JP2009211722A - Remotely-operated measuring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve operability of a measuring machine by improving the real-time property of an image display, when the measuring machine is remotely operated. <P>SOLUTION: An image measuring machine 1 is provided with an image data compressing section 13 which compresses image data of a workpiece picked up by an imaging apparatus 10, a data communication section 14 which transmits the compressed image data to a remote control terminal 2 in real time, and a switching circuit 51 which selects whether to send the image data to the image data compressing section 13 or to the data communication section 14 without compressing. The remote control terminal 2 is provided with a data communication section 21 which receives the compressed image data, an image data expanding section 22 which expands the received compressed image data, an image displaying section 23 which displays the expanded image data in real time, a switching circuit 52 which sends the compressed image data to the image data expanding section 22 and sends the uncompressed image data to an image storage section 12b, and an image measurement processing section 15b which subjects stored image data to measurement processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remotely operated measurement system for operating a measuring machine such as an image measuring machine or a three-dimensional measuring machine from a remote location.

  In the case of an in-line type measurement system in which an image measuring machine, a three-dimensional measuring machine, etc. are incorporated in the production line, or a system for measuring in a measurement environment such as a clean room that is strictly controlled by air conditioning, the measuring machine is installed from a separate operation room. A remote-controlled measurement system that is remotely operated may be constructed. In this type of remote control system, a CMM or image measuring machine placed at the measurement site and a remote control device placed in the operation room are connected to each other via a communication line, signal cable, etc. An operation instruction command from the operating device is transferred to the measuring instrument or its controller to operate the measuring instrument.

  When the measuring machine is an image measuring machine, operation instructions such as workpiece movement, setting of measurement conditions such as light intensity, and measurement location instructions must be performed on the workpiece image captured by the camera of the image measuring machine. The remote control device receives the work image transmitted from the measuring machine and displays it on the display device. Further, even when the measuring machine is a three-dimensional measuring machine using a touch signal probe, it is necessary to move the probe while confirming the workpiece and its surroundings by manual measurement or teaching operation during repeat. For this reason, for example, a CCD camera or the like for imaging the workpiece and its surroundings is arranged in the vicinity of the coordinate measuring machine, and the image of the workpiece captured by this camera is displayed on the display device of the remote control device and necessary operations are performed. Has been made to do.

  However, in such a conventional remote control type measurement system, it is necessary to transfer a large amount of image data together with commands necessary for operation between the measurement machine and the remote control device. Depending on the communication speed, there is a problem that the update of the image is delayed and the measurement operation becomes difficult and cannot be put into practical use.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a remote-operated measurement system that can improve the operability by improving the real-time property of image display when the measuring machine is remotely operated. Objective.

A remote operation type measurement system according to the present invention is a remote operation type measurement system in which a measuring machine for measuring an object to be measured and a remote operation means for remotely operating the object are connected via a predetermined signal transmission medium. The measuring device includes: an imaging unit that images the measurement object; an image data compression unit that compresses image data of the measurement object obtained by the imaging unit; and a compressed image compressed by the image data compression unit. Data transmission means for transmitting data to the remote control means in real time via the signal transmission medium, and image data of the measurement object obtained by the imaging means is sent to the image data compression means or not compressed and a first switching means for selecting when to send the data transmission means, said remote control means, data reception for receiving the compressed image data sent through the signal transmitting medium Stage, image data decompressing means for decompressing the compressed image data received by the data receiving means, display means for displaying the image data decompressed by the image data decompressing means in real time, and Operation instruction means for giving an operation instruction via a signal transmission medium, image data storage means for storing image data of the object to be measured that is not compressed, and when received data is the compressed image data In the case of image data that has not been compressed and sent to the image data decompression means, a second switching means for sending the image data to the image data storage means, and a predetermined change in the image data stored in the image data storage means And image measurement processing means for measuring the coordinates of the measurement points of the object to be measured .

