JP2007057276A - Material discrimination apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material discrimination apparatus simple in constitution and merely brought into contact with the material of a measuring sample and separated therefrom to certainly and rapidly discriminate the material of the measuring sample. <P>SOLUTION: The surface member 14 comprising a dielectric 13 mounted on the surface of a first metal electrode 11 is brought into contact with and separated from the measuring sample 100 to detect the voltage caused between the first and second metal electrodes 11 and 12 with a voltage detector 1, the waveform of the voltage is detected from the detected voltage in a voltage waveform detection part 2 and the material of either one of a plurality of the measuring samples 100 is discriminated in a material discrimination part 5. The material of the measuring sample is discriminated on the basis of the voltage waveform of the static electricity produced when the material discrimination apparatus is brought into contact with the measuring sample 100 and separated therefrom, and the material of the measuring sample 100 is certainly and rapidly discriminated by a simple constitution by merely bringing the material discrimination apparatus into contact with the measuring sample 100 and separating the same therefrom. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a material identification device that identifies a material of a measurement sample, and more particularly, to a material identification device that identifies a material of a measurement sample based on a voltage generated when contacting the surface of the measurement sample.

  Conventionally, there is a touch sensor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-4933 as this type of material identification device. FIG. 9 shows an external perspective view of the touch sensor and an overall system configuration diagram.

  In the figure, a conventional tactile sensor 111 includes a medium 112, a sensor element 113 distributed in the medium 112, and a pair of electrodes 114 electrically connected to the medium 112. Yes. The medium 112 is preferably one that mechanically connects the sensor elements 113 to each other, and electrically connects the sensor elements 113 to each other, the electrodes 114 and the sensor elements 113, and is formed of a dielectric and has a capacitance component. The sensor element 113 is composed of a coiled carbon fiber 113a and functions as a micro spring and an LCR resonance circuit. The sensor elements 113 are connected via a medium 112 existing between the sensor elements 113 and configured as a mechanical mechanical equivalent circuit and an electrical equivalent circuit.

Each electrode 114 is electrically connected to the medium 112 and one end of a conducting wire 115 is connected to each other. A power source 117 and a measuring instrument 118 such as an oscilloscope are attached to the other end of each conducting wire 115 via an amplifier circuit 116. ing. Here, when the electrode 114 is electrically connected to the medium 112, the electrode 114 is connected to the medium 112 so that a current is passed through the medium 112 via the electrode 114. The tactile sensor 111, the amplifier circuit 116, the power source 117, and the measuring device 118 constitute a tactile sensor system. Based on this configuration, the configuration is simple and the sensitivity can be improved.
JP 2005-4933 A

  Since the tactile sensor 111 according to the prior art is configured as described above, even if the tactile pressure can be simply detected, the material of the measurement sample cannot be identified at all. Even if the material is analogized by contact pressure according to this conventional technique, the medium 112 in which the coiled carbon fiber 113a of the sensor element 113 is dispersed must be disposed between the pair of electrodes 114. The manufacturing process is complicated and the manufacturing cost cannot be reduced. In particular, the tactile sensor 111 has a problem that unless the sensor elements 113 are evenly distributed over the entire medium 112, the detection accuracy varies and the detection sensitivity cannot be improved.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a material identification device that can reliably and quickly identify a material of a measurement sample by simply contacting and separating with a simple configuration.

  In the material identification device according to the present invention, a dielectric is interposed between the first and second metal electrodes, a surface member made of a dielectric is adhered to the surface of the first metal electrode, and the second metal A voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage generated between the first and second metal electrodes by bringing the surface member into contact with and separating from the measurement sample; and a waveform of the voltage based on the detected voltage. Voltage waveform detection means for detecting, and material discrimination means for discriminating any material of the plurality of measurement samples based on the detected voltage waveform and reference sample data obtained in advance for the plurality of measurement samples It is.

