Unified Robot-Control System

Robot-joint motors integrated with control computer or computers. Robot controller uses only 1 microprocessor to control as many as 16 joint-actuating motors. Control system uses high-speed bus to communicate with joint-interface circuits, addressing scheme to write commands to several motors simultaneously, and efficient assembly-language servo code. Features enable control of 16 joints at 1-kHz servo rate. Suitable for control of motors in numerically-controlled manufacturing systems. Use of single joint-control processor results in few components, lower cost, and simpler architecture.