  According to the present invention, the image data is compressed on the measuring machine side, and the remote operation means side that receives the compressed image data is expanded and displayed on the remote operation means side. The amount of image data to be transmitted can be reduced. For this reason, the real time property of the display screen at the time of the measurement operation is ensured, and the measurement operation becomes easy. In particular, in the case of this type of measurement system, the image movement accompanying the measurement operation is mostly limited to panning, zooming in, zooming out, luminance change, and the like. In the case of these movements, the correlation between the image data before and after on the time axis is extremely high. This means that when a method such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) is used as a compression / decompression method for image data, the bidirectional prediction error of the image after motion vector compensation is very small. Yes. Therefore, according to the present invention, since an image with extremely high compression efficiency is handled, the amount of image data to be transmitted can be greatly reduced, and real-time performance can be sufficiently secured. Further, the compression / decompression process of the image data may be a process of simply thinning out the image data at a constant interval on the transmission side and interpolating on the reception side.

  When the measuring machine is an image measuring machine, the image data storage means for storing the image data of the object to be measured obtained by the imaging means without compression, and a predetermined process for the image data stored in the image data storage means It is more preferable to provide image measurement processing means for measuring the object to be measured. In this case, even if the image data transferred to the remote control means is compressed, the image data that is actually used for the measurement process becomes high-definition image data before compression, so that the measurement accuracy is insignificant. Moreover, it does not decline.

  In this case, it is desirable that the image data to be transferred is supplied to the image data compression unit without being temporarily stored in the image data storage unit. In this way, since the reading operation from the image data storage means for displaying an image is eliminated, the access time to the image data storage means for the measurement process is increased, and the speed of the measurement process can be improved.

  According to the present invention, the image data is compressed on the measuring machine side, and the remote operation means side that receives the compressed image data is expanded and displayed on the remote operation means side. The amount of image data to be transmitted can be reduced. For this reason, the real time property of the display screen at the time of the measurement operation is ensured, and the measurement operation is facilitated.

It is a block diagram of the remote control type image measurement system concerning the 1st reference example. It is a block diagram of the remote control type image measurement system which concerns on a 2nd reference example. It is a block diagram of the remote control type image measurement system which concerns on a 3rd reference example. It is a block diagram of the remote control type three-dimensional measurement system which concerns on a 4th reference example. 1 is a block diagram of a remotely operated image measurement system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the remote control type image measurement system which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of the image extraction in the Example. It is a figure which shows the pixel arrangement | sequence of the extracted image and acquired image whole range in the Example. It is a figure which shows the correspondence of the pixel of the extraction image and the acquired image whole range in the Example.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote control type image measurement system according to a first reference example. This system includes an image measuring machine 1 and a remote control terminal 2 connected via a wired or wireless signal transmission medium such as a LAN, RS422, telephone line, or the like. The measuring device 1 is accompanied by an imaging device 10. The imaging device 10 is an imaging means such as a CCD camera that images a workpiece (object to be measured) (not shown), and is arranged as a part of the image measuring machine 1 in a specific measurement environment such as a clean room.

  The image measuring machine 1 is configured as follows. That is, the video signal output from the imaging device 10 is converted into image data suitable for memory storage by an image data conversion unit 11 such as a video decoder and stored in an image data storage unit 12 such as a frame buffer. The image data stored in the image data storage unit 12 is sequentially read and supplied to the image data compression unit 13. The image data compression unit 13 performs data compression processing such as MPEG encoding or thinning on the input image data to reduce the data amount. The compressed image data is transmitted to the remote operation terminal 2 via the data communication unit 14 (data transmission means). The uncompressed image data stored in the image data storage unit 12 is subjected to measurement processing in the image measurement processing unit 15. The measurement instruction transmitted from the remote operation terminal 2 is received by the data communication unit 14 and supplied to the image measurement processing unit 15. The image measurement processing unit 15 also receives an instruction from the operation instruction unit 16 attached to the image measuring machine 1.

  On the other hand, the remote control terminal 2 is configured as follows. The compressed image data transmitted from the image measuring device 1 is received by the data communication unit 21 (data receiving unit) and supplied to the image data decompression unit 22. The image data decompression unit performs MPEG decoding or linear interpolation processing on the compressed image data, and decompresses the image data to the original number of pixels. The expanded image data is displayed on the image display unit 23. The operation instruction input via the operation instruction unit 24 is transferred to the image measuring machine 1 via the data communication unit 21. In response to this, the measurement result obtained by the measurement process by the image measurement processing unit 15 of the image measuring machine 1 is sent to the remote operation terminal 2 via the data communication unit 14 and the measurement result display of the remote operation terminal 2 is displayed. Displayed in section 25.