  As described above, in the present invention, the voltage generated between the first and second metal electrodes is obtained by bringing the surface member made of a dielectric attached to the surface of the first metal electrode into contact with or separated from the measurement sample. The voltage waveform detecting means detects the voltage waveform based on the detected voltage, and the plurality of measurement samples are detected based on the detected voltage waveform and reference sample data obtained in advance for the plurality of measurement samples. Since any material is discriminated by the material discriminating means, it can be distinguished by the voltage waveform of static electricity generated when it contacts or separates from the measurement sample, and the material of the measurement sample is simply contacted or separated by a simple configuration. It has the effect of reliably and quickly identifying.

  Further, in the material identifying device according to the present invention, the material determining means determines the material based on the maximum voltage value in the voltage waveform and the rising time until the maximum voltage value is reached, as necessary.

  As described above, in the present invention, the material discriminating means discriminates the material based on the maximum voltage value in the voltage waveform and the rise time until the maximum voltage value is reached. Thus, the voltage waveform can be distinguished by the maximum value and the rise time, and the material of the measurement sample can be reliably and quickly identified by simply contacting and separating with a simple configuration.

  Further, in the material identification device according to the present invention, the voltage detection means causes the surface member to collide with the measurement sample as necessary.

  As described above, in the present invention, since the voltage detecting means collides the surface member with the measurement sample, different electrostatic voltage waveforms can be generated from each measurement sample by a constant contact / separation due to the collision. With a simple structure, the material of the measurement sample can be reliably and quickly identified simply by contacting / separating.

  Further, in the material identification device according to the present invention, the voltage detection means changes the speed and / or pressure at which the surface member collides with the measurement sample as necessary.

  As described above, in the present invention, since the voltage detection means changes the speed and / or pressure at which the surface member collides with the measurement sample, the measurement is performed by changing the speed and / or pressure of the collision. The characteristic (peak-like) electrostatic voltage waveform in the sample can be detected. Based on this characteristic voltage waveform, the material of the measurement sample can be reliably and quickly identified by simply contacting and separating with a simple configuration. Have

  Further, in the material identification device according to the present invention, the voltage detection means forms a plurality of different types of dielectrics interposed between the first and second metal electrodes, as necessary, and the material identification means However, the material is discriminated based on each reference sample data obtained in advance corresponding to the plurality of different types of dielectrics.

  As described above, in the present invention, the voltage detection unit forms the dielectrics interposed between the first and second metal electrodes in a plurality of different types, respectively, and the material discrimination unit has the plurality of different types. Since the material is discriminated based on the reference sample data obtained in advance corresponding to the dielectric material, it can be distinguished by the maximum value and the rise time among the different electrostatic voltage waveforms caused by the difference in the dielectric type. With a simple structure, the material of the measurement sample can be reliably and quickly identified simply by contacting / separating.

  In the material identification device according to the present invention, if necessary, the voltage detection means uses piezoelectric ceramics, grounds one electrode of the piezoelectric ceramics, and adheres a surface member made of a dielectric to the other electrode. Is formed.

  As described above, in the present invention, since the voltage detection means is formed using piezoelectric ceramics, the voltage generated at the time of contact / separation with respect to the measurement sample can be uniformly generated according to each measurement sample, With a simple configuration, the material of the measurement sample can be reliably and quickly identified simply by contacting / separating.

(First embodiment of the present invention)
Hereinafter, a material identifying apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 is an overall block diagram of the material identification device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a voltage detection unit in the material identification device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a voltage detection in the material identification device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a voltage waveform diagram of the voltage waveform detector based on the detected voltage shown in FIG.

