METHOD AND DEVICE FOR SAFEGUARDING A HAZARDOUS WORKING AREA OF AN AUTOMATED MACHINE
First Claim
1. A method for safeguarding a hazardous working area of an automated machine, comprising the steps of:
- providing at least one sensor unit which provides a respective current 3-D image of the working area at defined intervals of time,defining at least one protection zone in the working area,cyclically monitoring the protection zone using a fail-safe foreign object detector which generates a first signal on the basis of the respective current 3-D image and the defined protection zone if a foreign object is detected in the protection zone, the first signal comprising a first item of position information which is representative of a position of the foreign object in the protection zone,cyclically classifying the foreign object in the protection zone using a classifier, the classifier generating a second signal if the foreign object is identified as a person, wherein the machine is operated on the basis of the first signal and the second signal,tracking an identified person over a series of the respective current 3-D images using a person tracker, the person tracker determining, after each new 3-D image, a second item of position information which represents a current position of the identified person in the protection zone, andcomparing the first and second items of position information, wherein the machine is stopped if the position of the foreign object according to the first item of position information and the position of the identified person according to the second item of position information are different from one another.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and device for safeguarding a hazardous working area includes a camera system for generating successive 3-D images of the working area, and an evaluation unit comprising a fail-safe foreign object detector, a classifier, a person tracker and a comparator. The foreign object detector generates a first signal comprising a first item of position information, representative of the position of a foreign object in the protection zone. The classifier attempts to identify the foreign object as a person. The person tracker tracks an identified person using a series of current 3-D images and, after each new 3-D image, determines a second item of position information representing the current position of the identified person. If the position of the foreign object according to the first item of position information and the position of the identified person are different from one another, a control signal for stopping the machine is generated.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for safeguarding a hazardous working area of an automated machine, comprising the steps of:
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providing at least one sensor unit which provides a respective current 3-D image of the working area at defined intervals of time, defining at least one protection zone in the working area, cyclically monitoring the protection zone using a fail-safe foreign object detector which generates a first signal on the basis of the respective current 3-D image and the defined protection zone if a foreign object is detected in the protection zone, the first signal comprising a first item of position information which is representative of a position of the foreign object in the protection zone, cyclically classifying the foreign object in the protection zone using a classifier, the classifier generating a second signal if the foreign object is identified as a person, wherein the machine is operated on the basis of the first signal and the second signal, tracking an identified person over a series of the respective current 3-D images using a person tracker, the person tracker determining, after each new 3-D image, a second item of position information which represents a current position of the identified person in the protection zone, and comparing the first and second items of position information, wherein the machine is stopped if the position of the foreign object according to the first item of position information and the position of the identified person according to the second item of position information are different from one another. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A device for safeguarding a hazardous working area of an automated machine, comprising:
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a sensor unit configured to generate a respective current 3-D image of the working area at defined intervals of time, a configuration unit for defining at least one protection zone in the working area, and an evaluation unit which has a foreign object detector, a classifier, a person tracker, a comparator and an output stage, wherein the foreign object detector has a fail-safe design and is configured to cyclically generate a first signal on the basis of a respective current 3-D image and on the basis of the defined protection zone if a foreign object is detected in the protection zone, the first signal comprising a first item of position information which is representative of a position of the foreign object in the protection zone, wherein the classifier is designed to cyclically generate a second signal if the foreign object is identified as a person, wherein the person tracker is designed to track an identified person over a series of the respective current 3-D images and, after each new 3-D image, to determine a second item of position information which represents a current position of the identified person in the protection zone, wherein the comparator is designed to compare the first and second items of position information and to generate a third signal on the basis thereof, and wherein the output stage is designed to generate a control signal for stopping the machine on the basis of the second signal and on the basis of the third signal, the control signal being designed to stop the machine if the position of the foreign object according to the first item of position information and the position of the identified person according to the second item of position information are different from one another.
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15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory data storage medium storing program code which, when executed by a processor, causes a computer to carry out a method for safeguarding a hazardous working area of an automated machine, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing at least one sensor unit which provides a respective current 3-D image of the working area at defined intervals of time, defining at least one protection zone in the working area, cyclically monitoring the protection zone using a fail-safe foreign object detector which generates a first signal on the basis of the respective current 3-D image and the defined protection zone if a foreign object is detected in the protection zone, the first signal comprising a first item of position information which is representative of a position of the foreign object in the protection zone, cyclically classifying the foreign object in the protection zone using a classifier, the classifier generating a second signal if the foreign object is identified as a person, wherein the machine is operated on the basis of the first signal and the second signal, tracking an identified person over a series of the respective current 3-D images using a person tracker, the person tracker determining, after each new 3-D image, a second item of position information which represents a current position of the identified person in the protection zone, and comparing the first and second items of position information, wherein the machine is stopped if the position of the foreign object according to the first item of position information and the position of the identified person according to the second item of position information are different from one another.
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Specification