  According to the measurement system configured in this way, during actual image measurement, the workpiece measurement is performed by the image measurement processing unit 15 using the high-definition data stored in the image data storage unit 12. There is no deterioration in accuracy. In addition, since the work image for giving the measurement instruction is compressed by the image data compression unit 13 and transferred, it can be displayed on the image display unit 23 in real time even when the communication line speed is low. Become. Therefore, the operator can operate the operation instructing unit 24 while referring to the image displayed on the image display unit 23 to perform the instruction of the measurement location, the setting of the measurement conditions, the operation of starting the measurement, and the like without any trouble.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a remotely operated image measuring system according to a second reference example. This reference example is different from the previous reference example in that the image data output from the image data conversion unit 11 is directly supplied to the image data compression unit 13 without going through the image data storage unit 12. According to this reference example, since the access to the image data storage unit 12 and the image data compression / transmission process are completely separated, the image data is displayed during the display update process in the image display unit 23 of the remote operation terminal 2. No read operation from the storage unit 12 is involved. For this reason, during the display update of the image display unit 23, the image measurement processing unit 15 can access the image data storage unit 12 and execute the measurement process. For this reason, the measurement process can be executed smoothly. Further, according to the present invention, the image data is supplied to the image data compression unit 13 without going through the process of storing and reading out the image data in the image data storage unit 12, so that the real time display on the image display unit 23 is performed. There is also an advantage that the property is increased over the previous reference example.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a remotely operated measurement system according to a third reference example. This reference example is the reference example differs from FIG. 2, in addition to the image data conversion unit 11 for image measurement, an image data conversion section 17 for image data compression is provided, the video signal supplied from the imaging device 10 The signal distributor 18 distributes the image data to the image data converters 11 and 17, respectively. In this reference example, an image measurement data path including a signal distribution unit 18 → image data conversion unit 11 → image data storage unit 12 → image measurement processing unit 15 and a signal distribution unit 18 → image data conversion unit 17 → image data compression. Since the image display data path composed of the unit 13 → the data communication unit 14 is independent, the configuration of the apparatus is simplified. For example, if the expansion board 19 having the functions of the signal distribution unit 18, the image data conversion unit 17, and the image data compression unit 13 is attached to the image measuring device 1, the image display image transmitted to the remote operation terminal 2 is displayed. Data can always be transmitted without imposing a burden on the CPU of the image measuring device 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a reference example of the three-dimensional measurement system . The coordinate measuring machine 3 and the above-described remote control device 2 are connected to each other via a communication line. The coordinate measuring machine 3 includes a coordinate measuring machine main body 31, a control device 32 that drives and controls the computer, a computer that outputs measurement commands to the control device 32, and executes necessary arithmetic processing on measurement data. 33.

  The measuring machine main body 31 moves the probe 42 in a three-dimensional direction with respect to the workpiece 41 and measures a predetermined dimension of the workpiece 41 from probe coordinates at which the workpiece 41 and the probe 42 are in contact with each other. The control device 32 controls the coordinate measuring machine main body 31 based on the operation of the operation instruction unit 16 or an operation instruction given from the remote operation terminal 2 via the computer 33. The measurement region including the probe 42 is imaged by the imaging device 10, and the obtained video signal is converted into image data by the image data conversion unit 11 of the computer 33, and then the data is compressed by the image data compression unit 13 and data communication is performed. It is transmitted to the remote control terminal 2 via the unit 14. As a result, the remote operating terminal 2 can confirm the measurement status of the coordinate measuring machine main body 31. Further, the operation instruction input from the remote operation terminal 2 is received by the data communication unit 14 and given to the control device 32 via the three-dimensional measurement processing unit 43.

