Handling apparatus, control device, control method, and program

• US 8,805,585 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2009
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha (Toshiba Machine Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha (Toshiba Machine Company Limited)
• Inventors: Nishihara, Yasunori
• Primary Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US12/995,960
• Publication Number:
  US 20110082586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,896 Days
• Field of Search: 700/110, 700/96, 700/245, 700/262, 700/213, 700/166, 700/259, 700/230, 700/258, 702/150, 702/127, 600/425, 294/070.4, 297/09, 198/463.2, 198/339.1, 901/7, 901/8
• US Class Current: 700/256
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/0093 co-operating with conveyor means
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/1697 Vision controlled systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/39102 Manipulator cooperating with conveyor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49769 Using optical instrument [excludes mere human eyeballing]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53039 with control means energized in response to activator stimulated by condition sensor

Abstract

A handling apparatus having a belt conveyor (2) for conveying a work (10), a robot (4) for performing a predetermined operation for the work (10), a visual sensor (3) for photographing the work (10) being conveyed to produce work data indicating each work (10) in the photographed image, and a robot controller (5) for gathering the work data for each image thereby to produce a tracking data, and for storing the tracking data in a database, thereby to control the robot (4) with the database so that a predetermined operation is performed on the work (10) transferred to the position of the robot (4). The robot controller (5) performs a predetermined calculation on the work data read out from the database, detects the overlapped work data, and cancels the control of the actions of the robot (4) based on the overlapped work data. The robot controller (5) rearranges the sequences, in which the robot (4) performs the operation on each work (10).

Claims

1. A handling system comprising:

a conveyer configured to convey a plurality of workpieces;

a single robot configured to perform a predetermined work on the plurality of workpieces;

a visual sensor configured to capture images of the plurality of workpieces being conveyed by the conveyer and producing workpiece data indicating every workpiece in the captured images; and

a controller configured to;

put the workpiece data in order for each of the images captured by the visual sensor to thereby produce tracking data,

use a database in which the tracking data is stored to control the single robot to perform the predetermined work on the one of the plurality of workpieces conveyed to a position where the single robot works,

detect, using the tracking data, a workpiece positioned in a nearest position to the single robot, wherein the workpiece positioned in the nearest position to the single robot is the workpiece in a most downstream side of a conveying direction relative to the other of the plurality of workpieces,

detect a next workpiece positioned in a nearest position to the detected workpiece,

repeat the detection of the next workpiece for all workpieces represented in the tracking data to generate a detected order of the workpieces, and

arrange a sequence for performing the work by the single robot in response to the detected order of the workpieces;

wherein the controller is configured to control the single robot to perform the predetermined work to every workpiece in the arranged sequence.

2. The handling system according to claim 1, wherein the controller comprises:

a storage part configured to store, in the database, tracking data captured from the workpiece data and transmitted from the visual sensor, tracking data being gathered with each image captured by the visual sensor,

a processing part configured to find a scalar quantity of a mapping vector of each workpiece from each workpiece data included in the tracking data and rearrange a work sequence to be performed by the robot based on the scalar quantity of the mapping vector of each of the workpieces, and

a drive control part configured to control the robot so as to perform the work of each of the workpieces in accordance with the sequence rearranged by the processing part.

3. The handling system according to claim 2, wherein the processing part is configured to perform processing to find an inner product of a vector (P) and a vector (Cν

), to result in the scalar quantity of the mapping vector of each of the workpieces, where the vector (P) is defined as a vector from any reference point to each workpiece, and the vector (Cν

) is defined as a reference vector indicating the conveyance direction of the conveying means from that any reference point the vector (Cν

).

4. The handling system according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to perform predetermined processing for the workpiece data for every tracking data read out from the database to detect the overlapping workpiece data, and cancel the control of the operation of the robot based on the overlapping workpiece data.

5. The handling system according to claim 4, wherein the controller comprises:

a storage part configured to store, in the database, each tracking data produced for each of the images,

a processing part configured to find a distance between workpieces from the workpiece data included in the tracking data and judge whether the workpiece data overlap based on the distance between the workpieces, and

a drive control part configured to control the robot to perform work for each of the workpieces in accordance with the judged result of the processing part.

