SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR PARALLELISM IN ROBOTICS.

Abstract

Summary form only given. A robot system consists of robot mechanics and a programmable controller, normally a digital computer. Such a computer is serial by nature, i. e. , it executes one instruction after another, while the robot mechanics are governed by physical laws which act simultaneously. It is observed that this parallel-serial system requires an appropriate input interface from the parallel robot to the serial computer controller (sensed quantities) and output interface back to the robot (actuator commands). An interface with a parallel representation in I/O memory of both the input (sensed) quantities and output (actuator commands) is suggested. This I/O memory is automatically updated in parallel from the sensors input and loads the outputs into their output representation simultaneously at a predetermined time, if necessary. The update of the I/O memory should accept asynchronous inputs from both self-initiating input sensors and sensors activated by the control processor. Given this I/O memory representation the robot control computer can operate internally serially with no timing constraint other than completing the required calculations within the allotted time.