Even in a remote control type measurement system using a coordinate measuring machine as in this reference example, when the image data of a measurement location is transferred from the measuring machine side to the remote control terminal side, the above-described image compression transfer method should be used. Therefore, manual measurement and teaching operation can be performed in real time, and operability is greatly improved.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a remotely operated measurement system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the reference example of FIG. 1, an image data storage unit 12 and an image measurement processing unit 15 that store original image data that is not compressed are provided on the image measuring machine 1 side. On the other hand, in this embodiment, an image data storage unit 12b and an image measurement processing unit 15b corresponding to the image data storage unit 12 and the image measurement processing unit 15 in FIG. 2 is configured as a main measuring device.

  The image measuring machine 1 is provided with a switching circuit 51 for selecting whether the image data obtained from the image data conversion unit 11 is sent to the image data compression unit 13 or sent to the data communication unit 14 without being compressed. It has been. Correspondingly, the remote control terminal 2 also sends the received data to the image data decompression unit 22 if the received data is compressed image data, and if the received data is uncompressed original image data, the image data is sent to the remote operation terminal 2 as well. A switching circuit 52 that performs switching for sending to the data storage unit 12b is provided. Further, a switching circuit 53 is provided for selecting which of the output of the image data decompression unit 22 and the image data storage unit 12b is to be displayed on the image display unit 23.

  In this embodiment, the switching circuit 51 of the image measuring machine 1 and the switching circuits 52 and 53 on the remote operation terminal 2 side are controlled by operation instruction data from the operation instruction unit 24. That is, when determining measurement conditions such as a measurement position, the switching circuits 52 and 53 are connected to the image data decompression unit 22 side according to an instruction from the operation instruction unit 24. At the same time, the same instruction from the operation instruction unit 24 is transmitted to the image measuring machine 1 side via the data communication units 21 and 14, the switching circuit 51 is controlled, and the image data is input to the image data compression unit 13. As a result, the compressed image data is transmitted to the remote operation terminal 2 and displayed on the image display unit 23. The operator can operate and set the measurement conditions by looking at the compressed image displayed on the image display unit 23.

  On the other hand, in the case of measurement, the switching circuit 51 on the image measuring machine 1 side is switched to send the original image data as it is to the data communication unit 14 without being compressed. The switching circuits 52 and 53 on the remote operation terminal 2 side are connected to the image data storage unit 12b side. Thereby, the original image data is sent to the remote operation terminal 2 side and stored in the image data storage unit 12b. Based on the data, the measurement processing in the image measurement processing unit 15b and the display on the image display unit 23 are performed. Made. In the case of this embodiment as well, even when an operation is performed from a remote location, the measurement location and measurement conditions can be instructed while monitoring the image of the object to be measured in almost real time. In addition, since uncompressed or undecimated original image data is used for image measurement, the measurement accuracy does not deteriorate.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a remotely operated measurement system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is a modification of the embodiment of FIG. 5, and an image data extraction unit 61 is further provided on the path between the switching circuit 51 of the image measuring machine 1 and the data communication unit 14. The image data extraction unit 61 can extract only the designated range of the original image and transmit it to the remote operation terminal 2 side at the time of measurement. Which range of data extraction is to be performed by the image data extraction unit 61 is determined by sending an instruction from the operation instruction unit 24 via the data communication units 21 and 14.

  The switching circuit 51 of the image measuring machine 1 and the switching circuit 52 of the remote operation terminal 2 are controlled in the same manner as in the embodiment of FIG. Accordingly, the original image data extracted by the image data extraction unit 61 is transmitted to the remote operation terminal 2 and stored in the image data storage unit 12b. Based on the stored data, the image measurement processing unit 15b measures the dimension of the object to be measured. The measurement result is displayed on the display unit 25.

  The remote operation terminal 2 is provided with an image composition / storage unit 62 between the image display unit 23, the image data decompression unit 22, and the image data storage unit 12b. That is, when the received data is compressed image data, the data is decompressed by the image data decompression unit 22, temporarily stored in the image composition / storage unit 62, and displayed on the image display unit 23. Then, the extracted image data stored in the image data storage unit 12b is combined with the decompressed image data stored in advance in the image composition / storage unit 62 so that it can be displayed on the image display unit 23. It has become.

