Robot system and method for controlling the robot system

Abstract

A robot system includes a robot, a controller, and a laser emitter which is configured to emit a laser beam to a target workpiece and which is configured to be moved by the robot. The controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam based on information regarding an arbitrarily-shaped work path and movement information of the laser emitter. The controller is configured to determine whether or not a reference position of the arbitrarily-shaped work path on the target workpiece is located in a predetermined range of the laser emitter while the laser emitter is moving. The controller is further configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam to the arbitrarily-shaped work path if the reference position is located in the predetermined range.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A robot system comprising:
 a robot;   a laser emitter configured to emit a laser beam to a target workpiece and configured to be moved by the robot; and   a controller configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam based on information regarding an arbitrarily-shaped work path and movement information of the laser emitter and configured to determine whether or not a reference position of the arbitrarily-shaped work path on the target workpiece is located in a predetermined range of the laser emitter while the laser emitter is moving, the controller being configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam to the arbitrarily-shaped work path if the reference position is located in the predetermined range.   
     
     
         2 . The robot system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam based on the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path prepared with a work path preparation device and the movement information of the laser emitter.   
     
     
         3 . The robot system according to  claim 2 , further comprising a teaching apparatus to teach an operation of the robot, wherein
 the controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam based on the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path prepared with the teaching apparatus serving as the work path preparation device and the movement information of the laser emitter.   
     
     
         4 . The robot system according to  claim 2 , further comprising a teaching apparatus to teach an operation of the robot, wherein
 the controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam based on the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path prepared with an external device serving as the work path preparation device, different from the teaching apparatus and the movement information of the laser emitter.   
     
     
         5 . The robot system according to  claim 4 , further comprising an acceptor accepting the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path prepared with the external device, wherein
 the controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam based on the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path accepted by the acceptor and the movement information of the laser emitter.   
     
     
         6 . The robot system according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the acceptor includes a recording medium reader capable of accepting the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path prepared with the external device through a portable recording medium.   
     
     
         7 . The robot system according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the acceptor is provided on the teaching apparatus, and   the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path can be acquired through the acceptor based on an operation of the teaching apparatus.   
     
     
         8 . The robot system according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the teaching apparatus teaches a reference position and a reference direction of the arbitrarily-shaped work path prepared with the external device, and   the controller is configured to acquire information regarding a position to be worked corresponding to the arbitrarily-shaped work path based on the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path and the reference position and the reference direction taught by the teaching apparatus, and control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam to the position to be worked which is acquired by the controller.   
     
     
         9 . The robot system according to  claim 4 , wherein
 the external device includes an external information terminal.   
     
     
         10 . The robot system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 a shape of the arbitrarily-shaped work path includes a shape obtained by combining different types of lines.   
     
     
         11 . The robot system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller is configured to determine whether or not a position to be worked corresponding to the arbitrarily-shaped work path is located in a working range to which the laser beam can be emitted from the laser emitter regardless of whether or not the laser emitter is moving, and control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam if the position to be worked is located in the working range.   
     
     
         12 . The robot system according to  claim 11 , wherein,
 the laser emitter includes a mirror member actuatable for emitting the laser beam to the target workpiece while changing a direction of the laser beam, and   the controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam to the position to be worked along the arbitrarily-shaped work path while changing the direction of the laser beam by actuating the mirror member regardless of whether or not the laser emitter is moving.   
     
     
         13 . The robot system according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the controller is configured to determine whether or not a reference position of the arbitrarily-shaped work path is located in a prescribed range of the laser emitter when the laser emitter is moving, and start determining whether or not the position to be worked is located in the working range if the reference position is in the prescribed range.   
     
     
         14 . The robot system according to  claim 13 , wherein
 the prescribed range of the laser emitter is set to be smaller than the working range to which the laser beam can be emitted.   
     
     
         15 . The robot system according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the laser emitter is configured to be moved by the robot based on a first coordinate system based on the robot, and   the controller is configured to determine whether or not the position to be worked is located in the working range based on a second coordinate system based on the laser emitter different from the first coordinate system regardless of whether or not the laser emitter is moving, and control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam if the position to be worked is located in the working range.   
     
     
         16 . The robot system according to  claim 15 , wherein
 the movement information of the laser emitter includes information regarding a current position of the laser emitter, and   the controller is configured to transform the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path and the information regarding the current position of the laser emitter both defined based on the first coordinate system into the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path and the information regarding the current position of the laser emitter both defined based on the second coordinate system based on the current position of the laser emitter, and thereafter determine whether or not the position to be worked is located in the working range using the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path and the information regarding the current position of the laser emitter both defined based on the second coordinate system, and control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam if the position to be worked is located in the working range.   
     
     
         17 . The robot system according to  claim 11 , wherein
 the controller is configured to move the working range to which the laser beam can be emitted by moving the laser emitter by the robot, and determine whether or not the position to be worked is located in the working range.   
     
     
         18 . The robot system according to  claim 13 , wherein
 the reference position of the arbitrarily-shaped work path includes a first reference point related to a working start position and a second reference point related to a working end position,   a reference direction of the arbitrarily-shaped work path is defined by a direction from the first reference point toward the second reference point, and   the controller is configured to move the prescribed range of the laser emitter by moving the laser emitter along the reference direction by the robot, and determine whether or not the reference position is located in the prescribed range.   
     
     
         19 . The robot system according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the movement information of the laser emitter includes information regarding a current position of the laser emitter,   the laser emitter includes a mirror member actuatable for emitting the laser beam to the target workpiece while changing a direction of the laser beam, and   the controller is configured to control the laser emitter to emit the laser beam to a position to be worked along the arbitrarily-shaped work path while changing the direction of the laser beam by actuating the mirror member based on the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path and the information regarding the current position of the laser emitter in motion.   
     
     
         20 . The robot system according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the acceptor is provided on the teaching apparatus,   the external device and the teaching apparatus are formed to be capable of communicating with each other, and   the information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path can be transmitted from the external device to the teaching apparatus provided with the acceptor to be acquired by the teaching apparatus.   
     
     
         21 . A method for controlling a robot system, comprising:
 determining whether or not a reference position of an arbitrarily-shaped work path on a target workpiece is located in a predetermined range of a laser emitter of the robot system while the laser emitter is moving; and   controlling the laser emitter to emit a laser beam to the target workpiece based on information regarding the arbitrarily-shaped work path and movement information of the laser emitter if the reference position is located in the predetermined range.