JP3114474B2 - Object position recognition device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an object position recognizing device for providing information necessary for handling a transported object by a cargo handling device to a computer controlling the cargo handling device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic crane (overhead crane), automation is achieved by providing information necessary for handling a conveyed object, for example, a coil wound of a steel plate, to a computer that controls the crane. I have.

Examples of the prior art include (1) Sumitomo Heavy Industries Technical Report Vo1.35 No. 105December 1987
Self-propelled coil position detecting device combining an ITV and an ultrasonic range finder described in the coil center position detecting system by the image processing of (1), and (2) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries technical report Vo1.
28 No. No. 6 (1991-11), combining a two-dimensional measurement device (camera) with a laser and a mirror control device that changes the direction of the laser described in the development of a coil position detection device using the light projection method and its application to crane automation. And a crane trolley.

[0004]

The method of the above (1) is as follows.
Since the image processing method is used, illumination for improving the S / N ratio is required, and a dedicated image processing substrate for performing image processing at high speed is required. In addition, high precision positioning of the mobile trolley is required for processing.

The method (2) requires a substrate dedicated to image processing, as in the method (1). In addition, since it is installed on the trolley, it must be provided with the approximate position information of the coil to be handled from the host computer, and if it is installed on the existing crane equipment, the crane itself must be modified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to perform high-precision detection processing with a simple control structure without using a dedicated substrate such as an image processing substrate in detecting an object to be conveyed. It is another object of the present invention to provide an object position recognizing device which can be easily installed on existing crane equipment.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a laser type distance measuring device for detecting a transported object is mounted on a mobile trolley running on the ground, and the control means on the mobile trolley uses the laser type distance measuring device. Using the information of the distance measuring instrument, the cargo handling device automatically creates object position information for handling the conveyed object. Further, the most accurate measurement information is found by changing the angle of the laser type distance measuring device, and information on the radius and inclination of each transported object is calculated from the measurement information.

[0008]

[Function] Since the object detection device is self-propelled on the ground, it can be installed on existing cargo handling equipment without remodeling the cargo handling equipment and building, and the detection accuracy is high because it is detected from a low position. Become. In addition, since the laser system is used, a dedicated processing substrate is not required, and the control and control configuration are simplified.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a control block diagram. As shown in FIG. 1, the object position recognizing device of the present invention includes a laser distance measuring device 1 oriented horizontally and laser distance measuring devices 2, 11, 12 oriented vertically downward.
It is attached to arms 10A and 10B that expand and contract in the Y-axis direction and move up and down in the Z-axis direction. The drive system for expansion and contraction in the Y-axis direction is independent for the arms 10A and 10B, and performs expansion and contraction separately. The laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 are attached to the arm 10B, and the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 12 are attached to the arm 10A. The mobile trolley 3 runs in the X-axis direction on a rail 4 laid on the ground. Reference numeral 20 (20A, 20B, 20C) denotes a coil serving as a transported object, 30 denotes a reflector for the laser distance measuring device 1, and 40 denotes a gripping device of an automatic crane.

As shown in FIG. 2, the movable trolley 3 has, as control means, laser distance measuring devices 1, 2, 11, 12 for obtaining information such as the shape and size of the coil, and the existence of the laser distance measuring device. Encoders 6E, 7E, 8E, 9E for obtaining position (X, Y, Z axis directions), laser distance measuring device 1
Head 1 that changes the angles of 1, 12 and provides the angle information
3, 14; a motor 6 for moving the mobile trolley 3 (in the X-axis direction); a motor 7 for expanding and contracting the arm 10A (in the Y-axis direction);
A motor 8 for expanding and contracting the arm 10B (in the Y-axis direction), a motor 9 for moving the arms 10A and 10B up and down (in the Z-axis direction), and contactors 6C, 7C, 8C, 9C for switching the motors for each process and their motors Is mounted. Further, a programmable controller 16 is provided, and the controller provides commands to the inverter 5, laser distance measuring devices 1, 2, 11, 12, encoders 6E, 7E, 8
E, 9E, the information required for coil handling is calculated from the information from the pan heads 13 and 14, and the information is provided to the host computer 15 that controls the crane via the communication means. The host computer 15 is installed outside the mobile trolley 3.

