEPEST DESCENT
- •40.12.2 SPATIAL PLANNING : POTENTIAL FIELD METHOD
- •40.13 APPENDIX E - NEW AND ADVANCED TOPICS
- •40.13.1 ADVANCED TOPICS : DUAL MANIPULATOR COOPERATION
- •40.13.2 ADVANCED TOPICS : A POSTIERI PATH PLANNER
- •40.13.3 NEW TOPICS - SLACK VARIABLES
- •40.14 REFERENCES:
- •41. ROBOTIC MECHANISMS
- •41.1 KINEMATICS
- •41.1.1 Basic Terms
- •41.1.2 Kinematics
- •41.1.2.1 - Geometry Methods for Forward Kinematics
- •41.1.2.2 - Geometry Methods for Inverse Kinematics
- •41.2 MECHANISMS
- •41.3 ACTUATORS
- •41.3.1 Modeling the Robot
- •41.4 PATH PLANNING
- •41.4.1 Slew Motion
- •41.4.1.1 - Joint Interpolated Motion
- •41.4.1.2 - Straight-line motion
- •41.4.2 Computer Control of Robot Paths (Incremental Interpolation)
- •41.5 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •42. MOTION PLANNING AND TRAJECTORY CONTROL
- •42.1 TRAJECTORY CONTROL
- •42.1.1 Resolved Rate Motion Control
- •42.1.2 Cartesian Motion System
- •42.1.3 Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC)
- •42.1.4 Digital Control System
- •42.2 PATH PLANNING
- •42.2.1 Slew Motion
- •42.2.1.1 - Joint Interpolated Motion
- •42.2.1.2 - Straight-line motion
- •42.3 MOTION CONTROLLERS
- •42.3.1 Computer Control of Robot Paths (Incremental Interpolation)
- •42.4 SPECIAL ISSUES
- •42.4.1 Optimal Motion
- •42.4.2 Singularities
- •42.5 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •42.6 MICROBOT OVERVIEW
- •42.7 CRS PLUS ROBOT OVERVIEW
- •42.8 BASIC DEMONSTRATION STEPS
- •43. CNC MACHINES
- •43.1 MACHINE AXES
- •43.2 NUMERICAL CONTROL (NC)
- •43.2.1 NC Tapes
- •43.2.2 Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
- •43.2.3 Direct/Distributed Numerical Control (DNC)
- •43.3 EXAMPLES OF EQUIPMENT
- •43.3.1 EMCO PC Turn 50
- •43.3.2 Light Machines Corp. proLIGHT Mill
- •43.4 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
- •44. CNC PROGRAMMING
- •44.1 G-CODES
- •44.3 PROPRIETARY NC CODES
- •44.4 GRAPHICAL PART PROGRAMMING
- •44.5 NC CUTTER PATHS
- •44.6 NC CONTROLLERS
- •44.7 PRACTICE PROBLEMS
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environment to behave as if experiencing forces from workspace obstacles. The manipulator would be experiencing a pull to the goal state. This method produces a Kinematic and Dynamic, Time Optimal path. None of the implementation details were given in the paper.
Figure B.7 - Visibility of Corners of Rectangles (VGRAPH)
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40.11 APPENDIX C - TRANSFORMED SPACE
Some methods find it beneficial to transform the representation of space, so that it simplifies the search for the path. These methods may often be based on Spatial Planning, or any other technique, but they all remap space. These methods are usually very inflexible after mapping, and all environmental changes requires a remapping.
40.11.1 TRANSFORMED SPACE : CARTESIAN CONFIGURATION SPACE
The Configuration Space method was popularized by Lozano-Perez and Wesley (1979), and was clarified later by Lozano-Perez (1983). The technique of Lozano-Perez and Wesley has become a very popular topic in path planning and is worth an exhaustive discussion. The method provides a simplified technique which will allow movement of one object through a scattered set of obstacles. This is done by simplifying the problem to moving a point through a set of obstacles. The major assumption of this technique is that the objects do not rotate and obstacles are all fixed convex polygons. The obstacles must be fixed to limit the complexity of the solution.
