JP2009150706A - Positioning apparatus in remote workroom - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positioning apparatus capable of being used in matching the location of an apparatus for work with a section of an object to be handled, when the object to be handled is to be processed by remote operation. <P>SOLUTION: The positioning apparatus is provided with two guide rails 3, installed horizontally in a remote workroom and intersecting each other at right angles; movable tables 5 and 7 which move along the guide rail for each guide rail; a drive unit 9 for moving the movable tables along the guide rails; and a slit light source device 13 mounted to each of the movable tables. The slit light source devices 13 each radiate slit-like visible light 17 in the vertical directions, to form a visible-light vertical line 19 at a target section 25 of the object to be handled 21. A workman performs positioning, by making the apparatus 23 for operations move to a section at which the visible-light vertical lines 19 are superimposed on one another. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning device and a distance measuring device used for working by remote control in an isolated remote working room.

For example, in order to carry out operations that could be damaged if the operator works directly, such as dismantling the reactor or processing radioactive contaminants or powerful drugs, the object to be handled is brought into a cell surrounded by a radiation shielding wall or an airtight cell. Thus, it is necessary for the operator to perform processing by remote control from outside the room.
Conventionally, when a device is operated remotely using a manipulator or the like in an isolated remote working room that handles radioactive substances and harmful substances, an operator visually positions it through an operation window. Especially in a remote work room that handles radioactive materials, a thick lead glass window is used, so the optical path is greatly refracted, and the amount of refraction differs depending on the direction of the line of sight. Skill and workmanship were required.

A method of automating the remote control device by guiding the remote control device to the correct position using auxiliary tools such as knock pins and dedicated bolts has also been developed. However, mechanical equipment and operation software have become complicated for full automation of remote control. This is very expensive.
In addition, it is difficult to measure distances and dimensions because it is difficult to handle a measuring instrument such as a caliper or a tape measure in a remote working room that is operated by remote control. In particular, measurement of several hundred mm or more is difficult.

Patent Document 1 discloses a laser positioning device including a laser projection device that projects laser light in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction.
The disclosed apparatus is an apparatus that automatically aligns a laser beam with a design reference position that has been performed manually in the past, and generates a marking line by automatic control. Is a laser positioning device that adjusts the orientation of the device by rotating the laser projection device so that the position of the laser beam coincides with that of the laser beam.
Even using the disclosed apparatus, it is not possible to perform positioning and dimension measurement on an object arbitrarily arranged in the remote work chamber.

Further, cited document 2 discloses a method of measuring the displacement in the vertical direction and horizontal direction of a structure with a laser distance meter.
The disclosed method is a simple measurement method that calculates the vertical displacement of the ceiling by measuring the distance between the target surface and a laser rangefinder that is fixed by setting the target surface on the ceiling, for example.
In the disclosed method, since it is necessary to install a target surface at a site to be measured, the displacement cannot be measured for any site. In addition, it is impossible to measure the distance between one part and another part in the measurement object or the dimensions of parts.
JP 2003-035539 A JP 2002-257545 A

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a positioning device that can be used for adapting the position of the working device and the part of the object when processing the object to be handled by remote control.
Provides a positioning device that assists in accurately recognizing the target part of the object to be handled and the position of the work equipment by visual inspection through the operation window, especially when processing radioactive contamination in a remote work room. It is to be.
Moreover, it is providing the positioning apparatus which can be utilized also as a distance measuring apparatus which measures the dimension of the handling target object, and the distance between parts.

The positioning device of the present invention used when applying work equipment to an object to be handled in an isolated remote work chamber includes two guide rails that form two orthogonal axes installed horizontally in the remote work chamber, and a guide At least one movable table that moves along the guide rail for each rail, a drive device that moves the movable table along the guide rail, and a slit light source device that is mounted on each movable table. Thus, each of the slit light source devices emits slit-like visible light in the vertical direction.
The slit light source device may be a laser emitting device that scans visible laser light in a screen shape.

