JP2012252396A - Visual inspection device, visual inspection program and visual inspection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily check how much an appearance of an article is similar to a standard appearance for an item to which the article belongs.SOLUTION: First determination means determines one or more items of a specimen by object recognition processing for specimen data. Selection means selects one of the items in response to a user instruction when the first determination means determines multiple items. Calculation means calculates a value indicating a level of similarity of an appearance indicated by the specimen data acquired by imaging means in respect with an appearance of standard data stored in storing means in association with one item determined by the first determination means or selected by the selection means. Second determination means determines matching/non-matching of the appearance of the specimen by comparing the value calculated by the calculation means with a threshold.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an appearance inspection apparatus, an appearance inspection program, and an appearance inspection system.

  It is desirable that dishes provided at restaurants and the like be evenly arranged. Therefore, in general, the cook performs regular arrangement according to the manual.

JP-A-4-156687 JP 2004-206393 A

  In restaurants and the like, a plurality of items are generally provided, and the standard arrangement differs for each item. The cook then understands the standard arrangement of each of the various items and arranges accordingly.

  Therefore, it has been desired that it can be easily confirmed to what degree the appearance of an article such as a dish is similar to a standard appearance according to the item of the article.

  The appearance inspection apparatus according to the embodiment includes a storage unit, an imaging unit, a first determination unit, a selection unit, a calculation unit, a second determination unit, and a control unit. The storage means stores a plurality of standard data that is associated with each of the plurality of items and represents a standard appearance of the article of the item. The imaging means images the test object and obtains test object data representing the appearance of the test object. The first determination means determines one or more items of the test object by object recognition processing on the test object data. When a plurality of items are determined by the first determination unit, the selection unit selects one of them according to a user instruction. When one item is determined by the first determination unit, the calculation unit is configured to determine the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with the item and the first determination. When a plurality of items are determined by the means, the imaging means obtains the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage means in association with one item selected by the selection means. A numerical value indicating the degree of similarity of the appearance represented by the test object data is calculated. The second determination unit determines whether the appearance of the test object is acceptable by comparing the numerical value calculated by the calculation unit with a threshold value. The control unit controls the display device so as to display an image representing the determination result by the second determination unit.

The block diagram of the arrangement | positioning inspection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. The perspective view of the appearance of the arrangement inspection device concerning one embodiment. The flowchart of the controller in FIG. The figure which shows an example of a selection screen. The figure which shows an example of a confirmation screen. The figure which shows an example of a failure screen. The figure which shows the structure of the external appearance inspection system using a cloud system.

  Hereinafter, an example of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the placement inspection apparatus 100 will be described as an example of the appearance inspection apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a placement inspection apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the appearance of the placement inspection apparatus 100.

  The arrangement inspection apparatus 100 includes a scanner 1, a measuring instrument 2, a display 3, a touch sensor 4, a storage device 5, a controller 6, a housing 7, and a tray 8.

  The scanner 1, the measuring instrument 2, the storage device 5, and the controller 6 are disposed inside the housing 7. The housing 7 can be functionally divided into a lower housing 7a, an intermediate housing 7b, and an upper housing 7c. That is, the casing 7 is configured such that the lower casing 7a and the upper casing 7c face each other and a space is formed between the lower casing 7a and the upper casing 7c. The intermediate casing 7b supports the casing 7c. As shown in FIG. 2, the placement inspection apparatus 100 is used in such a posture that the upper housing 7c is positioned in the information of the lower housing 7a.

  The scanner 1 is attached inside the upper housing 7c. The scanner 1 obtains image data representing the appearance of the test object placed on the tray 8 by taking a bird's-eye view above the tray 8. The tray 8 is for placing foods to be tested, and is positioned on the upper surface of the lower housing 7a and is movable in the vertical direction.

  The measuring instrument 2 is attached inside the lower housing 7a. The measuring instrument 2 measures the weight of the test object based on the pressing force generated by the vertical movement of the tray 8 due to the weight of the test object placed on the tray 8. The measuring instrument 2 outputs weight data representing the measured weight.

