JP2001062406A - Color and shape identification method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a color and shape recognition device which identifys the color and shapes of objects, such as glass or synthetic resins and is suitable for automatic recognition of the colors and shapes of waste glass bottles by utilizing transmitted light in particular. SOLUTION: The light transmitted through or reflected from the objects 3 is reflected to plural surface mirrors 4 having >=2 mirror finished surfaces, by which plural images are formed on color image pickup device 6. The corresponding number of beam attenuation filters 5 are installed in the optical path thereof to create the plural beam attenuation regions varying in light transmittance. The colors and shapes are identified in the regions respectively suitable for the colors and shapes. The objects 3 are the glass bottles and are subjected to the identification of the colors and shapes by the light transmitted through the glass bottle 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically identifying a shape, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for identifying the shape and color of a waste glass bottle in order to recycle the bottle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A number of methods and apparatus have been developed for various processes in various industries, which require automatic identification and determination of the color and shape of an object by a machine. In particular, when a used glass bottle or a synthetic resin bottle is collected and reused, the collection value differs depending on the color of the glass or the like. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the treatment in different steps according to the color of the glass or the like.
In addition, some types may be reused after being washed, so that it is desirable that the type can be separated according to the shape of a glass bottle or the like. As described above, it is necessary to specify and sort the processing steps of the glass bottle or the like based on the shape and color of the glass bottle or the like.
Therefore, the operator discriminates the color and shape of the glass and the like and sorts the bottles manually. However, the working environment is not so good, and there is a strong demand for mechanizing this sorting process. A technology that is indispensable for the mechanization of this process is automatic discrimination of the color and shape of a glass bottle or the like.

Conventionally, as a method for identifying the color and shape of a transparent object such as a glass bottle and a plastic bottle, a method of acquiring and identifying an image using transmitted light illumination and an imaging device such as a CCD camera has been adopted. However, the light transmittance of glass bottles in circulation varies greatly depending on the type and thickness of the color. Therefore, when imaging is performed by irradiating a certain illumination light to the bin, the amount of transmitted light varies depending on the individual glass bottle. Therefore, it is difficult to identify all of the bins with an imaging device having a fixed lens aperture.

For example, if the illumination amount is set to be suitable for discriminating the color and shape of a glass bottle having a small transmittance, a glass bottle having a large transmittance causes too much light incident on a camera to cause halation, and the color and shape of the bottle are reduced. The shape cannot be determined. Conversely, if the illumination amount is set to be suitable for identifying the color of the glass bottle having a high transmittance, it is not possible to obtain sufficient transmitted light for identifying the color of the glass bottle having a low transmittance. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the aperture of the camera depending on the object, or to use a plurality of cameras with different exposures to cope with the difference in transmittance, or adjust the light source to an appropriate light amount by detecting the amount of transmitted light. Was. In addition, the collected waste glass bottles are often affixed with labels, stained, or the contents remain, and the transmitted light is partially blocked in many cases, and the color identification efficiency does not increase There was also.

As a method for solving such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-54762 discloses that a transmitted light transmitted through a bin is divided into two parts by a beam dividing element.
By applying a filter to one side and dimming, it is possible to determine the color by using either the dimmed area or the non-dimmed area even for bins with different transmittances The invention has been disclosed. However, since the disclosed invention does not detect the shape and posture of the target object, it is not possible to appropriately set the color determination position, and is affected by the attached label, the remaining content, and the dirt attached to the bottle. High probability and poor color discrimination efficiency. In addition, since the beam splitting element is expensive and difficult to adjust to obtain two upper and lower images, there is a problem that installation and maintenance costs are high. Further, since the shape determination is not performed in the disclosed invention, a glass bottle having a specific shape that can be reused as it is after washing cannot be selected and taken out.

