A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A PLURALITY OF AXES IN AN INDUSTRIAL ROBOT SYSTEM AND AN INDUSTRIAL ROBOT SYSTEM

摘要

The present invention relates to an industrial robot system comprising a workcell including a load area and a process area, a detector (6) detecting when a human enters the load area, a manipulator located in the workcell, at least one positioner adapted to hold a workpiece and to change the orientation of the workpiece about at least one axis while the manipulator processes the workpiece, and a station exchanger movable about an axis and adapted to move, upon command, the manipulator or the positioner between the load and process area. Each of the axes is provided with a motor (M1-M3) and a drive unit (53-55). An axis controller (50) is adapted to switch between executing a first task in which the axes of the positioner and the station exchanger are commanded to a standstill, and a second task in which the axes of the positioner and the station exchanger are allowed to move. A safety controller (58) is adapted to supervise, upon detecting that a human is entering the load area, whether any of the station exchanger or the positioner is moving, and to generate a signal which disables the drive unit of the moving axis if it is detected that any of the supervised axes is moving.