DESIGN OF A USER INTERFACE FOR REPROGRAMMING A CLOSED-STRUCTURE INDUSTRIAL ROBOT MANIPULATOR

An industrial robot manipulator generally consists of a mechanical part capable of performing movements, sensors that receive and use information to control the actuators, a computer language for programming and a control unit that converts the instructions received into physical movement.

The control unit is generally organised into two sub-units:

1- the kinematic control unit (or high-level controller), which takes instructions from the user relating to the positioning and orientation of the robot's gripper and transforms them into position and speed instructions for the robot's joints;

2- the dynamic control unit (low-level controller), which transforms the joint position and speed instructions into actuation signals.

In general, it is the dynamic control unit and the sensors that define the specificity of the task for which the robot has been designed. For intellectual property protection reasons, the manufacturer does not allow the user to have access to the dynamic control unit. This practice is known in the literature as a ‘closed structure’. As a result, if a company needs to readapt or reprogram the robot for a different task (for example, switching from a pick-and-place robot to a painting or arc-welding robot or a collaborative handling robot), it needs to hire the services of the manufacturer or a service provider, in return for paying more or less expensive invoices in addition to those for the purchase of the robot itself. Such a business model is not viable for companies or individuals with low incomes. Therefore there is a need to develop a simple reprogramming alternative that does not require access to the dynamic control unit. In other words, it becomes necessary to develop a kinematic control interface capable of modifying the behaviour of the dynamic control unit whatever its nature.

The aim of this projet is to develop a kinematic control unit capable of :

- reinforcing or readapting the performances of the dynamic control unit when the robot is operating in a context not foreseen by the manufacturer,

- reinforcing or extending the robustness range of the dynamic control unit when the robot's mechanical is modified by the user for his practical needs.