  A specific method of extracting image data by the image data extracting unit 61 will be described next. The acquired original image data is assumed to be composed of m × n pixel data of m rows and n columns as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the operation instruction unit 24 designates a rectangular range from the a row / b column (a, b) to the c row / d column (c, d) as the image measurement range. This range designation data is transmitted to the image data extraction unit 61. In the image data extraction unit 61, based on the range designation data, only a rectangular region having diagonal lines of the pixels (a, b) and (c, d) is selected from the entire image data range, as shown by hatching in FIG. To extract.

  When the range of the extracted image is specified as described above, the position on the entire acquired image range can be obtained from the extracted image data as follows. FIG. 8 shows the pixel array of the entire range of the acquired image and the pixel array of the extracted image. Now, as shown in FIG. 9, let the pixel at the upper left corner of the extracted image be the origin (0, 0), and let the detected point on the extracted image obtained by measurement be (x, y). As shown in FIG. 8, the origin on the extracted image is (a, b) over the entire acquired image range. Accordingly, the detection point (x, y) on the extracted image is (x + a, y + b) over the entire range of the acquired image, as shown in FIG. From the above relationship, the position on the entire range of the acquired image is obtained only from the extracted image.

  In order for the image composition / storage unit 62 to combine and display the extracted image data with the entire range of the acquired image, the following may be performed. The image composition / storage unit 62 stores decompressed image data obtained by the image data decompression unit 22 before measurement. Therefore, the extracted image data stored in the image data storage unit 12b is overwritten on a rectangular range having diagonal lines (a, b) and (c, d) of the stored expanded image data. Thereby, it is possible to display an image of the entire range in which only a specific range is clear.

  According to this embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained in the previous embodiments, the following effects can be obtained. That is, since a specific range can be extracted and transmitted from the original image data at the time of measurement, the amount of data transfer can be reduced and the time required for measurement can be shortened.

  In the present invention, as the image data compression means, in addition to the above-mentioned MPEG, Motion JPEG, Microsoft Video 1 and RLE, Intel Indeo, Radius Cinepak, etc. can also be used. The same effect as above can be obtained.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image measuring machine, 2 ... Remote control terminal, 3 ... CMM, 11, 17 ... Image data conversion part, 12 ... Image data storage part, 13 ... Image data compression part, 14, 21 ... Data communication part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Image measurement process part, 16, 24 ... Operation instruction | indication part, 18 ... Signal distribution part, 22 ... Image data expansion | extraction part, 23 ... Image display part, 25 ... Measurement result display part

Claims (3)

A remotely operated measurement system in which a measuring machine for measuring an object to be measured and a remote operation means for remotely operating the object are connected via a predetermined signal transmission medium,
The measuring machine, the imaging means for imaging an object to be measured, and the image data compression means for compressing the image data of the object obtained by the image pickup means, the compressed image data compressed by the image data compressing means A data transmission means for transmitting in real time to the remote operation means via the signal transmission medium, and the image data of the object to be measured obtained by the imaging means is sent to the image data compression means or without being compressed. First switching means for selecting whether to send to the data transmission means ,
The remote control means includes a data receiving means for receiving the compressed image data sent via the signal transmission medium, an image data decompressing means for decompressing the compressed image data received by the data receiving means, and the image display means for displaying the image data decompressed by the data decompression means in real time, and the operation instruction means for giving an operation instruction through the signal transmission medium to the measuring instrument, the measured object is not data compression Image data storage means for storing image data; if the received data is the compressed image data, it is sent to the image data decompression means; if it is uncompressed image data, it is sent to the image data storage means A second switching means for sending to the image data, and applying predetermined processing to the image data stored in the image data storage means, Remote controlled measurement system comprising the image measurement processing means for measuring the fixed point coordinates. The measuring machine according to claim 1, characterized in that it has an image data extracting means for extracting a predetermined range of the original image on the path to be sent to the data transmission means without compressing the image data of the object to be measured Remote control measurement system. 3. The remote control type measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the image data compression means is an MPEG encoder, and the image data expansion means is an MPEG decoder.

Images