A Control System for Assembly Robots Using Serial Communication Interface

Abstract

Modular robots have been developed to provide a flexible means of constructing robotic systems which suit different assembly configuration requirements. The decoupled mechanical structure enables the robot arms to be placed strategically at the most appropriate locations in the production line or work cell. However, this approach requires specific control software to deal with different configurations and layouts of the robotic system. This paper presents a control system suitable for single axis robots using serial communication interface. The system consists of a hierarchy of control levels for groups of modular robots using personal computers as the linking supervisory control computers. It allows users to initialise and configurate production line for different products without re-vamping control systems. It also allows for virtually unlimited expansion capability of the assembly robot control structure both in hardware and software. In particular, a protocol controller has been developed to facilitate robot communication at all levels.