Simplification of a Robot Task Specification by Incorporating a Structured Geometric Database into an Off-Line Robot Programming System

A structured geometric database to be used in an off-line robot programming system is presented which actively supports the use of relative frame variables for describing the robot manipulator as well as the robot environment. The database is implemented such that it continuously reflects the actual structure of the environment. Including this structured geometric database into an off-line robot programming system relieves the programmer from the (numerical) details in a task specification. As a result, the programmer can simply reason on objects and their features by means of their names.