[0006]

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for identifying the color and shape of an object having different transmittance or reflectance by imaging with a single color imaging device. Where you do it. In particular, a method and apparatus for identifying the color and shape of a transparent object using transmitted light, which can be applied to an apparatus for automatically sorting glass bottles based on color and shape for the purpose of recycling and reuse An identification method and apparatus are provided.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a color / shape discrimination method according to the present invention is directed to a multi-surface mirror or a plurality of reflectors having two or more mirror surfaces for light transmitted or reflected by an object. A plurality of images are formed on a color image pickup device by reflecting light, and a corresponding number of neutral density filters are installed in the optical path to create a plurality of neutral density regions having different light transmittances.
It is characterized in that a color and a shape are identified in an area suitable for each of the color and the shape. It is possible to target waste glass bottles sequentially supplied by a conveyor such as a conveyor.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a color / shape discriminating apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an illuminating device for irradiating an illuminating light to an object supported by a transport device; Alternatively, a color imaging device that receives light through a plurality of reflecting mirrors and a dimming filter is provided, and the imaging device detects light reflected by the multi-surface mirror or the reflecting mirror and transmitted through the dimming filter. The color and the shape of the object are identified based on the light adjusted in the above manner.

Preferably, the color imaging device is a color CCD camera, and the imaging device and the object are installed so that horizontal scanning of the camera is performed perpendicularly to the axial direction of the object. Further, the transfer device may be a device such as a conveyor device or a transport robot for sequentially transferring waste glass bottles. Further, the plurality of mirrors are dihedral mirrors, and one of the two neutral density filters inserted in each optical path has a small transmittance such as a transmittance of about 10%, and the other is a transparent filter. A light-attenuating filter having a large transmittance such as about 100% can be obtained.
It goes without saying that the two-sided mirror may be two mirrors separately installed.

According to the color / shape identification method of the present invention, an image of an object can be obtained through a filter having a large transmittance and a filter having a small transmittance. The color and shape can be identified without resetting the light amount of the light source, the aperture of the camera, the shutter speed, and the like. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the setting of the camera each time an image is taken or to install a plurality of cameras, and it is possible to provide an inexpensive color / shape identification device. Since a plurality of mirrors or a plurality of reflecting mirrors are used as a means for obtaining a plurality of transmitted lights, it is easy to adjust the image formed on the imaging device and the size of the field of view, and the color / shape identification device has a low operating cost. Can be provided.

For bins having a small transmittance, that is, for dark bins, the color is determined from an image passed through a dimming filter having a large transmittance, and for bins having a large transmittance, that is, a light color, dimming having a small transmittance. By judging the color from the filtered image, the color of the waste glass bottle having various transmittances can be identified with high accuracy without re-adjusting the equipment. Although there is an optimal dimming rate for each color of glass bottles, if the dimming rate of the dimming filter having a small transmittance is set to about 10%, most of the currently targeted light-colored glass bottles are determined. It is convenient because it becomes possible. In particular, in the case of a waste glass bottle, the shape of the glass bottle can be detected from the image of the light-reducing region through the light-reducing filter having a small transmittance, and can be classified by comparing with the registered bottle. Furthermore, an area where bin color determination is easy based on the detected known bin shape or general bin shape,
For example, it is possible to set a small area to which no label is attached, such as a part near the bottom of the bin or a part near the mouth, and determine the color in this small area.

The neutral density filter used for shape determination may be set to have a transmittance of about 5%. In addition, even if a small area for color determination is not set, and the entire glass bottle is set as a color determination area and color determination is performed, an arbitrary dimming is performed based on the shape identified by the dimming area having a small transmittance. By performing color determination on the image in the region, the outline of the entire glass bottle can be set more accurately, and accurate color determination can be performed. Here, if the scanning direction of the horizontal scanning of the color CCD camera is set to be perpendicular to the axial direction of the bin, the width direction shape of the glass bin can be measured with high accuracy even when only a single field of the interlaced scanning camera is used. Also, when displaying multiple images with multiple mirrors or multiple reflecting mirrors, if the bin images are arranged in the horizontal scanning direction of the camera, the positional relationship between the image used for shape measurement and the image used for color identification will correspond. It is possible to set an accurate color determination area.

When an inconel vapor deposition plate is used for the neutral density filter, since the bias of the neutral density that depends on the wavelength is small, accurate color determination is performed without correcting the object color through the neutral density filter. be able to. Furthermore, if a short focal length lens is used as the lens of the imaging device to reduce the size of the device, the image should be placed at the center of the optical axis of the imaging device so that the image passes through a neutral density filter with transmittance suitable for shape measurement. Then, distortion at the time of shape measurement can be reduced.
By adopting a transport device that sequentially loads glass bottles into the measurement position and transports them after measurement to the device that transports the target object, the waste glass bottles are sorted cheaply and at high speed without human intervention in the waste glass bottle sorting process. Separated supply to waste glass bottle recycling process

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the colors and colors according to the present invention will be described based on Examples.
The shape identification method and apparatus will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a color / shape identification device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an image diagram of an image processing screen, FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of one embodiment of a neutral density filter, and FIG. It is a chart showing a procedure.