  In each of the drawings, the material identification device according to this embodiment includes a dielectric 13 between the first and second metal electrodes 11 and 12, and the dielectric 13 is formed on the surface of the first metal electrode 11. A voltage generated between the first and second metal electrodes 11 and 12 by bonding the surface member 14 and grounding the second metal electrode 12 and bringing the surface member 14 into contact with and separating from the measurement sample 100. A voltage detector 1 for detecting the voltage, a voltage waveform detector 2 for detecting a voltage waveform (hereinafter referred to as “detected voltage waveform”) based on the detected voltage, and a maximum voltage value of the detected voltage from the detected voltage waveform. And a voltage rise time detector for detecting a time from a voltage value 1/10 of the maximum voltage value to the maximum voltage value (hereinafter referred to as “voltage rise time”). 4 and this is detected A material discriminating unit 5 that discriminates any material of the plurality of measurement samples 100 according to whether or not the maximum voltage value and the voltage rise time match the reference sample data obtained in advance for the plurality of measurement samples 100; It is.

  The voltage detector 1 is configured such that the surface member 14 is exposed in an acrylic container 62 attached to the tip of the robot arm 63 in the driving device 6. The driving device 6 is housed in an acrylic container 62 based on the control of the collision operation control unit 61 that controls the operation of causing the voltage detection unit 1 to collide with the measurement sample 100 under a predetermined condition. The voltage detection unit 1 includes a robot arm 63 that rotates and collides with the measurement sample 100 in the arrow direction.

  The material discriminating unit 5 has a maximum voltage value based on a detection voltage obtained by experimentally testing each measurement sample 100 of which the reference sample data is made of a plurality of materials (executed under the same conditions as in material discrimination). The voltage rise time is formed as a database for each measurement sample 100 of each material, and is stored in a memory (not shown). In addition, the determination result of the material determined by the material determination unit 5 is output to the display device 7. The display device 7 can also display the surface shape of the measurement sample 100 as an image together with the type of material.

  Next, the material discriminating operation of the material discriminating apparatus according to this embodiment based on the above configuration will be described. First, the driving device 6 is activated and controlled by the collision operation control unit 61 so as to be in a predetermined collision state (for example, a state in which the surface member 14 of the voltage detection unit 1 collides at a right angle with respect to the measurement sample 100). The robot arm 63 rotates in the direction of arrow A.

  As the robot arm 63 rotates, the voltage detector 1 housed in the acrylic container 62 collides with the measurement sample 100 at a predetermined speed. At the time of collision with the measurement sample 100, static electricity is generated due to friction between the surface member 14 of the voltage detection unit 1 and the measurement sample 100, and the first and second metal electrodes are insulated from the dielectric 13 by the static electricity. The polarized positive charges are input from the metal electrode 11 to the voltage waveform detector 2.

  The voltage waveform detector 2 to which the positive charge voltage is input filters only a signal between 10 Hz and 30 Hz from the input voltage shown in FIG. 3 by a band-pass filter (not shown), and FIG. The detected voltage waveform shown in FIG. Based on this detected voltage waveform, the maximum voltage detector 3 detects the maximum voltage value of the detected voltage in the detected voltage waveform. On the other hand, the voltage rise time detection unit 4 detects the time from the voltage 1/10 of the maximum voltage value to the maximum voltage value as the voltage rise time based on the detected voltage waveform.

The detected maximum voltage value and voltage rise time are input to the material discriminating unit 5. The material discriminating unit 5 sequentially reads the reference sample data from the memory, and the material of the measurement sample 100 having the same maximum voltage value and voltage rise time. The material is discriminated based on the search result. This discrimination result is displayed on the display screen of the display device 7, and it is possible to know what kind of material the measurement sample 100 is made of.
(Other embodiments of the present invention)
In the material identification device according to another embodiment of the present invention, the first embodiment is configured to determine the material determination of the measurement sample 100 based on the maximum voltage value of the voltage waveform and the voltage rise time. The material discriminating unit 5 may discriminate the material from the voltage waveform itself detected by the voltage waveform detecting unit 2. The material discriminating unit 5 stores a voltage waveform obtained in advance for each of the plurality of measurement samples 100 as reference sample data in a memory as image data, detects coincidence of the image data by pattern matching, and detects the material by the coincidence detection. To determine. In the case of the present embodiment, the voltage waveform detected by the voltage waveform detector 2 is directly input to the material discriminator 5, so that the maximum voltage detector 3 and the voltage rise time detector 4 are omitted. A circuit configuration can be obtained.

