Abstract: A method of controlling a manipulator of an industrial robot having a plurality of joints, the method including providing a candidate trajectory for the manipulator; determining at least one position dependent load value representative of at least one position dependent load acting on the manipulator for the candidate trajectory; modifying the candidate trajectory based on the at least one position dependent load value to provide a modified trajectory; and executing the modified trajectory by the manipulator. A control system for controlling a manipulator of an industrial robot having a plurality of joints, and an industrial robot including a manipulator and a control system, are also provided.

Abstract: A method of responsive robot path planning implemented in a robot controller, including: providing a plurality of potential motion paths of a robot manipulator, wherein the potential motion paths are functionally equivalent with regard to at least one initial or final condition, a transportation task and/or a workpiece processing task; causing an operator interface to visualize the potential motion paths, wherein the operator interface is associated with an operator sharing a workspace with the robot manipulator; obtaining operator behavior during the visualization; and selecting at least one preferred motion path based on the operator behavior. A method in an operator interface, including obtaining from a robot controller a plurality of potential motion paths of the robot manipulator; visualizing the potential motion paths; sensing operator behavior during the visualization; and making the operator behavior available to the robot controller.

Abstract: A method of handling safety of an industrial robot in a workspace, the method including providing a geometric region by a monitoring system, where the geometric region is defined in relation to the industrial robot and/or in relation to the workspace, and where the geometric region is associated with at least one condition for being fulfilled by the industrial robot; communicating the geometric region from the monitoring system to a robot control system of the industrial robot; determining a movement of the industrial robot by the robot control system based on the geometric region and the at least one condition; executing the movement by the industrial robot; and monitoring, by the monitoring system, the execution of the movement with respect to the geometric region and the at least one condition.

Abstract: A method for controlling displacement of a robot from an initial pose to a target pose includes providing a movement command, which specifies at least the target pose and an nominal path to be followed from the initial pose to the target pose; associating with the command an allowed deviation from the nominal path; identifying a real path that deviates from the nominal path by no more than the allowed deviation; and controlling the robot to move along said real path.

Abstract: A method for trajectory planning in a robotic system comprising at least two robotic units includes a state vector of each robotic unit, which comprises position components and velocity components and is variable with time and independently from input into every other robotic unit. A trajectory defines the motion of said robotic units from an initial state to a final state and is determined by finding the trajectory that minimizes a predetermined cost function. The cost function is set to be a function of the state vectors of all robotic units, and is minimized under a constraint which defines a vector difference between at least the position components of the state vectors of said robotic units at an instant of said trajectory.

Abstract: An industrial robot system including a first robot. The first robot includes a first manipulator with a base and a tool movable in relation to the base about a plurality of axes, and a first primary controller having a primary robot functionality, the primary robot functionality including control of manipulator motion. The industrial robot system further includes a plurality of secondary controllers, each having a secondary robot functionality, wherein the primary robot functionality is different from all of the secondary robot functionalities, and wherein an overall robot functionality is defined by the primary robot functionality and one or more secondary robot functionalities.

Abstract: A method of controlling an industrial actuator, the method including providing a plurality of consecutive input target points, of which at least one is an intermediate input target point; for one or more of the at least one intermediate input target point, defining at least one virtual target point associated with the intermediate input target point; for one or more of the at least one virtual target point, defining a blending zone associated with the virtual target point; and defining a movement path on the basis of the at least one virtual target point and the at least one blending zone. A control system is also provided.

Abstract: A method for controlling an industrial actuator (26), the method comprising defining a movement path (10) as a sequence of a plurality of consecutive movement segments (14), where each movement segment (14) is defined between two points (16); defining at least one blending zone (12, 50, 52) associated with one of the points (16) between two consecutive movement segments (14), wherein the blending zone (12, 50, 52) is defined independently in relation to each of the two consecutive movement segments (14); and executing the movement path (10) comprising the blending zone (12, 50, 52) by the industrial actuator (26). A control system (30) for controlling an industrial actuator (26) and an actuator system (24) comprising an industrial actuator (26), are also provided.

Abstract: A method for an industrial robot to increase accuracy in movements of the robot. A first path is formed by bringing a tool supported by the robot to adopt a plurality of generated positions. A plurality of observed positions of the tool moving along the first path are determined. A second path is formed of the determined tool positions. A correction is determined by a path deviation between geometrically determined positions in the first path and the second path.