In FIG. 1, light emitted from a lighting device 1 passes through a waste glass bottle 3 conveyed to a conveyor 2,
Reflected by the two-sided mirror 4 and transmitted through the neutral density filter 5, the color C
The light is received by the CD camera 6 and sent to the image processing device 7 and the monitor TV 8 as data. The illumination device 1 is an illumination device that uniformly illuminates a wide area with white light, such as a panel illumination. Light emitted from the illumination device 1 passes through the waste glass bottle 3 that has been conveyed while being restricted from rolling left and right by the conveyor 2, and is reflected by the two-sided mirror 4.
The angle of the two-sided mirror 4 is adjusted so that the light emitted from the illumination device 1 and transmitted through the waste glass bottle 3 is accurately applied to two regions of the neutral density filter 5. The two transmitted lights separated by the two-sided mirror 4 are respectively transmitted through regions having different transmittances of the neutral density filter 5 and are incident on the color CCD camera 6 to form two images on the color CCD camera 6. The image picked up by the color CCD camera 6 is transferred to the image processing device 7 as image data, the color / shape is determined by an algorithm for identifying the color / shape, and displayed on the monitor TV 8.

An example of an image displayed on the monitor TV 8 is shown in FIG. At the center of the monitor image, a darkening region transmitted through a light-reducing filter having a small transmittance is shown, and adjacent thereto, a darkening region transmitted through a light-reducing filter having a large light-reducing ratio is shown. The color CCD camera 6 is a two-sided mirror 4
The horizontal scanning direction is set so that the corresponding portions in the width direction of the two images of the waste glass bottles 3 arranged in parallel are scanned at a time. Accordingly, even when an interlaced camera is used, the measurement in the radial direction can be performed by horizontal scanning with high dimensional accuracy, so that the shape of the waste glass bottle 3 can be accurately identified and the bin of the waste glass bottle 3 stored in the image processing device 7 can be measured. Accurate dimensional data required for matching with shape data can be obtained. Further, since the corresponding portions of the two images separated by the two-sided mirror 4 are imaged by one scan, it is easy for the image processing device 7 to correspond the two image images.

In order to reduce the size of the equipment, the color CC
If there is a possibility that the shape distortion will be large at the time of imaging, such as when using a short focus camera as the D camera 6, set the device to project an image for shape determination near the center of the camera's field of view. If the position for capturing the image for shape determination is appropriately set, for example, the distortion of the image for shape determination is reduced, which is convenient.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing one embodiment of the neutral density filter. The right half 10 in the figure is a darkened portion having a small transmittance,
The left half 11 is a darkened portion having a large transmittance. The right half 10 of the neutral density filter is set to have a transmittance of about 10%, and when taking an image with the imaging apparatus through this filter, the same effect can be obtained by narrowing down the aperture of the camera. The image picked up through this region is used for discriminating the shapes of all glass bottles, and also for determining the color of light-colored glass bottles such as colorless and light blue. The left half 11 of the neutral density filter has a transmittance of about 10
It is set to 0%, and in this region, all the light transmitted through the waste glass bottle is transmitted to the imaging device. The image picked up through this area is used to determine the color of a dark glass bottle, such as black or brown.

When a light-colored glass bottle is imaged through a region having a transmittance of about 100%, the amount of transmitted light becomes excessive and halation occurs, so that it is impossible to accurately determine both the color and the shape. Conversely, if a dark glass bottle is imaged through a region having a transmittance of about 10%, a sufficient amount of light cannot be obtained for color determination, and an accurate color cannot be identified. Since a sufficiently accurate outline can be obtained with a small amount of transmitted light for shape determination, it is convenient to process both dark glass bottles and light glass bottles with images captured through an area having a transmittance of about 10%. is there. In addition, it is particularly preferable to set the transmittance of the light-attenuating filter having a small transmittance to about 10% because the color judgment can be performed for almost all the light-colored glass bottles currently targeted by the light-attenuating filter having the transmittance of about 10%. .