FIG. 3 shows laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 and coil 2
0 shows a positional relationship diagram of the reflection plate 30. The point G in FIG. 3 is the origin of the laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2. Reflector 30 in this drawing
Is provided so that the laser distance measuring device 1 can measure the distance between L shown in the figure. Since the distance between L is long, the distance measurement becomes impossible without the reflection plate 30 because the reflected light of the laser is small.

The processing flow of the host computer 15 is shown in FIG.
The processing flow of the programmable controller 16 will be described based on FIGS. First, a recognition start command is output from the host computer 15 to the programmable controller 16 (F1). The programmable controller 16 always waits for a recognition start command from the host computer 15, and starts a recognition process when receiving the recognition command (F2).

FIG. 5 shows the details of the recognition process F2. As the processing, first, the arm 10B is extended and 1a in FIG.
The laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 are moved to the point (FIG. 5, steps F22a to 22c). Since the size of the coil and the range of the location are determined, the point 1a is determined in advance so as to be about the center of the coil width (Y-axis direction). Next, the laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 are raised to the point 3a (steps F23a to 23d). At this time, the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 12 also rise together, but are omitted since they are not particularly used for processing. Point 3a is the maximum coil height 2a
Is obtained by adding Z1 to. Z1 is a value set in advance so that the coils do not mechanically contact the laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 and the arms 10A and 10B in the processing b described later. In this example, the coil 20B is the largest coil.

The horizontal axis (L1) represents the input information from the laser distance measuring device 1 when the temperature rises from the point 1a to the point 3a, and the vertical axis represents the position information obtained by counting up the input information from the encoder 9E in the Z-axis direction. 9) is the graph of FIG. 9 (1). As can be seen from this figure, the point at which the value of L1 becomes maximum can be determined as the maximum coil height 2a. The process of moving the laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 to the point 3a in this manner is referred to as process a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11, point 1b (= 3a
The mobile trolley 3 travels in the X-axis direction from the point (point) to the point 2b (F24a to 24d).

The input information from the laser distance measuring device 2 at this time is shown on the vertical axis (L2), and the position information obtained by counting up the input information from the encoder 6E in the X-axis direction is shown on the horizontal axis (X). It is a graph of 9 (2). First, the center xc1, xc2, xc3 of the X axis of each coil is obtained from this information (FIG. 5, step F25).

FIG. 10 illustrates this calculation method. This figure is an enlarged view of the coil portion in the graph of FIG. 9 (2). As shown in this figure, the laser distance measuring device 2 outputs measurement information for each measurement cycle (measurement time = about 25 msec). Therefore, the vertex P of the coil is not always measured, but is ignored here because the measurement cycle is short. Further, a delay error due to the measurement time is obtained and corrected from the measurement time and the moving speed. When higher accuracy is required, the moving speed may be simply reduced, or the speed may be reduced so that the moving speed at the vertex of the coil is reduced when the coil is recognized. These processes are referred to as process b.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12, the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 12 are moved to the point 1c (= 2b point), and are moved in synchronization with the laser distance measuring device 2 to the point 12c as indicated by a dotted arrow. I do. In addition, the laser distance measuring device 2 uses the point 1c (= 2b
Point) → 2c → 3c → 4c → 5c → 6c → 7c
Move from point → 8c → 9c → 10c → 11c → 12c (origin = G) (FIG. 5 to FIG. 7, step F26)
a-26H). (At this time, the laser distance measuring device 1 also moves, but is omitted because it is not used for the processing.)
This is because when the laser distance measuring device 2 moves from the point 3c to the point 4c, the point 6c to the point 7c, the point 9c to the point 10c, the widths W1, W2, W3 of the coils and the centers yc1, yc2, y in the Y-axis direction are obtained.
In addition to calculating c3, the radiuses r1, r2, and r3 of each coil and the angle (inclination) θ between each coil and the moving carriage rail (X-axis of the coil position detection device) are also calculated using information from the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 12. (FIG. 6, step F)
27). 3c point, 6c which is the stop point for each coil
The X-axis directions of the points 9c and 9c are the center points xc1, xc2 and xc3 of the X-axis of each coil obtained in the processing b described above, and the Y-axis direction is the measurement of the laser distance measuring device 2 at that point. B is a position higher than the value. B is a value set in advance.