  In addition, the material identification device according to another embodiment has a configuration in which voltage detection is performed by changing the speed and / or pressure at which the driving device 6 collides or contacts (or abuts) the voltage detection unit 1 with the measurement sample 100. You can also In particular, it is desirable that the collision or contact (or contact) with changing the speed and / or pressure is performed under the condition that the detection voltage or the voltage waveform appears characteristically due to the difference in the material of the measurement sample 100. Accordingly, collision or contact is performed at different speeds and / or pressures for different materials to create reference sample data, and a voltage detection operation is performed under the same conditions as at the time of creation.

  Furthermore, in each said embodiment, it was set as the structure which interposed only the dielectric material 13 of the voltage detection part 1, However, The several dielectric material 13 which respectively interposed the multiple types of dielectric material 13 is formed, and this Reference sample data can also be created and configured in advance by a plurality of voltage detectors 1 using a plurality of types of dielectrics 13, respectively. The plurality of types of dielectrics 13 can be made of various dielectrics whose shapes such as acrylic, silicon, and ceramics do not easily change.

  In this manner, by forming the dielectric 13 of the voltage detection unit 1 with various different dielectrics, the voltage detection operation is performed with an optimal combination that can obtain characteristic (peak) detection results for various measurement samples 100. Therefore, the material can be discriminated with higher accuracy.

  As Example 1, the operation of discriminating materials of aluminum, wood, acrylic, and sponge as the measurement sample 100 is performed when the dielectric 13 of the voltage detection unit 1 is configured using ceramics (piezoelectric element), acrylic, and silicon, respectively. is there. The shape of aluminum, wood, acrylic, and sponge of the measurement sample 100 is formed with a size of 20 × 20 × 10 mm.

  The measurement condition is that each voltage detection unit 1 of ceramics, acrylic and silicon is contacted 10 times each, and the waveform after the third contact is measured, and the drive device 6 uses each measured value to determine each voltage detection unit 1. The measurement sample 100 was made to collide at the same speed of 30 cm / sec, and the pressure and contact state due to this collision were all performed under the same conditions. Numerical data obtained under these measurement conditions are shown in the table.

この表に示す各測定データは、衝突の３回目以降について測定された波形で計測１０回目までについて電圧検出部１より電圧を検出し、この各電圧の各波形をアルミニウム、木、アクリル、スポンジ毎に重畳した検出電圧に基づく電圧特性図を図５ないし図７に示す。

Each measurement data shown in this table is a waveform measured for the third and subsequent collisions, and the voltage is detected by the voltage detection unit 1 for the tenth measurement, and each waveform of each voltage is detected for each of aluminum, wood, acrylic, and sponge. FIG. 5 to FIG. 7 show voltage characteristic diagrams based on the detected voltage superimposed on.

  5 to 7, the large output waveform to the positive side in the voltage [mV] on the vertical axis is a waveform of static electricity generated at the beginning of the collision of the voltage detection unit 1 to the measurement sample 100, and thereafter. A large output waveform toward the negative side is a waveform of static electricity generated when the voltage detection unit 1 is separated from the measurement sample 100. Further, the output waveform that vibrates slightly in the middle of each of the large positive and negative output waveforms is an output waveform in a state where the surface member 14 of the voltage detection unit 1 is pressed against the surface of the measurement sample 100 and hardly generates static electricity. .

  The voltage waveform detector 2 detects a voltage waveform from the respective superimposed voltage characteristics, and this voltage waveform is indicated by a broken line in FIGS. The maximum voltage detector 3 detects each maximum voltage value from each voltage waveform indicated by the broken line, and the voltage rise time detector 4 detects each voltage rise time. The detected maximum voltage values and voltage rise times are displayed superimposed on FIGS. 8A and 8B, respectively.