6. The handling system according to claim 5, wherein, when the distance between workpieces found from the workpiece data is smaller than a predetermined value, the processing part is configured to judge that the workpiece data corresponding to the workpieces having the distance do not overlap.

7. A control device comprising:

a storage device;

a processor configured to;

gather a plurality of workpiece data which are transmitted from a visual sensor for capturing images of a plurality of workpieces being conveyed by a conveyer and correspond to the workpieces for each image captured by the visual sensor to produce tracking data,

store the tracking data in the storage device, and

read out each of the tracking data from the storage device in accordance with a conveyance operation of the conveyer, and

a drive controller configured to;

make a single robot operate in accordance with an actual conveyance state of each of the workpieces in accordance with the processing result of the processor to make the robot perform work on each of the workpieces,

detect, using the tracking data, a workpiece positioned in a nearest position to the single robot, wherein the workpiece positioned in the nearest position to the single robot is the workpiece in a most downstream side of a conveying direction relative to the other of the plurality of workpieces,

detect a next workpiece positioned in a nearest position to the detected workpiece,

repeat the detection of the next workpiece for all workpieces represented in the tracking data to generate a detected order of the workpieces, and

arrange a sequence for performing the work by the single robot in response to the detected order of the workpieces;

wherein the controller is configured to make the single robot perform the work on every workpiece in the arranged sequence.

8. A control device according to claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to process each of the workpiece data to thereby detect overlapping workpiece data included in a plurality of tracking data, and

wherein the drive controller is configured to cancel the overlapping workpiece data detected by the processing to control the robot to perform work on each workpiece corresponding to each workpiece data which does not overlap.

9. A control device according to claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to process each of the workpiece data to thereby find a sequence for performing work on each workpiece corresponding to each of the data of the workpieces being conveyed by the conveyer, and

wherein the drive controller is configured to control the robot to perform the work on each of the workpieces in accordance with the sequence rearranged by the processor.

10. A control method including:

capturing images, with a visual sensor, of a plurality of workpieces being conveyed by a conveyer and, for each image, gathering a plurality of workpiece data corresponding to each of the workpieces to produce tracking data;

storing each tracking data of each of the images in a database;

detecting, using the tracking data, a workpiece positioned in a nearest position to a single robot, wherein the workpiece positioned in the nearest position to the single robot is the workpiece in a most downstream side of a conveying direction relative to the other of the plurality of workpieces;

detecting a next workpiece positioned in a nearest position to the detected workpiece;

repeating the detection of the next workpiece for all workpieces represented in the tracking data to generate a detected order of the workpieces;

arranging a sequence for performing the work by the single robot in response to the detected order of the workpieces; and

controlling the single robot to operate in accordance with an actual conveyance state of each of the workpieces to perform work on each of the workpieces in the arranged sequence.

11. The control method according to claim 10, wherein,

the performing processing comprises detecting overlapping workpiece data included in the plurality of tracking data, and,

the controlling comprises canceling the detected overlapping workpiece data and controlling the robot to perform the work on each workpiece corresponding to the workpiece data which does not overlap.

12. The control method according to claim 10, wherein,

the performing processing comprises rearranging a sequence for performing work on for workpieces being conveyed by the conveyer, and

the controlling comprises controlling the robot to perform work on each of the workpieces in accordance with the rearranged sequence.

13. A program which makes a computer execute the following routines:

a first routine of causing a visual sensor to capture images of a plurality of workpieces being conveyed by a conveyer and inputting from the visual sensor workpiece data produced by that visual sensor,

a second routine of gathering the input workpiece data for each image captured by the visual sensor to produce tracking data and storing the tracking data in a database,

a third routine of;

detecting, using the tracking data, a workpiece positioned in a nearest position to a single robot, wherein the workpiece positioned in the nearest position to the single robot is the workpiece in a most downstream side of a conveying direction relative to the other of the plurality of workpieces,

detecting a next workpiece positioned in a nearest position to the detected workpiece,

repeating the detection of the next workpiece for all workpieces represented in the tracking data to generate a detected order of the workpieces,

arranging a sequence for performing the work by the single robot in response to the detected order of the workpieces; and

a fourth routine of controlling the single robot to operate in accordance with an actual conveyance state of each of the workpieces in accordance with the result of the processing to make the robot perform work on each of the workpieces in the arranged sequence.