The vertical axis (L2) represents the input information from the laser distance measuring device 2 when moving from the point 2c to the point 3c, and the horizontal axis represents the position information obtained by counting up the input information from the encoder 8E in the Y-axis direction. 9) is the graph of FIG. 9 (3). In the figure, w3 is the width of the coil 20C, and yc
3 is the center in the Y-axis direction and can be easily obtained. In this case, since the moving speed is relatively slow, the influence of the measurement cycle is ignored. However, the delay error due to the measurement time is obtained and corrected from the measurement time and the moving speed. Further, in this example, measurement is performed only once on the same coil. However, two points on the same coil having different X axes are measured, or the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 12 are each measured like the laser distance measuring device 2. If the coil expands and contracts in the Y-axis direction, the coil inclination θ can be obtained.

Next, referring to FIG. 13, the radii r1 and r
2, r3 and a process of calculating the angle (inclination) θ between each coil and the movable trolley rail (X axis of the coil position detecting device) will be described. Each of the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 12 rotates by a preset angle. The horizontal axis (φ1, φ2) indicates the angle information from the pan heads 13 and 14 and the laser distance measuring devices 11 and 1
FIGS. 10 (4) and 10 (5) show the input information from No. 2 on the vertical axis (L11, L12). The smallest values P11 and P12 (angles # 1 and # 2) of the measured values at this time are the most stable and accurate measured values in the state perpendicular to the coil. From the three points P11, P12, and P2, the coil inclination θ and the radius r (finally doubled to obtain the diameter) are obtained using the following equation (Equation 1). These processes are referred to as process c.

(Z−zc) ² + (x−xc) ² · cos ² θ = r ² (Equation 1) The X-axis, Y-axis, Z
The center coordinates, inclination, diameter, and width of the axis can be obtained.
These processes are performed according to a command (FIG. 4, F1) from the host computer 15 which controls the crane, and the processing result is transferred to the host computer 15 (FIG. 7, step F2).
8). The host computer 15 receives this processing result (FIG. 4,
F3), an operation command is output to the automatic crane based on the processing result (FIG. 4, F4), and the coil is handled.

[0022]

According to the present invention, in the coil position detecting device, a dedicated substrate is not required because the detector is a laser distance measuring device, and the processing is simplified because no image processing is performed.

Further, accurate measurement is possible because the measurement data in the state where the laser reflection is most stable is used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an object position recognition device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship (origin) between a movement of a laser distance measuring device and a coil.

FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of a host computer.

FIG. 5 is a processing flowchart of a programmable controller.

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart of a programmable controller.

FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart of the programmable controller.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship (process a) between a movement of a laser distance measuring device and a coil.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing input information from a laser distance measuring device in each process.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing input information from a laser distance measuring device in each process.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between a movement of the laser distance measuring devices 1 and 2 and a coil (process b).

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship (process c) between the movement of the laser distance measuring device and the coil.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a process for calculating again the coil and the moving carriage rail.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 11, 12: Laser distance measuring device, 3: Moving carriage, 4: Rail, 6E, 7E, 8E, 9E: Encoder, 20A, 20B, 20C: Coil.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Ichiro Nakajima 794, Higashi-Toyoi, Oji, Kudamatsu-shi, Yamaguchi Prefecture Inside the Kasado Plant of Hitachi, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-7-83610 (JP, A) JP-A-4-51492 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B66C 13 / 22,13 / 48

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An object detecting device mounted on a movable trolley, and the position information from the detecting unit is converted into control information required for a cargo handling device to handle the object, and the control information is converted into the control information. In an object position recognition device provided with control means provided to a computer for a controller, the control means is a laser distance measuring device installed on an arm of a movable trolley to obtain information such as the shape and size of a conveyed object. ,
An encoder for obtaining the position information of the laser distance measuring device, an angle detector for obtaining the angle information of the laser distance measuring device, a trolley driving means for moving the movable trolley, and changing the angle of the laser distance measuring device. A moving unit, an arm driving unit for driving the arm, and calculating information necessary for a moving process of the transported object based on information from the laser distance measuring device and the encoder, and controlling the information on the cargo handling device. An object position recognition device, comprising: a programmable controller provided to a computer. 2. The object position recognizing device according to claim 1, wherein an encoder, a trolley driving means, an arm driving means, and a programmable controller of said control means are installed on said movable trolley. 3. The object position according to claim 1, wherein said control means measures the angle of the laser distance measuring instrument while changing the angle, and calculates information on the radius and inclination of the transported object from the measurement information. Recognition device.