  The display 3 is attached to an arbitrary position of the housing 7 with its display surface exposed to the outside of the housing 7. In the example of FIG. 2, the display 3 is attached to the side surface of the lower housing 7a. The display 3 displays various information under the control of the controller 6. Although various display devices can be used as the display 3, it is typically a liquid crystal display.

  The touch sensor 4 is disposed so as to overlap the display screen of the display 3. When the touch sensor 4 is touched on the display screen of the display 3, the touch sensor 4 outputs detection data representing a position where the touch is made.

  The storage device 5 stores various data necessary for the controller 6 to execute processing. The data stored in the storage device 5 includes standard data and allowable weight data for each of a plurality of items. The standard data represents the standard appearance of each item. The standard data may be image data obtained by actually capturing an image of a dish with an exemplary arrangement using the scanner 1 or the like, or an image representing the dish with an exemplary arrangement using computer graphics or the like. It may be data. Standard data relating to each of a plurality of items is stored in the storage device 5 in association with each item. The allowable weight data represents an allowable range as the weight of each item. The allowable weight data is, for example, information representing each of the lower limit weight and the upper limit weight. However, if the size of the allowable range is the same for each item, the allowable weight data may be information representing only one of the lower limit weight, the upper limit weight, and the center weight of the allowable range. That is, the allowable weight data may be any information as long as it is information that can specify the allowable range. The allowable weight data relating to each of the plurality of items is stored in the storage device 5 in association with each item.

  The controller 6 performs processing for determining whether or not the food placed on the tray 8 is acceptable. The controller 6 is realized, for example, by causing a computer to execute a program that defines processing to be described later. The program is stored in a memory or storage device 5 included in the controller 6.

  Next, the operation of the placement inspection apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the controller 6. When the placement inspection apparatus 100 is turned on and the controller 6 is activated, the controller 6 starts the processing shown in FIG.

  In step Sa1, the controller 6 sets the display screen of the display 3 as an initial screen. The initial screen may be arbitrary. For example, a screen including a message prompting the user to touch a start button in the initial screen after placing a dish to be inspected on the tray 8 and the start button described above. It can be considered.

  When the user wants to check the dish arrangement, he places the dish on the tray 8 and touches the start button in the initial screen.

  In step Sa2, the controller 6 waits for a start instruction from the user. If the controller 6 recognizes that a start instruction has been made, for example, by touching a start button included in the initial screen, based on detection data output from the touch sensor 4, the controller 6 proceeds from step Sa2 to step Sa3. .

  In step Sa3, the controller 6 operates the scanner 1 so as to take an image of the dish placed on the tray 8.

  In step Sa4, the controller 6 takes in the image data obtained by the scanner 1 as image data.

  In step Sa <b> 5, the controller 6 determines the dish item placed on the tray 8 by object recognition processing for the inspection item data. A well-known technique can be used as it is for the object recognition processing.

  In the object recognition process, there may be a case where only one item can be determined, but there may be a case where a plurality of items are determined without specifying only one item.

  Therefore, in step Sa6, the controller 6 confirms whether or not the determined item is one. Then, when determining a plurality of items, the controller 6 proceeds from step Sa6 to step Sa7.

  In step Sa7, the controller 6 sets the display screen of the display 3 as a selection screen. The selection screen represents a list of a plurality of items determined in step Sa5, and is a screen as shown in FIG. 4 for prompting the user to select one of the plurality of items. FIG. 4 is an example of a selection screen when four items of cheese hamburger, omelet rice, omelet, and scrambled egg are determined. In the selection screen of FIG. 4, each image representing the determined item is a button for selecting each item as it is.

  In step Sa8, the controller 6 waits for one of the plurality of items to be selected by the user. If the controller 6 recognizes that one item has been selected by touching one of the items displayed on the selection screen, for example, based on the detection data output by the touch sensor 4, the controller 6 performs the step The process advances from step Sa8 to step Sa9.

  In step Sa9, the controller 6 determines which of the items determined in step Sa5 is the selected item.

