Picking system

• US 8,880,217 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2011
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
• Inventors: Izumi, Tetsuro, Koyanagi, Kenichi, Matsukuma, Kenji, Hashiguchi, Yukio
• Primary Examiner(s): Crawford, Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOGAN, KYLE O
• Application Number:
  US13/337,818
• Publication Number:
  US 20120323358A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 700/230
• US Class Current: 700/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/26 Segmentation of patterns in the image field; Cutting or merging of image elements to establish the pattern region, e.g. clustering-based techniques; Detection of occlusion

Abstract

A picking system includes a conveyer, a robot, a main camera, and a control device. The conveyer conveys workpieces. The robot performs a holding operation and a moving operation on the workpieces. The main camera captures the transport path of the conveyer. The control device detects the workpiece on the basis of the image captured by the main camera and instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the detected workpiece. Moreover, the control device instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the overlapped workpieces when the overlapping of the workpieces is detected.

Claims

1. A picking system comprising:

a conveying device that conveys workpieces;

a robot that performs a holding operation for holding the workpieces conveyed by the conveying device and a moving operation for moving the held workpieces to a predetermined place;

an image capturing device that is provided at an upper stream side of the conveying device than the robot to capture a transport path of the conveying device; and

a control device that detects the workpieces on the transport path on the basis of an image captured by the image capturing device and instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the detected workpieces, and

the control device including;

an abnormality detecting unit that detects abnormality of the workpieces on the basis of the image captured by the image capturing device and area information of the workpieces;

an overlapping detecting unit that performs an edge detection process to detect overlapping of the workpieces when abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit; and

an operation instruction unit that instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the overlapped workpieces when the overlapping of the workpieces is detected by the overlapping detecting unit, and that determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit is defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

2. The picking system according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary image capturing device that is provided near the robot or on the robot to capture the transport path, wherein

the overlapping detecting unit performs the edge detection process on an image captured by the auxiliary image capturing device to detect overlapping of the workpieces.

3. The picking system according to claim 1, wherein the control device starts image processing performed by the auxiliary image capturing device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

4. The picking system according to claim 1, wherein the control device starts image processing performed by the auxiliary image capturing device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

5. The picking system according to claim 2, wherein the operation instruction unit determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit is a defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

6. The picking system according to claim 2, wherein the control device starts image processing performed by the auxiliary image capturing device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

7. The picking system according to claim 2, wherein

the overlapping detecting unit again detects the overlapping of the workpieces by using the image captured by the auxiliary image capturing device after the holding operation whenever the holding operation is performed by the robot on the overlapped workpieces, and

the operation instruction unit instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on a top workpiece among the overlapped workpieces whenever the overlapping of the workpieces is detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

8. The picking system according to claim 7, wherein the operation instruction unit determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit is a defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

9. The picking system according to claim 7, wherein the control device starts image processing performed by the auxiliary image capturing device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

10. The picking system according to claim 7, wherein the control device further includes a conveyance control unit that reduces a conveyance speed of the conveying device or stops the conveying device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

11. The picking system according to claim 10, wherein the operation instruction unit determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit is a defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

12. The picking system according to claim 2, wherein the control device further includes a conveyance control unit that reduces a conveyance speed of the conveying device or stops the conveying device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

13. The picking system according to claim 12, wherein the operation instruction unit determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit is a defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

14. The picking system according to claim 1, wherein the control device further includes a conveyance control unit that reduces a conveyance speed of the conveying device or stops the conveying device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

15. The picking system according to claim 14, wherein the operation instruction unit determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting unit is a defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting unit.

16. The picking system according to claim 14, wherein the control device starts image processing performed by the auxiliary image capturing device when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.

17. A picking system comprising:

a conveying means that conveys workpieces;

a robot that performs a holding operation for holding the workpieces conveyed by the conveying means and a moving operation for moving the held workpieces to a predetermined place;

a capturing means that captures the workpieces conveyed by the conveying means;

a control means that detects the workpieces on the basis of an image captured by the capturing means and instructs the robot to perform the holding operation for holding the detected workpieces;

an abnormality detecting means that detects abnormality of the workpieces on the basis of the image captured by the capturing means and area information of the workpieces;

an overlapping detecting means that performs an edge detection process to detect overlapping of the workpieces when abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting means; and

an operation instruction means that instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the overlapped workpieces when the overlapping of the workpieces is detected by the overlapping detecting means, and that determines that the workpiece that has abnormality detected by the abnormality detecting means is defective when the overlapping of the workpieces is not detected by the overlapping detecting means.

18. A picking system comprising:

a conveying device that conveys workpieces;

a robot that performs a holding operation for holding the workpieces conveyed by the conveying device and a moving operation for moving the held workpieces to a predetermined place;

an image capturing device that is provided at an upper stream side of the conveying device than the robot to capture a transport path of the conveying device;

a control device that detects the workpieces on the transport path on the basis of an image captured by the image capturing device and instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the detected workpieces; and

an auxiliary image capturing device that is provided near the robot or on the robot to capture the workpieces conveyed along the transport path, and

the control device including;

an abnormality detecting unit that detects abnormality of the workpieces on the basis of the image captured by the image capturing device and area information of the workpieces;

an overlapping detecting unit that performs an edge detection process on an image captured by the auxiliary image capturing device to detect overlapping of the workpieces when abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit; and

an operation instruction unit that instructs the robot to perform the holding operation on the overlapped workpieces when the overlapping of the workpieces is detected by the overlapping detecting unit,

wherein the auxiliary image capturing device has a higher resolution than that of the image capturing device, and starts to capture the workpieces when the abnormality of the workpieces is detected by the abnormality detecting unit.