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Figure C.1 Configuration Space (Find Space & Find Path)
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The basic concept involves shrinking the moving object to a single reference point. This is done by growing the obstacles so that their new area covers all of the space in which the object would collide with the obstacles. After the determination of configuration space the problem is then reduced to moving a point through an array of obstacles (i.e.. through the free space). Unfortunately, a set of obstacles which have been grown are good only for an object which has no rotation throughout its path. This problem is not insurmountable, and may be over come by creating a special representation of the moving object which identifies free space for the object to rotate in. This object will be a convex hull shaped to cover the area swept out when the block rotates about the reference vertex. The convex hull is used to grow the obstacles in configuration space, to find a possible rotation point. Then the path is planned by, finding a path to the rotation point in the first orientation, and a path from the rotation to the goal in the second orientation. The path may also be broken up into more than one rotation, as need demands. Each of these configuration space maps at different orientations are called slices. As seen in the Figure A.4, this has the potential of eliminating some potential paths, or complicating the problem.
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Figure C.2 Object Rotation in Config Space
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The algorithmic technique which Lozano-Perez suggests is a two step solution to the ’Spatial Planning Problem’. His solution covers two main algorithms, Findspace and Findpath. He compares the Findspace algorithm to finding a space in a car trunk for a suitcase. This is the part in which the obstacles are grown to two or three dimensions, rotations are accounted for, and degrees of freedom are considered. At this point is should be considered that the tendency is to work in cartesian coordinates, but use of other representations could simplifiy the object expansion, and the conversion to a VGRAPH. The Findpath problem is comparable to determining how to get the suitcase into that empty space. The Findpath algorithm determines the best path by finding a set of connecting free points in the Configuration Space. To do this a simple
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three step process has been used. The objects are first grown, and then a set of vertices for each is determined. Next the vertices are check for visibility (ie. can they be seen from the current point?) and a VGRAPH is constructed, and finally a search of the VGRAPH yields a solution. This is a good example of the problem solving techniques of artificial intelligence.
It is very obvious that the technique is not very advanced by itself. There has been some expansion on advanced topics, and these will be discussed below. Another consideration is the addition of a three dimensional setting. This becomes a much more complex problem because of the need to deal with deriving the hulls, locating intersections, finding enveloped points in space. When we expand to three dimensional space the algorithm is still attempting to navigate by corner vertices. In three dimensional trajectories the best paths are usually around edges of objects. A trick must be used to make the search graphs recognize the edges. The trick used is each edge is subdivided from a line with two vertices into a number of smaller lines (with a maximum length limit) and a greater number of vertices. This obviously does not ease the calculation time problem in three dimensions. Another trick is to use care points, located either inside or outside the objects, and then use these as points which require precise calculation nearby, and allow crude calculation when distant.
We must also consider the complexity introduced when a multi link manipulator is to be moved. Our object now becomes a non-convex hull, or a set of convex hulls, possibly represented as the previous slices represented rotations.
An alternate development of the configuration space method was done by R.H.Davis and M.Camacho [1984], which implements the Lozano-Perez methods in Prolog under UNIX. They basically have formulated the problem using the A* search, with a deeper development of the Path Finding Heuristics. Another variation on the Configuration Space Method was that of R.A.Brooks and Lozano-Perez [1985]. Configuration space was sliced and then broken into cells which could be full, half full or empty. From this representation a connectivity graph would be produced, and the A* search would be used to find a path, This technique required alterations to both the FindPath and FindSpace routines. This technique does allow rotations ( but the run time is in the order of tens of minutes on an MIT LISP machine).
An approach for using Cartesian Configuration Space on a Stanford Manipulator (1 Prismatic Joint) was proposed by J.Y.S.Luh and C.E.Campbell [1984]. This method had to consider both the front and the rear travelway for the sliding prismatic link. To do this the manipulator was shrunk to a point, and the rear obstacles translated to the ’front workspace’. The method also makes use of an algorithm for converting non-polygonal shapes to good approximation convex polygons. There were no statistics given with this method.
Configuration Space was used by J.Laumond [1986] to do planning for a two wheeled mobile robot. This method was successful in using configuration space to find paths from some very difficult problems. The best example given of the success of this technique is the Parking Spot problem. In this case the wheeled robot is very similar to an automobile which is stuck between two other parked cars. To get out the robot had to move in both forward and reverse directions to manoeuvre out of the ’tight spot’.
As for evaluating the overall success of this technique, the computational limits are the major concern. Lozano-Perez, claims success in a laboratory setting with his configuration space path planning routines on a seven degree of freedom manipulator. But he does not note his execution speed, nor does he describe his results quantitatively. This technique was implemented previously by Udupa (1977) for computer control of manipulators. His experiment used a robot with three approximated degree of freedom, in three dimensions. Because of the