  After that, the controller 6 proceeds to step Sa10. If only one item can be determined in step Sa5, the controller 6 proceeds from step Sa6 to step Sa10 as it is.

  In step Sa10, the controller 6 reads out the standard data and the allowable weight data stored in the storage device 5 in association with only one item determined in step Sa5 or one item selected in step Sa9.

  In step Sa11, the controller 6 sets the display screen of the display 3 as a confirmation screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the confirmation screen represents a single item determined in step Sa5 or one item selected in step Sa9, and includes a determination button for instructing execution of the pass / fail determination.

  In step Sa12, the controller 6 waits for an instruction to execute the pass / fail determination. When the controller 6 recognizes that the start of pass / fail determination is instructed by touching the determination button or the like based on the detection data output from the touch sensor 4, the controller 6 proceeds from step Sa12 to step Sa13.

  In step Sa13, the controller 6 calculates the degree of similarity between the dishes placed on the tray 8 and the standard dishes. Specifically, the controller 6 calculates the similarity as a numerical value indicating the degree of similarity of the image represented by the test object data captured in step Sa4 with respect to the image represented by the standard data read in step Sa10. Here, the similarity is set to a larger value as the degree of similarity between both images is higher.

  In step Sa14, the controller 6 confirms whether or not the similarity is greater than a predetermined threshold value. The threshold value may be arbitrarily set by a designer or a user. If the threshold can be set by the user, the allowable amount of error can be changed according to the user needs, and convenience is improved. If YES is determined here, the controller 6 proceeds from step Sa14 to step Sa15.

  In step Sa15, the controller 6 takes in the weight data output from the measuring instrument 2.

  In step Sa16, the controller 6 checks whether or not the weight represented by the captured weight data is within the allowable range represented by the allowable weight data read in step Sa10. If YES is determined here, the controller 6 proceeds from step Sa16 to step Sa17.

  In step Sa17, the controller 6 sets the display screen of the display 3 as a pass screen. The pass screen is a screen indicating that the dish placed on the tray 8 is properly arranged. Note that the pass screen includes an end button for instructing the end of the pass / fail determination.

  Thereafter, in step Sa18, the controller 6 waits for an end instruction. If the touch sensor 4 recognizes that the end of the pass / fail judgment has been instructed by touching the above end button or the like, the controller 6 returns from step Sa18 to step Sa1.

  If it is determined NO in either step Sa14 or step Sa16, the controller 6 proceeds from step to step Sa19.

  In step Sa19, the controller 6 sets the display screen of the display 3 as a reject screen. The reject screen is, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 6 indicating that the dish placed on the tray 8 is improperly arranged. The reject screen includes a redetermination button for instructing re-execution of the pass / fail judgment and an end button for instructing the end of the pass / fail judgment.

  In step Sa20 and step Sa21, the controller waits for a re-execution instruction or an end instruction for pass / fail determination. If the touch sensor 4 recognizes that the end of the pass / fail judgment has been instructed by touching the above end button or the like, the controller 6 returns from step Sa18 to step Sa1.

  On the other hand, when the user touches the redetermination button after placing the dish whose arrangement has been corrected on the tray 8, the controller 6 recognizes this based on the detection data output from the touch sensor 4, and step Sa20 is performed. To Step Sa22.

  In step Sa22, the controller 6 operates the scanner 1 so as to take an image of the dish placed on the tray 8.

  In step Sa23, the controller 6 takes in image data obtained by the scanner 1 as image data.

  Thereafter, the controller 6 executes the processing after step Sa11 in the same manner as described above.

  As described above, according to the arrangement inspection apparatus 100, it is automatically determined which of the plurality of items the dish to be inspected is, and the arrangement of the inspection object with respect to the standard arrangement for the item On the basis of the similarity, whether or not to arrange the test object is determined, and the determination result is displayed on the display 3. Therefore, the user can easily recognize whether or not the dish is properly arranged. And when it recognizes that the arrangement | positioning is improper, it becomes possible to aim at equalization of the arrangement | positioning of a dish easily, when a user corrects the arrangement | positioning of a dish. Further, by using the placement inspection apparatus 100, a beginner can practice placement alone.