The positioning device of the present invention may further include a distance measuring device that measures the moving distance of the movable table. Further, it is preferable that the imaging device is provided on a movable table so that the projection of the slit-like visible light is displayed as a straight line. For example, if the principal point of the imaging device is arranged within the slit plane of visible light, the trace irradiated with slit-like visible light is photographed as a straight line. The image is displayed on a display device provided in an operation room where the operator operates a manipulator or a tool in the remote work room.
Furthermore, three-dimensional positioning can be performed by providing a guide rail that guides in the vertical direction, a movable table that moves along the guide rail, and a slit light source device that emits slit-like visible light. .

When using the positioning device of the present invention, the slit light source device that irradiates the slit-like visible light is moved so that the vertical plane cutting line of the handling object formed by the slit light is aligned with the position passing through the operation target part. The slit-like visible light becomes invisible when it is removed from the object to be handled, but if a manipulator or jig is brought into the irradiation area, it appears as a vertical line on the surface of the jig. Therefore, the operation unit such as a tool is moved to the position of the slit light so that the operation unit is irradiated with the slit light. Thereby, the position of the operation object part and the operation part can be aligned in the vertical direction.
When the same operation is performed for the two horizontal axes, and the position of the horizontal biaxial slit-like visible light is adjusted so that it passes through the operation object and the operation part such as a jig, the operation part is positioned immediately above the operation target part. Become.

Since the light beam appearing on the surface of the object to be handled or the tool can be observed without error even through a thick operation window, the tool can be positioned easily and accurately by using the positioning device of the present invention. .
When slit-like visible light is formed by scanning visible laser light, even when the remote work chamber is large and the object to be handled is large, there is little light diffusion and accurate positioning is possible regardless of the position of the object. it can.
In addition, when the image of the slit-shaped visible light projected by the imaging device provided on the movable table is photographed, a linear light beam is observed. It is very easy to adjust the position of the movable table so as to be positioned on the light beam.

Also, when measuring the dimensions of the part of the object to be handled, place the movable table at the position where the slit-shaped visible light irradiates the end point of the object to be measured, measure that position, and then irradiate the other end point. If the position is measured by aligning the movable table with the position to be measured, and the difference between the two is taken, the horizontal displacement can be accurately obtained.
Moreover, if the distance of each axial direction is calculated | required about 2 horizontal axes, the linear distance in a horizontal surface can be calculated | required from each distance of 2 axial directions.

For this position measurement, there are various methods such as a method using an encoder applied to a driving device for a movable table and a method for measuring a distance from a movable table to a fixed target with a well-known instrument such as a laser range finder. Can be used. The measurement accuracy is determined by the measurement method used, but can be measured with high accuracy from several mm to several tens of meters.
Measuring two or more movable tables on the guide rails of each axis, measuring the position of each movable table, and calculating the displacement or distance between the movable tables, thereby measuring the dimension or distance between the slit light irradiation positions. Is also possible.

  Note that a vertical positioning device is required to measure dimensions in any direction. Positioning in the vertical direction can be performed by a guide rail attached in the vertical direction, a slit light source device adapted to be driven in the vertical direction, and a distance measuring device. If the distance difference in the vertical direction is given, the distance difference in an arbitrary direction can be obtained together with the distance difference between the two axes in the horizontal direction.

  The positioning device of the present invention can perform assistance for accurate positioning even without the skill and skill of the operator. In addition, in order to perform positioning, it is not necessary to add a special device or processing to the object, and thus it can be applied to any object.

Hereinafter, the positioning device of the present invention will be described in detail using embodiments.
A present Example is an example which concerns on the case where it uses, when applying the hanging tool lowered | hung from the crane which is a working apparatus to the hook which is the operation target object of the handling target object in a remote working room.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state of a remote working chamber to which a positioning device of the present embodiment is applied, with a wall cut away, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a procedure for positioning a jig as a working device. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure example when using the dimension measuring function of the positioning device of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, an X-direction guide rail 3-1 and a Y-direction guide rail 3-2 are laid horizontally along the wall at the inner wall of the remote work chamber 1.
Two movable tables 5-1 and 5-2; 7-1 and 7-2 are incorporated in the guide rail 3 so as to be movable along the rails. The movable tables 5 and 7 can be moved independently by the driving devices 9-1 and 9-2.