  First, in FIG. 8A, the measurement sample 100 of aluminum, wood, acrylic, and sponge is determined based on each maximum voltage value. The material of aluminum, wood, and acrylic can be clearly discriminated regardless of the voltage detection unit 1 of ceramics, acrylic, or silicon. The material of the acrylic and sponge is somewhat difficult to judge by approximating the case of the voltage detector 1 made of ceramic and silicon, but can be clearly discriminated in the case of the voltage detector 1 of acrylic.

  Next, in FIG. 8B, determination of the measurement sample 100 of aluminum, wood, acrylic, and sponge is performed based on each voltage rise time. The aluminum and wood are extremely close to each other and difficult to discriminate regardless of the voltage detector 1 of ceramic, acrylic, or silicon. Acrylic and sponge for aluminum and wood can be clearly discriminated regardless of the voltage detector 1 of ceramic, acrylic or silicon.

  As described above, the maximum voltage value can distinguish the materials of aluminum and wood, and the voltage rise time can distinguish the materials of acrylic and sponge. Therefore, it can be understood that any material can be accurately discriminated.

1 is an overall block configuration diagram of a material identification device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is an expansion perspective view of the voltage detection part in the material identification device of FIG. It is a detection voltage output figure of the voltage detection part in the material identification device of FIG. It is a voltage waveform diagram by the voltage waveform detection part based on the detection voltage of FIG. . The voltage characteristic figure based on the measurement data which used the dielectric material in Example 1 of this invention as the acrylics is shown. The voltage characteristic figure based on the measurement data which used the dielectric material in Example 1 of this invention as silicon is shown. The voltage characteristic figure based on the measurement data which used the dielectric material in Example 1 of this invention as ceramics is shown. FIG. 8 shows superimposed characteristics of maximum voltage values and voltage rise times based on FIGS. 5 to 7 in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is the external appearance perspective view of the tactile sensor which is an example of the conventional material identification apparatus, and a whole system block diagram.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Voltage detection part 2 Voltage waveform detection part 3 Maximum voltage detection part 4 Voltage rise time detection part 5 Material discrimination | determination part 6 Drive apparatus 61 Collision motion control part 62 Acrylic container 63 Robot arm 7 Display apparatus 11, 12 Metal electrode 13 Dielectric 14 Surface member 100 Measurement sample 111 Tactile sensor 112 Medium 113 Sensor element 113a Coiled carbon fiber 114 Electrode 115 Conductor 116 Amplifying circuit 117 Power source 118 Measuring instrument

Claims (6)

A dielectric is interposed between the first and second metal electrodes, a surface member made of a dielectric is adhered to the surface of the first metal electrode, the second metal electrode is grounded, Voltage detecting means for detecting a voltage generated between the first and second metal electrodes by bringing the surface member into contact with or separated from the measurement sample;
Voltage waveform detecting means for detecting a voltage waveform based on the detected voltage;
A material identification device, comprising: a material discrimination means for discriminating a material of any of the plurality of measurement samples based on the detected voltage waveform and reference sample data obtained in advance for the plurality of measurement samples. In the material identification device according to claim 1,
The material identifying device, wherein the material identifying means determines a material based on a maximum voltage value in a voltage waveform and a rising time until the maximum voltage value is reached. In the material identification device according to claim 1 or 2,
The material identification device, wherein the voltage detection means causes a surface member to collide with a measurement sample. In the material identification device according to claim 3,
The material identification device characterized in that the voltage detection means changes the speed and / or pressure at which the surface member collides with the measurement sample. In the material identification device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The voltage detecting means is formed of a plurality of different types of dielectrics interposed between the first and second metal electrodes,
The material identifying device, wherein the material determining means determines a material based on each reference sample data obtained in advance corresponding to the plurality of different types of dielectrics. In the material identification device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The material identification device according to claim 1, wherein the voltage detecting means is formed by using piezoelectric ceramics, grounding one electrode of the piezoelectric ceramics, and bonding a surface member made of a dielectric to the other electrode.

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