  In addition, according to the arrangement inspection apparatus 100, when the arrangement of the same dish is corrected and the pass / fail determination of the dish is performed again, the item determination is not performed again. For this reason, the re-determination can be completed easily and in a short time without the trouble of determining the item.

  Moreover, according to the arrangement | positioning test | inspection apparatus 100, since it refuses also when the weight of a dish is outside an allowable range, it is possible to make a user recognize the suitability of the amount of dish.

  This embodiment can be variously modified as follows.

  The weight may not be taken into consideration for the pass / fail judgment.

  Articles other than dishes may be used as inspection targets.

  An appearance other than the arrangement may be used as an inspection target.

  The above technical idea can be applied to an appearance inspection system including a server and a terminal device.

  Cloud computing can be used to realize such an appearance inspection system. More specifically, a software provision form called software as a service (SaaS) is suitable.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an appearance inspection system 200 that uses a cloud system.

  The appearance inspection system 200 includes a cloud 31, a plurality of terminal devices 32, and a plurality of communication networks 33. Note that only one terminal device 32 and one communication network 33 may be used.

  The cloud 31 further includes a plurality of servers 31a. The plurality of servers 31a are configured to be able to communicate with each other. However, there may be only one server 31a.

  The terminal device 32 can communicate with the cloud 31 via the communication network 33. As the terminal device 32, various computers such as a desktop type and a notebook type, a mobile phone device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, and the like can be used as appropriate. As the communication network 33, the Internet, a private network, a next generation network (NGN), a mobile network, or the like can be used as appropriate.

  The appearance inspection system 200 executes steps Sa1 to 4, 7 to 9, 11, 12, and 17 to 23 in the processes shown in FIG. 13 to 16 are executed in the cloud 31. However, a part of steps Sa5, 6, 10, 13-16 may be executed by the terminal device 32.

  The processes of steps Sa5, 6, 10, 13 to 16 may be executed on a single server 31a, or may be distributed on a plurality of servers 31a.

  When a part of steps Sa5, 6, 10, 13 to 16 is executed by the terminal device 32, a program for causing the computer of the terminal device 32 to execute the process is stored in the storage unit of the terminal device 32 in advance. You may make it memorize | store, You may memorize | store the said program in the memory | storage unit which the cloud 31 has, and you may make it give from the cloud 31 to the terminal device 32 as needed. When the program is given from the cloud 31 to the terminal device 32, at least one of the servers 31a has a function of transmitting the program to the terminal device 32.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Scanner, 2 ... Measuring instrument, 3 ... Display, 4 ... Touch sensor, 5 ... Storage device, 6 ... Controller, 7 ... Case, 8 ... Tray, 31 ... Cloud, 32 ... Terminal device, 33 ... Communication network, 100: Placement inspection device, 200: Appearance inspection system.

Claims (6)