It is preferable to use an inconel vapor-deposited plate in which inconel is vapor-deposited on a transparent glass plate for the neutral density filter. As for the neutral density filter, as shown in FIG. 3, one filter may be partially dimmed to provide a difference in dimming rate, or two filters having different dimming rates may be juxtaposed. You may serve your purpose.

FIG. 4 is a chart showing the procedure of color / shape identification in this embodiment. This figure mainly shows the procedure for determining the color and shape performed in the image processing apparatus. Color C
The image output from the CD camera 6 is captured (S1),
The shape is identified from the image of the dimming area with small transmittance (S
2) The bin type / posture is determined (S3). The type and shape of the determined bin are output as the determination result (S7).
At the same time, a color detection site is set based on the bin shape (S
4). With respect to the set color detection portion, color determination is performed in the light-attenuated area (S5) with small transmittance or in the area where the light is hardly dimmed (S6) according to the color density of the bin (S6), and the determination result is output (S7). ). In the drawing, a light-reduced area having a small transmittance is described as a “light-reduced area”, and an area that is hardly light-reduced is described as a “non-light-reduced area”.

Hereinafter, the procedure of color / shape determination in the color / shape identification apparatus of the present embodiment will be described. The image radiated from the illumination device 1 and taken by the color CCD camera 6 through the waste glass bottle 3, the two-sided mirror 4, and the neutral density filter 5,
It is sent to the image processing device 7. Upon receiving the image, the image processing device 7 first determines the shape of the glass bottle using a dark image obtained by imaging a darkened region having a small transmittance. At this time, if the shape matches the shape of a specific glass bottle stored in the image processing device 7 in advance, the information is output to a control device (not shown). If the shape does not match the shape of the glass bottle stored in advance, the size, posture, and the like of the waste glass bottle 3 are determined based on data on the shape of the general glass bottle, and output to a control device (not shown).

Further, based on the size, posture, etc. of the waste glass bottle 3 thus identified, a portion on which a label is not usually attached, such as near the bottom of the bottle or near the mouth, to which dirt is unlikely to adhere, is identified, and a color detection portion is determined. . By setting the color detection site, the irradiation light is shielded by a label, dirt, or the like, and the risk that color information cannot be detected is significantly reduced, and the color detection efficiency is greatly improved. Note that the color detection site may be set in the entire glass bottle. In this case, since the color is determined from the integrated value of the color signals of the entire glass bottle, the data of the part shielded by the label or opaque dirt is ignored, and the numerical value is disturbed by the transparent dirt and contents. Therefore, there is an advantage that errors caused by labels, dirt, remaining contents, and the like are reduced.

The color density of the bin is determined based on the measurement of the light amount at the transmittance of about 100% or about 10% at the color detection portion. When the color of the bottle is dark, the transmittance is about 100
The bin color is determined from the color detection site in the image formed in the% area. If the color of the bin is light, the color of the bin is determined from the color detection portion of the image in the region with a transmittance of about 10%. Since the wavelength dependence of the dimming rate of the Inconel vapor deposition plate used for the neutral density filter 5 is sufficiently small, the bias of the dimming rate due to color is small, and it is not necessary to correct the detected color.
The determined color is output to a control device (not shown).
The waste glass bottle 3 is sent to an appropriate reprocessing step by controlling the conveyor 2 by the control device that has input the color / shape data.

Although the polygon mirror used in this embodiment is a dihedral mirror, the dimming filter is also divided into two. However, a dimming filter is used for the dihedral mirror. If the filter is divided into regions corresponding to the filter, finer transmittance can be set. Therefore, the determination algorithm becomes complicated, but the color can be determined with higher accuracy. Further, it is convenient to arrange a dimming filter having a transmittance suitable for shape determination at the center of the visual field, and to arrange filters on both sides of the dimming filter suitable for color determination of dark and light bins, respectively. It should be noted that a darkening filter with a transmittance of about 5% for shape determination, a darkening filter with a transmittance of about 100% for color determination of dark color bins, and a reduction of about 10% for color determination of light color bins. It is preferable to use an optical filter. It is not necessary to use a neutral density filter for the neutral density filter portion having a transmittance of about 100%.

