ROBOT SYSTEM COMPRISING VISUAL SENSOR

• US 20110218675A1
• Filed: 01/27/2011
• Published: 09/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Inventors: Yamada, Makoto, Namiki, Yuuta, BAN, Kazunori, Warashina, Fumikazu
• Granted Patent: US 8,326,460 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/259
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1697 Vision controlled systems

Abstract

A robot system (10) includes: a processing section (32) that calculates positional information of a workpiece with respect to a visual sensor (13); a clock (35) to which a robot controlling section (31) and the processing section access to check a present time; a first storing section (33) that sequentially stores first times at a predetermined cycle in combination with positional information items of an arm tip at the first times, respectively; a second storing section (34) that stores a second time when the visual sensor measures the workpiece; an arm tip position calculating section (41) that calculates positional information of the arm tip when the visual sensor measures the workpiece based on the second time, at least two of the first times before and after the second time among the first times and the positional information items of the arm tip corresponding to the respective first times; and a workpiece position calculating section (42) that calculates positional information of the grasped workpiece with respect to the arm tip based on the positional information of the arm tip and the workpiece. Consequently, even when the workpiece is imaged without temporarily stopping operation of the robot, a position of the workpiece can be accurately calculated based on an accurate robot position.

Claims

1. A robot system comprising:

a robot;

a robot controlling section for controlling said robot; and

a visual sensor for visually measuring a workpiece, wherein one of said workpiece or said visual sensor grasped by or fixed to an arm tip of said robot can be moved by operation of an arm of said robot and the other of said workpiece or said visual sensor is disposed at a position remote from said robot, the robot system comprising;

a visual sensor information processing section that controls said visual sensor and, based on information of said workpiece measured by said visual sensor, calculates positional information of said workpiece with respect to said visual sensor;

a clock to which said robot controlling section and said visual sensor information processing section access to check a present time;

a robot position and time storing section that sequentially stores first times at a regular or irregular cycle in combination with positional information items of said arm tip at said first times, respectively;

an image capture time storing section that stores a second time when said visual sensor captures an image of said workpiece;

an arm tip position calculating section that calculates positional information of said arm tip when said visual sensor captures said image of said workpiece based on said second time stored in said image capture time storing section, at least two of the first times before and after said second time among the first times stored in said robot position and time storing section and the positional information items of said arm tip corresponding to the respective first times; and

a workpiece position calculating section that calculates positional information of said grasped workpiece with respect to said arm tip or positional information of said workpiece disposed at the position remote from said robot with respect to said robot based on the positional information of said arm tip calculated by said arm tip position calculating section and the positional information of said workpiece calculated by said visual sensor information processing section.

2. A robot system according to claim 1, wherein said visual sensor measures said workpiece while said arm tip of said robot is moving.

3. A robot system according to claim 1, further comprising a correcting section that corrects operation of said robot based on the positional information of said grasped workpiece with respect to said arm tip of said robot or the positional information of said workpiece disposed at the position remote from said robot with respect to said robot calculated by said workpiece position calculating section.

4. A robot system according to claim 2, further comprising a correcting section that corrects operation of said robot based on the positional information of said grasped workpiece with respect to said arm tip of said robot or the positional information of said workpiece disposed at the position remote from said robot with respect to said robot calculated by said workpiece position calculating section.

5. A robot system according to claim 1, wherein one of said workpiece or said visual sensor grasped by or fixed to the arm tip of said robot can be moved by operation of an arm of said robot,

said visual sensor performs stereo measurement by capturing images of said workpiece a plurality of times at points in time when said arm tip is located at positions different from each other during movement of said arm tip of said robot and,

based on a result of said stereo measurement by said visual sensor, said workpiece position calculating section calculates a three-dimensional position of said grasped workpiece with respect to said arm tip or a three-dimensional position of said workpiece disposed at the position remote from said robot with respect to said robot.

6. A robot system according to claim 1, further comprising a laser slit projector attached to said visual sensor,

wherein said visual sensor obtains a three-dimensional position of a portion illuminated by laser, a plurality of times at different positions, during movement of said arm tip of said robot and,

based on a plurality of said three-dimensional positions of portions illuminated by laser, said workpiece position calculating section calculates a three-dimensional shape or/and a three-dimensional position of the workpiece.