Storage means for storing a plurality of standard data in association with each of the plurality of items and representing a standard appearance of an article of the item;
Imaging means for imaging the test object and obtaining test object data representing its appearance;
First determination means for determining one or a plurality of items of the test object by object recognition processing for the test object data;
A selection unit that selects one of them in response to a user instruction when a plurality of items are determined by the first determination unit;
When one item is determined by the first determination unit, the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with the item is displayed, and a plurality of items are displayed by the first determination unit. When the item is determined, the test object obtained by the imaging unit with respect to the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with one item selected by the selection unit A calculation means for calculating a numerical value representing the degree of similarity of the appearance represented by the data;
Second determination means for determining pass / fail of the appearance of the test object by comparing the numerical value calculated by the calculation means with a threshold value;
An appearance inspection apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls a display device so as to display an image representing a determination result by the second determination unit. Second storage means for storing, in association with each of said items, allowable weight data representing a range of allowable weight for that item;
A measuring means for measuring the weight of the test object and obtaining weight data representing the weight; and
When one item is determined by the first determination unit, the range represented by the allowable weight data stored in the second storage unit in association with the item is set as an allowable range, and the first When a plurality of items are determined by the determination unit, a range represented by the allowable weight data stored in the second storage unit in association with one item selected by the selection unit is set as an allowable range, Further comprising third determination means for determining whether or not the weight represented by the weight data obtained by the measurement means is within the allowable range;
The said 2nd determination means determines the pass / fail of the external appearance of the said test object based on the determination result by the said 3rd determination means in addition to the comparison with the numerical value calculated by the said calculation means, and a threshold value. 1. An appearance inspection apparatus according to 1. The test object is a dish,
The appearance represented by the standard data is arrangement,
The appearance according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the calculation means calculates the numerical value as representing a degree of similarity of the arrangement of the appearance represented by the test object data with respect to the arrangement represented by the standard data. Inspection device. It is possible to access storage means for storing a plurality of standard data representing the standard appearance of the article of the item in association with each of the plurality of items, and to image the object by imaging the test object. A computer capable of acquiring the specimen data output by the imaging means for obtaining the specimen data;
First determination means for determining one or a plurality of items of the test object by object recognition processing for the test object data;
A selection unit that selects one of them in response to a user instruction when a plurality of items are determined by the first determination unit;
When one item is determined by the first determination unit, the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with the item is displayed, and a plurality of items are displayed by the first determination unit. When the item is determined, the test object obtained by the imaging unit with respect to the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with one item selected by the selection unit A calculation means for calculating a numerical value representing the degree of similarity of the appearance represented by the data;
Second determination means for determining pass / fail of the appearance of the test object by comparing the numerical value calculated by the calculation means with a threshold value;
An appearance inspection program that functions as a control unit that controls a display device so as to display an image representing a determination result by the second determination unit. The computer has access to a second storage means associated with each of the items for storing allowable weight data representing a range of allowable weight for the item, and the test object is weighted. The receipt data can be obtained from a measuring means that obtains weight data representing the weight by measuring,
The computer further
When one item is determined by the first determination means, the range represented by the allowable weight data stored in the second storage means in association with the item is set as the allowable range, and the first When a plurality of items are determined by the determination unit, a range represented by the allowable weight data stored in the second storage unit in association with one item selected by the selection unit is set as an allowable range, While functioning as third determination means for determining whether the weight represented by the weight data obtained by the measurement means is within the allowable range,
In addition to comparing the numerical value calculated by the calculating means with a threshold value, the second determining means determines pass / fail of the appearance of the test object based on the determination result by the third determining means. The program according to claim 4. A server and a terminal device,
Storage means provided in the server for storing a plurality of standard data associated with each of the plurality of items and representing a standard appearance of an article of the item;
An imaging means provided in the terminal device for obtaining test object data representing the appearance by imaging the test object;
A first transmission unit provided in the terminal device and configured to transmit the test object data obtained by the imaging unit to the server;
A first receiving means provided in the server for receiving the test object data transmitted by the transmitting means;
A first determination means provided in the server for determining one or more items of the test object by object recognition processing for the test object data;
A selection unit that is provided in the server and selects one of them in response to a user instruction when a plurality of items are determined by the first determination unit;
When one item is determined by the first determination unit provided in the server, the external appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with the item is displayed. When the plurality of items are determined by the determination unit, the imaging unit obtains the appearance represented by the standard data stored in the storage unit in association with one item selected by the selection unit. Calculating means for calculating a numerical value indicating the degree of similarity of the appearance represented by the test object data,
A second determination unit that is provided in the server, and that determines whether the appearance of the test object is acceptable by comparing the numerical value calculated by the calculation unit and a threshold;
A second transmission unit that is provided in the server and transmits determination result data representing a determination result by the second determination unit to the terminal device;
A second receiving unit provided in the terminal device for receiving the determination result data transmitted by the second transmitting unit;
An appearance inspection apparatus, comprising: a control unit that is provided in the terminal device and controls a display device so as to display an image representing a determination result represented by the determination result data received by the second reception unit.

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