For example, the movable table 5, 7 is controlled in the axial direction by the guide rail 3, and the movable table 5, 7 is loaded with a ball screw having an axis parallel to the guide rail 3. A device that moves the movable tables 5 and 7 in the axial direction by rotating the drive shafts 11-1 and 11-2 that drive the screws can be used. The two movable tables 5 and 7 can be independently driven by a single drive shaft 11 by using a chuck that controls the interlocking of the male screw of the ball screw and the drive shaft 11, but each of the separate drive shafts can be driven. 11 may be driven independently.
The drive device 9 may be a device that moves the wire by connecting wires to the movable tables 5 and 7 and adjusting the winding amount of the wire.

  The driving device 9 includes a distance measuring device that measures the amount of movement of the movable tables 5 and 7. As the distance measuring device, an apparatus in which an encoder is attached to the male screw of the ball screw of the drive shaft 11 and the amount of movement of the movable tables 5 and 7 is measured by measuring the rotation angle of the male screw can be used. Further, a laser rangefinder may be used in which a reflecting surface is installed on the movable tables 5 and 7 and a distance is calculated from a phase difference generated while the laser reciprocates between the reflecting surface and the guide rail end.

A light emitting device 13 and an imaging device 15 are mounted on the movable tables 5 and 7, respectively.
The light emitting device 13 is a slit light source device that radiates slit-like visible light 17 in the vertical direction. The slit-like visible light 17 is irradiated on the object and presents a visible light vertical line 19. The slit light source device may be a laser emitting device that scans visible laser light in a screen shape.
The imaging device 15 arranges the principal point in the slit surface of the slit-like visible light 17 so that the visible light vertical line 19 formed by projecting the slit-like visible light onto the object surface is photographed as a straight line. The image acquired by the imaging device 15 is displayed on a display device provided in a remote operation room where an operator operates a manipulator or a tool in the remote work room.

  The remote work room 1 is, for example, an isolation room for processing radioactive contaminants. The remote work room 1 is surrounded by a thick wall and prohibits people from entering while the radioactive contaminants are stored. The operation is performed using a remote operation device provided in an adjacent operation room. The remote operation device is manually operated by an operator, and the operator operates the device while visually recognizing through an operation window provided on the wall. The driving window is made of thick lead glass, and the light rays are refracted greatly, and the amount of refraction varies depending on the direction, so the sense of distance varies depending on the position of the face. Skill is required.

  For example, suppose that the hanging tool 23 is hung on the hook 25 and lifted in order to process the handling object 21 carried into the room of the remote work room 1. At this time, by using the positioning device of the present embodiment, the horizontal alignment of the hook 25 and the hanging tool 23 which are the operation objects can be easily performed.

In the alignment procedure of the hook 25 and the lifting tool 23, as shown in FIG. 2, first, the light emitting device 13 mounted on the movable table 5-1 mounted on the X-axis guide rail 3-1 is turned on. The slit-shaped visible light 17 is irradiated so that the X-axis visible light vertical line 19 is projected onto the handling object 21 (S11).
While observing the position of the X-axis visible light vertical line 19, the movable table 5-1 is moved so that the X-axis visible light vertical line 19 is projected to the target position on the surface of the hook 25 that is the operation target. (S12).
Next, the hanging tool 23, which is a working device, is moved so that the X-axis visible light vertical line 19 overlaps the operation unit of the hanging tool 23 (S13).

Since the visible light vertical line 19 is directly formed on the object surface, even when observed through a thick driving window, the visible light vertical line 19 does not deviate depending on the position of the observer's face, and the mutual positional relationship between the hanger 23 and the hook 25. Anyone can recognize correctly.
Furthermore, since the light beam is observed as a straight line when the visible light vertical line 19 is photographed and displayed on the image display device by the imaging device 15 disposed in parallel with the light emitting device 13, the object of the object 21 to be handled is viewed while looking at the image display device. It is extremely easy to adjust the position of the movable table 5 so that the portion 25 is positioned on the light beam.

Similarly, for alignment in the Y-axis direction, the object 21 is irradiated with the visible light vertical line 19 of the slit-like visible light 17 of the light-emitting device 13 mounted on the movable table 5-2 on the Y-axis side ( S14), the Y-axis visible light vertical line 19 is made to coincide with the operation target 25 (S15).
Then, when the hanging tool 23 is moved so that the Y-axis visible light vertical line 19 overlaps the operation part of the hanging tool 23 (S16), the hanging tool 23 and the hook 25 that is the operation object are on the XY plane. They are at the same coordinates and are located on the same vertical line.