Although the polygon mirror and the neutral density filter used in this embodiment are separate components, for example, the reflectance of each surface of the polygon mirror is reduced to reduce the amount of light incident on the image pickup apparatus. Such components may be installed. Also, in the present embodiment, a neutral density filter is inserted between the multi-surface mirror and the imaging device.
A neutral density filter can be inserted at an appropriate position between the polygon mirror and the lighting device. Although the conveyor used in this embodiment is a conveyor, the form of the conveyor can be arbitrarily selected, for example, a glass arm is separated by a robot arm.

The above embodiment relates to a color / shape identification device for separating waste glass bottles based on color / shape in a waste glass bottle recovery / recycling facility. Equipment that performs
The present invention can be effectively used when other devices such as a separation and recovery device for materials other than glass are identified based on the color and shape of an object. The material of the object is not limited to light-transmitting substances such as glass and synthetic resin. For opaque objects with different luminances, the reflected light reflected on the object is used, and as with the transmitted light, light and aperture adjustments are omitted through multiple mirrors or multiple reflecting mirrors and neutral density filters. Can sort on the basis of color and shape.

[0028]

As described in detail above, the color and color of the present invention
The shape identification method and apparatus are such that light transmitted through or reflected from an object is separated into a plurality of images by a multi-surface mirror, and a neutral density filter having a different transmittance is inserted into each of the images, so that one image capturing apparatus can be used. The same effect as when a plurality of imaging devices having different apertures and shutter speeds is used can be obtained, and the colors and shapes of objects having different transmittances or reflectances can be determined without adjusting the devices each time. Further, by using a reflecting mirror for separating transmitted light, installation and maintenance costs can be reduced far more than in a conventional apparatus. As described above, since only one set of the imaging device and the image processing device is required, the facility cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a color / shape identification device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an image diagram of an image processing screen in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of one embodiment of a neutral density filter in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a chart showing a procedure of color / shape identification in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Illumination device 2 Conveyor 3 Waste glass bottle 4 Two-sided mirror 5 Dimming filter 6 Color CCD camera 7 Image processing device 8 Monitor TV 10 Right half of dimming filter 11 Left half of dimming filter

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2F065 AA51 BB08 CC00 FF02 GG15 GG24 HH15 JJ03 JJ26 LL12 LL14 LL24 MM22 NN17 PP15 QQ00 SS02 SS13 2G020 AA08 DA02 DA05 DA15 DA66 3F079 AD11 AD12 CA23 CA3211 CB25 CB29 DA

Claims (9)

[Claims] An image of an object is formed on a plurality of locations on an imaging surface of a color imaging apparatus by using a plurality of reflecting mirrors and light-reducing filters having different transmittances, at least one of which is formed. An object color / shape identification method comprising: identifying a shape of an object from a portion; and identifying a color of the object from an imaging portion appropriately selected according to the object. 2. The color / shape identification method according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the object is identified, and a color portion of the object is identified and identified based on the result. . 3. The color / shape identification method according to claim 1, wherein the object is a glass bottle, and the color / shape is identified by light transmitted through the glass bottle. 4. An illumination device for illuminating an object with illumination light,
A plurality of reflecting mirrors, a plurality of neutral density filters, a color imaging device that receives the irradiation light, and a color / image processing device that processes image data input from the color imaging device.
A shape discriminating device, wherein the plurality of reflecting mirrors and the color imaging device are installed so that a plurality of the objects illuminated by the illuminating light are imaged side by side through the plurality of reflecting mirrors at one time; And the neutral density filter is installed in the optical path between the color imaging device, and the image processing device recognizes the shape of the object based on a predetermined image formed on the color imaging device, A color / shape identification device for identifying the color of an object based on an image selected according to the amount of light. 5. The reflection mirror is a two-sided mirror, wherein one of the two optical paths is a neutral density filter having a small transmittance, and the other is a neutral density filter having a large transmittance. Item 5. The color / shape identification device according to Item 4. 6. The color / shape discriminating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the shape of the object is determined at a portion near an optical axis of an imaging surface of the color imaging apparatus. 7. The color / shape discriminating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the object is a glass bottle, and the conveying device sequentially conveys the glass bottle. 8. The color imaging device is a color CCD camera, wherein the camera and the bin are arranged such that the axis direction of the bin is perpendicular to the horizontal scanning direction of the camera, and the plurality of images are arranged in the horizontal scanning direction. The color / shape identification device according to claim 7, wherein 9. The color / shape identification device according to claim 4, wherein said neutral density filter is an Inconel vapor deposition plate.