ROBOT SYSTEM

• US 20200134322A1
• Filed: 09/10/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Fanuc Corporation
• Inventors: TAKAHASHI, Yuuki, WATANABE, Atsushi, NAKAMURA, Minoru
• Granted Patent: US 11,126,859 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/00 Three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10028 Range image; Depth image; 3D point clouds
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30232 Surveillance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/254 involving subtraction of images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/62 of area, perimeter, diameter or volume
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/70 Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras camera calibration G06T7/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

Provided is a robot system including a robot, a distance image sensor that temporally continuously acquires, from above an operating space of the robot, distance image information around the operating space, and an image processing device that processes the acquired distance image information, the image processing device defining, around the operating space, a monitoring area that includes a boundary for enabling entrance into the operating space from the outside, including a storing unit that stores reference distance image information, and detecting, based on the distance image information acquired by the distance image sensor and the reference distance image information stored in the storing unit, whether a stationary object present in the monitoring area is blocking the boundary in a visual field of the distance image sensor.

Claims

1. A robot system comprising:

a robot;

a distance image sensor that temporally continuously acquires, from above an operating space of the robot, distance image information around the operating space; and

an image processing device that processes the distance image information acquired by the distance image sensor,

the image processing device defining, around the operating space, a monitoring area that includes a boundary for enabling entrance into the operating space from an outside area, including a storing unit that stores reference distance image information, which is the distance image information of the boundary of the monitoring area in a state in which an object is absent in the monitoring area, and detecting, based on the distance image information acquired by the distance image sensor and the reference distance image information stored in the storing unit, whether a stationary object present in the monitoring area is blocking the boundary in a visual field of the distance image sensor.

2. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing device includes an informing unit that, when the image processing device determines that the stationary object is blocking the boundary, calculates a size of a space blocked by the stationary object and informs when the calculated size of the space exceeds a predetermined threshold.

3. The robot system according to claim 2, wherein the image processing device calculates a minimum cross-sectional area of the space as the size of the space.

4. The robot system according to claim 2, wherein the image processing device calculates a minimum dimension of a cross section of the space as the size of the space.

5. The robot system according to claim 1, wherein the image processing device includes a display unit that, when the image processing device determines that the stationary object is blocking the boundary, displays a space blocked by the stationary object.

6. The robot system according to claim 5, wherein

the image processing device includes a three-dimensional-model generating unit that generates a three-dimensional model of the space, and

the display unit displays the three-dimensional model of the space generated by the three-dimensional-model generating unit.

7. The robot system according to claim 6, further comprising a photographing unit that photographs the robot and a periphery of the robot, wherein

the display unit superimposes and displays the three-dimensional model on an image acquired by the photographing unit.