Thus, accurate positioning of the jig in the horizontal direction is completed.
In addition, when slit-like visible light is formed by scanning visible laser light, the light is less diffused and the slit width is narrow, so the position can be specified more accurately, and the remote work room is large and the object to be handled and the light emitting device Even when the distance 13 is large, the positioning accuracy does not deteriorate.

  First, the positions of the two movable tables of the X-axis and the Y-axis are adjusted, and both the X-axis visible light vertical line 19 and the Y-axis visible light vertical line 19 are the positions of the hooks 25 that are the operation objects. After that, the position of the hanging tool 23 is adjusted so that the visible light vertical lines 19 of both the X axis and the Y axis appear on the operation part of the hanging tool 23, and then the hanging tool 23. Needless to say, the hook 25 may be positioned on the vertical line.

The amount of movement of the movable table 5 can be accurately measured by a distance measuring device. Therefore, an accurate dimension can be obtained for an arbitrary part of the handling object 21.
In the dimension or distance measurement method, first, the light emitting device 13 is turned on to generate the X-axis visible light vertical line 19 in accordance with the procedure shown in FIG. The position of the movable table 5 is adjusted so as to coincide with the line 19 (S22), and the measured value of the distance measuring device is obtained (S23). Next, the visible light vertical line 19 is moved to obtain the measured value of the distance measuring device when the other end point of the portion whose dimension is to be obtained coincides with the visible light vertical line 19 (S24). When the difference is calculated, this value becomes the dimension in the X direction (S25).

If the same measurement is performed using the Y-axis distance measuring device (S26, S27, S28, S29, S30), the dimension can be obtained in an arbitrary direction in the horizontal plane using the measured values of the X-axis and the Y-axis. (S31).
Furthermore, if a distance measuring device in the vertical direction is further provided so that the vertical dimension can also be measured, a three-dimensional dimension can be obtained.

In the case of an apparatus having two or more movable tables 5 on one axis, the two operation tables 5 are arranged at both end positions to be measured using the light emitting device 13, and the dimensions are obtained from the difference between the measured values of the two. It may be.
It goes without saying that the distance between arbitrary positions can also be measured by the same method.

  Further, the position measurement values of the handling object 21 and the movable table 5 are relatively determined, so that the movable table 5 is moved to the XY coordinate position of the operation object 25 and the visible light vertical line 19 is moved to the operation object. 25, and can be used to move the operation unit 23 such as a manipulator using the visible light vertical line 19 as an index.

  As described above, by using the positioning device of the present invention, when applying a jig by remote control to an object to be handled in a remote work chamber, positioning is extremely easy and accurate compared to the conventional case. be able to. In particular, when applied to a remote working room for handling radioactive contaminants, it is possible to accurately position even through thick operation windows, so that the work efficiency can be significantly improved.

It is a notch perspective view explaining the structure in one Example of the positioning device of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the example of the positioning procedure of the tool in a present Example. It is a flowchart explaining the example of the dimension measurement procedure in a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote working room 3 Guide rail 5,7 Movable table 9 Drive apparatus 11 Drive shaft 13 Light-emitting apparatus 15 Imaging apparatus 17 Slit-like visible light 19 Visible light vertical line 21 Handling object 23 Hanging tool; Operation part 25 Hook;

Claims (5)

Two guide rails that form two orthogonal axes installed horizontally in the remote work chamber, at least one movable table that moves along the guide rail for each guide rail, and the movable table to the guide rail And a slit light source device mounted on each of the movable tables. The slit light source device emits slit-like visible light in the vertical direction. Remote working room positioning device. The remote working chamber positioning device according to claim 1, further comprising a third guide rail for guiding in a vertical direction, wherein the third guide rail includes another movable table and a slit light source device. 3. The remote working chamber positioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slit light source device is a laser emitting device that scans visible laser light in a screen shape. The remote work chamber positioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a distance measuring device that measures a moving distance of the movable table. The remote working room positioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an imaging device is further provided on the movable table so that the projection of the slit-like visible light is displayed as a straight line.

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